A new 30-minute Inuyasha anime short, "Black Tessaiga" ("Kuroi Tessaiga"), will premiere during the Rumiko Takahashi Exhibit of original drawings from the famed manga creator (Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura) on July 30. Takahashi ended her Inuyasha time-traveling fantasy manga in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine last month, and the television anime adaptation ended in September of 2004. Yomiuri TV's anime producer Michihiko Suwa (Inuyasha, Detective Conan, Kekkaishi, Black Jack, City Hunter, Angel Heart) made the announcement in his "Swatch's Anime Diary" blog on July 9.

The new anime short is named after Tessaiga ("iron-crushing fang"), the signature sword of the half-human, half-dog-demon main character Inuyasha. The cast members assembled for the first time since the last film, December 2004's Inuyasha the Movie 4: Fire on the Mystic Island, to record their new dialogue on July 8. After the recording session, 16 members of the cast and staff went out to eat and re-connect with each other.

The "It's a Rumic World" exhibit will run from July 30 to August 11 at the Matsuya Ginza department store branch in Tokyo's upper-class Ginza shopping district. Viz Media distributes the manga and anime versions of Inuyasha in North America.

Inuyasha