Inuyasha (犬夜叉), also known as Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale (Japanese: 戦国御伽草子 犬夜叉, Hepburn: Sengoku Otogizōshi Inuyasha), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008, with the chapters collected into 56 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan. The series follows Kagome Higurashi, a 15-year-old girl from Tokyo who is transported to the Sengoku period after falling into a well in her family shrine, where she meets the half-demon Inuyasha. When a monster from that era tries to take the magical Shikon Jewel embodied in Kagome, she accidentally shatters the Jewel into many pieces that are dispersed across Japan. Inuyasha and Kagome start traveling to recover it before the powerful demon Naraku finds all the shards. Inuyasha and Kagome gain several allies during their journey, including Shippo, Miroku, Sango and Kirara. In contrast to the typically comedic nature of much of Takahashi's previous work, Inuyasha deals with darker subject matter, using the setting of the Sengoku period to easily display the violent content. It was adapted into two anime television series produced by Sunrise. The first was broadcast for 167 episodes on Yomiuri TV in Japan from October 16, 2000 until September 13, 2004. The second series, called Inuyasha: The Final Act, began airing five years later on October 3, 2009 to cover the rest of the manga series and ended on March 29, 2010 after 26 episodes. Four feature films and a original video animation have also been released. Other merchandise include video games and a light novel. Viz Media licensed the manga, the two anime series, and movies for North America.