A quick search on FF.net will reveal that, at nearly 16k fics and counting, SessKag is without question the most popular Inuyasha odd couple. There is even an entire website devoted to these two. But why. Why can we just not seem to get enough of this unlikely duo? After all, there are plenty of hot guys and awesome gals in the Inu-verse. Why don’t we go just as crazy for other alt pairings like KougaKagome, SessKagura, or InuSango?

Here are my $0.02.

1. Because we loooove Sesshoumaru –  Powerful, enigmatic, dangerous—what’s not to love about our favorite dog daiyoukai? Oh, and there’s also the minor fact that he’s dead fucking sexy.

   

   But looks aside, there’s no doubt that Sesshoumaru is an intriguing guy. From villian to antihero to devoted guardian,  Sesshoumaru shows arguably the most character growth of the Inuyasha cast. And yet as the series concludes, we still know so little about our ever-inscrutable badass demon lord. What was his childhood like? What are his true desires and aspirations? What types of girls is he into? But seriously. Us wimmins love us a good challenge. We all want to be the one to melt through that icy facade and unravel the mystery that he is.

2. Because we like Kagome best – Okay so we’ve established that Sesshoumaru is the ultimate catch and that we’re all in love with him, but because we don’t live in his world—and WILL NOT do something horrible like insert ourselves into it—we have to find someone else who can tease out the passion from that cold indomitable heart of his and bring our boy to heel beneath the power of lurve. So who do we choose for this task? Let’s run through the options. The first and most obvious choice would be adult!Rin, but we dismiss this for 2 reasons: 1) although it’s debatable, this pairing comes a little too close to canon for comfort and 2) we’re not really on board with the idea of Sesshoumaru banging his former ward. Next there’s Kagura, who we know has some sort of affection for Sesshoumaru already, but as a demonic offshoot of Naraku is icky by association. Kikyou is right out, of course.

   

   So that leaves us with Sango and Kagome. We can respect and admire both of these women. They’re both strong and brave and loyal. But with Kagome being from our own time, at the end of the day we identify with her best. Plus there’s the whole light and dark, forbidden romance aspect of a demon-priestess pairing that tickles our fancy and gets our fingers typing away like we’re on cocaine.

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Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi