Episode 101

The Snow from Seven Years Past is the one hundred first episode of the InuYasha anime.

Synopsis

1. Miroku recalls events from seven years before when he was lost in a snowy area, and was saved by a beautiful woman named Koyuki.
2. Miroku and Sango hear of a yōkai, in the form of a lovely snow maiden, that is luring men into its territory and terrorizing them, and Miroku investigates it alone; when Miroku arrives on the scene he encounters Koyuki, who tells him that she already bore his child, and takes him to her home.
3. Miroku finds many children, and begins to take care of him; Sango and the others arrive and see that the "children" he is tending to are nothing more than balls of snow and deduce that he is under a demon's spell.
4. With Inuyasha's help, Miroku comes out of the spell and learns that Koyuki has been possessed by a demon; the group works together and destroys the demon, freeing Koyuki's spirit.

Summary

Miroku hears that the snow maiden possessing the form of a human female from his youth is terrorizing the village men and goes out alone to investigate. He encounters her in a blizzard, and she takes him to her house, where she appears to be taking care of many children (once claiming that she bore one of his children), but it turns out to be an illusion, as the "children" are really made of snow.

The others attempt to fight past the snow maiden and a snow demon she summoned, but things don't go so well, as the snow demon can regenerate. Inuyasha eventually gets thrown clear of the fight and through the roof of the building the snowbound, spellbound Miroku is staying in, effectively breaking said spell.

Now that he is back to his senses, Miroku seemingly kills the snow maiden with his staff, which turns out to be a snow body possessed by a soul, which merges with the snow demon. Using a combination of medicine and a Sacred Arrow, they set the snow demon on fire, and Inuyasha destroys it with Wind Scar, releasing the snow maiden's spirit, who is finally able to rest in peace.

It is explained that the snow maiden was the spirit of a girl who was killed in the war, and took in the souls of children who died in the war until the snow demon came and controlled her.

Characters in Order of Appearance

Music

• Opening Theme — Grip! — Best of Inuyasha II
• Woman saves Miroku from snowstorm — Demon Brother Sesshōmaru (Yōkei Sesshōmaru) — TV OST Vol. 1
• Villager tries to wake up hypothermic villager, Miroku volunteers to stop the snow demon — Shōki — TV OST Vol. 2
• Sango walks in snowstorm, woman tells Miroku he has a child — Tsubaki the Dark Miko (Kuromiko Tsubaki) — TV OST Vol. 2
• Two villagers offer Kagome to stay in their house during the snowstorm — Osuwari! — TV OST Vol. 1
• Inuyasha and others find hypothermic Sango, they give her medicine — The Hidden Well to the Sengoku Era (Kakushi Ido kara Sengoku Jidai e) — TV OST Vol. 1
• Miroku meets his children — One Day in the Village (Mura no Ichi Nichi) — TV OST Vol. 1
• Miroku takes care of his children — The Three Meddlesome Daughters (Sewayaki Sannin Musume) — TV OST Vol. 3
• Inuyasha’s group hears Miroku’s voice, they see him under a spell — The Hidden Well to the Sengoku Era (Kakushi Ido kara Sengoku Jidai e) — TV OST Vol. 1
• The woman summons snow beast who can regenerate — Ryūkotsusei Resurrected (Yomigaeru Ryūkotsusei) — TV OST Vol. 2
• Miroku uses sutra on woman demon — Inuyasha’s Metamorphosis (Hengeshita Inuyasha) — TV OST Vol. 2
• Kagome makes plan to expose the demon to fire — Fierce Fighting (Gekitō) — TV OST Vol. 2
• Snow maiden is free — To the End of Sorrow (Kanashimi no Hate ni) — TV OST Vol. 1
• Miroku still wants to believe that woman is alive — Delinquent Monk, Miroku (Furyō Hōshi Miroku) — TV OST Vol. 1
• Ending Theme — Shinjitsu no Uta — TV OST Vol. 3

Notes

• Judging by its appearance, the spirit released from the demon may indeed belong to the woman Miroku met in his early days of trying to find Naraku.
• Miroku's flashback shows him as he was after his father died, meaning his habit of swindling others developed so he could survive. It also means the Wind Tunnel opens at a certain age, given his hand was uncovered.
• None of the children were obviously Miroku's, since a) none of them were old enough (six years old), and b) seven years ago Miroku would only have been eleven years old.