This is the most recent of Takahashi's work, and seems to be just as big a hit as all of her earlier works, spawning off not only a considerably long series thus far but also a television show. There are many good reasons for this. The story is that of Kagome, who has lived in a shrine with her family all her life. On the property is a small house with a well inside, which she isn't supposed to go to. One day, though, her cat disappears to it, and she is forced to go inside to try to get the cat out. But instead, she is drawn in by a mononoke (vengeful spirit). The mononoke claims that she has the shikon-no-tama (shikon jewel). Minutes later, she finds herself at the bottom of the well again. Eventually she manages to pull herself up -- but now she's in the middle of a forest, and not Tokyo! She sees a boy with dog ears stuck to a tree. She is then found by some villagers who think she's a monster, and tkake her home. But the local miko (priestess), Kaeda, listens to her story and then comments on how mcuh she looks like her long-dead sister, the old miko, Kikyou, who guarded the shikon-no-tama, which can give extra power to youkai (demons). Suddenly the mononoke returns, and Kagome runs to the forest. The dog-boy wakes up, and says that if she takes out the arrow which binds him to the tree, he'd kill the mononoke for her. The mononoke pulls out a jewel from her stomache -- and then Inu Yasha (dog-demon) kills the mononoke! Later, the tama gets ripped into pieces, and Kagome and Inu Yasha (who is half-youkai and wants it so he can become full) must go recollect them. It's a really, really good story; I recommend it highly. I think it is considerably better than anything Takahashi has written, except perhaps the mermaid-stories, which it is in more of the style of. It's more violent and less humorous than her earlier stories -- although it's not without it's comedic points. Highly, highly recommended!