Girl Zone

Sango, a powerful demon slayer, joins the Inuyasha group after the evil demon Naraku destroyed her entire village of demon slayers. At first she joined the group because they share the same mission to destroy Naraku, but through time they become more like a family. Not only do they help her with her goal, but they also support her through the despair of losing her family and home.

Sango enters the story when Naraku requests the services of the demon slayer clan at his castle. Sango, her father (who is leader of the clan), her little brother (who is a novice and has never been on a mission), and other top slayers go to the castle, leaving their own village relatively unprotected. Even though it appears that Sango defeats the unwanted spider demon, the real demon is the house lord who possesses Sango's little brother, Kohaku, to kill all of the demon slayers. Sango figures out the ruse, but fails to save her brother when the place guards shoot both of them full of arrows. The lord is than killed by his son, who is really Naraku. While all of this is happening, demons attack the slayer village and kill everyone there.

Despite being buried, Sango digs herself out of the ground and Naraku tends to her wounded body. He than tricks her into fighting Inuyasha by convincing her that Inuyasha was the one who killed the villagers. She returns home to battle Inuyasha (who actually helped bury the dead), but soon she becomes skeptical of her benefactor. Although heavily wounded, she fights bravely against Inuyasha, but her wounds are just too much and she passes out. He picks her up and carries her with him (in addition to Kagome and Shippou) as he pursues Naraku. Sango realizes the error and Inuyasha encourages her to join his group in order to avenge her people.

Along the way, she and Kagome develop a close friendship. In fact, they are like sisters-bound by duty, sorrow, and love. They share a mission to destroy Naraku-an evil demon who will commit any horror to achieve his ends. They share the sorrows of not only the terrible consequences of Naraku's actions, but also of life in general. Finally, the intimacy of their circumstances, as well as their mutual admiration of each other, forges a friendship which allows them both to cope. Each would have a harder time without the other friend.

In many ways, Kagome and Sango share similar personalities. Both girls possess great compassion and kindness. They both care deeply about their friends and are willing to do whatever they can to help others. Furthermore, they are both practical and well adept at adapting to new situations. If they were unable to adapt, they would no doubt become a burden to the others in their group. Both are strong women, prepared to fight for what they believe in and unwilling to back down from what they believe is right. Although sometimes they struggle with questions of morality, ultimately their sense of honor drives to do what is right.

Each fights as hard as she is able. While Kagome possesses the powers of a priestess, Sango's training primarily concerns slaying demons, meaning she often enters the core of a battle and Kagome usually remains outside of it. Both possess long range ability, but Sango's Hiraikotsu (or demon bone, a giant boomerang-like weapon) kills far more demons in one blow than Kagome's arrows. Besides the Hiraikotsu, Sango also has a katana and a small hidden weapon she relies on in battle. Still, Kagome's arrows can cut through barriers and destroy powerful demons when even Sango's Hiraikotsu fails. In addition, Kagome can not only see Shikon Jewel shards, but also purify them when they are tainted.

Besides supporting each other in battle, Sango and Kagome support each other emotionally. Sango suffered a great tragedy when she lost her family. The blow is worsened when she finds out that Naraku revived her brother Kohaku and controls him. Because Kohaku cannot stand the memory of killing the demon slayers, Naraku cleared his mind of all his memories, including those of his beloved sister. The fact that Sango will not hurt her brother makes him a dangerous weapon. At one point, he was almost able to kill Kagome because Sango trusted him to easily. Kagome understands her dilemma and blames neither her nor Kohaku for the attempted assassination. Instead, she and the rest of the group support her quest to free her brother from Naraku's control.

Although she has not suffered a personal tragedy of a similar scale, Naraku violates Kagome's life as well. He constantly tries to kill her because of her importance to the Inuyasha team. More troubling to Kagome, however, is the pain he inflicts on other people. He cruelly destroys lives, and Inuyasha's group often encounters the messes left behind. Sango shares Kagome's empathy with those who have been hurt by the demon. Each ruined live makes them more determined to stop him before he can do more damage.

Aside having trouble with demons, the two girls share boy troubles. While Kagome has a love interest who cannot choose between her and another girl, Sango's love interest cannot choose between her and every other girl. Miroku is a lecherous flirt who enjoys asking every pretty girl he meets to bear his child. Not only that, but he also tends to grab girl's bums, especially Sango's. Although her feelings for him are obvious, she generally denies them when the topic comes up. She probably cannot tell if he truly loves her, or if he is just flirting with her like he does with all of the other girls. Kagome understands her situation and tries to help when she can, even though her influence is not always appreciated.

Unique circumstances brought the group together and the desperate nature of their quest creates an intense emotional environment, resulting in close relationships between the group members. In the specific case of Kagome and Sango, they are two young women facing difficult situations. More than that, they admire and understand each other. Even though the boys are supportive, having a girl you can turn to for advice, understanding, and strength. In spite of their unusual situation, they can find normality in girl talk.