Inuyasha season 1

The first season of the anime television series Inuyasha aired in Japan on Yomiuri TV from October 16, 2000, through September 17, 2001. Based on the manga series of the same title by Rumiko Takahashi, the episodes were produced by Sunrise and directed by Masashi Ikeda. The series follows a half demon Inuyasha's and a high school girl Kagome Higurashi's journey, alongside their friends Shippo, Miroku and Sango to obtain the fragments of the shattered Jewel of Four Souls, a powerful jewel that had been hidden inside Kagome's body, and keep the shards from being used for evil.

The anime is licensed for release in North America by Viz Media. The English dub of the first season was broadcast on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim programming block from August 31, 2002, through September 4, 2003, and reran on its Toonami block beginning on November 3, 2012.

In Japan, the first season was retroactively collected under the title Encounter Arc (出会い編).

Five pieces of theme music are used across this season; two opening themes and three ending themes. The opening themes are "Change the World" by V6 for episodes 1–34 and "I Am" by Hitomi for episodes 35–44. Streaming services in the United States typically use an instrumental opening theme for "Change the World" due to licensing issues. The three ending themes are "My Will" by Japanese girl group Dream for episodes 1–20, "Fukai Mori" (深い森) by Do As Infinity for episodes 20–41 and "Dearest" by Ayumi Hamasaki for episodes 42–44.