In the most recent episodes, it really seems it's been a long time since Kagome wnet back to her time- what's the time frame here? Shouldn't she be in high school by now, or cramming for the high school test, at least, instead she seems to not be returning to her world as frequently.

Well, I've thought about this too for quite a while.
But I think she believes that helping IY is more important than school.
Wouldn't we all want to help a hanyou instead of cramming?

i'm surprised she hasn't given up on the idea of school altogether. i mean, it seems like her family is pretty damn understanding, it's not like they pressure her to go or anything and in fact say several times that this is kagome's destiny. so, wtf? high school = obviously not kagome's destiny. i'm sure she misses her friends, but she can't even be honest with them about what her life is about-- she's kind of outgrown them. i'm glad they don't have her running back every five seconds, i cheered when she decided that one time that her backpack was too heavy and she'd have to leave behind her books. besides, has anyone told her that high school totally sucks? if not, someone should.

I think her shards were stolen so she couldn't go back even if she wanted to.

I think she should just go home school at this point. Of course she might be staying in just to try and keep a secnce of normalcy (sp?) in her life.

I think it is because they are so far away from the well. I mean think of how manny times you have seen them walking or running?

Yeah-- remember when Inu Yasha takes her shards and she can't come back to his world? That one guy (can't remember names) took her shard when she was poisoned didn't he? She can't go back to her world if she wanted to right now, can she?

Further more-- if the shards are destroyed-- will she be stuck in this world forever?

Actually, I don't remember her having or not having the shards ever preventing her from traveling through the well from the Sengoku Jidai to her time (or else how would she have made it through after Inuyasha stole her shards and pushed her?)--it's just the return trip back to the Sengoku Jidai that she's always needed the shards for.

So I don't think she'd be stuck there, but you never know.

Yeah... is it just in the anime she says "without the shards I can't get back",
after Kikyou has stolen them...? if my memory is somewhat good today.
But I think Renkotsu stole Kagome's shards in ep. 106...? I dunno.
But as i said before Spect, she once traveled without the shards to Sengoku.
Inuyasha and she jumped into the well together in ep 4...
actually ep. 4 is the one ep. I havn't seen. I've only read it in the manga.
But I allways found that one a little strange...

I can't remember if she mentions not being able to get back without the shards in just the anime, but she manages to get back anyway, doesn't she? (Can't remember whether or not that's because she used another shard.) I don't think she's ever been stuck in that time, but I guess that could be because she just got lucky.

And that's a really good point about episode 4, I'd forgotten all about that. Though Yura had shards, and her hair did make it through the well, so maybe that had something to do with it? Who knows...

It would be nice if they explained the time traveling rules a little more, but maybe they like to keep the rules vague so they can break them if necessary.

I think she made it back in episode 4 because Inuyasha was with her...so maybe the prayer beads are a link for them both.

Sorry for the one-liner, but it's just a thought...

I appreciate all of your efforts, but I don;t think any of them are right- she;s NEVER had trouble returning to the well (riding MIroku's friend, riding Kirara, riding Inuyasha) , when she wanted to, and almost NEVER couldn't go through except that once...so why isn't she trying to now? Or for the last, oh, maybe twenty episodes?

Well, regardless of whether or not she can go back shards or no shards, right now I think she's staying because she's too far away from the well to bother returning for a short trip, and because it's much more important to help Inuyasha and the others at the moment. This is probably her longest stay away from the well yet, but she has good reason not to be going back right now. Finding Naraku--and even potentially killing him at last--is a lot more important than school or exams. It's a matter of saving the world, after all.

Also, we have to keep in mind that although it's taking weeks and weeks for these episodes to come out, I don't think the Shichinin-tai arc lasts more than maybe two or three weeks at most in IY time. Lots of stuff is happening really fast, that's all. (And I'm sure she made a trip back we might not have seen right before they really got to work tracking Naraku down.)