Fushigi Yuugi

Though by some standards today, the story may seem a bit cliché, but for its time in the mid-1990s, it wasn’t really that much of the norm. So the Alice in Wonderland concept may not be something that will appeal to everyone since you’ve already seen it in more semi-mainstream animes in comparison to this one such as 12 Kingdoms, Inuyasha, and Escaflowne which came out after Fushigi Yuugi though this was the anime that did it before it became something semi-common. Even though this is primarily shoujo, the well diverse but archetypical cast do have mass appeal.

Each character for the most part has ... their own unique use and contribution to the story and they are presented in ways you get to know them. The characters or heck, maybe even one character will grow on you as you watch from start to finish. I would explain this, but it would be a significant spoiler, and if you’ve seen this anime, you know what I’m talking about. Whether that character is good or bad, you’ll love them. Hell, my favorite character Nakago is the primary antagonist and even Yuu Watase, the original manga-ka has admitted that Nakago is her favorite character.

The anime will hopefully satisfy men and women. The story overall is very diverse with its appeal, but it went a little longer than it should have, but it ends in a way where everything is resolved and the characters wonderfully develop. It has romance, adventure, excitement, comedy and action, which I will further get into. However, what will annoy male and female alike is the interaction between Tamahome and Miaka when they really get romantic with each other. It kind of drags and we don’t need that much hugging even if we can appreciate how much they love each other.

Well, the character design today doesn’t really stand out in comparison to most shoujo out there for the most part. The costume designs are a little flamboyant for the setting, but even so, they still compliment the character designs very well where it helps make them stand out a bit more. The action is well coordinated, technical and raw which will appeal to male viewers. The city settings captures the heart of ancient China very captivatingly and truly represents their culture at that time period where they gathered to worship the emperor. However, with the modern day settings, you get a different approach to the school uniform with the blazer and ribbon design you see in lets say Evangelion, than the more mainstream sailor uniform which I thought was unique to anime in the mid-1990s with Magic Knight Rayearth and Sailor Moon being the rage back then with those designs, so its nice to see something different. It is also unique to point out in the real world in Fushigi Yuugi, nobody has crazy color hair, but in the book, you got the typical crazy color anime hair which was somewhat of the intention of Watase and the staff at Studio Pierrot. So overall, the art may be descent, but the character design 100% stand out, but the action, costumes, and scenery makes up for it.

The dub of Fushigi Yuugi does have some credible names, but I don’t think the dub was good. First off, Tamahome is played by David Hayter who you may know as the voice of Solid Snake from MGS. When you hear that voice in relation to Tamahome’s image, it just doesn’t match. He makes Tamahome sound gruffy, though it’s not the voice he uses for Solid Snake, but when he does scream, he does scream like Snake. This kind of casting is to me, for the sake of casting a big name and you’re giving him a character he’s not appropriate for. However, this was a role I thought perfectly suited his Japanese counterpart, Midorikawa Hikaru, the voice of Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing, and Rukawa from Slam Dunk. Granted Midorikawa has played character opposite from Tamahome, he had a different kind of cool that Snake has, but he still has that passion and soft side that really captures him. As a matter of fact, Watase actually wanted him to play Tamahome because he had him in mind when he created the character.

I also enjoyed Kae Araki the voice of Sailor Chibi Moon as Miaka. She does sound annoying with her high-pitched voice, but it was at a certain tone where it really captured the character with all of these emotions whether sad, happy, concerned, or excited. And Seki Tomokazu, my 2nd favorite seiyuu who has played Miyata in Hajime no Ippo, Domon in G Gundam, Kamui in X The Movie, and many others was great as Chichiri, my 2nd favorite character. He is so multi-talented and he demonstrates it very well when you get to know his character more. Overall, the cast is just top notch and they all have great chemistry. Even though the romantic tension between Tamahome and Miaka gets annoying, their seiyuus truly make it believable.

The opening theme song Itoshii Hito no Tame Ni does open with this more traditional approach and then at the right moment, transitions to a more energetic J-Pop song. It’s very unique to me because it captures the cultural and romantic atmosphere of the series. And the ending theme Tokimeki Doukasen has a different kind of energy that is generic but still catchy and semi sexually suggestive in a more innocent sense. The background music is well orchestrated in every sense. Such as traditional Chinese music, more traditional cinematic.

Anyway, I think this is an anime I believe you should try to give a chance even if it may not be your taste. There are all kinds of good qualities this anime has that does make up for its bad ones. Even so, the bad qualities are still there but if you concentrate and stick to what you like, you’ll forget about them. I remember during the days of VHS fansubs, I used to talk to people who cried watching this series. It has all of these great themes such as love, friendship, loyalty, and betrayal and they are presented in a very realistically approachable manner. And believe me, there are moments where you might and I’m not ashamed to admit I have watching this series. The only anime that has achieved me to react like this since is the Kimura vs Mashiba oav of Hajime no Ippo.

After seeing so much anime in my time, I can say that Fushigi Yuugi might have inspired a lot of anime that came in when it ended. These days there are so much anime that are about the main character/s sucked into another dimension and they are the chosen ones to fix the problems of this so-called dimension (Kyo Kara maoh, Escaflowne, Izumo. etc)

Although it is one of my favorite series, there are some parts that to me are considered unsatisfactory. I feel a bit sorry for Chiriko because he was one of the lesser important seishis (the other would be Mitsukake). I am not ... a fan of Chiriko or Mitsukake, but I do think that they could've used more screen time.

I also noticed some discrepancies. It could be due to translation errors, but I'll say it anyway. There was an episode where Keisuke and Tetsuya go to the Genbu shrine. They went there to see the Byakko miko. One question: why is the Byakko miko in the Genbu and not the Byakko shrine?

I have to mention that I watched the english dubbed version, because I found certain voice dubbers annoying. I hate Tomo's voice - it is the most annoying voice I have ever heard in my life. Whoever thought of making Tomo's voice sound that way was nuts and should be locked up in an asylum. Miaka was also a bit annoying. I cringe whenever she would cry out Tamahome's name.

And now for the positives. I love the story - I think it is well thought of. It was able to mix in elements such as love, friendship, deceit, war, etc. into something really decent and worth watching. I first watched the show 6 years ago, and when I watched it again last month I find myself obsessed once more.

The visuals weren't bad either - although I can't say if I prefer seeing genitals on Yui and Miaka. Seeing naked people is bad enough. However, the show is filled with bishonens throughout the show. My personal favorite is Nuriko of course. He is my god. The wonderful art shown at the end of the show via the ending theme was beautifully made and I never grew tired of it.

The music wasn't bad - most of it were mid 90s music, so I can't say I'm a huge fan of it. I do like the ending song, "Tokimeki no Doukasen". It's another one of those nostalgic song for me - everytime I hear it I can't help but feel reminiscent of the year when I first watched Fushigi Yuugi. Some of the insert songs weren't bad either. Again they were mid 90s styled, but they're not so bad. I did get tired of the opening song after a while. Hearing "Maiagare Suzaku" for more than 10 times tends to get on my nerves.

I think one reason why the show was suspended on Filipino free TV was because of mild sex and vulgar language. This is definitely not for kids, but I would say it is a must - see for the 16+ crowd (mostly because I saw the show when I was 16).

Fushigi Yuugi, originally a manga written by Yuu Watase, is a classic anime, that became so popular, it inspired 3 OAV series', and encouraged Watase to write the prequel to the series, more than 10 years later.

Story
Fushigi Yuugi: The Mysterious Play, is about a 15 year old girl Miaka Yuuki, and her best friend Yui Hongo. Miaka and Yui are in the library when Miaka sees a mysterious bird lead her to the restricted room of the library. There, Miaka finds a mysterious book, and her and Yui are pulled into the world. Miaka and Yui meet a mysterious man who saves them from slave ... traders, but Yui is thrown back out of the book, and the man has left, leaving Miaka all alone in this Ancient Chinese world. Miaka meets with the man again, and they end up at the palace, and through circumstances, Miaka is charged with the duty to gather together the seven senshi of Suzaku, and save Konan from destruction!

I know that makes no sense, but in a nutshell, Miaka fell into Konan, an Ancient Chinese world, where the whole world lives on the idea of the Four Gods in Chinese Mythology. Miaka is in the south, where Suzaku, the Red Bird (Pheonix in some translations) protects the country. Each God has 7 constellations (or in this case, the 7 senshi). So the constellations have taken the form of 7 warriors, and Miaka needs to gather them to summon Suzaku, who will grant her 3 wishes.

Animation
The animation itself is smooth, and well done, until about the second season (ep 27+) where the animation seems to take a bit of a plunge at times. The colouring is also very vibrant at times, but others, it's very muddy looking, and monotone, because everything seems to be in the brown colour tone, except the hair of Miaka's senshi. The most remarkable thing in the animation, however, is the eyes. When the animators but their mind to it, they draw some beautiful, bright, colourful eyes.

Sound
The music in this falls into an olden style theme, mostly Chinese sounding. However, they have their theme, and ending theme that do not fit that theme. And one thing you need to know about Fushigi Yuugi, is if you want to hear more of it's music, be prepared for trumpets. Lots of trumpets.
Anyways, the theme song is fairly slow at first, but then seems to almost have dance feel to it. It's nothing remarkable. The ending theme, however, is a dance song, but also has a fairly sad tone to it, fitting the series well, I feel.
The voices, English and Japanese, I have to mention, are wonderful. I love it in both languages. The voices fit the parts perfectly.

Character
There is a whirlwind of characters. Be prepared to remember some names. The main characters are essentially Miaka, Yui, Tamahome, and Nakago, but you have the supporting cast (that consists of atleast 12 senshi, only including the Suzaku and Seiryuu), and about 13 more characters I can name off the top of my head.
While most characters have well-done development, because of the mass amount of characters, some of these character appear almost personality-less, most notably two of Miaka's senshi, Chiriko and Mitsukake, and two of the Seriyuu senshi, Tomo and Miboshi (I'm not counting Ashitare because he practically never talks, and well... if you want to sure, he has no personality I suppose). Watase herself never really developed these characters, so they continue to suffer, even onto OAV's, and even in their songs. But for the characters she does focus on, they are all very different, and it's not hard to pick a favourite.

Enjoyment
For all the bad things I have said, this series has an amazing fanbase, and I personally think it has high replay value. Everytime you watch the series, you find something you missed, but I remember the first time I saw this, and I was an addict, most literally. I couldn't wait for them to release the next VHS (and boy did they have alot... 14). I know of people that do dislike this series, but for the most part, everyone has something about this they liked, and it usually lies in the characters themselves, particularily the senshi.
C'mon, for a series that spawned so much merchandise, character songs, OAV's, etc, how can it not be enjoyable?
Well yeah, the OAV's aren't enjoyable, but the series itself is fun to watch over and over again.

Overall / My Comments / My Feelings
The story is a bit different from the manga, and justifies this beginning a bit more. Miaka and Yui are pulled in to the book world, but they both return (in the anime, it's only Yui). Miaka gets in an agruement with her mother, and runs back to the library, getting pulled into the book again to set her free of the pressures of her real life. The manga honestly has a stronger beginning, and gives you more sympathy for Miaka as the protagonist.

Even though my above comments aren't the best, this is me looking at it critically. If you don't, and just watch it for enjoyment, I can guarentee anyone who loves the romance genre of anime will like this.

Yes, Miaka and Tamahome can be terribly annoying. They are my least favourite characters after all... But the first time I watched the series, I LOVED those two, it's just been 9 years since my first watching, and I've developed a series dislike for their constant crying for each other.

I know I sound negative, but I do recommend this series to anyone. Anyone. It's a classic, and for it's time, it was an incredibly original plot. (Yes, we know in Inu Yasha that Kagome travels between worlds, however, Fushigi Yuugi predates Inu Yasha quite a few years. Fy being originally published in the '92 region and manga, while Rumiko was making Ranma 1/2 still at that time (she published the first Ranma in '93) so it's not possible that InuYasha could be more original than FY, because it wasn't made at the same time. It's possible Rumiko could have gotten ideas at that point (I can't find the year for InuYasha)).

ANYWAYS, just watch Fushigi Yuugi. I'm going so off track here, because I like talking about how original the series is, and how much I love the characters. (Me? I'm a Tasuki fangirl)

I see this anime has quite good notes, so i think I should add my opinion.

I've seen some anime by now, and I have to tell that they aren't a lot of series that were such a pain to watch like this one. I mean I'm not a big fan of shoujo or romance, but to be honest: it's not the point.

Story isn't bad. I like fantasy, magic, alternative worlds etc. Maybe it's not super duper complicated but I don't have too high expectations either.

Art
Well, let's say Pierrot.
But not Naruto-like, a little bit better than usually. Drawing was like you should expect from ... 13 years old anime. Animation in fights is so-so, scenes are colorful...

Sound
Opening and ending aren't anything special. Soundtrack? I didn't notice, nut maybe it's better.

Characters
It's the biggest vice here. Romance thread is really important here so, unfortunately, we have to cope with main character Miaka all the time. Miaka is an idiot. First she resembled me Usagi form Sailor Moon: she eats a lot, she's cute (but not pretty anyway), but she's even more hopeless and helpless. But it's not a reason to do nothing, right? So Miaka doesn't listen to anybody who ask her to wait or stay somewhere and then she tries to fight enemy alone and then she's captured and then rest of team have to rescue her. It happens over and over a-gain. Miaka is indecisive too. She love Tamahome and wants to spend all her life by his side only to realize taht their relationship is impossible and break up in the next episode. Later they make-up but not for too long. Reasons are always the same. Rest of characters isn't bad, but there's too much of Miaka and her problems in 52 episodes.

Enjoyment: it was a pain. Reason is mentioned above.
Well, my english isn't good enough to express all my feelings, negative I guess, but I think you have to watch it yourself. How you will rate it depends IMO on your gender prefrences and audience's sex.

Before this series, I've only seen harem anime like Tenchi Muyo and things like that. But it was suggested to me that I watch this series by Yuu Watase. I'm so glad I listened.

The main character, Miaka, got a little annoying at times but I thought she was cute with Tamahome. Many watchers, at least the ones I know got sick over how much they were all over each other. But what do you expect? This girl was in a time she wasn't from. She was always attacked or in danger and she had no one else to really turn to. He was the one ... she trusted the most. I thought their relationship was cute.

Her friend, Yui had to calm down though. She went into total pms mode...and for what? Just because Miaka got her crush? And for the times Miaka wasn't able to get to her, it wasn't her fault. Miaka just didn't know how to use her powers...whatever those may be. But I do understand that Yui was also scared....but she was supposed to be the smarter of the two. Didn't she stop to think things through? Or was it because of Nakago? Though his story made me cry....

But anyway, for the harems that these two girls had....

I liked almost everyone in Miaka's group except for Chiriko and Mitsukake. The kid annoyed me and he really didn't do much. Mitsukake was alright but not a favorite. The other guys had life to them and their stories were so sad. T-T But my absolute favorite was Nuriko. He was just too awesome for words. (And too beautiful too xD; )

For Yui's group, it was the twins. Everyone else had pretty much psycho issues.... Nakago was just a conniving evil dude but I'll admit it...he was pretty. xD; Tomo would have been okay but he's way psycho....

The character developments were good in the aspect of each one developing like a life of their own. They weren't all similar but weren't all that extreme either. It was a nice variety among them. And I thought the voices were perfect for each character. Of course I love Hotohori's....his being Koyasu Takehito. (the man does 100's of voices lolz)

The animation was nice, given the time it was created. I always liked hand-drawn as opposed to all the ones done on computer today... -_-;;;;; It just gives the show a different feeling. Especially if the story itself is supposed to be another time, like in the past.

Overall, I think it was a great series. I actually cried at the end! I felt for the characters that were lost. And the story was just great. I loved how the creator utilized legends and made a good romance. Kinda' makes girls wish they could find a book like the "Universe of the Four Gods" (only without all the scary parts xP ).

I would definitely recommend if you're looking for a romance series that's not too depressing but not so bubbly and happy. It has a good amount of everything. Definitely watch!

The most redeeming part of this story is that it does not end with the realization of the protagonists' love of each other. Miaka and Tamahome become involved in a relationship and continue to evolve in that relationship over time. The concept that all interesting life experiences don’t end with falling in love is clearly presented and that is a worthy message.

While this may have been an early form of the 'priestess stolen from another world to save an ancient city' theme, it was by no means the best I have seen. The characters were interesting and had potential, however, the ... main character was clothed in piety in order to hide that she was truly ignorant and selfish. She cried a lot about how people around her got hurt and how she wasn't any good at doing things and then would run off alone, forcing her companions into danger and giving them all kinds of needless obstacles in protecting her. Then, when they acted in a similar fashion she was hurt and confused. If the point is that sacrificing yourself to alleviate your own feelings of guilt and fear is counterproductive and only gets people hurt, then this is a good lesson. But Miaka is only seen as more loving and benevolent after these choices and continues to make them throughout the series. And Miaka’s friends continue to take the brunt of her poor choices.

Yui’s reaction to her struggles was unbelievable. She and Miaka had known each other since kindergarten and still, when it came to believing Miaka, Yui blindly takes the word of a stranger she had known for only a few months? This is instigated because when Yui is taken into the book, she is attacked. She knows how little knowledge and ability that Miaka has and in all the times Miaka was attacked Yui was powerless to help her. Yet, because Miaka didn’t magically come when Yui called her Yui hates Miaka for it. Then, Yui blames Miaka for having people to save her when she entered the world, but the only thing difference between their experiences was that Miaka protected herself against the thugs before she was saved by Tamahome, whereas Yui did not protect herself before Nakago came. Beyond that Nakago never hid is cruelty or manipulation of others from her, so he was obviously not the good guy type. It would have been more believable if they had claimed Yui had been envious of Miaka from the start of their friendship. Either way, the character reactions to almost everything were over dramatized and unrealistic.

Ultimately this anime tried hard, but falls short of anything beyond mediocre entertainment. It reinforces a lot of poor judgments and makes unrealistic conclusions about consequences. But it was not all bad so I gave it a grade of average.

First off, I'm going to start with the fact that I finished this anime, all 52 episodes and I'm still not sure why. I couldn't stand most of the characters, the art is outdated, the story is decent but there are so many stupid tropes and situations that I stopped watching it several times throughout the series.

But I returned to finish it. Why? Because despite the annoying characters, painful voice acting, and dumb tropes, it has a weird sort of charm. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for shows I watched in my childhood (mainly Inuyasha, actually) but I actually enjoyed it.

Main
Fushigi Yuugi is a lukewarm anime series. Obviously compared to the shows of today...but even back then, I can't say that I was as enthralled by it as everyone else. Sure it has it's high points: Lots of action, dramatic tension and bishounen galore...but with all the cheesy canned romantic dialog and all the ill-timed [Sailor Moon-ish] humor seriously detracts from the show's dramatic intensity not to mention, total enjoyment from this show.

Art-Style
I would say say this is the typical 90's style animation...nothing too impressive but it wasn't boring or hideously drawn either. There are a bunch or errors ... and irregularities with the animation with the way things are supposed to move or fall also with the way characters run and pose. And there were definitely some corners being cut during the action scenes with some minor looping and also with freeze frames....not enough to complain about though, as I said this is very typical of animes from the early to mid 90's anime.

Sound
Expect some pretty dated music from this one. One of the BGM used for the some fight scenes actually sounds like the base track from the song “pump up the volume”. Some songs weren't too bad for their time tho, like Chiriko's song and the OP Theme. I actually like the very beginning for the OP because it sounds very majestic and then you see the lead female character [Miaka] all dressed up in her priestess robes looking refined. The show was watched in english and I must say that the voices actors did a really really good job on this show, no one had an annoying voice on this show. Best Voice Award goes to Nakago and definitely to that one creepy gay warrior with that kabuki make-up on his face and all the feathers sticking out of his head.

Story
The story has a good beginning and a great ending....but it kind of sags in the middle. Boring, annoying and definitly irritating with all this back and forth with Miaka and Tomohome. All this break up/Make up...Love me/Don't love me BS, very annoying and it spans too many episodes, like one of those epically annoying battle scene from DBZ that spans 14 – 30 episodes. The other conjoined story lines, like about her and Yui being in the Realm of the Four Gods or the individual dramas of the accompanying seven warriors [or 14 warriors if you count those of the Seiyu Clan] were definitely great and made watching this anime worth it. But also other drawbacks from this story were the excessive chibi use, the screwball Sailor Moon type humor that didn't fit with the high-tension moments and not to mention all the CORNBALL romance lines being used in the show.

Cast/Characters
The bishounen factor is very high [at a very solid 100%] with this series, there is also some SHOUNEN-AI and brief moments of MxM going on up in this anime....so there will be no character complaints coming from me......mmmmmmmmm, well actually Miaka is kind of a do-do head. Anyway they were all drawn very well and looked cute.

Worth it or NOT?
I know many people hold this series in high regard and so those who love it have already bought it. I wouldn't buy this though....for one, I hear Tomohome's name too much. She calls his name like every 5 seconds....and......it's reeeeeeeally annoying! If I played a drinking game based off of how many times I heard her call his name...Tomohome, Tomohome, I'd die of alcohol poisoning!!!

So i started watching this anime and at first i thought "what an interesting show!" i like the story line and season one was pretty decent despite some dragging bits. After season two i almost killed myself, the main characters who seemed to have so much power in the first season suddenly are at the mercy of the over-powerful baddies. The love story really f'd up too they really just needed one reason to not be together instead of all sorts of useless side reasons that are solved so quick. I also hate how one sequence, going from spot A to B takes 4 ... pointless travel episodes with a crap load of foreshadowing and flashbacks, just show me the damn fight!

Despite all this i really invested myself in the show 52 f'ing episodes does that, and i really liked a few characters but of course they aren't in the second season as much and suddenly there is no comedy left! As much frustration as i had while watching ie. yelling at the computer, flipping off the douche bags, and skipping to the good parts. I did enjoy the anime enough to finish all the OVA’s which were better than the whole series!!

You'll notice I rated this anime a 6/10 which I know is lower than what most other people rated it, but that's only because I don't think Fushigi Yuugi is that special of an anime. The story isn't original, the characters are simple, and by the end I was bored of watching.

Story: Miaka was just an ordinary girl until she got sucked into a book and became the priestess of the beast-god Suzaku. Now, in order to fulfill the prophecy, she has to gather the seven warriors of Suzaku in order to save the world and "make all her dreams come true." So the ... anime's driving force is Miaka trying to summon Suzaku, but she can't do it without the seven warriors. When I read the summary of Fushigi Yuugi I thought to myself "finding the seven warriors is probably going to span the entire anime", but actually Miaka finds the warriors surprisingly quick, she finds one right after the other with no filler in between.

However, the biggest problem I have with this anime is all the attention on romance. A lot of the problems the characters face in the anime are solved not with fighting and violence, but with the power of true love. There is some action in the anime, but always the problem they face is ultimately solved with love as in all the characters crying, hugging, and the music getting all soft. Even after the fight is over, Miaka says "I was so worried about you" and then more hugging.

Furthermore, I was shocked how long this anime is, I mean after the main story is over it has three OVA's that total 13 extra episodes! Also, just when I thought Miaka had everything she needed to summon Suzaku, Miaka finds out that she still needs to do something else!

Characters: If you're the kind of person that likes relationships then you'll love this: Miaka loves Tomahome, but their love is forbidden; Hotohori also loves Miaka, but Nuriko loves Hotohori and Nuriko is gay, but Hothori isn't; Yui loves Nakago, but Nakago is just using Yui; Soi also loves Nakago, but Nakago doesn't love her. Do you think you can follow all these love-triangles? Miaka never stops talking about Tomahome, I actually counted once and she said his name almost 30 times in one episode! "I love Tomahome", "I'm worried about Tomahome", "I miss Tomahome." I'm so sick of romance >:(

Furthermore, some of these characters have such flat personalities. Chiriko and Mitsukake barely say anything, the writers basically erased Hotohori, and Miaka has to constantly be rescued. You see in anime's picture Miaka's holding that sword, that sword actually belongs to Hotohori and Miaka doesn't even know how to use it so she's useless in a fight.

Also, it's so obvious that Nakago is just using Yui so whenever Yui talks about destroying Miaka I just scream "Miaka never did anything bad to you, you have no reason to want to destroy her, stop acting crazy!" Seriously, how is that these characters can't tell Nakago is evil, he is pure evil and Yui doesn't seem to notice!

Overall: This anime is for people that like love stories and soap operas, not people like me who like action and adventure. Only watch this anime if you're a big fan romance and if you aren't then don't torture yourself by watching this anime.

i'm giving this anime a 10. it does sound ridiculous coz it's just another fantasy story but this anime made me the fanatic that i am now. for me, this one started it all. Everything about this anime is just right- right amount of comedy, romance, fantasy, underwear exposure, drama, harem...it has everything. i first seen this anime years ago but i just cant help re-watching it over and over again. i even got some of my friends to watch it and i'm not even surprised that they loved it too.

the characters are amazing. making it different from one another, having those skills and each ... characters take and timing were just right. the romace in the story is what's most noticeable. be it the romance between tamahome and miaka or miaka and hotohori and even of yui's and nakago's. it shows the hardships of a couple and how their love get through it all. the love in this anime does not revolve merely around couples, it also shows the love for one's family, friends, comrades and kingdom. the display of powers and skills in every battle is just a plus. just something that would add up to make this anime a masterpiece. it appeals to all kinds of people of all ages. both gender could learn from it. the comedy- for those who doesn't want to be bored i assure you that there is enough punchlines here that will make you laugh. the fight scenes- though not in any tournament or some arena, it does offer some good fights. for the tearjerkers- if crying is your hobby then this anime won't fail you.oh yes, i cried several times too. for the romantics- it doesn't matter whether you're in love, just got out of love, have a one-sided love, super lovey-dovey, secret love even forbidden love i'm sure this anime will get your attention.

what i hate about it though is the main girl miaka. she's too loud and too stupid yet she still get the boys. this is just too unfair.even yui (her bestfriend) will agree to that. sometimes it makes me wonder, maybe ancient china likes stupid girls since they're unique in their own way. haha but infainess to her, no matter how clumsy she is , she always get the job done.

and now it comes down to what i love most...it's the guys of course. they are all beautiful with amazing characters.i love the art in this one. tamahome and hotohori are my ideal men.unfortunately none like that exist in the real world.no wonder miaka want to get back inside that book so much.haha sometimes i wish to be an anime instead because of these guys.haha

well, i just hope that everyone enjoys fushigi as much as i do.

This anime is a bit old but it rivals (is as good as) any romance anime I've watched till now.

Miaka, main character- attractive, cute, honest, caring but annoying, is sucked into an ancient book and found herself in plenty of trouble. Well first, she falls in love with Tamahome. Somehow, Miaka is so hot that even the Emperor is in love with her LOL:) There are some love triangles going on, adding spice to the story.

The (Suzaku) warriors are slowly revealed in an interesting manner. Each has their own tale and attractive personalities. I would say my favourite is Tatsuki- because he adds a lot ... of comedy besides looking soo hot. Also, he initially was rough and sort of a bad guy. Other than Tamahome, he seems to have actual character depth and development out the the 7 warriors.

For the Seiryu warriors, my favourite are the twins. The really livened up the story. As you know, Miaka's best friend, Yui became the priestess of Seiryu and so became enemies with Miaka. However, you'll have to watch the anime to find out why Yui went over to the dark side:) The real bad guy here is Nakago of course- he is smart and manipulative. However, you'll feel sorry for him when you learned of his tragic past.

Since this anime's setting is in ancient China, the surroundings and clothings will be of that. Think Chinese temples, emperors, etc. Each warrior also has a Chinese character on his forehead. Ironically, the villian Nakago's character represents 'heart' ,while the protagonist Tamahome's character means 'demon'.

The story is compelling as it is not the usual 'fight the bad guy, save the world type'. A very important part of the story (other than romance) is about friendship. It is really touching to know after all the bad things Yui did, Miaka still forgives her and retain their frienship.

Overall, the story is great and entertaining. There is a fair bit of fight scenes but violence is kept to a minimum. Lots of drama and suspense moments.
A word of caution: Miaka and Tamahome will proclaim their eternal love for each other multiple times throughout the anime. Translation: there will be a lot of kissing, hugging, etc. Most of the time it's sweet and cute though:)

I’ll start out by saying this: Fushigi Yuugi is not for everyone. It is perhaps the shojoest of the shojo anime series and rivals Nana and Revolutionary Girl Utena. So if you’re female, there’s an 85% chance that the series will appeal to you in some way, shape, or form. If you’re male, there’s an 85% chance that you’ll find the series either boring, slow, redundant, or stupid. If you are male and are in the minority, there’s a chance that you’ll get mocked. I did at Anime Detour.

But honestly, there are worse things that you can admit to ... liking. The show starts out interesting, and most characters catch your interest by immediately creating an instant impression yet hold your interest by being multi-layered. You have to keep watching the show to actually see this, since characters change their personalities so often, and the slow pace means that in order to see their entire self, you can’t pick and choose. The main character, Miaka, may seem a bit naïve at times, but despite her constant dramas with her protectors and with her friend-turned-opponent Yui, she is strong in her own way and able to see the true side of things. She’s a typical teenage girl, but yet is portrayed to be sensible to a degree. Her relationship with Tamahome is like a rollercoaster, and will find a lot of appeal for viewers… and also be the source of ridicule for those who dislike the series *insert drama cry and cues “Get one with it”*. It’s developed so well that it serves as the perfect centerpiece and there are moments where you cry out for the two of them to get through their problems and be together again. It just shows that for a relationship to be perfect, it’s not always peaches and cream.

However, despite the excellent development of the two main characters and most of the secondary characters, there were some characters that seemed to have been shoved in there just for appearance sake and thus weren’t developed very well. Chiriko, Mitsukake, and Miboshi, among others, just simply had a few lines of dialogue or were only featured in a few episodes before they were taken away from the series altogether. It’s worse for a shojo series, especially for the protagonists, since they’re treated as walking dolls rather than individuals with depth.

That said, however, Nakago is simply the perfect villain. Maybe a little boring (not much in the form of diabolical laughter or Gendo Ikari hand gestures here), but he is a complete asshole. And in this shojo series, what better weapon to use than sex? Especially lies about sex. And it’s way better the clichéd ability showed in the ending battle with Tamahome. Honestly, despite him being an asshole, without him, the story would collapse and fall into nothingness. There would be no Seiryu vs Suzaku, Yui vs Miaka, the clash of ideals and the intertwinedness of characters within a faction. The drama would fade away, turning a color-filled clash of drama, determination, and righteousness into something blander than wallpaper paste.

And speaking of battles… though most of them are emotional ones, ones of drama, lies, ideals, broken promises, and obligations to others, the ones that are portrayed are hit-or-miss. You get your clichéd Nakago who’s stronger than everyone, but also ones where the best weapon is your own head rather than a sword or special ability. But what really appeals to me is that every one of these battles has a purpose. It’s to achieve something, and in each one, the only way is forward. You may get sidetracked, but there’s always a twist thrown in so that a whole new series of events start to happen. Battles are not for “moving onto the next opponent” (this isn’t Bleach here) but for starting a whole new series of events. You don’t long for them but you know that another one will be coming up soon as the drama rebuilds back up.

And of course… the plot… ah, yes… yeah… think slow… .hack slow. In order to like this series, you’ll have to put up with it. Keep track of the relationships within both factions amongst all the characters and what they have gone through and what they will go through. It’s a series of thought, angst, happiness, and sadness. You watch it with your heart and mind open, and within one big plot of trying to summon two gods, there are many subplots of why characters are doing what they are doing, and for whom and what they hope to achieve. It’s a story of connectivity, and best taken one disc at a time (though tough luck finding them for cheap if you don’t own them already).

Like I said, it’s not for everyone. The plot is sluggish, it requires lots of concentration, and the same themes cycle throughout the entire series. There are lots of things to keep track of, and you can easily get bored. But the characters (most) are well-developed, the drama keeps you interested, and you’re always wondering what’s going to happen next (presuming you’re interested in the show). Worth giving a shot for at least the first disc. Best to watch this over a course of… several weeks minimum.

Brought to us by the same guy who made Ayashi no Ceres, and basically following the same formula to the point I will reuse text from the review I made for it. It another one of those sappy melodramatic shows that made some impression at their time but were otherwise forgotten fast after several other better shows came about.

Romance is a very specific genre. There is not much variation to how “boy and girl meet” and usually everyone expects the exact same thing to happen in the conclusion. That is why to spice things up, the conditions under which the boy and the girl meet ... or the ordeals they are going through need to be different each time, in order to at least make the world around the otherwise one-track romance to appear interesting.

Take this series for example. We have quite the usual fuss. Naive good girl meets mysterious pretty bad boy and falls in love with it 0.13 seconds after they first meet. Why? Well, she is naive, he is a boy, he is pretty, and apparently being bad is quite fascinating if you spent your life pampered and see this as a way to get wild before you grow old and wither away in boredom with some fat, bald poor business man who cares more about football than you. Ok, I understand; it’s been like that in most corny shoujo and it still sells today no matter the stupidity of the whole deal. For more information, check out the success of frakking Twilight .

STORY SECTION: 6/10
Analysis: Premise 2/2, Pacing 1/2, Complexity 1/2, Plausibility 0/2, Conclusion 2/2

But that is now and this is, what, twenty years ago; a time when romances were to the most part not happening in space, in the past, or in magic fairylands. Very common today, very rare back then. This anime did not receive its fame because of its romance, which to be honest is following the book of corny romances to the letter. It is about the world around that romance.
-Let’s have the girl being the reincarnation of a celestial maiden, whose mystical powers can control the forces of the world.
-Let’s have her knight in shining armor be a super warrior in a magical land and part of her elite followers.
-Let’s have her best friend tuning out to be her worst rival, because fate requests it and because the villain in the show exploits her emotions.
-Let’s add a hundred other people trying to exploit, survive or just have fun with all that.
-Let’s add flashy superpowers. Lots of them.
-And tears. Lots of tears.
-And let’s always end the most important episodes with a cliffhanger.
Yeah, sounds great already.
So I’m not going to lie, the premise of this anime is amazing, despite being so old. You can focus on different aspects to it instead of just seeing it as yet another corny romance (which it is by the way).

But let’s try to see a bit deeper than that and check out some things most fangirls … err… viewers don’t notice. The pacing for example has always been the most overlooked aspect of most stories, being left alone to read books home while bijinism and extravagant are out partying like crazy all night with naivety and suspended disbelief. If this poor champ would be noticed for some weird to imagine reason, he would tell you that this series (as well as most others for the same matter) is suffering from tuberculosis. It has a very formulaic way to present its story, some parts are damn boring, some others are hardly affecting the overall, and the finale is a five year old writing Tolkien fanfiction on a napkin… with its mother’s crayon.

Of course, nobody ever listens to poor old pacing as the fang… fans of such shows are too busy yelling “Kyaaa, Tamahome is so dreamyyyyy!” This example can expand to pretty much any romance by the way, with the only difference being the name yelled. But in some alternative reality of the multiverse where his voice is heard, everyone would agree that the way the story unravels is far from “as dreamy as Tamahome”.
-Most side stories are hardly affecting the overall plot and yet they are there to slow the pacing. Just imagine four teams of warriors, each one having seven members and yet only one or two in each one matter. And the way the fated couple keeps copping with their ordeals looks too silly at best.

But it’s not like the story is complete boinkers either. Its main idea expands further beyond the main duo and shows how circumstances can turn an average person to a savior and charismatic leaders being manipulated by shady people to do things they never intended. It is also full of emo characters with colorful personalities and sappy personal drama along with supernatural fights in the likes of Naruto or Bleach. And to its core, it is still a romance, ideal and corny enough to follow with your ears gone out of order because of the constant screams of those fang… fans of romances.

Bottom line, it is a good story with a messy presentation. It may sound epic at first but it plays out like a soap opera with magic, slapstick humor and mediocre fan service. I consider this anime the forefather of The Twelve Kingdoms, which a decade later managed to gain far more fans by having far more mature presentation (it is was sadly left incomplete).

ART SECTION: 5/10
Analysis: General Artwork 1/2, Character Figures 1/2, Backgrounds 1/2, Animation 1/2, Visual Effects 1/2

Yup, the visuals are as weak as a harem lead next to a pair of panties. All the attempts at showing cinematics seem poor even considering the age they were made. And the character figures have quite simplistic anatomy and facial structure, being separated only by their hair color or clothes. Of course, this being a romance most will probably only care about how pretty the guys and the gals look (or better say the same guy and gal with different wig and uniform) and won’t give a frakk about the awful way they move… or don’t move at all and stay frozen with a flapping mouth. The manga version could get away with its fluent lining and rather stiff body positions but the anime version is guilty as charged.

SOUND SECTION: 7/10
Analysis: Voice Acting 2/3, Music Themes 3/4, Sound Effects 2/3

This part is rather ok. Voice acting is fine (considering how annoyingly sappy the characters are meant to sound) and the songs are ok to listen to many times without feeling fed up with them. At the same time, there is nothing amazing about it either.

CHARACTER SECTION: 7/10
Analysis: Presence 1/2, Personality 1/2, Backdrop 1/2, Development 2/2, Catharsis 2/2

The cast is actually quite interesting on paper as there is a plethora of different people with different goals and demeanors and most of them do change or mature or simply get killed. As far as variety goes, there is lots of it and their behaviors are very well excused through their backdrop stories.

What ruins it is the way they mature / develop, etc. It feels generic in the least and eventually it is all about following what the priestess said. A monologue by some good guy is enough to change one’s worldview immediately while inhuman villains try to look sympathetic to us ten minutes before they kick the bucket. I’m sorry; it’s too sudden to mean anything. As it is with all those characters who seem to matter for one or two episodes and afterwards become nothing but stunts in the team and stall time in the battles.

Some minor bickering can be said about the main characters as well for being to the most part irritating stereotypes. They do eventually develop of course but considering the amount of air time they get, it feels slow and vein popping to the most part.
-Miaka for example has nothing special to remember her about. She is aloof and frail when it comes to some hunk near her. She either gets saved by pretty boys or gets super powerful when they are not around; so she survives no matter what happens. She also has a real problem in staying dressed or not being chased around by rapists every ten minutes. And lol at her superpowers going away if she is no longer a virgin; this alone guarantees her purity remaining intact for the whole show.
-Tamahome is to the most part the stereotypical hunk the heroine is after from the first second they met. He is simply so blunt in whatever he is doing and even most of that has to do with running after Miaka or desperately trying not to deflower her although he really digs her ass.
-Yui is basically the evil side of Miaka, manipulated by the villain who is basically an evil Tamahome. That’s right, the main antagonists are the dark counterparts of the heroes. What, you expected something more? Anyways, Yui is also a blockhead for becoming her best friend’s nemesis for something she never did. Furthermore, how much of an idiot can you be for not knowing if you got raped or not?

VALUE SECTION: 3/10
Analysis: Historical Value 1/3, Rewatchability 1/3, Memorability 1/4

Um, not much. It is ok the first time you watch it, with those cliffhangers constantly making you yearn for more. But the second time you will most likely skip most of it, since to the most part it plays out as a corny shoujo with corny shounen action. And the premise in general has been used numerous times in later shows with better animation; so tough luck even there.

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 1/10
Analysis: Art 0/1, Sound 0/2, Story 1/3, Characters 0/4

Good concept, bad pacing, bad animation, irritating personalities. Gets 1 out of 4. But if you are one of those Banshees, you will like it a looooooot more.
“Tamahomeeee!”

VERDICT: 5/10

SUGGESTION LIST
The Twelve Kingdoms
Vision of Escaflowne

I found this anime to be very romantic and adventureous at the same time. Not many anime could pull this off but Fushigi Yuugi did. The Main character Miaka Yuuki seems annoying but this made the stroy more enjoyable in a strange way. Thamahome and Hotohori is the guys Miaka loves, They both are eye cany for those girl that like anime men.The story also tells the bond between two childfriend miaka and yui Hongo.

I love this anime becuase of the well develop characters and the love that develop between both people from two different world.I would recommend this anime to both romantic and adventure ... lovers.

Fushigi Yuugi was one of the cartoon shows I watched in AXN when I was a kid. It was fun to watch but now I'm older, I have a different perspective. The art and animation was ok. The fighting scenes are ok as well but the problem lies within the main character of the show.

Miaka Yuki:

She is greedy, stupid, coward, crybaby. Everytime when she wants to rescue Yui, she always thinks of Tamahome. She keeps saying "Tamahome! Tamahome!" many times until I got tired of it. Just like characters keep saying the name of a person who he or she loves like Yuka Minase from ... 11eyes, Orihime Inoue from Bleach. She also becomes vulnerable in situations and becomes the damsel in distress. She always do not want to accept the difficulties in life and she easily cries all the time.

I really just don't understand why the characters like Miaka.

So because of her, she screwed the whole show for me and I am not going to watch it again. As a note, I really hate whiny and crybaby anime characters like her. If you enjoy the series, that's cool. But I just couldn't dwell in it.

My opinion on fushigi yuugi is that it was a very good anime to watch. The plot was a very good plot with a good romance triangle between miaka, tamahome, and hotohori. Personally I think that miaka could have been given a better power and actually do a little more fighting and defending her self a little bit more because the suzaku seven where always fighting for her even saving her. but that is just my opinion. Overall I loved this anime it must be one of my most favourite animes off all off the ones i have seen so far (and i can tell ... you now i have watched a lot).

Trigger Warning:
This show has multiple scenes of attempted rape. They're not explicitly showed, but it does hint that attempts happened/tried to happen.

As cute of a show it looks on the outside, it can get pretty dark, which is why I put the warning up first.

Aside from that-
I didn't think I would enjoy this much because based on the cover art, it looks like a reverse harem. Most of the reverse harems I've seen have not had that great of stories, and are more for fanservice.

But this show wasn't a reverse harem (or not emphasized to be). Thank god! A few characters do ... crush on our main girl, but it's not focused on those aspects. Cool, she's surrounded by handsome guys, but the anime focuses more on the plot and developing the characters individually rather than trying to use the main heroine as a way to show themselves. And most of the guys aren't trying to flirt with her or anything.

One of the best things about this show were the characters. A lot of them were really likable and I even found myself sympathizing with some of the opposing characters too.

I think because a lot of stuff happens in the show, that the story is constantly evolving and moving forward that it may feel 'rushed' for some people. Compared to other shows I've recently seen where 2 opponents will spend the whole 20 minutes staring each other down in a battle or thinking "ah what do i do", this show mostly goes straight to the action. I like it this way, since I never felt bored.

The music was a bit weird for my taste, but fair. The saxophone part in one of the 'emotional' or 'deep' songs always had me cackling because it felt out of place lol

Animation was done pretty good for its time. I had no problems with the animation until Episode 41. Starting in Episode 41, the animation started looking a bit weird and lazy, like you could tell they were re-using some of the same sequences. Most notably in Episode 41, the figures of Miaka and Tamahome are so distorted and exaggerated that it was HILARIOUS (you'll see what i mean when you get to that episode).

So yes, after Episode 41, the animation goes a bit downhill but it's not bad that you need to drop it. It's still worth the watch.

Overall, I did enjoy the show. Only dislike was Miaka's personality sometimes, but alas she's only 15 years old lol

Other than that, I think it'll be a good show to watch for laughs and an interesting plot.

If you like bishounen, romance, love triangles and humour then Fushigi Yuugi has it all.
It has plenty of characters all different and with their own goals but all share one common goal.
Once I began watching this anime, it easily had me hooked.
Both dubbs are good in my opinion :).
Miaka can at times be a bit dense but her character makes up with the silly but amusing humour.
I would recommend if you like romantic endings. :)

This is a story about a girl who is chosen to be able to change the world she is in and go to ancient China. there she meets a man named Tamahome whom she falls in love with. But, everything that happens to her in Ancient China happens to her best friend Yui. Although I haven't watched everything of it, I love it!

Story: 10/10- The story is unique and filled with humour and romance. The main character gets transported through time with her best friend at first but then she is left all alone in an unknown world. When her best friend gets sent ... back to the present world she begins to read a book. Everything that she reads in that book happens to the main character.

Art: 6/10- The art work in in no way shabby, it's just not modern. it is obvious that this anime art style is from the 1990's. But even though its old it is still clear what is happening on screen.

Sound: 6/10- The voice acting can sound a bit sarcastic at time due to how the voice actors are trying to sound shocked but it isn't to bad. I hardly notice the music in the background but it is appropriate and good.

Enjoyment: 10/10- This anime was definitely one of my favourites! It is hilarious and has romance! It is my ideal anime to watch.

Overall: 10/10- I definitely recumbent this anime to you! I think you will have a great time watching it!