This is a review that I wrote on mangafox some years ago, under my username 'lady_ribbon". The reason I'm posting it here is because its still so true. (Some parts have been slightly edited).
I have heard a lot about this manga, mostly from raving, insane fangirls who can't type or use punctuation properly. Despite that, I wanted to read it since I love historical anime/manga, and this one seemed really popular.
I was so positive I would love it to pieces.
I was utterly wrong.
I have read all 18 volumes, watched the anime fully, and the O.V.A's. I'll keep my ranting to the manga though, since this
...
is where the original story comes from.
Let's begin, shall we?
1) The BASIC plot sounds really good. Girl gets sucked into a magical book, becomes part of the story, has to find some warriors, call something, save the world blah, blah, blah.
It was not carried out well at all.
2) The main character Miaka is one of the worst, if not the worst female 'hero' (and I use that word very lightly) I have ever seen. She's weak, useless, clingy, a glutton, annoying, dumb, prone to falling in love after five seconds, only cares about her boyfriend "Tamahomeee!!!", and shallow as hell too. And I think she's a bit on the slutty side as well, from lines and mannerisms such as, "If Tamahome and I could have been in the normal world, we could have had a normal relationship like any other High School student."
...Right. We all know what she means by that.
Yet despite all this nonsense, almost every single guy falls in love with her just for the sake of a reverse harem and to live up to that theme. There's barely anything to like about her, if anything at all. Even her looks (which aren't important to begin with) aren't anything to go raving mad about.
3) Rape, rape, RAPE. No matter how you type it, it's too much, and almost has a standing of being over-glorified and taken too lightly in manga. Especially in Shoujo manga. But honestly...How much attempted rape is there? It's gets so old after the first ten or so times. And even then the Suzaku Seven want to do it with Miaka. It's so annoying. They're human beings, not a bunch of bloody rabbits. Keep it in your pants (or panties) good people!
4) When there is supposed to be a serious scene in the manga, it's always ruined by the chibis. Always.
Even some other scenes that shouldn't have chibis are utterly ruined by them. The humor is atrocious, and it comes in at really bad moments, in all the wrong places. It makes it incredibly hard to take the moment/tragedy/sob scene seriously.
5) Almost everyone at the end of the manga DIES, and it's Miaka's fault, but of course they all fall down and worship her like a friggin' god or something, and spew bullshit like "Omg she liek, totally tried her best!!", "She waz s0 brave!!!", And also, all they did was fall in love with her (for what reason I'm still trying to understand), and say “You’re a brave little girl, you have it so tough.”
Yeah, tell that to the massacred farmers. But as usual, no one cares about unimportant characters whose job it is to fill up the world and haul up potatoes by the thousand to stuff annoying, useless schoolgirls.
6) I could give the romance problems in this manga it's own section, but I'll chop it down for you out of the goodness of my heart.
The romance is so unrealistic in every sense of the word. It moves WAY to fast. It has no buildup. Tamahome and Miaka meet for about five seconds, and then BAM! they love each other like it's damn magic. This is not Harry Potter people, so even spells can't save the poor love-plot. All Miaka thinks about is Tamahome -that is to say, she lives, breathes, eats, dreams...You get it- and she hardly knows him. I actually hate Tamahome because he's so perverted and unrealistic. Wait, I hate almost all of them. I only like(d) Nakago because he wants to kill them all, Nuriko before he liked Miaka, and Hotohori...At least he had some depth, and I felt sorry for him.
7) The character deaths happen, but somehow it always seems a little fake. When I say fake I mean it's really put-on. And once they die, it's like "Oh he died...Who was he? Well, whatever." Like when Tamahome's siblings died, all he could think about was Miaka. I mean...Really Tamahome? You're thinking about a girl you barely know over siblings who you have lived with and loved for YEARS? None of the manga deaths in this series were like others I've read about. Not.Even.One.
8) The manga is so soap-opera-ish,and melodramatic, that I can see why teen or tween girls like it.
9)Two other anime/light novels that are a little similar to Fushigi Yuugi are Saiunkoku Monogatari (which is a reverse harem, tons of guys, takes place in ancient China) and 12 Kingdoms (about a girl who is taken to another world, and made Empress/King). People who have watched Fushigi Yuugi and then watch either of these animes or both have actually said how they couldn't believe they watched F.Y and they thought it was utter crap after reading these. I think the main difference is that both the girls in these stories are amazing. They're strong, kick butt, are very smart, mature without being slutty.They have their faults, but their faults are realistic, and they both continually mature. Both the series have a wonderful cast of characters, storyline, adventure,mystery....And in Saiunkoku the romance is really done well. It takes time, and it's not sick or disgusting. The funny moments are well done too. 12 kingdoms is more serious,and it's not romantic unless you squint, and it really delves more into the adventure, and struggles of being a ruler. A more juvenile example would be Magic Knight Rayearth. Three girls taken to another world who *gasp* are the furthest thing away from useless, stupid and annoying, though they're all imperfect! But on the other hand, it's done by Clamp so of course it would be done well. Not to mention the plot...
Everyone in these three series for example is so well fleshed out and given their own unique personality and really grow as characters so much so that you can really understand them, and the choices they make, and what made them the people they are today, regardless of whether they are the hero or villain.
10) Thoughts form other sources that I agree with
The characters of Fushigi Yuugi are so uninspired that it really works against them. I found that much (or rather, all) of the main cast did not strike me as endearing. None of them really had something that makes you want to root for them along the course of the story. What makes it worse is the size of the cast. Why make it so large when only two characters matter, and you never truly flesh out everyone else unless you give them a quick and stupid story?
Miaka ignores the advice of those wiser than her (i.e. everyone) and dashes off to act on her own plans countless times. This usually results in the deaths of some innocents, soldiers, villagers, children, you name it, they die. By the end of the story, she’s responsible for the deaths of thousands, because she has to do things her way.
More times than I could count, this series fell into several pitfalls that romantic stories fall into. There is a big difference between someone saying they love you and someone showing that they love you. It takes effort for someone to show love, not a whole lot, but when that effort is used it hits dramatic gold. Instead we get unexplained events, awkward jokes, fan service, plot holes and other slipped-up script devices. I kept thinking that there was some essence of love in this production that would show up some time and completely blow me away. It never came.
This is a product that could have been sky-high, but since it lacked the proper foundations of good storytelling, it collapsed upon its own ideas; a pretty little rubble heap.
11) As I state below, I dislike the author's other works as well. What I did not say before (and one comment sure to burn in the hearts of those ardent fans) is that this author, this Yu Watase - is like the Stephenie Meyer of the manga world. She truly, truly is.
Before you scream at me (as you surely will) here's why I think why.
Yu Watase has these plots which sound good in a summary, horrible in story. She writes and makes the main female characters so useless and truly annoying and frustrating. (Bella anyone?) The romance always makes the girl seem pathetic, clingy, have-to-be-protected, second to the male, damsel in distress. (Edward/Bella!) The love triangles make everyone fall helplessly in love with the main female lead for no apparent reason other than to give the main male some competition, and the story something interesting. (Edward/Bella/Jacob people.) The characterization sucks. All the guys are pretty boys, the girls pretty average. (Sparkly vampy's and hunky wolves anyone?) The female characters in the story can ALWAYS be guaranteed to trip and fall.
Possibly the most important and immediately noticeable similarity is the fact that these stories are so incredibly popular for GIRLS/WOMEN, still get talked about a lot, are undeserving of the praise, and are often bashed by critics. (Which is deserving.)
The similarities go on and on and on.
In conclusion -
Like I said before, I truly dislike the author's other works too. She seems to recycle her characters, and there is always super-fast-drive-through-romance, among other awful things. Even her so called brilliant art style is nothing to talk about compared to others.
Everything truly sucks, and sucks really bad.
For all the hype it gets, it really, really, really is horrible.
Happy(?) reading!
(Here are the scores for story, art, character, enjoyment and overall).
★ Story (3)
★ Art (6)
★ Character (2)
★ Enjoyment (2)
★ Overall (2)
Do not suffer through this series. Please save your sanity and think of the massacred farmers who were killed by a stupid glutton.
If you want a wonderful, well written fantasy series about a girl taken to another world, check out -
- Red River (manga)
- From Far Away (manga)
- Magic Knight Rayearth (manga, anime)
- 12 Kingdoms (books, anime)
- Inuyasha -though it DOES drag on and the anime is full of fillers- (manga, anime)
Now THESE are worth it and won't leave you with a bad aftertaste in your brain.
 Alternative TitlesSynonyms: Mysterious Play, Curious Play Japanese: ふしぎ遊戯 More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 18
Chapters: 106
Status: Finished
Published: May 1992 to Jul 1996
Demographic:
Shoujo
Serialization:
Sho-Comi Authors:
Watase, Yuu (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #21032 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #767
Members: 23,472
Favorites: 974 Resources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 11 / 12
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Nov 7, 2012
This is a review that I wrote on mangafox some years ago, under my username 'lady_ribbon". The reason I'm posting it here is because its still so true. (Some parts have been slightly edited).
I have heard a lot about this manga, mostly from raving, insane fangirls who can't type or use punctuation properly. Despite that, I wanted to read it since I love historical anime/manga, and this one seemed really popular. I was so positive I would love it to pieces. I was utterly wrong. I have read all 18 volumes, watched the anime fully, and the O.V.A's. I'll keep my ranting to the manga though, since this ... 
Jan 6, 2008
I cannot believe that no one has yet submitted a review on this multi level, multi themed, multi quality manga. Because I feel it to be necessary, I am going to separate this review into two halves; two reviews. One for what was meant to be the series (1-13) and one for what became of the series (14-18)
My ratings are actually based on this first review; the main series itself. First off, the story is astounding; my favourite to date. It was original and intriguing, emotional and inspirational, gripping and not predictable. It worked on several levels, allowing it to appeal to a wider audience than ... 
Apr 27, 2008
First of, (This is one of my favorite manga and lets just say I Rated everything outstanding.)
A review for the main story, (Volumes 1-13) Story: The story revolves around Miaka a stubborn, gluttonous and most of the time a whin'er high school girl. While in the library she got sucked and literally transported back in ancient China. She learned that in order to get back to the real world she must become the priestess of Suzaku. As being a priestess her task is to gather her celestial warriors and summon the beast god to save the country in brink of catastrophe. She will then be ... 
Apr 16, 2009
I've finished reading the manga (although I'm quite sure I haven't finished the anime (but yes, I know the anime ending, and the gist of the OVAs...well the 2nd in particular). Though I would just looove to read Tasuki's backstory (written by someone else than Watase-sensei though)...
Well, what do I say? I sometimes wished that I could be like Miaka and get sucked into some fantastical "other universe" just to escape reality..but then, who hasn't, even just once? Especially if you get to meet quite a few good-looking young men along the way, and end up having not only 2 of them falling in love ... 
Aug 16, 2009
Coming from someone who usually reads more gory, twisted stuff, I gotta say, this is one of the best mangas I've read lately. While I couldn't give it perfect tens all across, it is DEFINITELY a great manga, especially to someone who's new to it. And here are some breif reasons why.
1.) The overall story. While the plot is sort of shojo-cliche (average school girl ets sucked into different world and given a great responsibility), it has a lot of good twists. Like, REALLY good. I would find myself thinking "wow...that was stupid..." and then reading on to realize that whatever happened was actually ... 
Mar 29, 2011
It took me a while to start reading this just because I didn't think I would find it interesting. If there is an anime version made of the manga, I usually like to watch it before reading the manga, but as the anime seemed a bit dull, I forgot all about it. However, last month I found myself without a manga to read and I got a hold of Fushigi Yuugi volume 1. As there was nothing better to do I decided to give it a try.
I didn't get captivated at first, it took me about a week to read the first volume but then ... 
May 25, 2010
I fell in love with this shoujo manga, I truely think everything about it is just beautiful. I artwork is perfectly drawn, there's intresting characters, and the plot is very intresting. For a shoujo, it won me a shounen fan as one.
Oct 17, 2011
Note: This review is only for Part 1 (Volumes 1-13) The author intended it to end here, and it shows. Part 2 was written due to fan demand, and it shows. It definitely feels like a tacked on afterthought. Now, onto the review...
I think this is one of the best shoujo manga out there. It takes the basic plot bones of a shounen manga: Teenager faced with epic quest and who must defeat ultimate evil, adds romance and manages to turn it into a beautiful, gripping shoujo manga. Art: The art is very 90's, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Unlike a lot of ... 
Oct 1, 2013
Fushigi Yuugi has been my favorite eversince my elementary school days and up until now, i am surprised that im still engaged to this eventhough i am in my twenties ;).
I have finished the anime and OVA's and started reading the manga after reading the Fushigi Yuugi : Genbu Kaiden. Suddenly, i feel the rush to read the manga itself (i was not planning to since ive watched the episodes). Though there's only little difference than the anime, it seems like it gives me the same feelings. I guess, even if i watch it over and over again or even read, it'll give me the ... 
Jan 14, 2021
After nearly two years of reading this series I have finally finished! Starting when I bought the first volume at my library to reading half of it online, scrambling to find later chapters, and ultimately just buying the vizbig versions. Through this series I have concluded that Yuu Watase is one of my favorite manga authors. Her works are stunning in terms of art and the stories are always so interesting, well planned out, and dramatic. Fushigi Yuugi is considered “The Mysterious Play” and from the start, all the way to the end, Watase does not let up once on the adventures and angst of
...
May 24, 2016
I absolutely LOVE this manga and the anime. This as got to be my favorite story of all times. There is an excellent plot line, plot twists, and characters you can't help but fall in love with <3! Themes of romance and friendship are highly evident. Some of the plot twists in here absolutely broke my heart. :'( RIP guys... The story takes place in the present when Miaka is a middle schooler who loves food, and has a older brother and a mother (where's her father, idk?). Miaka is best friends with her childhood friend Yui. When the two girls go to the library
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