Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play, also known as Curious Play, is a Japanese manga series
written and illustrated by Yuu Watase.
Shogakukan published Fushigi Yûgi in Shōjo Comic in its original serialized form from
May 1992 through June 1996.
Viz Media released the manga series in English in North America starting in 1999.
Spanning eighteen volumes, Fushigi Yûgi tells the story of two teenaged girls, Miaka and
Yui, who are pulled into "The Universe of the Four Gods", a mysterious book at the National
Library.
It is loosely based on four mythological creatures of China.
The series became very popular and was later adapted into a 52 episode anime series by
Studio Pierrot.
The series originally aired from April 6, 1995 through March 28, 1996 on the anime satellite
channel Animax and the regular cable channel TV Tokyo.
The anime series was followed by three Original Video Animation releases, with the first having
three episodes, the second having six, and the final OVA, Fushigi Yûgi Eikoden, spanning
four episodes.
A thirteen volume Japanese light novel series also followed Fushigi Yûgi.
The novels were published by Shōgakukan from January 30, 1998 to September 26, 2003.
On October 25, 2003, Watase began releasing a prequel to the manga series, Fushigi Yûgi
Genbu Kaiden.
Plot
The series describes the various trials of Miaka Yūki and Yui Hongo, two Middle-school
students.
While at the library one day, Miaka and Yui encounter a strange book known as The Universe
of the Four Gods.
Reading this book transports them into the novel's universe in ancient China.
Yui is transported back to the real world almost immediately, but Miaka finds herself
the Priestess of Suzaku.
Miaka is destined to gather the seven Celestial Warriors of the god Suzaku in order to summon
Suzaku and obtain three wishes.
She falls in love with the Celestial Warrior Tamahome, who eventually reciprocates and
Miaka's desire to use a wish to enter the high school of her choice begins to shift
towards finding a way to be with Tamahome.
Yui is also drawn into the book when she tries to help Miaka to come back to the real world;
becoming the Priestess of Seiryuu, working against Miaka out of jealousy over Tamahome
and revenge for the humiliation and pain she had suffered when she first came to into the
book's world.
Media Manga
Written and illustrated by Yuu Watase, Fushigi Yûgi originally appeared in serial form in
the monthly manga magazine Shōjo Comic.
It premiered in the May 1992 issue and ran for over four years, with the final chapter
appearing in the June 1996 issue.
The series was simultaneously published in eighteen collected volumes by Shogakukan,
with new volumes being released on a quarterly schedule.
In 1992, Viz Media licensed the manga for an English language release in North America.
The series was originally released in a flipped trade paperback format, starting in August
1998.
Several characters have both Japanese pronunciations and Chinese pronunciations.
In 1998 Watase visited the United States and met with Viz staff members at their San Francisco
headquarters.
Viz kept the original Chinese names of characters at the request of Watase.
Bill Flanagan, the editor of the English version, asked Watase if he should use the Chinese
names for popular characters such as Tai Yi-Jun and she also asked for the Chinese names to
be used there.
The characters with names remaining in Japanese in the English version are the characters
such as Tamahome who have Japanese pronunciations of ancient constellations; there was never
any intention of them having Chinese names.
This caused some confusion for fans as the anime version uses the Japanese names.
For example, in the manga, Hotohori's country is named "Hong-Nan" rather than the "Konan"
found in the anime series.
After eight volumes, Viz stopped publication of Fushigi Yûgi, reviving it in June 2003
when it released the first two volumes in unflipped standard manga size volumes.
The remaining volumes were released on a quarterly schedule, including the remaining ten volumes.
The final volume of the series was released in April 2006.
The dates and ISBN numbers given for the first eight volumes in the table on the link above
are for the second edition releases.
Viz also serialized Fushigi Yûgi in their manga anthology magazine, Animerica Extra,
starting with the October 1998 debut issue and running until the December 2004 issue,
the magazine's final issue.
In January 2009, Viz is slated to re-release the series as part of their "VIZBIG" line,
which usually combines two or three individual volumes of the original release into a single,
larger volume.
Anime
Produced by Studio Pierrot, the fifty-two episode Fushigi Yûgi anime series premiered
on Animax and TV Tokyo on April 6, 1995.
The series aired weekly, until the final episode that was aired on March 28, 1996.
The series was licensed for English-language release to Region 1 DVD and VHS format by
Geneon Entertainment, then named Pioneer, under the expanded title "Fushigi Yûgi: The
Mysterious Play."
It has been suggested that Geneon chose to license the series based on its popularity
among the fansub community.
The main series was released in eight individual volumes and as two box sets, the "Suzaku"
and "Seiryū" sets.
Media Blasters license-rescued the series, and released the first season to DVD on June
19, 2012.
Season 2 will be released on February 12, 2013.
Original video animations
Following the anime adaptation three original video animation works appeared.
The first, spanning three episodes, takes place a year after the events of the main
series and has no ties to the original manga.
It was released to DVD on October 25, 1996.
The second OVA, which has 6 episodes, animates the last four volumes of the manga series
that had been left out of the main series.
The episodes were split across two volumes, with the first released May 25, 1997, and
the second coming over a year later on August 25, 1998.
The final OVA, Fushigi Yûgi Eikoden, spans four episodes and is based on two of the light
novels written by Megumi Nishizaki.
Released on December 21, 2001, it focuses on a new character, Mayo Sakaki, a sixteen-year-old
girl who attends Yotsubadai High School.
Upon finding "The Universe of the Four Gods" in a trash bin at the park, Mayo soon discovers
that the story remains incomplete.
In the unfamiliar world of the book, Mayo must come to terms with her own life and the
unhappiness within it.
Geneon Entertainment also licensed the OVAs for Region 1 DVD release.
The first two OVAs were released together in a set titled "Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious
Play OVA".
Fushigi Yûgi Eikoden was released as a single disc volume.
The OVAs were released with similar packaging as the main series, to give them a consistent
look.
All three OVA series have also been re-licensed by Media Blasters.
Novels Over a series of five years, Megumi Nishizaki
wrote thirteen Japanese light novels based on Fushigi Yûgi.
Illustrated by Yuu Watase, Fushigi Yûgi Gaiden primarily explores the lives the various Celestial
Warriors before they are seen in the manga.
The only two novels to be set after the manga, Eikō Den and Eikō Den, later became the
basis for the third Fushigi Yûgi original video animation, Fushigi Yûgi Eikoden.
Originally published by Shogakukan, none of the novels have been licensed for English
release.
Video game Idea Factory released a Sony PlayStation 2
video game based on the Fushigi Yûgi series called Fushigi Yûgi: Suzaku Ibun.
It was released in Japan on May 29, 2008 on the PlayStation 2, and is available in regular
and limited editions.
Reception THEM Anime Reviews preferred the manga to
the anime, criticizing the latter's production values, repetitious dialogue, and reuse of
footage in flashback episodes.
DVD Verdict criticized the "convoluted" plot and "nonsensical" dialogue.
Another review noted that although Miaka "makes out with her boyfriend quite a bit", the climax
is "of the heart and soul", despite the many battles that the characters go through.
Her strength and belief in herself give her the strength and courage to change the world.
Drazen considers the humour in Fushigi Yûgi to be based on super deformed caricatures
and therefore strange to Western audiences.
Winnie Chow of Animerica was disappointed by the ending of the anime adaptation, finding
the final battle that resolves the series to be "lame at best" that left her cheering
more for Nakago than the "good guys".
Throughout the series, she notes that the scenes between Miaka and Tamahome became "increasingly
sickening" and "overdone".
Fushigi Yûgi Eikoden was panned by THEM Anime Reviews, which considered the animation to
be its only strong point.
In particular, the reviewer found the new main character to be unlikeable.
See also
Ao no Fūin, a manga series based on the same legends.
References
External links Fushigi Yûgi
Official Viz Media Fushigi Yûgi manga series site
Official Studio Pierrot Fushigi Yûgi anime series site
Fushigi Yûgi at Anime News Network's encyclopedia Fushigi Yûgi at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
Fushigi Yûgi Unofficial list of characters OVAs
Official Studio Pierrot site for Fushigi Yûgi Eikoden
Fushigi Yugi Eikoden at Anime News Network's encyclopedia