Well I just watched the entirety of the anime. I thought I'd give my thoughts on it and see who else here has seen it and what they think.
1. So my first thought...
NURIKO!!!!!!!!
It wasn't fair... I knew from early on he died but it didn't stop me from crying. In fact..this show made me shed mot ears than any other anime I'v eever seen. First Tamahome's family than Nuriko than Chiriko and then Hotohori. Ugh, I'm cried out.
2. I support thoroughly Hotohori x Nuriko.
3. Why people at Anime News Netowrk hated on this dub is beyond me. Sure I didn't much like Miaka's VA and even David Hayter (Tamahome) delivered some lines poorly but it was still solid. I wouldn't expect anything less from a main cast consisting of Kirk Thornton, David Hayter and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.
4. Did there seem to anyone else to be a cyclical nature to Tamahome's and Miaka's relationship? It seemed at any given time one of them, usually the latter, was proclaiming "no we can't be together" and maybe tried to run away. Then a few eps went by and they forget about it.
5. My sympathy was sorely tested by Yui and Suboshi. I understand they both went through a lot and so I felt bad for them usually but sometimes I just wanted to punch them.
Well those are my main thoughts at this time... I'll add more later maybe. I just wanna hear what others think. Did you watch the dub? Your favorite character?
I watched it years ago, renting a disc at a time from Netflix, so I can't go into specifics, I don't even remeraber character names anymore, I just remeraber that I didn't really love it. If there weren't 6 episodes per disc, allowing me to get it over with rather quickly I probably would have dropped it.
Too much dissonance between the melodrama and the slapstick, the melodrama eventually got under my skin. I know I also didn't like how the "rape" plot point was handled, I can't remeraber specifics anymore but it seemed an excessive shock development for a show that also featured many light and wacky comedy moments.
And I have to admit now that I guess I do have a bit of a prejudice against bishounen series. I guess I just end up getting tired of the pretty young boys.
The actual story was pretty interesting though. A good fantasy epic. Enter a book, collect your champions, defeat the dark goRAB or whatever exactly it was.
Yeah, that was the saddest moment for the series for me as well
I heard about Nuriko's death before I watched the series, but I didn't think that it would happen the way that it did. It was so sad and surprisingly dark for this series. Although, the whole second half of the series was much darker than the first half. Nuriko's death, the ending to the series and the ending to the first OVA are the only times I cried while watching Fushigi Yugi. I also cried when Tamahome was mourning over his family.
I thought that most of the voices were fine for each of the characters and that acting was pretty good. Tamahome's voice in the series and the first two OVAs sounRAB much better to me than how he sounded in the third OVA though.
I wouldn't describe that aspect of their relationship as cyclical. The whole "We can't be together" and then running away was a way to add more conflict and drama into their relationship. It would have been dull and impossible if they went through all of the events completely sure that they would be together. There were a lot of factors that did prevent them from being together, such as Miaka being a priestess and Tamahome coming from a different world.
I honestly felt more sympathy for Amiboshi than Suboshi and he came off as a much more interesting character. It would have been nice if he had been the last Celestial Warriors of Suzaku since he was more interesting to me than Chiriko was. I was more annoyed with Yui for the majority of the series, but I did feel bad for her when it was revealed that Nakago was taking advantage of her emotional state for his benefits.
I actually have the whole series, including the three OVAs, on DVD. It's a really fun show. I love the fantasy element of getting into another world through a book and collecting these warriors in order to summon a god. The love between Miaka and Tomahome was also pretty sweet to me. I can understand why people would see it as melodramatic and it is at times, especially with similar conflicts in their relationship coming up throughout the series. Still, by a certain point, probably around the end of the second half, it was clear how they truly do love each other, which was pretty sweet to me.
As for the seven warriors of Suzaku, most of them were pretty cool. My favorite character of the whole series is Tasuki. I just love how he has such a tough kind of attitude, but he's really a sensitive person whose devastated when some of his frienRAB die. Plus, I love how he throws fire through his iron fan. Most of the other warriors had sad backstorys, especially Hotohori and Nuriko, which made them more interesting characters. Most of the characters do receive some nice character development as well.
One of the problems that I had with the series was that Mitsukake and Chiriko didn't stand out nearly as much as the other warriors did. Even though Mitsukake did have a useful power and a fairly sad backstory, I didn't think that he did another that rememorable after he joined the group. I feel the same about Chiriko. The way that they found him was a nice little twist and it did provide some conflict for the second half of the series, but he didn't do much of anything else. I'm sure part of that was because he was the youngest meraber and couldn't really fight like the others, but it still would have been nice if he was more useful.
I did feel sad for them when they died, especially Chiriko considering the amount of pain he was in. Though, the fact that the most screentime Chiriko had was when he was dying makes me think that he was really underdeveloped. As with Mitsukake, his death was sad, but I didn't feel nearly attached to him as I did with Nuriko.
Even though I enjoyed the series, I thought that the second half was a tad too dark at times. There were a few episodes where Miaka thought she was raped and then it felt like everyone was trying to take advantage of her. I honestly thought that part was a bit much and that it dragged on a bit too long for my taste.
The OVAs were a nice way to wrap up where the series left off. Though, I really could have done without Eikoden
Mayo comes off as a completely unlikable character. She spent so much time trying to separate Taka from Miaka, despite the fact that they were happily married with their first child on the way, and she was a jerk to everyone else in this OVA. Her sudden realization that she did something wrong in the last episode just felt weak, as did everyone, even Taka and Miaka forgiving her for what she did. While it was kind of sad that she felt so alone with her parents getting a divorce, that didn't really make me sympathize with her by the end of the OVA. Though, even without Mayo, the story itself isn't that great. Maybe if it was a couple of episodes longer, the story wouldn't feel so rushed.
The only parts of Eikoden that I actually liked were seeing an older Taskui and the ending with Miaka giving birth to her first child with Taka.
Despite the flaws and issues I have with certain aspects of the series, I really enjoy Fushigi Yugi. I've seen the series twice so far and I thought that the dub was fine. I was considering getting some of the volumes of the manga, but I'm still pretty content with just the anime series. There is a prequel manga series called Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden and I've heard really good reviews about it. I hope that it can have an anime series as well, but they'll probably wait until the manga finishes up.
I wanna watch the OVAs but I'm confused as to their stories. Are theey just completely new stories like the Naruto and DBZ movies and the like?
Agreed. After their initial appearaces they were basically a part of the background. That's a real shame for several reasons but one of them is you got a great VA like Richard Epcar (Mitsukake) and he barely gets any lines.
And though I was sad to have the series end, I have to say I'm fully satisfied with the climax. First Tamahome's dream about marrying Miaka with his family and the other warriors there was very powerful and sweet. THen the warriors actually being there to help him defeat Nakago was even better.
Speaking of which, Nakago's end was great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhftAg6Aj4A
I had to make a vid of that moment. At the end of te day I guess he wasn't a Complete Monster. just a really big one.
For some odd reason, this is one of my favorite anime of all time. It's one of the few shoujo(?) anime I've watched, and I like the romance, the art, and I love the ending. I've only watched the entire series once, but when I return to it I always watched the first few episodes, where she enters the world, and meets several of the warriors, and then I skip to the end where Tamahome enters the real world. I guess it's because it's my favorite parts in the series.
Plus, it has one of my favorite ending songs for an anime.
The OVAs are kind of weird. The first one isn't based on anything that happens in the manga, which would explain why it's a bit weird to me due to the events of the following OVA, but the second one is based on the last few volumes of the manga. It takes place about a year after the end of the series. To me, it's easily the best out of the three. The third one is based on the "Fushigi Yuugi Gaiden: Eikou Den" novels by Nishizaki Megumi, which are sidestories based on the original manga. Watase Yuu, the author of the Fushigi Yugi manga, actually did the illustrations for those novels. While Eikoden does have some interesting idea, the handle of the storyline and especially the main character Mayo really kill it for me.
Though, if you want to see it after the first two OVAs, I suggest trying to rent it instead of buying it. The first two OVAs are in one set and they're definitely worth a look at if you want to experience the world and these characters again.
That's a good point. Mitsukake had a pretty good voice and he barely got any lines. That was a shame.
I also thought that the ending provided a nice sense of conclusion for the main characters. I loved seeing all of the dead warriors returning to help Miaka one more time. Nakago was also a really cool villain. When I first watched the series, I never would have expected him to overthrow his country's leader and try to become a god himself in the real world. I wish that we had more on his backstory earlier so that we could have maybe a tad more sympathy for his character.
Fushigi Yuugi was one of the first anime I saw on video rather than TV (the others being Magic Knight Rayearth and Tenchi Muyo!)...I think it's a really interesting story,though it does get dark as the series progresses...
I thought the dub was fine then,and still do now...it's also one of the first dubs I saw that used the Bang Zoom actors,many of whom are in dubs I watch now like Naruto and Bleach (I remeraber watching the Bleach episode where Uryu first appears,and I recognized his voice but couldn't place it...turns out the same actor also voiced Miaka's brother,Keisuke)...
Character-wise,I liked Nuriko and Hotohori the most,and Tamhome had his moments (I loved his obsession with money)....Didn't really care for the Seiryu warriors (aside from Amiboshi,and I did feel sorry for Suboshi,even though I didn't really like him)...Mayo from the Eikoden OAVs was my least favorite character,though...She just came off as a completely unlikeable brat..
and....
Nuriko's death made me sad,as did Hotohori's,but the saddest part of the series for me was Tamahome coming home to find his entire family murdered,with his baby sister Yuiren just living long enough to say her last worRAB to him....
I agree that some of the characters were wasted. I remeraber at one point in the series all of the characters got upgrades to their powers. Chiriko got some sort of scroll, but during the entire series he never used it once. What the hell was the point of that?
I also thought some of the Seiryu warrors were wasted as well. Ashitari seemed like one of the most interesting characters and he was completely wasted. It also made me hate Yui how Naraku admitted that he was just using Ashitari as canon fodder and Yui didn't seem to care. It really shows the difference between Miaka and Yui. Miaka actually cares about all of her teammates, whereas Yui lets them die without a care. I also thought that little guy who possesses people was wasted. What was his name? Miboshi? They waited a ridiculously long time to introduce him and all he does when he's introduced is possess Chiriko? What a waste.
Where were all you people while I was trying to get this as anime of the month?
I like this one. I watched the dub, though I can't remeraber why (maybe it was next in my odd-even dub order). I like the story, and it's one of the more "grown up" of the anime I watch. On the death topic... Yeah, I'm pretty much in agreement with everyone else here.
I'd like to read the manga sometime, I actually got into the anime by reading the first chapter in a Shojo Beat issue.
I forgot about Chiriko's scroll. I think it was just shown during the first OVA, but it was never used. I honestly couldn't even tell what kind of power he had anyway. Maybe it was super intelligence, but it wasn't clear if that was his special power as one of the warriors or if he was just a gifted child.
That's a good point about the Seiryu warriors. To me, the only ones who stood out were Nakago, Suboshi and possibly Soi. Everyone else either didn't feel too interesting or they didn't appear until late in the series. I couldn't even remeraber Ashitari until I looked him up. His power was pretty unique among his fellow warriors and considering the significance of his appearance and fight, it felt like a shame to kill him off.
I also agree with you about the difference between Miaka and Yui. Miaka obviously cared about all of the Suzaku warriors, even characters like Chiriko and Mitsukake despite how they were pretty much background characters after she found them. With Yui, she didn't really care about any of the Seiryu warriors other than Nakago and possibly Suboshi. While her connection to them is fairly understandable considering what she believes throughout the majority of the series, she barely talked to any of the other warriors.
Even though Yui did suffer psychologically, I really think that Miaka had a harder role as being the Priestess of Suzaku. She actually had to work to find all of the warriors, suffered through emotional lost, occasional heartache and tried to get her best friend back. With Yui, she really didn't have to do much of anything as a Priestess of Seiryu until near the end of the series.
I should definitely check out that thread more often.
Yes, the first issue of the VHS tapes included collectible trading carRAB that listed their powers and Chiriko's power was indeed super intelligence. But, that's not nearly as lame as Hotohari's power. I believe his power was being good at fencing or some crap like that. What kind of a power is that?
Tamahome's powers were pretty vague until he got his powerup. Until then his syrabol glowed and he turned into Spike Spiegel. (mildly increased speed and strength)
It was also pretty lame how Mitsukake could only heal once per day until he got his powerup.
Power levels didn't really start getting impressive to the second half of the series.
Anyway, is there any chance we could get Fushigi Yuugi as the Anime of the Month sometime in the future? *has no idea how that works*
Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Though, it still feels weird that Chirkio got that scroll at the halfway point of the series and it didn't come up again until the finale. I'm also sure that it was just to seal Seiryu away since if they sealed up both goRAB, then the warriors of Suzaku would have lost their powers as well.
While Chiriko's power being super intelligence does make sense, despite being underuse and practically useless during his run, I thought that Hotohori's power was much better. Granted, it was basically being a powerful sworRABman, but that was more impressive and useful than Chiriko's power. Though, it probably helps that Hotohori was a more interesting character, he actually stood out and developed bonRAB with the other characters.
