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Japanese title
ふしぎ遊戯
Manga-ka/Author
渡瀬悠宇 Yuu Watase
Genre
comedy, romance, drama, shoujo
Volumes: 18
Distributor: Gollancz
Classification: 15
Originally serialised in
少女コミック
Shoujo Comic
Rating
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Fushigi Yūgi tells the story of Miaka Yuki, a young girl struggling
to get into a top school in order to meet her mother's high expectations.
Together with her best friend Yui, she finds a mysterious book in the restricted
section of the city library, a Japanese translation of an ancient Chinese legend
called 'The Universe of the Four Gods'. The book promises special powers and
three wishes to the reader who completes the book, and a desperate Miaka reads
on.
Miaka and Yui suddenly find themselves in a land resembling feudal China. They
are attacked by a group of kidnappers, but are rescued by a strange man with the
Chinese character for 'demon' on his forehead. Soon after, they return back to
modern Japan. However, the next day Miaka has an argument with her mother and
runs away, eventually finding herself back at the library. Picking the book up
again, she's shocked to find that the previous night's events are recorded
within its pages... and she is once again sucked into the book, and transported
back to ancient China - this time without Yui.
She again meets Tamahome and the two of them end up being captured by the
emperor's guards. However, on discovering that Miaka is from another world, the
emperor declares Miaka the 'priestess of Suzaku' according to an ancient legend
which says she will win a great victory for the empire. Thinking of the three
wishes that she will be granted, Miaka agrees, and is told she will need to find
the seven warriors of Suzaku, who are marked with the Chinese characters for the
constellations of Suzaku. Miaka is surprised to discover that the emperor
himself is one of these warriors, as is Tamahome. The emperor tells her that his
name is Hotohori, and surprisingly declares his intent to marry Miaka once the
quest is over.
However, back in Japan, Miaka's worried family and friends search for her...
will Miaka succeed in gathering the seven warriors of Suzaku, and most of all,
will she get back to Japan to pass her entry exam?
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Fushigi Yūgi is a very popular manga of the
shoujo genre, by an
equally famous manga-ka who specialises in the genre. Thus, you would expect
that this series is a typical shoujo story, and you would be completely right.
Right from the outset, our ordinary heroine discovers she is the centre of
attention and surrounded by bishounen (androgynously beautiful men). She's
caught in the middle of a love triangle between two of these men and is sent on
a quest with them in tow.
All these features are typical of the shoujo genre, and if you've read a lot of
shoujo you might find this series a little too predictable and formulaic.
However, the drawing style is beautiful and the story's setting is quite
different to most other shoujo titles. While not being completely accurate to
its inspiration in Chinese and Japanese folklore, there is enough to make this series quite
fascinating.
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Manga
This series has been
translated into English for quite some time now, and it shouldn't be hard to
find all 18 volumes of the manga in the West.
Anime
There is also an
anime series of Fushigi Yūgi and numerous specials and
OVAs also available. The anime series
is distributed in the West by Geneon.
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