ssjakira1's Full Review: Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play - Vol. 1
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
Ok, so I was going to tell you how I finally got my hands on this, but then I decided it would just be a long, unnecessary (and weird, as per usual with my stories), so instead I’m going to forgo all that and just tell you what you’re here to know.
A while back I finished watching a series created by Watase Yuu known as Fushigi Yuugi (yes, it is “Yuugi” – that’s the Japanese spelling), a rather girly anime. The catch was the series I’d gotten at the time was all on VHS and only in English. It was pretty good, but if you’re familiar with me at all, you know that I’m always dying to hear the original Japanese version. Hence, ta-da! Now I get to hear it! Whoo hoo!
Welcome to the series of Fushigi Yuugi, 52 episodes and with a few OAVs after it. I already warned you it’s girly, so if you’re a guy, you’ll just have to decide for yourself. There is fighting, blood, some swearing, and death in this series, as well as some sexual content (or hints thereof), so the choice to watch is yours alone.
The Deal In This Volume:
Miaka Yuki is just your everyday junior high school student. Planning for exams, going out with friends, thoroughly enjoying food. But one day while in the library with her friend Yui, she winds up taking a look at a book; The Universe of the Four Gods. It is there she finds herself in a strange world and meets up with Tamahome, an Emperor named Hotohori, the powerful courtesan Nuriko, and…. It is in this strange world Miaka is named the Priestess of Suzaku and must travel to find the Suzaku Seven in order to awaken the Beast God and bring peace to the people of Konan. She must first travel to see Taiitsukun in order to go home, but as with all long journeys, it isn’t easy.
Animation, Voices, Music:
The animation is fine and dandy. Nothing to complain about. The colors are vibrant, detail is lovely, and there are the occasional hilarious bits of over-exaggeration. In some anime series it looks silly, but here it works out perfectly. The timing is always just right, so when those moments are used, they come as no surprise and they’re almost always funny. Bound to make you laugh. Otherwise, ladies, you may find yourself thinking about how cute Tamahome and Hotohori are. ^_~
Voices, ah voices! The English versions are all good. They work out very well with their characters, even if it takes a slight bit of getting used to the first time around. But that happens with all beginning voice actors and their characters – they’ve still got to get into it and realize what their character is like. But things go well here. As for the Japanese version, that’s just as good. So far I think I like the Japanese version better, though I will warn you that I know some people will find Miaka’s voice a little annoying. For most of us who are familiar with anime, high-pitched young girls’ voices are to be expected, so I’m good with it. Either version is good, so it depends on if you feel like reading subtitles or not.
The music, while obviously older, still works out well for the series. The opening song is upbeat and fun to listen to, which is a good thing because it doesn’t change throughout the entire series. The closing song is fun to, and if you can read a decent amount of Japanese – or just start memorizing the words – you can sort of sing along a little. It’s fun. They’re both sung by females and are pretty enjoyable. The background music is good too (still old, but so is the series, so no surprises) and a lot of it is used over and over, but you never really pay enough attention to care. So again, no big deal. It’s sad when it needs to be, exciting when adventure strikes, and goes with the flow. Hooray.
What You’ll Like:
Miaka will pretty much crack you up, as well as her antics around Tamahome and Hotohori. She confuses a few people for women and others for men because of their appearance, so when she finds out it’s usually pretty amusing. Nuriko will make you chuckle as well. It’s still fairly early in the series, so we have yet to see some really good stuff, but it starts off fairly quickly so you get into the thick of things sooner rather than later. Hard to not stay interested. Especially since you’re going to be in for a wild ride.
What Will Annoy You:
Not much, unless you just can’t handle Miaka’s voice. You’ll be too busy giggling at her silliness (unless that annoys you too), and I don’t see any problems in these first few episodes that could turn you off of the series. Nothing at all.
Warning! A warning for all you parents out there – I don’t know what you allow your child to see and not see, so I’ll just point out that there is a tiny bit of swearing, violence (blood, death, etc.), a bit of cross-dressing (although that was basically in the first half of the series), and some nudity/sexual content. It’s up to you.
There are 52 episodes on a total of 8 volumes, significantly less than if you were to get them on VHS. Half, in fact.
Volume 1:
1. The Girl of Legend
2. Priestess of Suzaku
3. The Seven Stars of Suzaku
4. Missing Love
5. Bewildered Heartbeat
6. Even If I Die...
7. Going Home
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