Manga Review: Fushigi Yugi GN 6

Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play volume 6
Author: Yuu Watase
Viz Media (Animerica Extra Edition)
192 pages

Miaki Yuki is an ordinary junior-high-school student who is transported into the complicated world of a book, The Universe of the Four Gods. Now that she seems to have gathered all seven of her Celestial Warriors, she is ready to summon the god Suzaku who will grant her three wishes. But Miaka's former best friend Yui has become her mortal enemy, and Yui's nefarious general Nakago has a secret plan... (Source: Viz Media)

This sixth volume of Fushigi Yugi is an actual step-up from the previous volumes, but it takes a long time to get to that point. The majority of this book still contains the same tired hallmarks of a Yu Watase shojo series – heroine running off in an ill-guided attempt to make things right, brainwashed lovers, back-stabbing ex-friends, and lots of unrequited crushes and love that never go anywhere. But the ending might show the different and very welcome direction this series is ready to take.

In The Universe of the Four Gods: Reading Fushigi Yugi

Spoiler warning: This post contains spoilers for the first five volumes of the Fushigi Yugi manga. Books 2 and 4 were the Animerica Extra edition, so there may be discrepancies in translation between those and the later Shojo Beat editions.

Without a doubt, Fushigi Yugi is the defining work of Yuu Watase's bibliography. It has also proved itself a long standing fantasy/shojo classic, up there with Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon and CLAMP's Card Captor Sakura. It's also a mark of an entire generation of readers who became familiar with the constant cries of “Miaka!” and “Tamahome!” and the collection of the Celestial Warriors, from the cross-dressing warrior Nuriko to goofy priest Chichiri.

Funnily enough, until this year? I had not read any of it. I had seen some of the anime when it aired, years ago, on the International Channel, but not enough to get a feel for it. I'm no stranger to the works of Watase, but dipping into Fushigi Yugi were both familiar and new waters.

And now, five volumes into Watase's veritable magnum opus, I'm starting to see why I put off reading it for so long. I may be disappointing an entire group of shojo fans when I admit that, try as I might, I'm not loving Fushigi Yugi as much as I wish I did.

Titles: To Translate Or Not To Translate?

On the left: Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen.
On the right: Samurai X - Trust & Betrayal.
The difference? None.

These are just one of the things I think about when I think about how I can find media titled Fushigi Yuuji in stores but not media titled Natsume Yuujinchou. This post is for anyone who has ever gotten into an Internet argument with a fellow otaku over the fact that Bandai 'refuses' to sell your favorite series under the title Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (or, even more obnoxiously, 宮ハルヒの憂鬱).

You are an average consumer with an interest in anime, walking through the aisles of your local DVD store looking for some series to pick up and give a try. Which titles are more likely to peak your interest - Seto no Hanayome or My Bride Is A Mermaid? Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu or Tweeny Witches? Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen or Samurai X: Trust And Betrayal? This is a problem that confronts companies like Funimation and Media Blasters on a regular basis, as well as manga companies like Viz Media and Vertical, and it all boils down to one question: do you translate the title or not?