An Observance Of A Mysterious Play: Fushigi Yuugi Review

Trigger warning for mentions of Rape And Sexual Assault. This review is not exempt from spoilers, take caution.

When I was mindlessly scrolling through YouTube one day in the late months of 2024, I came across a song. Its title was in Japanese, so I couldn't understand it, but I still tapped on it because the cover art was pretty. The song was very good, and I found out that it was an ending to an anime, Fushigi Yuugi. Because I had nothing better to do, I decided to pick up the anime not only because of the ending song but because what I read about it interested me. And I must say, I don't regret it.

A Basic Summary:

Miaka Yuki and Yui Hongo are middle school students who plan to go to the same high school. They go to the library one day, and encounter a mysterious book called “The Universe of The Four Gods”. When they open it, they end up getting sucked inside of it! Yui eventually goes back, but Miaka remains trapped inside. She then becomes the Priestess of Suzuka and must gather the Suzuka Seven, 7 people with Chinese characters on their bodies, to summon Suzuka and save the country from its war with a neighboring country, Seiryuu. 

What I liked:

I honestly really enjoyed this show, even if it took me a while to actually finish. The writing was good, and I'm glad that they took sexual assault seriously instead of just treating it as a punchline.

Something that I like about this show is the villains, they're just so hateable, I love it. Although the show shows why they're doing what they do, it never justifies it. They all get what they deserve in the end. And by God, does it feel satisfying to watch.

I also like the protagonists as well. I didn't expect to be attached to the cast, but after a few episodes, I absolutely adored them. A character that I found a bit annoying but grew to love was Nuriko; as he got closer to Miaka, he became more likable. Which just made it all the more tragic when he died.

When writing character death, you need to make sure that your audience actually gives a damn about them, and I think Fushigi Yuugi does a great job with that.

I would like to talk about Yui. In the beginning, she's set up to be a protagonist along with Miaka, but when she leaves the book and Miaka temporarily goes back to their original world, which causes Yui to go back into the book, Yui becomes an antagonist. This is because she got sent to Seiryuu instead of Suzuka, and was assaulted by men. She's then saved by Nakago, who convinces her that she was raped to turn her against Miaka and summon Seiryuu.

The actions that Yui takes throughout the show are somewhat understandable. After all, she's hurting and is being manipulated by Nakago. She says she hates Miaka and wants her to suffer as well as for her and Tamahome to be separated, but she still loves Miaka deep down. Even then, this is no excuse for the horrible things she did to Miaka and the Suzuka Seven.

I already brought up Nakago, but I think he's a wonderful villain. Time after time again he takes advantage and manipulates people around him. He tears Miaka and Yui’s relationship apart, all so he can become a god and seek revenge on the world for treating him and his clan poorly. 

Again, they use his backstory as an explanation, not as an excuse. And at the end, he faced the downfall that I had been praying for for so long.

Now onto the romance. At the beginning of the show, there was a love triangle between Miaka, Tamahome, and Hotohori. I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of love triangles, so this was a bit of a disappointment for me. But luckily, they didn't pull a Vampire Knight and made it very clear that Tamahome and Miaka were going to be together in the end.

Although I think Miaka and Tamahome are a good couple, and that this show is good, it's not perfect.

What I didn't like:

It drags. A lot. Especially when it comes to the romance. It's a lot of “will they won't they”, which gets stale after a while. They say they love each other and kiss, only for some force to separate them so the show can keep going. 

It also felt like this with the summoning of Suzuka. Every time they get close to summoning him, Seiryuu always finds a way to intervene so the show can keep going. I suppose it keeps viewers hooked, desperate for an ending, but it just gets tiring. At least they ended up winning in the end.

Although I love that this show treats rape and sexual assault seriously, I cannot pretend that the scenes didn't make me uncomfortable. I found myself skipping through multiple episodes in them because I just couldn't take it. They're supposed to make me uncomfortable, I know, but I hated having to watch through them just so I could watch the show fully.

Nonetheless, I think Fushigi Yuugi is worth watching. I would give it an 8/10, it's very good, but it does have some flaws that bring it down. A somewhat enjoyable experience all around.