Fushigi Yuugi VizBig #1: volumes 1-3

You know, these VizBig editions are a brilliant marketing strategy. They take a manga series, usually one with pretty longstanding popularity, and re-release it a larger format with two or three volumes bound in one book. Add in some extra features and some full color pages and you’ve got yourself a pretty enticing product. Not to mention the fact that you’re basically getting three volumes of manga for the price of two. I myself would never have decided on my own to purchase the early volumes of Fushigi Yuugi, despite the affection I have for the series, had Viz not offered them in this format. So that’s seventeen bucks they made off me alone just by giving Fushigi Yuugi the VizBig treatment.

Fushigi Yuugi is a pretty classic shoujo series from the 90s that not only was hugely popular in its own time, but has also sustained a considerable fan base (as well as heavy criticism; it’s basically one of those things you either love or loathe) in the decade or so since its conclusion. It has subsequently inspired an anime adaptation, several OVAs, and a manga prequel series, making Fushigi Yuugi quite the shoujo franchise. Yuu Watase, the artist who created the series back in 1992, has since gone on to write/draw several other very successful series such as Ayashi no Ceres, Absolute Boyfriend, and Imadoki (Nowadays). I was first introduced to Fushigi Yuugi through the anime adaptation of the series. I found it to be a bit silly, but lots of fun and full of shameless romantic fluff as well as some pretty decent humor. I ended up reading some of the latter volumes of the manga, but I never went back to the beginning of the series. So when the VizBig edition came out I grabbed it.

Fushigi Yuugi tells the story of a junior-high student named Miaka who actually reminds me a lot of Usagi from Sailormoon: ditzy, gluttonous, but with a heart of gold. Anyways, Miaka and her more mature, reserved friend Yui open a mysterious book called “The Universe of the Four Gods” while studying for their entrance exams in the library and get sucked right into the world of the book – a world somewhat resembling feudal China. Once there, Miaka is identified by the people as the legendary priestess of Suzaku, a girl from another world who will summon the god Suzaku to save the kingdom and be granted a wish of her own. Enticed by the prospect of a wish, Miaka readily agrees without fully considering what she’s getting herself into. In order to summon Suzaku, she must search out the seven celestial warriors from the land who are Suzaku’s servants and guardians of the priestess. Only when all seven are united may Suzaku be summoned. Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances and misunderstandings, Yui and Miaka have a bitter falling-out and Yui accepts the role as priestess of Seiryu for the neighboring rival kingdom. Now Miaka must consider Yui as her enemy if she is ever to succeed in summoning Suzaku and saving the kingdom she’s begun to love.

In the first three volumes, Miaka encounters four of the seven celestial warriors:

• Tamahome, a young man who loves money like Miaka loves food
• Hotohori, who’s actually the emperor of the land
• Nuriko, a crossdressing pretty man with incredible strength and a prickly personality
• Chichiri, a weird but cheerful dude who seems always to show up in a pinch before disappearing again

These guys are all lots of fun, especially as you get to know them as the series progresses.

In addition to all the adventure and romance, this series actually has a pretty good sense of humor. One of my favorite characters from the anime, Nuriko, is particularly hilarious. Watase also has the good sense not to take herself too seriously; she even includes little parodies of the more dramatic moments in the series that are actually pretty funny. Many manga artists like to include occasional side panels in which they kind of ramble on about whatever they feel like to the readers. I always read these, but I found Watase’s comments to be particularly interesting as she wrote them all in the early stages of her career when she was still struggling to find her niche as an artist. Fushigi Yuugi was her first really successful work, after all. Which brings me to another thing: I was really surprised at how different the art of these first three volumes looks when compared with her other series and even with the later volumes of this series. It seems like her art really has evolved a lot over the past fifteen years or so (Fushigi Yuugi was first published in 1992.)

In order to sort of play devil’s advocate, I will say that I can understand why a lot of people don’t like this series. It’s built upon a lot of clichés that many people find annoying: the ditzy yet lovable schoolgirl heroine, one main female character supported by a cast of guys, etc. Yet if you can look past all that, this series actually does have a lot to offer. It’s fun and funny, and the characters are enjoyable.

My one major complaint about this book is that the English translation pretty much sucked. I had to keep reminding myself that the dialogue probably sounds a heck of a lot better in the original Japanese every time I read a particularly awkward phrasing or misplaced colloquialism. Just another thing to look past in order to see the true merits of the material.

The VizBig edition includes some pages of art in color in the front and back, as well as a character introduction page, a sound effects glossary, and a Chinese-to-Japanese glossary. The second VizBig volume of this series, presumably containing volumes 4-6 is scheduled to be released in April. Stay tuned.