I was recommended this anime by a new friend when I was in high school. Only now, years later, can I appreciate the true work that is Fushigi Yuugi.
Some people complain that the plot is mediocre, the characters are two dimensional, and the animation is horrible. There are times when the plot is shallow, the characters don't seem much more than talking head, and because it's ten years old, the animation isn't what we've come to expect. It's retro; think of watching Speed Racer back in the eighties, or Voltron in the nineties.
The plot revolves around fifteen-year-old Miaka Yuuki, a typical high school girl whose main concerns are boys, food, and shopping. Living with her single mom and college aged brother, Miaka attends junior high school, barely passing her classes and being constantly reprimanded by her best friend and resident genius Yui Hongo. When Yui goes to the library one afternoon, Miaka tags along. In the restricted room of the library, the two girls come across a book titled, "The Universe of the Four Gods." They begin to read it, and magically they are sucked into ancient China. Eventually Yui is able to leave the book, leaving Miaka alone in a strange world with a greedy stranger known only as Tamahome. Miaka is then taken to the emperor of the empire she landed in and is told that she is the savior they've been waiting for, the Priestess of Suzaku who will summon the Beast God and save Konan. As it turns out, each Priestess has seven warriors that were born to protect her, Tamahome, and the Emperor Hotohori, being two of them. Now Miaka must embark on a quest to find the remaining warriors and then she can save the world.
Naturally the road is never easy, and some fairly predictable situations occur. Love triangles, rivalries, concerned older siblings, and typical young love blossom through out the fifty-two episode series. Despite some standard clichés that come with the "teenaged girl saves the world" scenario, there are some moments of genuine, gut wrenching story telling. Each character has a very elaborate back story, and while not every character has tragic origins, each one is the way they are because of the events of their past. Only a handful of the back stories are told, some of them evoking pure emotional responses from the view. Other time it's not so much their past, as their present that makes the view reach for a box of tissues.
There is a unique blend of romance, humor, fantasy, and tragedy thrown together for this series. If romantic comedies with a splash of drama is something you enjoy, don't miss an opportunity to watch Fushigi Yugi.
