(L) Fushigi Yuugi

[okashi]

I read about it on animenfo and it almost seems that this series has some similarities with Juuni Kokki. Now the thing is that I really loved Juuni Kokki and if this series is even a fraction of what Juuni Kokki is I think Ill have to check it out. But now comes the big question, is this series any good? And is it anything like Juuni Kokki? Hit me with everything youve got!

[NenMaster]

the reviews put me off this anime. i download it all then looked at some eps then deleted it

i should of watched at least 5 eps of it but couldnt be arsed

[Gaara11]

Fushigi Yugi can't be compared to Juuni Kokki in my opinion. If u like romance/fantasy you'll like it. The only thing I really hated in this show is that 50% of the script is composed of "Miaka" and"Tamahome". How many god damn times do they have to say that in FRONT of each other.

[Rebochan]

Fushigi Yuugi has always, to me, seemed like a "love it or hate it" series. When I was at JACON in Orlando this year, Miaka managed to beat Relena Peacecraft as the worst anime character created in one of their gameshow polls. Yet, several of my anime friends utterly worship this show, and one even put together a Miaka cosplay.

[okashi]

Hmm... So is it more romance oriented or is it more fantasy oriented or is it something else? What Im after is an anime with believable characters and interesting storyline.

[Go-lytely]

It is definitely a romance oriented anime at its core. There are also a lot of superdeformed scenes that bugged the hell out of me. It was supposed to be funny but it just annoyed me. The storyline wasn't bad but I personally thought they dragged it out too long. IMO, Juuni Kokki and Fushigi Yuugi dont really compare.

[GHDpro]

Well you can put me in the "like" camp for Fushigi Yuugi. But as
mentioned before, it indeed isn't much like Juuni Kokki apart from
the old-Chinese settings.

Also whereas Juuni Kokki has a more general appeal (afaik, I haven't
seen much of Juuni Kokki), Fushigi Yuugi is definately "shoujo"
(targeted at girls).

If you can stand Miaka's voice (she's voiced by the same Japanese
voice as Chibi-usa from Sailor Moon), the superdeformed scenes
(I like them in fact, as long as there are not to many), and
the "Miaka, Tamahome, Miaka, Tamahome" parts you may like it.

[[^_^x]]

I liked the series there were alot of emotional scenes..heh...From what you said you wanted I dont think this is an anime you are looking for. I think you will like it but If you want a realistic romance anime try Marmalade Boy or His and Her Circumstances.

[okashi]

Seems like this anime isnt what Im looking for, thats really too bad since Juuni Kokki really made an impression on me so I really want more of anime of that type. But is this anime set in an old chinese setting just like Juuni Kokki was? I really love that setting, have seen many many chinese live action series/movies that takes place in that setting since I was a kid. Hmm maybe I have to check this out after all...

[Dark Zero]

I remember seeing this on VHS back in the day, unless I'm confusing the wrong one. Seemed interesting, but I feel asleep through out it, so I got a wrong impression of it since then. But seems worth a watch.

[xombi]

hmmm, seems odd to come to a forum discussing old titles compared to new ones... if anything I can see why some would call Juuni Kokki similar or even a copy of Fushigi Yuugi. Both had a couple females being transported to another world - only to find that the one was an empress who was to save the one of many kingdoms - and her friend became empress of an enemy kingdom to fight her, but she was in love with Tamahome and that was one of her main reasons for fighting her best friend. The similarities end there though. Yes the setting is "like" ancient China, and there is more martial arts in it. Miaka's tale was of gathering her protectors - each had a birthmark of their name given by the heavens... she too wanted the power so she could return home. This is an older classic as far as anime goes. Say what you will now, but before Juuni Kokki, what was there of such scope???? Fushigi Yuugi. The love story does take much of the episodes time. The 2 other series based off it also followed the love story side. So Fushigi Yuugi has plenty of comedy and plenty of lovestory, but it does have it's very serious side as well. Wars and politics were not a focus and much of the fighting took place among their protectors, rather than armies.

[sothis]

the ONLY similarity between JK and FY is that they both involve a girl being sucked into another world, having to save that world, blah blah.

if i had a dvd of FY, i would personally vomit on it daily. good god i hate that show.

The only thing I really hated in this show is that 50% of the script is composed of "Miaka" and"Tamahome". How many god damn times do they have to say that in FRONT of each other.

OH MY GOD YES.
i seriously don't see how anyone can watch FY. after 10 goddamn episodes of screaming "TAMAHOME!!!!!" "MIAKA!!!!!!" <insert cheesy same old music riff here>, i just cant see how it could continue for another FORTY-TWO.

okashi, seriously. unless you like really, really sappy romances, don't bother with this one.. try to find stuff with more substance like JK. when i say sappy romance, i mean ridiculous love triangles, constant over-use of romance and/or love involving a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD (or is she 15? doesn't matter. it still is totaly unbelievable). not only was it incredibly over the top in this aspect, but after 26 episodes, they then continue it with the same rehashed melodramatic BS. i kept watching it hoping it would eventually change. did it? nope!

but, just so i say *one* good thing about it, it did have a decent ending.

besides that, a waste of time. Juuni Kokki however, is damn good.

FY does NOT have believable characters. i refuse to enjoy any series which is focused on young teenagers "falling in love with the right person" after they have known them for all of 2 days. not to mention, miaka is a complete ditz.

if you want a good romance/drama, check out Kimi ga Nozomu Eien.. or one of the many other ones out there instead. or if you want fantasy, there are really good ones out there. watching FY is like stabbing yourself in the eyes with an estrogen encrusted fork, over and over and over. >_<

[okashi]

Originally Posted by sothis

the ONLY similarity between JK and FY is that they both involve a girl being sucked into another world, having to save that world, blah blah.

if i had a dvd of FY, i would personally vomit on it daily. good god i hate that show.



OH MY GOD YES.
i seriously don't see how anyone can watch FY. after 10 goddamn episodes of screaming "TAMAHOME!!!!!" "MIAKA!!!!!!" <insert cheesy same old music riff here>, i just cant see how it could continue for another FORTY-TWO.

okashi, seriously. unless you like really, really sappy romances, don't bother with this one.. try to find stuff with more substance like JK. when i say sappy romance, i mean ridiculous love triangles, constant over-use of romance and/or love involving a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD (or is she 15? doesn't matter. it still is totaly unbelievable). not only was it incredibly over the top in this aspect, but after 26 episodes, they then continue it with the same rehashed melodramatic BS. i kept watching it hoping it would eventually change. did it? nope!

but, just so i say *one* good thing about it, it did have a decent ending.

besides that, a waste of time. Juuni Kokki however, is damn good.

FY does NOT have believable characters. i refuse to enjoy any series which is focused on young teenagers "falling in love with the right person" after they have known them for all of 2 days. not to mention, miaka is a complete ditz.

if you want a good romance/drama, check out Kimi ga Nozomu Eien.. or one of the many other ones out there instead. or if you want fantasy, there are really good ones out there. watching FY is like stabbing yourself in the eyes with an estrogen encrusted fork, over and over and over. >_<

Hehe, nice post.

I love Juuni Kokki and thats why I wanted to check out Fushigi Yuugi, but the impression I get from you guys is that this show maybe nothing for me. Im not the romance-type person so I dont think Ill go out and buy this series... Maybe download it sometimes though just to check it out. Well are there any other series that are like Juuni Kokki then? 'Cause thats essentially what Im looking for.

[sothis]

Juuni Kokki, unfortunately, is a really hard series to give recommendations on. i have never watched anything else that rivals the level of deep plot it has. in addition, it tends to be mostly serious, and very historically based. honestly, i have seen nothing else like it. i think people are quick to say it is similar to FY (including me, sometimes), because that is the only thing out there that even comes close. but even then, it's only because it has a girl who gets sucked into another world... which, really, isn't that big of a tie to begin with.

i mean, i could give try to give you an idea of some good fantasy series, or something... but honestly, i don't think anyone will be able to give you a good match for JK... so good, yet so unique, unfortunately. :/

[okashi]

Originally Posted by sothis

Juuni Kokki, unfortunately, is a really hard series to give recommendations on. i have never watched anything else that rivals the level of deep plot it has. in addition, it tends to be mostly serious, and very historically based. honestly, i have seen nothing else like it. i think people are quick to say it is similar to FY (including me, sometimes), because that is the only thing out there that even comes close. but even then, it's only because it has a girl who gets sucked into another world... which, really, isn't that big of a tie to begin with.

i mean, i could give try to give you an idea of some good fantasy series, or something... but honestly, i don't think anyone will be able to give you a good match for JK... so good, yet so unique, unfortunately. :/

Yeah I thought as much, cant be easy to create something on Juuni Kokki's level. I guess we just have to keep praying that there will be more Juuni Kokki in the near future.

[Ainana]

I've only seen 5 episodes of Juuni Kokki so people please correct me if I'm wrong, but

First of all, while I like Fushigi Yuugi, I think the whole style and atmosphere of the 2 are completely different so if you like one, there is zero guarentee you'd like the other. While, FY is funny and sweet and dramatic, a good deal of the characters are NOT realistic (there are a few exceptions) and the Miaka Tamahome deal is the type of romance where it makes you think romance must eat your brain away as much as drugs and alcohol....
(I still like FY, the romance is a bit ....soap operatic though)

Second of all, and this is where I welcome the correction, since I've only seen so much Junni Kokki, a better recommendation to try is perhaps Escaflowne. There you can see the effect of perspectives that people have and feeling...desperation, strong belief, deception and delusion, and confusion of feeling... the story, one of my favorites, is strong and interesting with no perfect good hearted characters (ie. like Miaka who feels for everyone). You can honestly see the characters as individuals with their own individual pasts, thoughts, feelings, etc.

However, the Escaflowne movie, I should warn you, should never have spawned into existence. It is a bane of anime, as they took everything good from the series, and destroyed it. It bears very little relation to the series as well, except commonality of character names, IMHO.

[okashi]

Originally Posted by Ainana

I've only seen 5 episodes of Juuni Kokki so people please correct me if I'm wrong, but

First of all, while I like Fushigi Yuugi, I think the whole style and atmosphere of the 2 are completely different so if you like one, there is zero guarentee you'd like the other. While, FY is funny and sweet and dramatic, a good deal of the characters are NOT realistic (there are a few exceptions) and the Miaka Tamahome deal is the type of romance where it makes you think romance must eat your brain away as much as drugs and alcohol....
(I still like FY, the romance is a bit ....soap operatic though)

Second of all, and this is where I welcome the correction, since I've only seen so much Junni Kokki, a better recommendation to try is perhaps Escaflowne. There you can see the effect of perspectives that people have and feeling...desperation, strong belief, deception and delusion, and confusion of feeling... the story, one of my favorites, is strong and interesting with no perfect good hearted characters (ie. like Miaka who feels for everyone). You can honestly see the characters as individuals with their own individual pasts, thoughts, feelings, etc.

However, the Escaflowne movie, I should warn you, should never have spawned into existence. It is a bane of anime, as they took everything good from the series, and destroyed it. It bears very little relation to the series as well, except commonality of character names, IMHO.

Ive seen both the Escaflowne series and the movie and I agree that the movie isnt anywhere near as good as the TV series. But while the movie wasnt good, I found the first battle on that ship in the air really cool. But I think that Juuni Kokki cant be compared to Escaflowne since Escaflowne is more about action and less about characters or something (long time ago since I watched it) while Juuni Kokki is more about the world and the stories in and about that world with Youko at the center. I find Juuni Kokki much superior against Escaflowne because of the characters and story. That world just feels so real for some reason...

[Lanthis]

*small spoilers, scroll past end to read overview*
















IMO it may be worth seeing, but not worth owning. I borrowed the VHSes from a friend the summer before last and watched all 40+ eps in 2 days. Basically, they could have ended the show at 26, but decided to make it twice as long, so they do the same thing twice. I really didn't like the end, and I think the OVAs suck (there are like 3).

Looking back on it, I don't really like the constant(every 2 eps) theme of the girls ALMOST getting raped. I also like to see the characters progress and get stronger/change, but most of the celestial warriors are static it seems. Its a good love story, but I'll never watch it again, and I doubt you'll get the same enjoyment per episode that you would from other series. The reason I say this is because it jerks you around so much that its difficult to enjoy it, and you just feel like these people are stupid for doing this and this and this(like when problems could have easily been solved if people just talked about it, but instead they don't and just do stupid isht), just hurry up and do what you need to do and get to the end. An example of people not talking would be when the old wise lady tells the main male character not to get too close to the main female character, when in reality she could have just said don't have sex because she has to be a virgin so she can summon the saint beast Suzaku to grant her wish. This causes tons of problems because hes pushing her away then shes pushing him away and she does something stupid later on which leads to the first thing I talked about in the paragraph....

I also hate how they constantly have to protect Miaka (main female character). She never really adapts to the times and learns how to fight or anything (which includes not being stupid and staying out of trouble), and I think this is one of the dumbest parts of the series IMO. Shes stuck in feudal China, ALWAYS in constant danger and under attack, yet she remains a stupid little girl who pseudo-commically eats alot (and thinks about food at the wrong times) and makes lots of dangerous decisions to continue moving the stupid plot along.

*end*













In conclusion:
1) Not worth owning
2) Worth seeing if you like love stories
3) Not worth seeing if you like Naruto/Gundam type stories, with characters that can change drastically and "power up"
4) Not worth seeing if you hate the possibility of people getting raped
5) Not worth seeing if you dislike the plot being driven mostly by misscommunication and lack of information between the characters
6) Not worth seeing if you dislike a weak female character who ALWAYS needs to be protected and cannot defend herself, yet almost tries to get herself killed.
7) Not worth seeing more than once

[LuciaMelody]

Its ....soooo.....loooooong! They just dragged it out. ANd as someone pointed out before most of the episodes are the 2 main characters saying each others names..."Miaaaaka!" "Tamahoome!!"

Miaka is a super magnet for all the troubles of the universe. Everyepisode she gets herself in trouble...nonstop >_<

But uh....yeah, the art is very pretty.....and the story is good....would be good....if condensed.

Miaka has a very annoying voice, esp in a dubbed version. and she is um not too smart. *looks out for the miaka fans*

Its definitely love it or hate it series - if u r not absolutly in love with Miaka and adore Tomahome - then dont watch it.

[stingray]

i think i'm 1 of the few guys that liked the series. i marathoned it 1 whole weekend way back when it was fansubbed on VHS (and when i had that much free time to do nothing). had like a 3-4th gen VHS condensed copy of it. even so it was at least 5-6 6hr tapes. fansubbers name is on the tip of my tongue...argh...well anyway....

*SPOILER ALERT* (highlight to read; edit: uhh...not sure how to clear it so it doesn't show up unless highlighted)

i liked it when all the characters died. by that time, you've invested enough emotion into them to somewhat care for them.

didn't start getting "good" till yui (main character's best friend) thought she got raped (though she's retarded to not know she didn't actually get raped. i'd assume women aren't that naive about their bodies to not know someone penetrated them). maybe cause it's the first anime i've seen that even dealt w/ rape (that didn't involve tentacles) that got me interested in the series.

it might be worth watching if you like romance fantasy. some of it is a bit drawn out.