Fushigi Yuugi
[Episodes 1-12, 14-52, OAVs 1 & 2 Reviewed]
[Reviewed by Bethany]

In a sense, Fushigi Yuugi sort of balances itself out. The first season was really pretty good; the second season sucked horribly. The first OAV was a mess of incoherency slapped together for purposes of continuity. The second OAV actually managed to make me like the series better as a whole and forget its previous transgressions -- despite all the dead people who just didn't seem to realize they were dead. (Note that, unlike other series, I'm reviewing Fushigi Yuugi together, both seasons and OAV. They all follow the same timeline and are pretty much the same story... and, well, I didn't feel like doing three or four FY reviews.)

Of course, this review itself is probably pretty pointless: I'm guessing most people out there know of Fushigi Yuugi, and have their own opinion on whether or not they want to watch it, and whether or not they want to hunt down Yuu Watase and demand to know what the hell she was thinking when she created it. But I'll do a brief summary anyway, and then babble incoherently for a time.

Story
Miaka Yuuki is about to take the entrance exams for high school. Pressure from school and her mom has been driving her nuts, and she has trouble concentrating in school—well, Miaka has trouble concentrating on anything other than food, but that's beside the point. Then, one day, as she and her best friend Yui Hongo are visiting the National Library, a mysterious red light leads her to a closed off room—and a book called The Universe of the Four Gods. She and Yui begin to read, and suddenly find themselves in strange world... and neither of their lives will ever be the same.

What Else?
...Now that that's over. Fushigi Yuugi manages to combine everything I hate about girl anime with everything I love about it — which means that, when it comes down to it, I have really mixed feelings about Fushigi Yuugi. (Really, it's a love/hate relationship.) I used to often cite Miaka as my least favorite anime heroine, partly because she seems to be an outrageous mockery of young girls in general. (She has since been elevated — partly because of the second OAV, partly because of two other M-heroines that bother me intensely.) I want to smash the male leads' face into rocks and watch him bleed. ...So how is it that I can like an anime in which the main characters bother me? (Or used to — as I said, end of second OAV, way to go.) Despite that, Fushigi Yuugi does have a lot going for it ... in side characters and niftiness, if not in potential fully reached. While the mains might appear shallow [to me], many of the others have quite a bit of... surprising depth. And then there's that whole addiction factor.

Still, while my feelings for the series come out as pretty positive—and much of my dislike for Tamahome and Miaka has been washed off by the maturity and intelligence they show in the OAV, Fushigi Yuugi is definitely not for people with a low tolerance for melodrama. This is soap opera anime to the core, kiddos ... and unless you're willing to let it run recklessly over your emotions, you're probably not prepared for it.

The Bottom Line
Watch Fushigi Yuugi if you love shoujo and/or fantasy and/or pretty boys who sparkle. But keep a pillow handy ... and be aware that this show might temporarily take over your life.