【Fushigi Yuugi】 An epic tale of adventure, friendship and love in isekai!!

Fushigi Yuugi, also known as “Fushigi Yuugi: The Mysterious Play” or “Curious Play”, is a shojo manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It was serialized in Shojo Comic magazine by Shogakukan from December 1991 to May 1996, with a total of 18 volumes. Fushigi Yuugi is one of Watase’s most popular titles and launched her career. Studio Pierrot adapted Fushigi Yuugi into a 52-episode anime series that aired from April 1995 to March 1996 on TV Tokyo. Following anime adaptation, three OVAs were also released.

The story took inspiration from the Four Gods that frequently appear in Chinese classic literatures such as the 14th century novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guanzhong. The Four Symbols are four mythological creatures that people believe to be the guardians of four cardinal directions: the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West and the Black Tortoise of the North.

A 13-volume light novel series, written by Megumi Nishizaki and illustrated by Yuu Watase, were published based on the original story of Fushigi Yuugi. Shogakukan released the novels from January 1998 to September 2003.

Watase later released two prequel manga series: “Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden”, which ran from March 2003 to February 2013, detailing the creation of The Universe of the Four Gods; and “Fushigi Yuugi: Byakko Senki”, which began serialization in August 2017 and has been on hiatus since August 2018 due to Watase’s health issues.

Middle school student Miaka Yuuki was a cheerful girl that loved to eat delicious food. She was supposed to enjoy the last year of middle school but instead, she was forced to study every day in preparation for the entrance exam of Jonan Academy.

Miaka’s mother raised Miaka and her brother as a single mom, hence, she was strict on Miaka and expected her to aim for the prestigious Jonan Academy. However, Miaka was only an average student and wanted to go to a different high school.

Miaka’s best friend Yui Hongo was the polar opposite of her. Yui was the smartest student in her school and could easily qualify for any high school of her choosing. However, Yui decided to apply for Jonan Academy so she could go to the same school with Miaka.

When Yui was helping Miaka to study after-hour at the City Central Library, Miaka accidently dropped her pen and followed it to the “Restricted Area” of the library. Right after Yui and Miaka got into the room, a strange trembling happened but they only thought that it was a small earthquake.

Got curios by all the old books on the shelves, Yui and Miaka started to look around the private collection stored there. Miaka’s eyes were caught by a book called “Universe of the Four Gods”, which was a translation of a Chinese epic tale. The foreword stated that if one should read to the end of the book, the spell within shall bestow upon its reader the powers of the heroin and grant one wish.

It was a tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the seven Constellations of Suzaku (which means “vermillion bird”) together. The moment that the first page was turned, the story thus became reality.

This time, a loud tremble could be heard and the ground shook. When Yui and Miaka opened their eyes, they found themselves inside the strange word of the book that resembled ancient China.

Yui was immediately caught by two slave traders. Miaka lunged herself at the thugs to try and free her friend but got hit by them.

Fortunately for the girls, someone had interfered to rescue them. He was a handsome young man named Tamahome, with the character “Ogre” on his forehead. Tamahome fought off the slave traders and demanded money in return. When the girls told Tamahome that they didn’t have any money, he walked away saying that they were penny pinchers.

Out of nowhere, the ground started to grumble again and the girls were thrown back into their world. Thinking that it was only a dream due to exhaustion, Miaka and Yui got back to everyday lives without too much thought.

Later when Miaka got back home from school, her mother insisted that she should try harder if she was to get into Jonan Academy. She had read Miaka’s diary and mistakenly thought that Miaka got a boyfriend, which made Miaka neglecting her studies. She didn’t know that Miaka only wrote about her encounter with Tamahome in what she thought was a dream.

Miaka got into a big fight with her mother and ran out of the house. In frustration, she got back into the private room in the library. The book was still there, lying on the floor. Miaka picked it up and started reading again. She soon discovered that her encounter with the slave traders and Tamahome was written right there in the book.

Without any warning, the pages shined a strange light and pulled Miaka inside once again. This time, she may not be able to get back so easily......