FUSHIGI YUUGI, the popular 52 episode shoujo adventure TV series and eighteen volume manga series by Watase Yuu, is the latest title to make the TV to OVA crossover. Fans of the original will be pleased to know that this three volume OVA series starts off with no loss of punch from the original TV series.
Almost exactly half a year from the airing of the final TV episode, the first volume of this series, "Loss of Ties," saw release on 25 October. Volume two just recently hit the market on 18 December, and the final chapter is slated for a 25 February release. Whereas the TV series is a very faithful rendition of the first thirteen manga volumes, the OVA production team has chosen not to continue into the story from the final five volumes. Instead, viewers can relish an entirely new story that twists and turns as much as the original and may also serve as a vehicle to introduce the remaining Genbu seishi.
With only three volumes to try to impact viewers like the 52 episode series, the story wastes no time spinning into gear. Late at night, in the library where Miaka and Yui found The Four Gods of Earth and Sky, we see an unidentified hand reach up to the shelf and steal the ancient tome.
After the credits roll, cut to a bullet train station. It is the summer of the first high school year (We will later see both Miaka and Yui in their summer high school uniforms), a few months after the end of the series. Miaka, Tamahome, Keisuke, and Tatsuya are going to visit the grave of Oosugi Suzuno, Byakko no Miko. They are met by a young monk who is her nephew, and together, they decide to also visit the grave of Okuda Takiko, Genbu no Miko. When they reach this second grave, Tamahome suddenly starts glowing red and hears a voice in his head. It is, in fact, the voice of Takiko, calling out for help; she tells Tamahome that she is being erased! And before Miaka can react, Tamahome fades away, drawn back into the Universe of the Four Gods.
Tamahome finds himself back in Konan country. With his status as a Suzaku seishi, he quickly gains an audience with the young emperor who is a dead ringer for a young Hotohori. Indeed, Gyo-shi, the young ruler, is the grandson of the prince swordsman seishi; fifty years have passed since Miaka and Tamahome returned to the modern world and Nakago waged his failed war against Konan. Oddly enough, though, when an excited Gyo-shi takes Tamahome to the Suzaku shrine, Tamahome cannot enter and is repelled by the red light of Suzaku. Accusing Tamahome of being an impostor, Gyo-shi has him flogged and exiled.
Meanwhile, in the modern world, Keisuke and Tatsuya are discussing what happened with Yui. Keisuke has also learned that the book was stolen the previous night, thereby placing Miaka and Yui in serious danger. If the book is opened, the cycle will begin anew and all four Mikos, including Miaka and Yui, will be erased!
And this is just the first half of the first volume. Then, volume two comes along and, to paraphrase Douglas Adams, smashes the viewer in the head with a lemon-wrapped gold brick. There is also that inevitable question for anyone who has seen the volume two artwork: Why does Tamahome's forehead glow blue with the sign of Nakago?
Like many television series, FUSHIGI YUUGI was victim to sporadic artwork. Now in OVA format, this is no longer the case. The art team remains the same. Without the constraints of a TV budget, character designer, Motohashi Hideyuki, wonderfully renders attractive new designs for our two principals, Miaka and Yui, while still preserving the air of the original series. Miaka sports a beautifully mature new look without losing any of her inherent cheerful energy. Yui's changes are more dramatic, no doubt a reflection of the trauma that she has endured, and she will likely surprise many viewers on first look.
Obviously, those who are vehemently spoiler-averse will want to avoid this. Furthermore, familiarity with the Seiryuu seishi from the second half of the series is almost a necessity in order to understand the revelations and contortions in volume two. For comic relief and a breather from the adrenaline pace of the regular story, each disc comes with a small SD short akin to "Nakago Shitsukari Shinasai" from the FUSHIGI YUUGI SPECIAL. This time, the studio is treating all the characters with a visit to an onsen, and they comprise a deranged side story of their own as the volume two short is a continuation of the first. Both are unspeakably hilarious, though the first eats too much time that could have been used toward the main storyline.
With delightful new music, both instrumental and vocal, these new OVAs stay true to the original series. (A new soundtrack hits the stores on 21 January and will be reviewed next issue.) Can this story really resolve itself in the one remaining half-hour volume?
The reviewer would like to thank Udi Hoh and David Van Cleef for their assistance on some of the Japanese translation and explanation.

FUSHIGI YUUGI
VOLUME 1 "Otto Hishi Kizuna" (Loss of Ties)
BEAL-937 – 25 October 1996 – ¥4800
VOLUME 2 "Kanashiki Senkou" (Glitter of Sadness)
BEAL-938 – 18 Dec 1996 – ¥4800
VOLUME 3 "Wakare... Soshite" (Parting Ways... Then)
25 Feb 1997 – ¥4800
EACH VOLUME 30 MINUTES CAV LD OR VC
Copyright © Watase Yuu / Shogakukan, Bandai Visual, Studio Pierrot, Movic