Reviews

Fushigi Yûgi by Yuji Oniki, Kaori Kawakubo Inoue, Yuu Watase, Andy Ristaino

alexao's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

alexalovesbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I’m not going to lie — the nostalgia favor is a large reason for my enjoyment of this manga omnibus. Up until now I’d never experienced FY in manga as my first experience and all the succeeding ones were solely with the anime (which is foundational and a fave), but I really wanted to experience the story this way so I did… and I had a lot of fun! 

Watase’s style works really well for me in terms of the art, the characters and even the gist of the overall story. There are definitely translations/parts that don’t sit as well with me now, but I still had an enjoyable experience.

yuuto's review

4.0

Ah, nostalgia! I haven’t read Fushigi Yuugi in a heck of a long time. Still a good story, but I gotta take a star away for the homophobic treatment that Nuriko gets (and it’s supposedly humorous. Ugh).

ladyheroj's review against another edition

4.0

This is shojo, through and through. So of course it will have a heroine who is lovable to everyone around her. Of course it will have a sudden and intense romance between its two teenage heroes. (Although reading Watase's note in a side column, about how she wanted Miaka to be a "one love" kind of girl, made me look with a fresh perspective at how she handles romance in this series, rather than blow it off.)

Fushigi Yuugi was my thing as a middle/high school student. I LOVED this series. Sure, as an adult I find it more silly now, but I still enjoy it because I can now appreciate elements in it that I didn't before. The humor, the art (specifically how Watase handles backgrounds and the typical shojo-style embellishments), the characterizations...I've recently read the first volume of Ayashi no Ceres as well, another favorite from high school (I was a Watase FIEND, I read 'em all) and it's been fun to compare Aya and Miaka.

Anyway, it's shojo manga. You'll either forgive it of its silliness and enjoy the ride with memorable characters, or you won't. Re-reading it has only re-established to me that Fushigi Yuugi is among the greats of its genre.

algaemarina's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

vulpinereads's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

hjeilani's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

sb0112358's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

4.0

lrs002's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

yvernell's review

adventurous funny

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

😐

I watched the anime adaptation of this manga approximately 9000 years ago and have been wanting to revisit it by reading the manga for a while. I think I waited too long; time hasn't been kind to this story. It's charming, but not for me anymore. I don't think I'll read the rest of the volumes.