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ladynovella 's review for:
Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden, Vol. 12
by Yuu Watase
I'm just going to put my review of the whole series here, because I want to.
First of all - I love the original Fushigi Yugi series, both anime and manga versions. A college roommate introduced me to the story and it's been one of my favorites ever since. That was also around the time Genbu Kaiden began and I'm happy to know that the series was finally completed.
Honestly, the story of Takiko Okuda didn't really hold that much appeal to me, mostly because we find out so little about her in the original story. She was merely an example to Miaka of how being a priestess of one of the four beast gods would end so horribly wrong. A plot device to up the drama and nothing more (Suzuno's story is the one I really wanted to know more about, and I have heard that Yuu Watase is writing a series for Byakko, which is exciting!)
But looking back on it, that just meant that there had to be more to Takiko's story than we were initially led to believe. She wasn't *just* a weak-minded girl who got caught up in the book of the Universe of the Four Gods. Her father wasn't driven insane to kill himself and his daughter. They were a family with disagreements and conflict, but they also cared about each other a lot. The Universe of the Four Gods is just... it brings a lot of... stuff... into people's lives.
Anyway, I loved how Takiko's character was fleshed out here. She's taking care of her ill mother, her mother dies, her father is largely absent during this time. Then her father comes back with the translation of the book and everything follows from there. Takiko is upset (rightfully so), tries to destroy the book that she believes her father loved more than he cared about her mother and she's taken inside the story.
Takiko's story is very different from Miaka's or Yui's, for a lot of reasons. None of the beast gods have been summoned in the world of the book and the priestess and celestial warriors are considered bad omens. So Takiko and the Genbu warriors are certainly not treated with any kind of honor or respect in Bie-Jia (and I am blanking on the spelling of the land, so apologies if I don't get it right). In fact, the government of Bie-Jia is turning toward Qu-Dong (the land of Seiryu - and it doesn't seem that those bastards were much better, even 200 years prior to the events of Fushigi Yugi) for help in... kind of a dick-move way. (I'm not sure how else to describe it.)
Takiko also falls in love with Uruki, one of the celestial warriors - so it really isn't that unusual for the priestess to have a romantic relationship with a celestial warrior (no matter what anyone said to Miaka and Tamahome, so stick that in your pipe and smoke it). Mostly, the relationship between Takiko and all her celestial warriors is one of having to build trust over time. Like I mentioned earlier, the Genbu celestial warriors are seen as bad omens and everyone born with a mark of Genbu has not been treated well by their society. That adds another layer of storytelling in this arc and one that I really enjoyed. I was glad that this just wasn't a repeat of the story I already knew and loved. Yes, I love the original story - but Takiko and the Genbu warriors aren't the same as Miaka and the Suzaku warriors. I don't want just a warmed-over rehash of something I already know. Make these characters unique in their own ways.
I am delighted to say that this story is certainly not a warmed-over rehash of anything. This feels like it's a separate time period within the story and the universe and it's wonderful. I especially loved that Takiko's death (which, if you know the original story, you know that's a foregone conclusion) isn't because she was too weak-willed to handle the beast god's power. She was already dying of the same illness that took her mother, yet she went back into the book to help out these people that she'd already come to love. Her dying wish was to live for others, which tells me that she was probably the strongest out of all the priestesses that went into the book (granted, we haven't seen Suzuno's story in its entirety, so we'll see if that assessment holds up).
Anyway, this was a fun series - full of heart and humor and drama and just plain old good storytelling. I would expect nothing less from Yuu Watase.
First of all - I love the original Fushigi Yugi series, both anime and manga versions. A college roommate introduced me to the story and it's been one of my favorites ever since. That was also around the time Genbu Kaiden began and I'm happy to know that the series was finally completed.
Honestly, the story of Takiko Okuda didn't really hold that much appeal to me, mostly because we find out so little about her in the original story. She was merely an example to Miaka of how being a priestess of one of the four beast gods would end so horribly wrong. A plot device to up the drama and nothing more (Suzuno's story is the one I really wanted to know more about, and I have heard that Yuu Watase is writing a series for Byakko, which is exciting!)
But looking back on it, that just meant that there had to be more to Takiko's story than we were initially led to believe. She wasn't *just* a weak-minded girl who got caught up in the book of the Universe of the Four Gods. Her father wasn't driven insane to kill himself and his daughter. They were a family with disagreements and conflict, but they also cared about each other a lot. The Universe of the Four Gods is just... it brings a lot of... stuff... into people's lives.
Anyway, I loved how Takiko's character was fleshed out here. She's taking care of her ill mother, her mother dies, her father is largely absent during this time. Then her father comes back with the translation of the book and everything follows from there. Takiko is upset (rightfully so), tries to destroy the book that she believes her father loved more than he cared about her mother and she's taken inside the story.
Takiko's story is very different from Miaka's or Yui's, for a lot of reasons. None of the beast gods have been summoned in the world of the book and the priestess and celestial warriors are considered bad omens. So Takiko and the Genbu warriors are certainly not treated with any kind of honor or respect in Bie-Jia (and I am blanking on the spelling of the land, so apologies if I don't get it right). In fact, the government of Bie-Jia is turning toward Qu-Dong (the land of Seiryu - and it doesn't seem that those bastards were much better, even 200 years prior to the events of Fushigi Yugi) for help in... kind of a dick-move way. (I'm not sure how else to describe it.)
Takiko also falls in love with Uruki, one of the celestial warriors - so it really isn't that unusual for the priestess to have a romantic relationship with a celestial warrior (no matter what anyone said to Miaka and Tamahome, so stick that in your pipe and smoke it). Mostly, the relationship between Takiko and all her celestial warriors is one of having to build trust over time. Like I mentioned earlier, the Genbu celestial warriors are seen as bad omens and everyone born with a mark of Genbu has not been treated well by their society. That adds another layer of storytelling in this arc and one that I really enjoyed. I was glad that this just wasn't a repeat of the story I already knew and loved. Yes, I love the original story - but Takiko and the Genbu warriors aren't the same as Miaka and the Suzaku warriors. I don't want just a warmed-over rehash of something I already know. Make these characters unique in their own ways.
I am delighted to say that this story is certainly not a warmed-over rehash of anything. This feels like it's a separate time period within the story and the universe and it's wonderful. I especially loved that Takiko's death (which, if you know the original story, you know that's a foregone conclusion) isn't because she was too weak-willed to handle the beast god's power. She was already dying of the same illness that took her mother, yet she went back into the book to help out these people that she'd already come to love. Her dying wish was to live for others, which tells me that she was probably the strongest out of all the priestesses that went into the book (granted, we haven't seen Suzuno's story in its entirety, so we'll see if that assessment holds up).
Anyway, this was a fun series - full of heart and humor and drama and just plain old good storytelling. I would expect nothing less from Yuu Watase.