Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden Mini Review (manga/game)
September 19th, 2007 by Lianne
PG-13/16 for violence, sexuality, nudity, darkness, etc.; official series website
This series, surprisingly, is missing The Suck. I love Yuu Watase, but I also understand that she mixes in a lot of crap with her good work–half her cast always has to be 100% insufferable, and her love stories can grate on the brain. But this backstory manga to its extremely popular predecessor is some of Watase’s strongest work, balancing action, adventure, romance, and angst surprisingly well. The whole thing is tremendously dark, and anyone who’s read/watched Fushigi Yuugi knows that Genbu’s maiden is headed for a sad ending, but that does nothing but strengthen this story of personal sacrifice. Watase’s trademark Shoujo Lameness is barely present here, and her heroine is strong of will, body, and morals. They also made a dating sim for this manga in Japan, where–I kid you not–you play a Japanese schoolgirl who falls into the world and steals the heroine’s menfolk out from under her. That never stops being funny to me.
Initial impression: Definitely worth a try. (Lianne)
This is my favorite series! I love the plot, and how there is so much going on inside all of the character’s heads. THis is not some mindless romance, or action manga! THis is an art! The characters are deep, and the art is beautiful. I am a fan of Yu Watase’s work, and have read all that I can!
-Arigat Gozaimasu
Ziyi
the fate of the genbu maiden is surely pityful and sad…. hopefully there could be a miracle that might happen after the visit from miaka and the ‘could be’ destruction of the whole of the book of the four Gods.
You know, I actually own that dating game, and I can tell you, Takiko gets quite peeved when you try and finagle Limdo from her ^^; I felt quite guilty doing so.
I must admit, I had much more fun with the two “villian” story lines. Ziyi and his little fanboy (his name escapes me >_>) wound up treating “me” much better than the Genbu crew IMO…but the conversation you get to have with Takiko about modern technology is pretty amusing.
OHMYGOSH I JUST STARTED THIS MANGA TODAY AND IM ALREADY ON THE SIXTH BOOK!!!
Not to mention the Genbu folk gets revamped, and that fugly little shounen from the manga (Hatsui, I think?) doesn’t exist in the game. Which is logical, since ugly boys in otome games are not acceptable. No friendship route with Hair Lady, either.
Akari,
Hey! Ugly boys need love too. And better otome games know that:
http://truemeaningoflife.com/images/tokimeki/tmgs159.png
But I agree, no friendship endings with ladies = otome game that isn’t up to my exacting standards.