Series in one sentence:
I mean it, don't read, books will hold you hostage forever.
Series in more sentences:
The follow-up to Fushigi Yugi.
After Miaka and Tamahome earned their happily ever after, he's suddenly summoned back inside the book and has to discard his memories in order to keep on living in the real world.
But when a power-hungry demon plans to destroy the physical containers holding his memories -which would lead to his erasure- he and Miaka need to come back again to fight this villain and protect both their worlds.
An unnecessary and repetitive extension of a series that was already repetitive.
The first two episodes brought an interesting twist concerning Tamahome's reincarnation, but it's immediately spoiled to us it was just an illusion created by a dead enemy, resurrected by this demon character who came out of nowhere. I'm genuinely disappointed. The idea that Tamahome was in actuality the reincarnation of the original series' villain would've been so damn cool.
But instead, we have to watch our bland lovers forcibly utter their goodbyes for the one millionth time and the series AGAIN presents the solution of Tamahome getting reincarnated into Miaka's world.
..Didn't we just do this? Does the absence of his memories protect him from getting erased or sent back? Obviously not, as he and Miaka get sucked into the book again, where he's immediately given part of his memories back and this becomes the new objective. The series ends with (spoilers, lol) him existing in the real world with his memories intact, making me ask the question what the point of this journey was.
I found the "you're a spirit body now, so therefore.."-excuse cheap. How does reincarnation not do the same thing? It wasn't Tamahome's actual flesh-and-blood body that got transported to Miaka's world, was it? Rather, his soul?
So what's the difference? What does reincarnation entail in Fushigi Yugi?
The subplot where their dead friends were also given the chance to get reborn was a huge cop-out as well. How does death mean anything if people are able to get resurrected and stay chatty ghosts in the meantime.
There were a few interesting bits, but I don't think I'd recommend this to someone who watched the original. It offered too little for that.
Series in one sentence:
Don't read, is bad for you.
Series in more sentences:
Two high school friends become part of an ancient Chinese world when they happen to find an enchanted book. After a short separation and a back and forth between worlds, they both get sucked in and become enemies over a misunderstanding.
Their foreign status earned them the destined job of priestess, and they race each other to summon their God first, as to secure the safety of their respective kingdom and have their desires fulfilled.
It would've been an (mostly) excellent story if the characters were given infinite more time with each other.. and there were less pointless 80s-styled music videos.
The drama in Fushigi Yugi feels exaggerated because of this. Little to no time was spent on showing the relationship between these people grow, and I'm not sure if I care about a desperate, teary-eyed romance between two characters that have only known each other for maybe 3 days. Whereafter they've had no contact for 3 months. From the boy's side, that is; time works differently inside the book. Except at the end of the series for some reason, when it doesn't.
The love between the school girl, Miaka, and her guardian, Tamahome, is argued to be strong and genuine, apparently enough so to cause a long-standing childhood friendship to end. Miaka's friend, Yui, is also in love with this same boy, even though she's interacted with him a whole impressive 0 days, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds.
I don't understand where her feelings came from. In the first few episodes, Yui is immediately kicked out of the book and proceeds to read it like it's The Neverending Story, and not even then does she look at Tamahome's passages and comments something like "Wowzie, this guy is so awesome, I think I'm falling in love with him, too!". She never expressed interest in the kid and barely talked to him before she made her confession, much like Miaka.
Why is everyone after Tamahome's dick in this? The only defining personality trait he has is that he wants money.
Miaka had more chemistry with the emperor and shared more dialogue with her feminine friend, but both men are shoved aside for this bland romance. Tamahome gets a hug, the emperor gets a smile after doing the same job. I've only been able to figure out that she loves him because he uttered some standard sappy shit like existing to protect her, but the emperor literally did the same..
As the series progresses, the drama becomes a bit cheap and repetitive. Miaka and Tamahome keep "breaking up" over "good" reasons they don't bother to clarify to the other, so they act like bitches a mere day after announcing their eternal love, and at one point the story is all about Miaka being in danger of getting raped by the fucking whole world, because virginity is argued to be important for a priestess to maintain. What a nauseating plot, I was happy when it was over.
Fushigi Yugi entertained me for the most part, though. It feels like the bare bones of a longer and more detailed story, but was still good for what it was. I loved the humor, even though it was misplaced at times, and also liked the characters that were given actual development.
This development was still relatively lacking, but that's something you can't avoid when you introduce so many characters in a show.
Series in one sentence:
Humans will get a second chance at life if they're mean enough, so go become a mass murderer with multiple wives.
Series in more sentences:
A
handful of Japanese warlords from old times meet up with each other in the present, reincarnated as dogs. Slaves of their new bodies, they rediscover the world and deal with their lives as the loved pets of women.
This could've been a whole lot better.
I don't see the point of humans reincarnating into dogs if they only talk about their past lives in their minds, while having very little control over their dog body and brain.
The characters are shown to be instinct-driven animals, but at the same time, are less aggressive than their human selves were. Why are these warlords, who (used to) have a deep hatred for each other, calmly sitting around in the dog park and chatting it up with each other? They should be digging their teeth in each other's throat like rabid wolves. The warlord aspect really falls flat.
An episode exists out of a series of short stories, in chronological order, and too many of these are too short to bring any kind of joke or point across. It would've been better if these were full, proper episodes.
Reoccurring storylines take too long to progress, and the payout is.. none. There's no conclusion to any of it, because I think they want to animate a second season.
Out of everything this series showed me, the last few minutes of the last episode were the most interesting.
