The Essentials

Name: Fushigi Yuugi Eikoden, The Mysterious Play – Eikoden
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Episodes: 4
Released: December 21, 2001 – June 25, 2002
Based On: Fushigi Yuugi TV series & OVAs & Fushigi Yugi Gaiden novels
Director: Nanako Shimazaki
Produced By: Studio Pierrot, Bandai
US Distribution By: Pioneer/Geneon

Major Japanese Cast

Miaka Yuuki: Kae Araki
Taka: Hikaru Midorikawa
Mayo Sakaki: Junko Noda
Keisuke Yuuki: Shinichiro Miki
Tetsuya Kajiwara: Ken Narita
Tasuki: Nobutoshi Hayashi
Chichiri: Tomokazu Seki
Yui Hongo: Yumi Touma

Major English Cast

Miaka Yuuki: Ruby Marlowe
Taka: David Hayter
Mayo Sakaki: Lynn Fischer
Keisuke Yuuki: Derek Stephen Prince
Tetsuya Kajiwara: Bo Williams
Tasuki: James Penrod
Chichiri: Sean Mitchell
Yui Hongo: Wendee Lee

Scores

Animation: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Story: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Music: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: N/A
English Dubs: 7/10 (x 1 = 7 pts)
Gut Score: 7/10 (x 5 = 35 pts)

Total: 134/180 (74.4%)

Review

Fushigi Yugi: Eikoden is about a high school girl, Mayo Sakaki, who has a crush on Taka, who coaches her high school basketball team.  Mayo is crushed when she finds out that Taka married to Miaka.  Mayo then stumbles upon the Universe of the Four Gods and, upon opening it, witnesses the entire story that Miaka was a part of in an instant.  The next day, Miaka’s brother, Keisuke, tells Mayo that Miaka is pregnant, and in a desperate attempt to salvage what she sees as an unhappy life, Mayo opens the book again and is sucked into the Universe of the Four Gods.  When this happens, Miaka’s baby disappears from her womb and Miaka falls into a coma.  Taka then decides to go into the book to retrieve Mayo.

Once in Honan, Taka learns that Mayo is now carrying his and Miaka’s child and that the Universe of the Four Gods is on the verge of collapse and that the Suzaku Seven must reunite again and summon Suzaku in order to save it.

Slightly better than the first two OVAs, Eikoden was at least mildly entertaining, but once again it was just another chapter in a franchise that has already worn out it’s welcome.  I think if you’re a fan of the universe of the Universe of the Four Gods, you’ll probably like this series as it seems to keep much of the same feel of the TV series, even if Miaka is essentially a minor character until the end.  However, if you’re just a casual fan, I’m not sure you’ll get much from Eikoden as, while the story is still somewhat interesting, it doesn’t really add anything to the original Fushgi Yugi story.

The 2D animation is the highlight of the series, as it is the best by far out of all the Fushigi Yugi works, though the 3-D animation that is added in could have been a bit better done.  I still like the Fushigi Yugi music, and the dub is probably about at the same level as it was in the TV series.

Overall, if you’re a Fushigi Yugi fan, you’ll probably like it.  If you’re not, you can probably skip this.

First Watched: November 2006
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: No, unless you’re a fan of the franchise