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— by Roderick "Agitator" Lee
Just three months since the end of the first OVA series,
the FUSHIGI YUUGI creative braintrust shifted back
into gear with the opening release of a new second OVA series, this
one slated for double the length of its predecessor, six volumes. Fans
perplexed, confused, or just plain dissatisfied with the first OVA series will
welcome the news that this second set returns to the manga timeline of
original series creator Watase
Yuu.
Reader
beware: Since this latest series is a continuation of both TV
and first OVA, spoilers from both will naturally pop up in this
review.
The
end of the TV series, which coincides with the close of the
thirteenth manga volume, features the sudden appearance of an unnamed
character, dressed in contemporary clothing and looking very much like
Tamahome. He greets Miaka by telling her "At last, I have found you..."
and holding up his hand to reveal the ring that she gave to Tamahome.
Then, just as Tamahome promised in his letter, he responds to her
startled gaze with "Wo Ai Ni" (Chinese for "I love you"), thereby
closing both TV series and manga volume.
Although
he is never named in the previous chapter, volume fourteen of the
manga picks up the story three months later, introducing the character
Sukunami Taka, with the obvious implication that he is the same
individual as in the close of the preceding volume. But, with three
months to play with, the writers of the first OVA decided to tweak the
manga continuity a bit and stake out some new territory with a
convoluted plot, in a seeming attempt to better explain Taka's quest in
the later volumes (and precisely the ones for this second OVA series).
In this modification, the unnamed character is still Tamahome, and
Taka appears in the final scene of the third volume (again with
Tamahome's ring), after the credits. The first OVA also serves to
introduce the demonic Tenkou, the chief antagonist of this latter
storyline.
Despite
all these machinations, though, the second OVA still assumes
that viewers are familiar enough with the manga to know who Taka is.
Following an opening sequence which recaps the first OVA scene of Yui
calling upon Genbu's power to seal Tenkou, we shift back to the real
world where a late Miaka rushes out the door (stuffing her face along
the way, of course) to meet Taka before school. But who is he? Taka
is a real person (as opposed to a character from The Four Gods of
Earth and Sky) who has vague memories of an alternate world in
which he was one of seven protectors for a young woman he fell in love
with. Although he does not remember much about that world, he does
know that he loves Miaka and has lived his life waiting for the day
when he finally meets her. He is the human reincarnation of Tamahome,
though neither he nor Miaka knows that yet.
Before
Miaka awakens for the day, though, Suzaku appears briefly to
her, calling for "Suzaku no Miko" to summon him and give him power.
The seal that Yui placed on Tenkou has a physical manifestation and
Suzaku's physical section of the seal is crumbling (reason unknown,
but this actually happened historically). Tenkou has taken advantage
of Suzaku's weakness by sending his minions into the real world; they
can then attempt to free him by taking Suzaku's power. Suzaku, in
turn, calls upon the power in his Miko for assistance.
At
Yotsubadai High School, all of the student body is abuzz about the
new student, Shigyou Ren, a handsome young man with a disconcertingly
sinister air about him. Miaka and Taka are tricked into meeting on
the roof. Just as they realize that something is not quite right,
Suzaku calls Miaka again, asking her to hold The Four Gods of Earth
and Sky (a.k.a. Shichi Tenshishou) again and summon him.
Taka senses something is wrong, but before either one of them can
react, a group of students, Ren's followers, confront them. They try
to escape, but one of the students catches Miaka and throws her off
the building. Taka, in a vain attempt to save her, leaps after her,
but it is Miaka who saves the both of them when Suzaku calls upon her
again: "Miko. Summon me. Summon the Shichi Tenshishou." In a
flash, she wills herself back to the Universe of the Four Gods.
Meanwhile,
a beautiful young woman, Miiru, also with that same
sinister air, ingratiates herself into the presence of Keisuke and
Tetsuya, possibly with an eye on seducing Miaka's brother. An irate
Yui, thinking Miaka has ditched her for a date with Taka, soon notices
the red glow and the scroll of the Shichi Tenshishou. Back in the
Universe, Miaka and a bewildered Taka quickly meet up with Tasuki and
Chichiri. Chichiri prompts Tasuki to hand Taka a small stone he has
been carrying for the past two years.
This
takes the story back to the close of the first OVA, with the
scene of the memory balls. Tamahome's memories were divided and
sealed in seven memory globes, and Taka must find them to regain both
Tamahome's memory and his powers as a Suzaku shichisei. The stone
that Tasuki has been carrying is his memory globe, and viewers are
treated to some wonderful flashbacks of Tamahome with Tasuki as these
memories are returned to Taka. Chichiri's globe is at Mt. Taikyoku,
and shortly after they arrive there, the spirits of Hotohori, Nuriko,
Mitsukake and Chiriko materialize. Then, Taiitsu-kun appears and,
after Taka receives Chichiri's memories, explains that an evil force
is preventing the other four shichisei from being reborn.
In
the real world, Ren is consolidating power by running for student
body president. The threat this poses is immediate and severe; not
even Taiitsu-kun's refuge at Mt. Taikyoku is safe as the earth quakes
and the mountain crumbles. Chichiri quickly teleports everyone to the
imperial palace at Konankoku as the second volume begins.
After
a somewhat disappointing first foray into OVA-land, can this
second attempt do better? The first volume fails to provide adequate
exposition for Taka and never manages to reach a smooth pace in
unfolding the plot. Perhaps this is why the second volume's release was
delayed two months. In which case, the creators should be
congratulated on their decision, because the second volume is a marked
improvement over the first.
Having
found the first two globes, the four companions must now seek the globes
of the deceased shichisei. As the second volume is set in the
imperial palace, it should come as no surprise that the story is
dedicated to Hotohori, his young widow Houki, and the son he never
knew, Boushin. The pacing and dramatic tension are more in tune with
the past FUSHIGI YUUGI storylines, and if the second volume is any
indication, this should prove to be a great close to the series.
Naturally, the fact that the writers are constrainted by
Watase Yuu's own vision this time helps immensely.
The
third volume, which ships on 18 December, is slated to focus on
Nuriko and Kourin, and if these two volumes are any indicator of the
direction this second OVA will take, it appears that one volume will
be dedicated to each of the remaining shichisei, their backgrounds,
and the futures of the lives they touched. That would leave the final
volume for the climactic battle against Tenkou.
Somewhat
unusual is the fact that, unlike most TV-OVA crossovers,
FUSHIGI YUUGI managed to keep its entire creative production team
intact; this despite the outside continuity of the first OVA.
Character designer Motohashi Hideyuki is still on board, and Miaka's
and Yui's designs have not skipped a beat since the first OVA. Taka
is both similar and different enough from Tamahome to draw the
necessary parallels while retaining his own identity. Ren is
devilishly handsome while Miiru is enticingly beautiful. The very
versatile Amano
Yuri does alluring quite well,
while Ishida Akira's
Ren is like an evil version of Tsuchiya Kei (from
MARMALADE BOY).
The musical scores continue to envelop the viewer, and Sato Akemi
returns to sing "Star," the latest OP. As in the first
series, each volume includes a brief omake short. This time, the
omake shorts, titled "Fushigi Akugi," are various outtake scenes. For
example, in the omake version, when Miaka is hurled off the roof,
Taka's sudden burst of acrophobia prevents him from leaping to save
her, and she splats on the ground below.
Consider
the fact that only the first OVA diverges from the original
manga story, and add in the overall rushed perception of the short three-volume
series. Now, some suspicious minds might conclude that this
second series was always in the planning stages, and that
the first series was hastily planned together to gauge market
interest and to placate fans while the "real" follow-up endured
production delays. The fact that the second volume of the second
series was delayed makes this hypothesis not entirely far-fetched.
The
first volume suffered from many of the pacing problems that made
the first series such a whirlwind ride. Now that the series has come
into its own in the second volume, it looks very promising. Never one
to advocate spoilers, newcomers should steer clear of this (but then
again, newcomers should not have read this far); there are just far
too many elements to diminish the first-time experience of viewing
the TV series. However, long time fans should be pleased, and they are,
after all, who this series is targeted for.
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FUSHIGI YUUGI 2ND OVA
© Watase Yuu/Shogakukan, TV Tokyo, Studio Pierrot
© 1997 Watase Yuu/Shogakukan, Bandai Visual, Sudio Pierrot, Movic
Volume 1 "Kowaku no Taidou" (Seductive Trouble-Making), BEAL-1011
May 1997, ¥4800
Volume 2 "Chinmoku no Warabe" (Silent Child), BEAL-1012
September 1997, ¥4800
Volume 3 "Tensei no Hatsuro" (Reincarnation's Manifestation), BEAL-1013
December 1997, ¥4800
Each volume 30 minute CAV LD or VC
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