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INTEREST: Fushigi Yûgi Celebrates 35th Anniversary With Exhibition




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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 13910
PostPosted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:21 pm Reply with quote
It's kind of surreal seeing some of her older characters in her modern style.
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ChirashiD



Joined: 11 Oct 2006
Posts: 197
Location: WA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 1:17 am Reply with quote
MFrontier wrote:
It's kind of surreal seeing some of her older characters in her modern style.
I'm glad you mentioned "surreal" because I think that's a word that captures the imagery of a lot of her earlier work. I really miss the way she used to blend characters and backgrounds as if the scenery is part of the characters themselves. It's actually quite difficult to get artwork, even from an online image image search, of this style she used in her early days. If you go to the gengaten website and click on the "special" tab there's a sample of random excerpts of her work. It really shows a striking evolution from that surreal style and current style with thicker lines and the kind of aesthetics that are more popular today.
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Amritzer



Joined: 24 Jun 2024
Posts: 172
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 1:56 am Reply with quote
Fushigi Yuugi is one of anime I've heard about for years, but for some reason just haven't started yet.

Not sure why, but I often put it together with Rekka no Honoo.

...

Considering all the remakes lately, there could be a new adaptation announced.

Myself, I wouldn't watch it before seeing old anime.
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ChirashiD



Joined: 11 Oct 2006
Posts: 197
Location: WA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 4:57 am Reply with quote
Amritzer wrote:
Fushigi Yuugi is one of anime I've heard about for years, but for some reason just haven't started yet.
Something that's kind of upsetting about watching FY now is the fact that so many of the romantic and drama tropes we see and laugh at in anime today were literally created by this show. Since they were created by Fushigi Yuugi, watching it back then was before all of those tropes were even considered tropes.
When you watch it now you can't help but laugh and roll your eyes so it's impossible to recreate the experience of watching the show back then, unless you have already watched FY BACK THEN. If they did a remake, they'd have to remove many of those tropes to try to help viewers experience the true passion and magic that made it such an epic love story. But then it really wouldn't be Fushigi Yuugi anymore.
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Amritzer



Joined: 24 Jun 2024
Posts: 172
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 5:21 am Reply with quote
ChirashiD wrote:
Something that's kind of upsetting about watching FY now is the fact that so many of the romantic and drama tropes we see and laugh at in anime today were literally created by this show. Since they were created by Fushigi Yuugi, watching it back then was before all of those tropes were even considered tropes.
When you watch it now you can't help but laugh and roll your eyes so it's impossible to recreate the experience of watching the show back then, unless you have already watched FY BACK THEN. If they did a remake, they'd have to remove many of those tropes to try to help viewers experience the true passion and magic that made it such an epic love story. But then it really wouldn't be Fushigi Yuugi anymore.
I got into many things that I love years, decades after their initial release.

As for possible remake, personally, I don't need it to repeat the magic of the past, but to create its own.
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merr



Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 487
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 8:55 am Reply with quote
ChirashiD wrote:
Something that's kind of upsetting about watching FY now is the fact that so many of the romantic and drama tropes we see and laugh at in anime today were literally created by this show. Since they were created by Fushigi Yuugi, watching it back then was before all of those tropes were even considered tropes.
When you watch it now you can't help but laugh and roll your eyes so it's impossible to recreate the experience of watching the show back then, unless you have already watched FY BACK THEN. If they did a remake, they'd have to remove many of those tropes to try to help viewers experience the true passion and magic that made it such an epic love story. But then it really wouldn't be Fushigi Yuugi anymore.

IMHO, the secret to Fushigi Yugi’s success was the fact that Yuu Watase had zero interest in writing romance but knew she had to include it. It feels like she looked at the shoujo landscape, realized what readers really want is messy drama, then she took all the tropes and dialed them up to 11.

Like Rumiko Takahashi, she knew the secret to romance was to never, ever let the leads be together. But while Takahashi liked her couples to stay at a baseline “will they/won’t they” for most of a run, Watase decided she’d let everyone get together then immediately rip them apart in increasingly ridiculous ways. She absolutely did not care whether Miaka and Tamahome were happy, so she was willing to make them suffer over and over for the sake of a good cliffhanger. It sounds mean, but the end product is fantastically enjoyable.
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scanlines



Joined: 18 Oct 2023
Posts: 66
Location: in time out for bad behavior
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 10:59 am Reply with quote
One of the first fansubbed series I saw way back in the day. I'm glad it's still getting recognition. I can hear Miaka saying "Tamahome" in my head while typing this.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 13910
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 12:47 pm Reply with quote
ChirashiD wrote:
Amritzer wrote:
Fushigi Yuugi is one of anime I've heard about for years, but for some reason just haven't started yet.
Something that's kind of upsetting about watching FY now is the fact that so many of the romantic and drama tropes we see and laugh at in anime today were literally created by this show. Since they were created by Fushigi Yuugi, watching it back then was before all of those tropes were even considered tropes.
When you watch it now you can't help but laugh and roll your eyes so it's impossible to recreate the experience of watching the show back then, unless you have already watched FY BACK THEN. If they did a remake, they'd have to remove many of those tropes to try to help viewers experience the true passion and magic that made it such an epic love story. But then it really wouldn't be Fushigi Yuugi anymore.

I think they'd be better off adapting the Genbu story than remaking the original.
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 796
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 3:49 pm Reply with quote
merr wrote:
She absolutely did not care whether Miaka and Tamahome were happy, so she was willing to make them suffer over and over for the sake of a good cliffhanger. It sounds mean, but the end product is fantastically enjoyable.


It's especially funny reading her author notes in the sidebar of the manga as an adult. A lot of the stuff went over my head as a teen, but she really did not care about the main couple at all. She was all in for Nakago from the beginning, and it's pretty great to have the mangaka so devoted to the villain's development in a shoujo.

I still have a huge amount of love for FY. Have the manga singles and Animerica Extra full run, the Geneon/Pioneer DVD boxes (got the Japanese Tasuki VA to sign one too), and one of the first online orders I ever made back around 2001 was a Seiryu dragon wall scroll that I still have hanging up. I'm sure it feels incredibly dated to new people, but good lord do I enjoy the melodrama in this show. The soundtrack is still awesome, too.
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xxmsxx



Joined: 06 Sep 2017
Posts: 601
PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 9:00 pm Reply with quote
Damn, I wish it would last one week longer, then I would have a chance to visit.

Still waiting for Genbu Kaiden to be adapted.
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