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| 4. Iodine
There is a certain point when a title has worn out its welcome
beyond all reasonable limits, and Fushigi Yuugi has undoubtedly crossed
the line with its third, and hopefully last, OAV. Miaka and Tamahome are married,
working as teachers, and expecting their first child, when one of their students
stumbles upon a certain special book, and is pulled into the Universe of the Four
Gods. Tamahome goes after the girl, Mayo, to discover the jealous youngster is
acting out of a ferocious crush on him and trying to take Miaka's place in the
story. There is very little in the latest chapter of the Fushigi Yuugi
saga that will appeal to anyone who isn't familiar with the franchise. Prior OAVs
couldn't avoid the repetitiveness that weakened later parts of the original series,
and Eikoden is no exception. The storyline has now been dragged out for
so long, many of the original characters are not only dead, but have reincarnated
and need to be hunted down all over again. Miaka spends a great deal of her screentime
unconscious, and most of the other regulars have only cameos. The weak concepts
are badly conceived and the dramatics are terribly overdone. Mayo is so spiteful
and venemous in her machinations, it's very difficult to care about her when the
narrative shifts in that direction. Animation is
very good, and all the characters look great. There's little to complain about
as far as the technicals are concerned, but they're wasted on the fumbled story
that is really only a bad retread of the series. It's infuriating that several
logical developments in the ongoing plot are passed up in favor of the usual lopsided
love triangle that wore out its welcome back when Yui was still chasing Tamahome.
Established fans will likely be very disappointed and newbies couldn't ask for
a worse introduction to Fushigi Yuugi. |
| 3. Tempy
After Miaka and Taka get married, Mayo is so stricken with
agony and jealousy that she decides to return to the world of "The Universe
of the Four Gods", thus becoming the new priestess of Suzaku, and taking
Miaka's unborn baby with her (clever parlor trick!). Taka is lured back to Konan
to save Miaka, her unborn child, and Konan itself, which is threatened by an unseen
evil ready to engulf the land in darkness. Gorgeous
designs, good art, backgrounds and animation, so-so music - Eikoden's production
values seems fine. Well, except maybe for the CGI gods. It's one thing to use
below average CGI representations of Byakko, Genbu, Seiryu and Suzaku, but Eikoden
alternates between CGI and cel art for the gods, making the CGI feel even more
out of place. But that's only a slight annoyance compared to the plot, which manages
to exceed my limits of believability. It doesn't help that they tried to cramp
the contents of 2 *novels* (not written by Yuu Watase herself) into a mere
4 episodes. Another downer is Mayo whose meanness, selfishness and self-deception
makes her an irritating and unlikable character. Now those traits aren't necessarily
bad, since Hamdo from Now and Then Here and There and Dilandau from Escaflowne
do make great villains. They're just better written and executed than Mayo though.
We do eventually get to see more reasons why she is that way, but compared to
what Yui had to go through in the TV series, it all seems so...unbelievable. Fortunately
she gets the chance to redeem herself later on, but by then it's just too late
in my eyes. It's not all doom and gloom though. Taka's search for the Suzaku Seven
brings us enjoyable scenes as we are reunited with Hotohori, Mitsukake, Chichiri,
Chiriko,Tasuki, and my personal favorite Nuriko. |
| 2. Dunpeal
To echo another reviewer's statement, Fushigi Yuugi
has found it's closure, and the show sure went out with a bang. Eiko Den
is a beautifully told story from beginning to end, and for those of you who thought
the last OVA series was highly unsatisfying (as this reviewer did), prepare to
be blown away. This OVA has beautiful animation,
a great story, incredible music (The opening theme, "Chijou no Seiza",
will take your breath away) and a complicated and compelling villian in Mayo Sakaki.
It's quite an accomplishment that, in the span of just four episodes, Mayo went
from being utterly despised to sympathized with. She, along with other characters
such as Keisuke and Hotohori get some much appreciated character development and
contrary to other reviews, I thought the 3D versions of the Suzaku Seishi were
amazing and incredibly well-done. Fushigi Yuugi
deserved to go out on a high note, and thanks to Eikou Den, it has. Hopefully,
this series will stop at this point because I just can't see them adding anyting
else to this story. Besides, Taka and Miaka deserve some happiness for once. |
| 1. Tetrin
Once again the Fushigi Yuugi saga continues. This OVA
which is based on the Fushigi Yuugi novel Eikou Den is set three years
into the future after the 2nd OVA ended. Miaka and Taka are now happy newlyweds
and are expecting their first child. However, this happy scenario is stirred up
a student named Maiyo, who is secretly in love with Taka and unhappy with her
life. As fate would have it, Maiyo finds the book 'The Universe of the Four Gods'
and is transported to Konan. There she finds she is the new priestess of Suzaku
and that she is pregnant with Miaka's baby. MIaka, in the real world falls mysteriously
unconscious and it is up to Taka to once again travel back into 'The Universe
of the Four Gods' to find the answer to Miaka's unconscious state and to bring
Maiyo back. I enjoyed this OVA immensely, even though
I watched the English dubbed version. To me, Fushigi Yuugi has found its
closure. Miaka and Taka are happily married; insights are given about other characters
as well, such as Keisuke, Tetsuya and Yui. To once again bring the characters
back into Konan the character Maiyo is introduced. She is the villain in the series.
Seemingly lost, confused, angry, spiteful and jealous, all that Maiyo really wanted
was to be loved. I could not help but pity her really. It was nice to see the
Suzaku Seishi again and to find out more about the reincarnations of the ones
that had died. However, the reason that I do like this OVA so much is due much
to the fact that it explains what has happened to the characters after the 2nd
OVA ended. The plot in Eikou Den, is nothing extraordinary and the new
character Maiyo does not have enough character depth to be really memorable or
likable. Eikou Den does not disappoint FY fans, for as I've said
earlier it has given Fushigi Yuugi the closure it so thoroughly deserves.
The animation in this OVA is excellent. The characters
are drawn more maturely, backgrounds are drawn in more detail as opposed to in
the TV series and seeing the drawn reincarnations of old favourites such as Nuriko,
is very amusing. The only thing that I found not to my taste was probably the
CGI done for the four fake gods: Suzaku, Seiryuu, Genbu and Byakko. To me the
CGI did not compliment the animation very well and just seemed out of place. The
Opening song for this OVA is 'Chijou no Seiza' performed by Yoko Ueno.
The series opens to this song and I was blown away when I first heard it. It's
a beautiful song and is now one of my favourites. I
hope that Eikou Den will be the last of the Fushigi Yuugi series.
To drag it on any more would just ruin things. This OVA series has great animation,
great music and is wonderful to watch, especially if you weren't satisfied with
the 2nd OVA ending. The plot for Eikou Den is not that great but if you
are a Fushigi Yuugi fan then I'm sure it'll be a worthwhile watch anyway. |
| 
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(3.3)