I remember the precise moment I decided to give Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, by Watase Yuu, a try. I had a mixed history with Watase at that point - I borrowed volumes of the original Fushigi Yuugi and Ceres from friends briefly until dropping the series, but was impressed enough by Alice 19th to become the person who lent it to others after volume one. The idea of anything to do with Fushigi Yuugi made me skeptical, but when the first volume of Genbu Kaiden was released in the U.S. I thought Watase's evident growth as an author merited, at least, a look at the copy on the back. Which gave me this sentence:
"When schoolgirl Takiko Okuda attempts to destroy her father's translation of 'The Universe of the Four Gods,' she is instead -"
Oh Genbu Kaiden, you had me at "destroy."
For anyone who has bothered to read to this point without some familiarity with Fushigi Yuugi, here's what it is: a story with "Fushigi Yuugi" in the title will be about girls from the normal world who discover a book called "The Universe of the Four Gods," a book which will magically transport them into the world it describes. The Universe of the Four Gods is based heavily on Chinese mythology, and divided into four countries, one for each cardinal direction. Each country has a patron god. The girls from "our" world help the country they end up in by becoming the Priestess of the patron god, finding the seven celestial warriors of the god, and summoning the god to grant wishes. The original Fushigi Yuugi, one of the definitive shojo hits of the 90s, focuses on an insufferable heroine, Miaka, the also annoying hero Tamahome, and the other six members of Miaka's male harem (most of whom are better characters) in the Southern country. Meanwhile, Miaka's (more interesting) friend Yui gets manipulated into an antagonistic role in the Eastern country, with her own magical entourage.
Genbu Kaiden, however, is a prequel series. It began publication ten years after Fushigi Yuugi, and it's a very different creature.
As the copy mentioned, Genbu Kaiden is the story of Takiko. She's a somewhat rebellious schoolgirl from 1920s Japan, whose fraught relationship with her father leads her to an attempt to destroy his Japanese translation of "The Universe of the Four Gods." Naturally, this action instead throws her into the Universe of the Four Gods, where she is almost immediately confronted by monsters. Unlike Miaka, whose response to this would be to scream for help ("Tamahome!" "Miaka!"), Takiko reacts by picking up a big stick and trying to fight. ...It doesn't do much good, because monsters, but she tries. Takiko is saved by the mysterious girl with magical wind powers chained up to a rock nearby. This girl later turns out to normally be a boy, he just can't use wind powers unless he's a woman. Ladies and gentlemen, this is our hero - Rimudo ("Limdo" if you're Viz translators).
I think this was around the point I fell completely head over heels for this series.
If you're guessing at this point that there is some hilarious crack in this series, you'd be right. Watase has fun with the actual ridiculousness of the magical powers the characters have, and general reactions to their situations. The standout is probably the part where Takiko and Rimudo (as a woman) go undercover in a brothel, while one of the other celestial warriors (Tomite) gets a little too into the role of "perverted old guy selling young women."
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| Tomite, there's going to be enough seeming lesbianism in that brothel without you. |
But that isn't the main selling point of the series at all. The thing that really sets Genbu Kaiden apart from the part of Fushigi Yuugi I read, and from a lot of fantasy manga, is its overall seriousness and scale. Is the romantic element strong? Yes, it is still shojo. Is it the thing that defines the characters actions and experience of the world? No. Genbu Kaiden is genuinely about a country that has been experiencing decline, and is increasingly threatened internally and externally. Most of the cast have experienced genuine hardship of some sort, and while some of the characterization for less major characters is told to us rather than shown and the resolution of some issues feels too pat, there is overall a real sense of characters facing themselves and their situation to become better, more complete people. Watase has said that the theme for Genbu Kaiden is "life and death." It's much easier to see it in the later volumes, but it really is there from the start and just increasingly stepped up as the story builds.
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| Yeah I couldn't find a textless version quickly. |
And this is a story that builds. The consequences get bigger, the situation gets more serious, relationships become closer, and the effect that we see on ordinary people escalates. The pacing isn't entirely right- I do think it would have benefited from a bit more length, maybe another two chapters worth or so. Perhaps due to the sheer amount of things she wanted to put in each installment to justify the wait between them, or perhaps simply because she wanted to make a much tighter story this time around, Watase ended up rushing the story a bit. It's not as obvious when you're reading in smaller installments, but when you go back and read a larger chunk at once it does stand out (and I think the characterization issues mentioned earlier are related to this pacing). But it's still a well-put together story that has honest consideration for its world, its characters, and its themes, and that comes through in the end.
As for that ending chapter itself...well, for me it was just on the right side of too cheesy, which meant I actually got very emotional. I'd understand if people thought the last parts were a little too much, but I found them to be balanced by the harshness that was also present (especially in the first half).
The thing is, it's kind of difficult for me to step back just to say that. I care about Genbu Kaiden. I care because the characters likable and interesting, even if they might be treated clumsily a few times. I care because there's variety. I care because it makes plot points out of things like the specialty exports and production of the countries involved. I care because loss is treated as a real thing with deep effects that deserve as much or more page time as the loss itself, rather than an easy way to shock the reader. I care because it feels like something important is almost always going on, on every level. I care because there's a sense of space, of exploration, of a world. I care because prehensile hair that you can fight with is pretty cool once you get past the "what even." I care because Takiko does things like volunteer to infiltrate a brothel when she doesn't actually know what prostitutes do, because Rimudo is used for fanservice in both genders, because Hatsui is adorable, because Tomite is totally owned by his mother, because we don't even know where Inami gets that giant pipe from, because of all of it.
I can admire a series greatly, I can truly love a series, without it making me actively grateful for it. When I finished Genbu Kaiden, "I'm glad this series has been part of my life" was more or less my first thought. That, ultimately, is all I really have, and all I really need, to say.
(For the record, though- both my favorite and second-favorite characters die.)
