Krystallina: Fushigi Yûgi. For some, it’s the story of one of the most annoying heroines in existence. For others, the various character deaths still leave an emotional scar. Either way, it was a hit, and eight years after Fushigi Yûgi, Watase took up her pen and wrote the Genbu Kaiden prequel. A couple of years after that series concluded, Watase wrote a one-shot called Byakko Ibun, and then later created this Byakko Senki serialization.
To my surprise and disappointment, Byakko Ibun is not included here. Volume 1 starts with an eight-year-old Suzuno being transported to the book of The Universe of the Four Gods after the big 1920s Japanese earthquake. There, Suzuno witnesses a skirmish that is interrupted by a raging tiger — really a young woman named Ning-Lan (from Byakko Ibun). The two then pass out from exhaustion and are helped by brothers named Kasal (older) and Karm. Shortly after, Suzuno is thrust back to the real world for 10 years. Confused by her muddled memories and a fellow orphan’s feelings for her, the heroine struggles between wanting the book and never finding it again.
Part of the problem with Byakko Senki volume 1 is not really the volume’s fault: it ends before Suzuno returns to the book world. With the series on hiatus for the past two years and only one more chapter beyond volume 1 published, English readers are looking at a year and a half minimum before the next one. Combined with the prologue-ish nature of this volume, it’s hard to give it an enthusiastic recommendation. Fans of Genbu Kaiden are familiar with long waits, but they were not this early.
Anyway, Suzuno is a significantly different heroine from her predecessors. Suzuno was a daddy’s girl (in fact, I would have guessed she was five or six initially), and after returning to Japan, she is viewed as a spacey, quiet, eccentric artist who only draws tigers. Her personality is somewhat understandable considering her age and circumstances of her transport, but Fushigi Yûgi fans who preferred Takiko to Miaka may be disappointed in Suzuno’s mousiness and mopiness.
While fans of the original already know Suzuno’s fate and who she falls in love with (who I like better than Tamahome/Uruki despite the timeline shenanigans), the journey has the potential to be a dramatic one. Health issues in someone close to her in Japan is likely going to drive her to summon Byakko, but considering she knows what happened to Takiko, I wonder why this rather bookish girl still would agree to it. Meanwhile, Ning-Lan, an outcast due to her animal blood, lies to the empire’s soldiers and proclaims she’s the priestess, and it appears there’s a religious group/cult that will target Suzuno and company. The jealousy aspects of Fushigi Yûgi combined with the political dealings of Genbu Kaiden could make Suzuno’s story a memorable one.
The art, however, is clearly closer to Genbu Kaiden, and it makes me wish we could see Fushigi Yûgi redone in this style. The clothing, locations, and even the various races are presented in crystal clear quality. We also get some beautiful images and panel layouts.
Also, the manga has limited comedy, which is appreciated considering the rough states of both worlds.
In the end, though, Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki is a beautiful, nostalgia-filled return to Watase’s biggest classic. But the slow opening (which lacks Byakko Ibun) and even slower volume 2 release can’t counter my intrigue into how Suzuno takes her rightful position from Ning-Lan to march toward her melancholic fate.
Krystallina’s rating: 3 out of 5
Helen: Young Suzano Ohsugi’s life in 1923 Japan is a happy one, until The Great Kanto earthquake destroys her home and nearly kills both her and her father in the process. Knowing that their deaths are imminent, Suzano’s father sends her into the book “The Universe of the Four Gods,” knowing that it will save her life now but likely doom her to a similar, early fate as the priestess of one of those four gods.
While the original Fushigi Yûgi manga covered the story of two of the priestesses, of Suzaku and Seiryuu, Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden jumped back in time several decades to cover not only the story of Genbu’s priestess but also how the book “The Universe of the Four Gods” came to be in Japan in the first place. Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki takes place in-between those two stories and as such the beginning of Byakko Senki does spoil the ending of Genbu Kaiden: Suzuno’s father was personally acquainted with Genbu’s priestess Takiko and as a result knows just how dangerous “The Universe of the Four Gods” can be. He’s also alarmed at how the book seems to be actively seeking out his young daughter to possibly ensnare her as a priestess as well. Genbu Kaiden and Byakko Senki are built upon a foundation of tragedy and that certainly gives this first volume an ominous feeling.
As a quick note on reading order, I tried out the original Fushigi Yûgi manga but never got into it. Yet funny enough, I did enjoy Genbu Kaiden and could read that prequel with no prior knowledge or lore. Because of that, I think either of those series would be a good introduction to the story but I don’t think choosing Byakko Senki as your entry point would work so well. This first volume assumes the reader knows how Genbu Kaiden ended and can read between the lines to understand some of the relationships and circumstances that surround Suzano; you’re certainly welcome to try this first volume as a newcomer but again, be warned that the entirely of Genbu Kaiden‘s ending will be spoiled for you.
It’s been so many years since I tried the original Fushigi Yûgi manga that I don’t remember many of the specifics, however I was amused at how similar Suzano’s first adventure was to Takiko’s in Genbu Kaiden. Both of them end up sleeping naked with a woman during their first night out (not yuri, Suzano is about five) and I’m certain that at least one of the three people Suzano meets is one of the Celestial Warriors she needs to gather in order to fulfill her duties as a priestess in summoning the tiger god Byakko. I was honestly surprised at how little time Suzano spends “inside” the book in this first volume; after her first trip she doesn’t return for years and has few memories of the traumatic experience. Her attempts to remember, including scenes of painting monstrous tigers with no idea why (which reminded me of a very similar scene in the 12 Kingdoms anime) certainly ups the dread that any veteran reader of the series surely holds by this point.
I do wish a bit “more” happened in this first volume. I don’t think it needed all of the set-up that it had (especially since this installment was clearly written for returning readers) but that is what it is. I’ll be sticking around for the second volume to see how the story really gets going but it looks like it might be a while; this first volume came out in Japan over two years ago and volume two still isn’t out so it appears that we are in for another long wait.
Helen’s rating: 3 out of 5