Fushigi Yuugi (known as Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play in the United States), is based on a manga written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. The anime was produced by Studio Pierrot, and directed by Hajime Kamegaki. The fifty-two episodes that comprise Fushigi Yuugi aired on TV Tokyo and Animax from April 6, 1995 through March 28, 1996. The series was followed by three OVA series. The first OVA series had three episodes, the second OVA series had six episodes, and the third OVA series had four episodes. Geneon Entertainment holds the licensing rights for Fushigi Yuugi in the United States.

A fifteen-year-old junior high student named Miaka Yuki is under a lot of pressure to pass the entrance exam for the competitive Jonan Academy. She wants to go to this school, because her best friend, Yui Hongo, will be attending there. Yui is intelligent and mature, but tends to see the world in black and white terms. She can also be easily infuriated with perceived betrayal.

One day, Miaka and Yui go to the library. At the library, they come in contact with a book called The Universe of the Four Gods. As they read the book, the two girls are literally transported into the novel’s universe. When they arrive, they are almost captured by slave traders. A boy named Tamahome rescues them. But shortly after they are rescued, Yui is suddenly transported back to the real world; however, Miaka doesn’t see that this happened. Miaka makes a trip to a nearby town to find the boy who saved them, thinking that Yui went with him.

Miaka discovers that she is the Priestess of Suzaku, and that she is destined to gather the seven Celestial Warriors of the god Suzaku. After she gathers them, she can summon Suzaku and have three wishes. It turns out that Tamahome is the first of the seven Celestial Warriors. During the series, Miaka falls in love with Tamahome. At first, he rejects Miaka’s feelings, but over time, he comes to reciprocate them. During the series, Miaka gathers the remaining six Celestial Warriors: Hotohori, Nuriko, Chichiri, Tasuki, Mitsukake, and Chiriko.

When Yui returns to the real world, she becomes the one who reads the book in order for the events in the world to progress. However, when she tries to rescue Miaka at one point, Yui finds herself trapped in the book. Yui is caught and knocked unconscious by bandits. Yui is rescued by the merciless and charismatic Nakago. Nakago is the leader of the Sieryu Warriors, the enemies of the Celestial Warriors. Nakago convinces Yui that Miaka is responsible for her misfortunes, and manipulates her into becoming the Priestess of Seiryu. Nakago tells Yui that this will allow her to take revenge on Miaka.

While Fushigi Yuugi has an interesting premise, some of the basic concept feels like it came right out of Dragon Ball. With some of the concepts and situations presented in the series, I would personally recommend it to anime viewers who are fourteen or fifteen years of age and older.