Month: September 2007

Miaka (from TV series)

A few weeks ago I got a complete cheapie set of Fushigi Yuugi. It tended to confirm my impression that this series has not stood the test of time particularly well. I was surprised, though, to discover how many OVA episodes came with it (13), and I have now had a bit of time to sort them out.

Labelled as “Oni” are the first OVA set (3 episodes) released in 1996, with an entirely non-Watase script, and generally regarded as rather poor, and the second OVA set of 6 episodes, from 1997. The latter is based on manga volumes 14-18, though much more loosely adapted than is the case with the TV series, and is generally regarded as being better than OVA #1 despite being an attempt, as in the manga, to spin out the story at the request of fans past its natural ending. Apparently these 6 OVA #2 episodes are 45 minutes each.

Then there is OVA #3 “Eikoden”, 4 episodes of 30 mins each, released in 2001, and adapted from a novel by Megumi Nishizaki, based on Yuu Watase’s characters. I’ve seen part of OVA #3 and not been much impressed by this attempt to drag the original characters out for a further airing.

There are also two TV specials from 1996, never released in the US, probably because they are mostly a recap of the TV series.

And if you want more, Megumi Nishizaki actually wrote 13 spin-off novels, and there’s a Fushigi Yuugi prequel manga, Fushigi YÅ«gi – Genbu Kaiden by Yuu Watase.

(for more about any of the above, see articles in Wikipedia.)

Failed suicide

“So Long, Mr Despair” is in colour, but it does have a lot of special effect scenes, and text pages, and other odd stuff. Teacher Itoshiki Nozomu has a hopelessly negative view of life, which frequently leads him to contemplate suicide. Student Fuura Kafuka, on the other hand, has an invincibly positive view of life, which sometimes leads her to deny the facts. Almost every character name contains a Japanese visual pun, for instance the three kanji of Nozomu’s name become the two-kanji zetsubo (despair) when compressed.

And, if you think the teacher is weird, meet the other students in episode #2 onwards. Every one of them seems to dysfunctional or have a major psychological disorder. One is a stalker, another sends vicious abusive e-mails, another, a blonde transfer student from abroad, has a split personality, part passive Japanese girl, part litiginous foreign harpy. When Kafuka rescues her from teetering on the edge of the roof, he sees her underwear, so she sues him for indecent assault.

You may be suspecting that this anime is not for the sensitive or the politically correct. If that doesn’t bother you, be prepared to enjoy an anime that’s a bit different and less anodyne than the usual stuff and has more of the uninhibited bite of the old OVA animes.