In the past few reviews of mine, I've tried to bring some love to series which are either generally under the radar (Negima!?) or old enough (D.N Angel) that they have slipped somewhat from the eye of the mainstream anime watching public. In this case, I'm going to throw way back to a series originally released in the mid-nineties.
That series is Fushigi Yuugi. And it comes with a hearty recommendation, but with a caveat that it certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea.
The basic story follows the adventures of Miaka Yuki, a young lady with a lot of spunk, a lot of heart, and huge lack of what we might normally call "intelligence" or "common sense". She becomes drawn into a magic book which transports her into an ersatz feudal-China-type-place. She is the priestess of Suzaku, one of the four celestial beasts, and the one representing the kingdom of Konan. She is joined initially by here friend Yui Hongo, a much smarter young lady. The plot mainly concerns the quest to gather the seven warriors of Suzaku, and with them be granted three wishes.
Your heroine... Dumb as a rock
The actual plot is much more drama-laden and personal. It's fundamentally a teen-angst affair (with love-triangles and heptagons as far as the eye can see). But, that's also what makes it good. It's one of the rare big supernatural affairs where all of the action is fundamentally character-driven. It isn't about some big overwhelming evil, it's about the good and evil men do. There is a villain to be sure (Nakago, who ends up the least compelling character), but even most of the "bad guys" (especially the central ones) get their own stories and growth and angst.
So, it's really all about the drama. I won't say too much for fear of spoiling anything (and some of the truly dramatic and surprising moments should take you aback), but believe me that it works as a narrative if you can appreciate that the characters are realistically whiny. They aren't stalwart heroes all the time, they have moments of true heroism, and moments of true villainy, but also moments of angsting about relationships. If that's an inherent turn-off for you, take this as a recommendation against the show.
The other thing that might bother some folks is that it's in a genre I'm going to call "reverse harem romance". Yep, one girl has about seven guys (give or take) vying for her affection (of one form or another) throughout the show. Most of it isn't actually romantic, the canon couple is defined pretty early on and the romantic tension revolves more around "when are they going to get their act together" rather than "who's she going to end up with". So, it's not really a Tenshi Muyo style affair, but I couldn't come up with a better phrase for it. It's more nakama than orgy, I promise.
[image height=250]http://webspace.webring.com/people/ed/dreamcatcher_chan/group1.jpg[/IMG]
So, only like two or three are actually pursuing her romantically
The most groan-worthy portions of the show (and usually the worst) are the times when the "will they, won't they" of Miaka and Tomahome drags on. It does wear thin for a few episodes before they finally do admit what the audience has known about for the entire series, but it doesn't ever get prohibitively annoying. Miaka herself isn't the most likable character (she's sweet, but dumb as a rock sometimes), and there are times one wants to reach into the screen to smack her around. But, if the measure of a good narrative is that it makes one appreciate characters as entities themselves, this is a good narrative.
[image height=250]http://www.csus.edu/org/mtl-arts/AX2001/AX2001FYcast/Miaka.jpg[/IMG]
Likely only moments before doing something soul-crushingly stupid
The art style is, of course, dated. It looks good, and is animated well using the techniques of the time, but it doesn't look as good as more modern anime. It avoids (most of the time) the screaming sky or "just moving the lips" laziness of a lot of its contemporaries, so it does get points for that. The artwork does hold up nicely, but don't expect it to look like anything released in the last few years.
Voice acting is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, you do have the nascent formation of some of the voice talents which would (eventually) be some damned good voice actors. But, it was also in the early days of dubbing as more than total crap, so some of the voices are unfortunate. I won't bore you with the details except to say this: Solid Snake is Tomahome. The main male lead of this show is David Hayter, who (most of you will recall) has played Snake in his various incarnations. He's also been Captain America on a bunch of different shows (X-men Evolution, the old Spiderman T.V show, ect.), but I won't belabor that point. Just remember.
[image height=250]http://bishounen.info/tamahome/tamahome2.jpg[/IMG]
This
[image height=250]http://www.k1bond007.com/wp-content/gallery/misc-k1bond007/SolidSnake.jpg[/IMG]
Is the same guy as this
The action scenes alternate somewhat between legitimately gripping, intense, action and a bit of "just watch Tomahome punch people". The comedy works for the most part (though some of the references are dated as well), and it does well at switching seamlessly between moments of humor, and moments of tense action or heightened emotions. There's never a sense of clunkiness in that shift.
It's two full seasons, but does so without drawing out the basic plot for a terrible length of time (unlike its spiritual successor in Inuyasha), and has moments of true emotion in it. It's a bit older, but it's still one of the best romantic animes out there. Go buy it.
That series is Fushigi Yuugi. And it comes with a hearty recommendation, but with a caveat that it certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea.
The basic story follows the adventures of Miaka Yuki, a young lady with a lot of spunk, a lot of heart, and huge lack of what we might normally call "intelligence" or "common sense". She becomes drawn into a magic book which transports her into an ersatz feudal-China-type-place. She is the priestess of Suzaku, one of the four celestial beasts, and the one representing the kingdom of Konan. She is joined initially by here friend Yui Hongo, a much smarter young lady. The plot mainly concerns the quest to gather the seven warriors of Suzaku, and with them be granted three wishes.
Your heroine... Dumb as a rock
The actual plot is much more drama-laden and personal. It's fundamentally a teen-angst affair (with love-triangles and heptagons as far as the eye can see). But, that's also what makes it good. It's one of the rare big supernatural affairs where all of the action is fundamentally character-driven. It isn't about some big overwhelming evil, it's about the good and evil men do. There is a villain to be sure (Nakago, who ends up the least compelling character), but even most of the "bad guys" (especially the central ones) get their own stories and growth and angst.
So, it's really all about the drama. I won't say too much for fear of spoiling anything (and some of the truly dramatic and surprising moments should take you aback), but believe me that it works as a narrative if you can appreciate that the characters are realistically whiny. They aren't stalwart heroes all the time, they have moments of true heroism, and moments of true villainy, but also moments of angsting about relationships. If that's an inherent turn-off for you, take this as a recommendation against the show.
The other thing that might bother some folks is that it's in a genre I'm going to call "reverse harem romance". Yep, one girl has about seven guys (give or take) vying for her affection (of one form or another) throughout the show. Most of it isn't actually romantic, the canon couple is defined pretty early on and the romantic tension revolves more around "when are they going to get their act together" rather than "who's she going to end up with". So, it's not really a Tenshi Muyo style affair, but I couldn't come up with a better phrase for it. It's more nakama than orgy, I promise.
[image height=250]http://webspace.webring.com/people/ed/dreamcatcher_chan/group1.jpg[/IMG]
So, only like two or three are actually pursuing her romantically
The most groan-worthy portions of the show (and usually the worst) are the times when the "will they, won't they" of Miaka and Tomahome drags on. It does wear thin for a few episodes before they finally do admit what the audience has known about for the entire series, but it doesn't ever get prohibitively annoying. Miaka herself isn't the most likable character (she's sweet, but dumb as a rock sometimes), and there are times one wants to reach into the screen to smack her around. But, if the measure of a good narrative is that it makes one appreciate characters as entities themselves, this is a good narrative.
[image height=250]http://www.csus.edu/org/mtl-arts/AX2001/AX2001FYcast/Miaka.jpg[/IMG]
Likely only moments before doing something soul-crushingly stupid
The art style is, of course, dated. It looks good, and is animated well using the techniques of the time, but it doesn't look as good as more modern anime. It avoids (most of the time) the screaming sky or "just moving the lips" laziness of a lot of its contemporaries, so it does get points for that. The artwork does hold up nicely, but don't expect it to look like anything released in the last few years.
Voice acting is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, you do have the nascent formation of some of the voice talents which would (eventually) be some damned good voice actors. But, it was also in the early days of dubbing as more than total crap, so some of the voices are unfortunate. I won't bore you with the details except to say this: Solid Snake is Tomahome. The main male lead of this show is David Hayter, who (most of you will recall) has played Snake in his various incarnations. He's also been Captain America on a bunch of different shows (X-men Evolution, the old Spiderman T.V show, ect.), but I won't belabor that point. Just remember.
[image height=250]http://bishounen.info/tamahome/tamahome2.jpg[/IMG]
This
[image height=250]http://www.k1bond007.com/wp-content/gallery/misc-k1bond007/SolidSnake.jpg[/IMG]
Is the same guy as this
The action scenes alternate somewhat between legitimately gripping, intense, action and a bit of "just watch Tomahome punch people". The comedy works for the most part (though some of the references are dated as well), and it does well at switching seamlessly between moments of humor, and moments of tense action or heightened emotions. There's never a sense of clunkiness in that shift.
It's two full seasons, but does so without drawing out the basic plot for a terrible length of time (unlike its spiritual successor in Inuyasha), and has moments of true emotion in it. It's a bit older, but it's still one of the best romantic animes out there. Go buy it.