Manga
Written and illustrated by Yuu Watase, Fushigi Yûgi originally appeared in serial form in the semimonthly manga magazine Shōjo Comic. It premiered in the January 1, 1992 (No. 1) issue, released in December 1991,[4][5] and ran for over five years, ending in the June 5, 1996 (No. 12) issue, released in May 1996.[6][7][5] The series was simultaneously published in eighteen collected volumes by Shogakukan, with new volumes being released on a quarterly schedule.
In 1992, Viz Media licensed the manga for an English-language release in North America. The series was originally released in a flipped trade paperback format, starting in August 1998. Several characters have both Japanese pronunciations and Chinese pronunciations. In 1998, Watase visited the United States and met with Viz staff members at their San Francisco headquarters. Viz kept the original Chinese names of characters at her request. Bill Flanagan, the editor of the English version, asked Watase if he should use the Chinese names for popular characters such as Tai Yi-Jun (Taitsukun), and she also asked for the Chinese names to be used there. The characters with names remaining in Japanese in the English version are the characters such as Tamahome who have Japanese pronunciations of ancient constellations; there was never any intention of them having Chinese names.[8]
This caused some confusion for fans as the anime version uses the Japanese names. For example, in the manga, Hotohori's country is named "Hong-Nan" rather than the "Konan" found in the anime series.[9] After eight volumes, Viz stopped publication of Fushigi Yûgi, reviving it in June 2003 when it released the first two volumes in unflipped standard manga size volumes. The remaining volumes were released on a quarterly schedule, including the remaining ten volumes. The final volume of the series was released in April 2006. The dates and ISBN numbers given for the first eight volumes in the table on the link above are for the second edition releases.[10]
Viz also serialized Fushigi Yûgi in their manga anthology magazine, Animerica Extra, starting with the October 1998 debut issue and running until the December 2004 issue, the magazine's final issue.[11] In 2009 and 2010, Viz re-released the series as part of their "VIZBIG" line, combining three individual volumes of the original release into each single, larger volume.[12]
Anime
Produced by Studio Pierrot, the fifty-two episode Fushigi Yûgi anime series premiered on TV Tokyo on April 6, 1995. The series aired weekly, until the final episode that was aired on March 28, 1996.[13] The series was licensed for English-language release to Region 1 DVD and VHS format by Geneon Entertainment, then named Pioneer, under the expanded title Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play.[14][15] It has been suggested that Geneon chose to license the series based on its popularity among the fansub community.[16] The main series was released in eight individual volumes and as two box sets, the Suzaku and Seiryū sets. Media Blasters license-rescued the series, and released the first season to DVD on June 19, 2012.
Original video animations
Following the anime adaptation, three original video animation (OVA) works appeared. The first, spanning three episodes, takes place a year after the events of the main series and has no ties to the original manga. It was released to DVD on October 25, 1996. The second OVA, which has six episodes, animates the last four volumes of the manga series that had been left out of the main series. The episodes were split across two volumes, with the first released May 25, 1997, and the second coming over a year later on August 25, 1998.
The final OVA, Fushigi Yûgi: Eikoden, spans four episodes and is based on two of the light novels written by Megumi Nishizaki. Released on December 21, 2001, it focuses on a new character, Mayo Sakaki, a sixteen-year-old girl who attends Yotsubadai High School. Upon finding The Universe of the Four Gods in a trash bin at the park, Mayo soon discovers that the story remains incomplete. In the unfamiliar world of the book, Mayo must come to terms with her own life and the unhappiness within it.
Geneon Entertainment also licensed the OVAs for Region 1 DVD release. The first two OVAs were released together in a set titled Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play, while Fushigi Yûgi: Eikoden was released as a single disc volume. The OVAs were released with similar packaging as the main series, to give them a consistent look.[20] All three OVA series have also been re-licensed by Media Blasters.
Novels
Over a series of five years, Megumi Nishizaki (西崎めぐみ) wrote thirteen Japanese light novels based on Fushigi Yûgi. Illustrated by Yuu Watase, Fushigi Yûgi Gaiden primarily explores the lives the various Celestial Warriors before they are seen in the manga. The only two novels to be set after the manga, Eikō Den (Jōkan) and Eikō Den (Gekan), later became the basis for the third Fushigi Yûgi original video animation, Fushigi Yûgi: Eikoden. Originally published by Shogakukan, none of the novels have been licensed for English release.
Video game
Idea Factory created a Sony PlayStation 2 video game based on the Fushigi Yûgi series called Fushigi Yûgi: Suzaku Ibun (ふしぎ遊戯 朱雀異聞). It was released in Japan on May 29, 2008, in both regular and limited editions.[22][23] A Nintendo DS version of the game was released in Japan on June 25, 2009, bundled with another game, Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden Gaiden – Kagami no Miko, based on the prequel manga series Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden.[24]
Stage plays
Amipro produced three stage plays based on the Fushigi Yûgi manga. The first, simply titled Fushigi Yûgi, was staged at The Pocket theater in Nakano from October 20 to October 24, 2010.[25][26] The second, Fushigi Yûgi: Suzaku-hen (ふしぎ遊戯～朱雀編～), was staged at the Theater Sun Mall in Shinjuku from March 30 to April 3, 2011.[27] The third, Fushigi Yûgi: Seiryū-hen (ふしぎ遊戯～青龍編～), was staged at the Hakuhinkan Theater in Ginza from April 25 to May 2, 2012.[28] All three plays were written and directed by Shintarō Sugano and starred Mao Miyaji in the lead role.[25][27][28]
An art book, Fushigi Yūgi: Watase Yū Irasuto-shū (不思議遊戯：渡瀬悠宇イラスト集), was published by Shogakukan in May 1995.[36] It was licensed in North America by Viz Media under the title The Art of Fushigi Yûgi and published in October 2006.[37]
