Fushigi Yûgi Byakko Senki
Fushigi Yûgi Byakko Senki (ふしぎ遊戯 白虎仙記) is a Japanese manga series written by Yuu Watase. The series began with a one-shot story titled Fushigi Yûgi Byakko Ibun (ふしぎ遊戯 白虎異聞) that was released on February 28, 2015.[1][2] The serialization itself started on August 28, 2017 in Shogakukan's Monthly Flowers Josei magazine.[3]
| Fushigi Yûgi Byakko Senki | |
| ふしぎ遊戯 白虎仙記 | |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Fushigi Yûgi Byakko Ibun | |
| Written by | Yuu Watase |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Magazine | Monthly Flowers |
| Demographic | Josei |
| Published | February 28, 2015 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Yuu Watase |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine | Monthly Flowers |
| Demographic | Josei |
| Original run | August 28, 2017 – present |
| Volumes | 1 |
Byakko Senki is a prequel to Fushigi Yûgi and a sequel to Fushigi Yûgi Genbu Kaiden, and tells the story of the Priestess of Byakko, Suzuno Osugi, in the land of Sairou after she was transported into the "Universe of the Four Gods". The Byakko Ibun one-shot, on the other hand, sets the mood of the story by introducing the other protagonist of the story, a girl from Sairou named Neiran, and her companion Nirusha.
In North America, Viz Media announced that they have licensed the manga for an English language release in August 2020.[4]
Synopsis: Byakko Ibun
Some time between Genbu Kaiden and Byakko Senki, a man named Nirusha arrives to a small village in the country of Sairou. The village is under the attack of a wild tiger, and the only person who accepts to help him strike it down is the youngest daughter of the local inn keeper, a little girl named Reipin. He then hides away from the suspicious villagers, but Reipin comes to his presence and tries to befriend him. She turns out to have a terrible life, full of neglect and abuse from her family, and Nirusha is the first person who has ever been kind to her. Nirusha renames her "Neiran" and tells her about his past, and the two try to help one another...
Synopsis: Byakko Senki
In 1923, near immediately following the epilogue of Genbu Kaiden, the scholar Takao Ōsugi brings the book of Universe of Four Gods back to Tokyo under the will of the deceased translator of the book, Einosuke Okuda, to find a way to destroy it or seal it away. No matter what he does, however, the book is not affected by anything. Takao fears deeply for his 8-year-old daughter Suzuno Ōsugi, who may be trapped into the book just like Takiko Okuda (the Genbu Kaiden heroine, whom Suzuno considered an older sister figure) was; even more, the book is sometimes found near Suzuno.
Months later, the great Kantō earthquake takes place. The Osugi house collapses, Takao's wife Tamayo is killed and Takao is mortally wounded, but then Suzuno turns out to be all right and has the Universe in her hands. Takao realizes that this is the doing of the Universe and that Suzuno is destined to be a Priestess. So with his last words, he orders Suzuno to open the book and get inside it for her own safety, telling her that she'll find her own destiny like Takiko.
Lost in the wide desert, Suzuno meets Neiran, an outcast young woman who can transform into a fierce tiger (and one of the protagonists of Byakko Ibun), and the kindhearted brothers Kasaru and Karumu Raotsue. After a short time, the three recognize Suzuno fitting the description of the outlandish priestess who is destined to summon the godly beast of Byakko and save the country from the inevitable peril. When Neiran is tasked to escort Suzuno to the royal guards, the mentally unstable girl snaps and attempts to kill Suzuno, but she is transported back to reality. Neiran then imposes herself as the priestess, to avenge her tragic past in which she was abused by near every person that she met, save for a man named Nirusha (the other Byakko Ibun lead).
Suzuno finds herself all alone in the destroyed Tokyo, but by a stroke of luck she's found by Doctor Oikawa, a friend of her father and Takiko's former fiancé. The kind doctor adopts her and three other orphans (Seiji Horie, Hideo and Kenichi), but Suzuno loses sight of the book itself.
Ten years pass. Suzuno is in her last year of high school and has become a promising artist... but then finds the Universe in her school's library. This triggers her lost memories of her adventures inside the book, so she starts making research on its translator to see what's going on. Soon, she and her foster father Oikawa find out everything about the tragedy of the Okuda family, Takiko's position as the Priestess of Genbu, and last but not least the truth of the book: that the priestess is to be devoured by the godly beast upon being granted all three wishes. Scared and hesitant about this grim destiny, Suzuno accepts the proposal of her adopted brother Seiji to escape that fate, but the book suddenly appears before and absorbs her again right before the eyes of Oikawa and her fiancé...
Characters
Reality
- Romaji of Japanese names are written in the "given name-surname" order, this is the inverse of the Japanese text.
- Suzuno Ōsugi (大杉 鈴乃)
Suzuno is the girl destined to become the Priestess of Byakko. She is a quiet, kind highschool student who resembles the Yamato nadeshiko archetype.
Suzuno first enters the Universe of the Four Gods world as a little girl in 1923, during the Great Kanto earthquake that kills her parents and destroys her home. After around a day, she's sent back to Tokyo and, as Dr. Oikawa takes her in, she loses sight of the book. She doesn't find it again until 10 years later, in 1933, and is taken inside it for a second time.
- Tamayo Ōsugi (大杉 珠代)
Suzuno's mother, a kindhearted housewife. She also dies in the Earthquake, and when Suzuno is sent into the book, she's wearing her mother's best kimono as a sort-of coat.
- Takao Ōsugi (大杉 高雄)
Suzuno's father, who showed up in the Genbu Kaiden story. He is a journalist and writer who worked for the scholar Einosuke Okuda and inherited The Four Gods manuscript. He intends to destroy it so Suzuno and other girls won't be taken inside it, but no matter what methods he uses, the Book "survives" due to its magic. He dies in the Kanto Earthquake, but before that he sends Suzuno inside the Book for her protection.
- Oikawa (及川)
A physician also seen in Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden, an old friend of the Okuda and Ōsugi families. He proposed to Takiko Okuda, while initially being accepted, he was shortly turned down. He survives the Kanto Earthquake and adopts Suzuno, Seiji, Kenichi and Hidero. Only in Byakko Senki, Oikawa learns about the truth of Takiko's death as the priestess of Genbu and dissuades Suzuno to follow Takiko's footstep.
- Seiji Horie (堀江 正司)
An older boy who rescues Suzuno from child traffikers after the Kantō earthquake, prompting their adoptions by Dr. Oikawa. Years later he enrolls in the Imperial Japanese Army Academy to make more research about the book of the Universe of Four Gods, and by that same time he proposes to Suzuno.
Universe of Four Gods
- Nirusha (ニルシャ) / Raneisei (ラネイセイ) / Miboshi (箕宿)
The younger self of the cruel Seiryuu Celestial Warrior Miboshi, and one of the protagonists from Byakko Ibun. He is a quiet and aloof spellcaster who travels around looking for tigers to hunt. He arrives to Reipin's village and strikes a friendship with her.
- Reipin (レイピン) / Neiran (寧蘭/ネイラン)
The other Byakko Ibun protagonist, a little girl who lives in a village of the Sairou Empire and is badly abused by her family. She strikes a friendship with Nirusha, who helps her start working towards her own self-improvement. Unbeknownst to her, however, she has a mysterious heritage.
Neiran reappears on her own in Byakko Senki, as a powerful but bitter and deeply hurt traveler and sorceress. She's the first person that a young Suzuno properly interacts with in Sairou, and they're both taken in by the Raotsue brothers.
- Tatara (婁宿)
One of the Byakko Celestial Warriors, and Suzuno's love. While a man named Kasaru Raotsue is the biggest candidate to be Tatara, there are some hints that he might be Kasaru's younger brother Karumu.
Kasaru, the most likely Tatara "candidate", was a young man from an apparently affluent family in a small Sairou village. However, a sandstorm and an earthquake destroyed his hometown and he could only save his little brother and himself. Ever since then the brothers have traveled together through Sairou, making their lives as merchants, with Kasaru raising Karumu as well as possible. He immediately takes Suzuno under his wing and is the first person to realize that she is the priestess of Byakko.
- Tokaki (奎宿)
Tokaki is another Byakko Celestial Warrior, seen in the original series as an elderly martial artist. Here he appears at his prime, as a Sairou Palace Guard that rescues Suzuno when she reappears in the world of the book. He at first intends to ask Suzuno to spend the night with him as a 'prize' for saving her, but seems to drop the matter when he deduces that she is the Miko.
- Emperor Nahido
- The Three Priests Alliance
- The Great Priest
- The Hoshiyomiko
- Karumu Raotsue
- Subaru (昴宿)
- Amefuri (畢宿)
- Ekie (胃宿)
- Karasuki (參宿)
- Toroki (觜宿)
Media
References
- "Fushigu Yugi Gets New Manga About Priestess of Byakko". Anime News Network. 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
- "Fushigi Yuugi Stage Production & Byakko One-shot!". Yuu Watase. 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2015-01-26.
- "Yuu Watase Launches Fushigi Yugi Byakko Hen Manga on August 28". Anime News Network. March 10, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- Sherman, Jennifer (October 4, 2019). "Viz Media Licences Fushigi Yūgi: Byakko Senki, How Do We Relationship?, Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 4, 2019.