After a bit of a crappy week at work, I have spent the weekend indulging in super-mushy anime from the 90s. Fushigi Yugi FTW. lol. I watched this when I was 18 and kinda liked it. Then I watched it again when I was 21...and loved it. I dunno - maybe I'd become so indoctrinated by anime by that point that the sappy-ness and humour was OK with me by then. And I am now re-watching for the 3rd time. That's got to say something - I don't think I've even watched Cowboy Bebop 3 times all the way through yet. At first, I couldn't quite remember why I'd loved it so much considering I knew it was just a big ol pile of mushy slush...but now that I'm half way thru it again, I remember why. It's the characters. Yeah there are flaws (No! NO you stupid girl!!! It's obviously a trap!!!!) and major plot pitfalls (OK...so...that'd never happen...meh, whatever) but they're all pretty well rounded characters, and you see them all develop and grow.
I think I'm getting the TV series for xmas (oooooh!!!)and I would like to get a hold of the OVAs too because they're also fun (and it was the OVAs that made me fall in love with Chichiri a bit the last time I watched 'em).

Reasons why I love Fushigi Yugi:

1. Miaka changing from a silly dorky "save me, someone" girl to a kind of awesome yet still dorky young woman through the series who tries hard to protect the people she loves. Though you do have to wait a while for to stop being intensely irritating, lol.
2. Miaka and Tamahome's "will they ever bloody-well be happy?" thing,
3. Hotohori's absolute devotion to Miaka even tho he knows he's a "stupid fool" for loving her.
4. Tamahome and Hotohori getting all grrrrr with each other because of Miaka.
5. Chichiri - y'know?? love him. He's me. He's silly and cute and weird, but ultimately the most rational and sensible - to the point where you wonder if he shouldn't be a bit more het up about stuff, and then he takes his mask off and you see how hurt he's been in the past figuratively and literally. I really resonate to Chichiri, the same way I did to Shiroji in Samurai 7 and Taira in BECK.
6. Tasuki. Bless him, the little uncouth country bumpkin. with a fan. haha.
7. Nuriko. The first openly gay guy I'd seen in an anime, making me understand the difference between eastern story-telling and western. No way this'd work in the west. Nuriko looks like a girl, dresses like a girl, speaks like a girl, is a guy in love with Hotohori. And he's also hilarious.
8. Hotohori's unwavering belief that no man in the world is more beautiful than him. Except maybe Nuriko...lol.
9. Nakago. He's evil. And he's sexy. That voice. wow. and he's kinda...into Tamahome in more than a "you interest me" way, right?? lol.
10. No matter how upset Miaka is, she always has time to eat. And she loves her food. A girl after my own heart.

That is all. End of rant. (for the record, "no da?" means "y'know?". Like Naruto with his "Dattebayo!!", "No da?" is Chichiri's phrase of choice.)

(oh and B - I was really honestly going to watch that other anime you recc'd...but I couldn't get eps 2, 3 or 4 to play on that Korean site, so...I watched this instead because they're really similar!!)

~ alice