#suboshi

Meteor Music, 2020

I was going through old files and ended up wandering through ancient art folders. I had a good laugh, and also found... FUSHIGI YUGI FANART. MAN, that took me way back, and sent me googling for a while. So here are my two favourite Fushigi Yugi characters when I was a child: the Seiryuu twins Amiboshi and Suboshi.

Re-reading Fushigi Yuugi and Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden makes me all nostalgic and bitter about the Seiryuu side. I always think Yui’s journey in the book as well as the development of her seishi were really unfulfilling, which I already explained why in this post . They were reduced to villains since that was Miaka aka Suzaku Arc, and the more I think about it the more I truly feel like Seiryuu story wasn’t supposed to happen at that time at all.

In OVA 1, Taiitsukun said that Yui’s appearance in the book disrupted the 100-year cycle (one priestess for every 100 year) and that led to the conflict between Suzaku and Seiryuu. Of course the OVA is not canon material but the canon does support this somewhat. In Fushigi Yuugi, we know that Genbu Arc happened 200 years ago in the book time. Tokaki and Subaru, seishi of Byakko, said that they were active seishi 90 years ago. In Byakko Ibun, Neiran told Miboshi about the summon of Genbu which occurred 100 years ago. So it’s safe to say Osugi Suzuno did come into the book 100 years later than Takiko. And 100 years after Suzuno, we had Miaka as Suzaku’s priestess. Following this pattern, Yui was supposed to go into the book after Miaka had summoned Suzaku for 100 years. 

Another evidence that Yui wasn’t meant to go at that time lies in how the girls entered the book. Put aside Suzuno since we know nothing about her circumstance, Miaka and Takiko entry into the book were exactly the same in which:

They both saw something related to their role. Miaka saw Suzaku and Takiko saw a snowy landscape.

They were both in distress and strongly wanted to escape from their current world.

Yui lacked those two things. She neither saw anything Seiryuu-related nor she had the desire to escape from reality. In fact, she seemed quite content with her life at that time. I personally think the priestess wanting to leave their world is a requirement for them to officially enter another world. Actually, this rule seemed to apply to every character. Those who had crossed worlds - Takiko, Nakago, Suboshi, Miaka, and Suzaku seishi - all desired to go at that moment. When Yui wanted to save Miaka in the beginning, she wanted Miaka to get out of the book and not for her to get into it. Yui was the only character who didn’t wish for it but was forcefully sucked into another world anyway.

I have this theory. Yui was accidentally pulled into the book the same time as Miaka because she happened to be there when Miaka got her call. The priestess’s appearance signified the start of their respective Beast God Arc and Seiryuu story was forced to happen sooner. Since this is unnatural and disobeying the rule of the book, Seiryuu people were doomed from the start and had to be eliminated from the story. Amiboshi survived simply because he forgot his role as a Seiryuu seishi thus cancelling his relation to this side of the story and saved his life. 

Yeah, I know this is just a theory and I doubt Watase Yuu thought about it when she first created Fushigi Yuugi. But I do hope it could be true since it might work as the foundation for a Seiryuu arc revise. I’m aware it’s unlikely for Seiryuu to have their own arc but one can dream :P. Besides, Watase Yuu really fuels my dream with her interview that was posted in the scanlation of Genbu Kaiden’s final chapter (you can read it on mangapark). She said, “Because this series has become my life work I want to complete the Universe of the Four Gods and make the series whole. Therefore, I will return to the world of the Suzaku and Seiryuu Arcs.” To be honest, ‘the world of the Suzaku and Seiryuu Arcs’ could just mean that the book world in general and not necessarily a revise for those arcs. But like I said, one can dream :P; though at this rate, I might as well write a fanfic based on my theory lol.

Suboshi - Never Get Away

I never liked Suboshi, but his song was always super kickass and really reflected his character well. It’s kinda corny, but I love it.