Fushigi Yūgi/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Alas, Poor Villain: Nakago, arguably.
  • Alternate Character Interpretation: Most of the bad guys have gotten this at some point.
    • Nakago can be your average revenge-driven Big Bad, or he can be mentally unhinged. The second is highly plausible, considering what he had gone through.
  • Angst? What Angst?: Miaka shows remarkably few psychological aftereffects from the multiple sexual assaults she endures over the course of the series, although one could argue she expends enough angst over Tamahome that she doesn't have any left to spare.
  • Anti-Sue: Mayo from the Eikou Den OAV.
  • Base Breaker: Nakago has proved to be an extremely controversial character on this very wiki. Just see the discussion page for Complete Monster. He's a Magnificent Bastard and sympathetic Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds for some, a Villain Sue for others, or a Complete Monster for more. There's very little in-between.
  • Complete Monster: Miboshi, Tenkou, and the Emperor of Kutou.
  • Damsel Scrappy: How Miaka is regarded by many segments of the fandom. Poor girl.
  • Designated Heroine: We're meant to sympathize with Mayo? Really?
  • Draco in Leather Pants: Nakago has done atrocious deeds, but lots of fangirls love him and handwave his evil actions just because he's OMG SO PRETTY. The fact that he's Watase's personal favourite character doesn't exactly help.
    • Suboshi also gets this treatment due to several woobifying events in his background. His more rabid fans seem to think that the fact Nakago manipulated him means that he can be absolved of any real fault for his murder of Tamahome's family...
  • Ear Worm: Go ahead. Just try to get that ending cliffhanger music, and the song it led into, out of your head.
    • "Maiagare! Suzaku... miracle la!" (Which brings us to...)
    • "Itooshi hito no tame ni!"
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Chichiri, who's easily one of the most popular characters in the story by a long shot. Nuriko and Tatsuki also gained a considerable amount of popularity from fans.
  • Everybody Remembers the Stripper: There are still a lot of people who remember the series only for the inoccuous amounts of Fan Service and gratuitous nudity
  • Evil Is Sexy: Nakago and Soi.
  • Fanon Discontinuity: Eikou Den and the first OAV series are basically regarded as non-canon by fans. The character novels are also highly unpopular with fans, largely due to accusations of retconning.
  • Fan-Preferred Couple: Suboshi is far more popular a love interest for Yui than Yui's canon boyfriend, Tetsuya.
  • Foe Yay: Tamahome and Nakago.
  • Ho Yay: Nuriko's feelings for Hotohori and Tomo's for Nakago, both canon. Plus, the aforementioned Tamahome/Nakago Foe Yay.
    • And there was apparently enough Tasuki/Nuriko going on that they became the basis for one of the earliest yaoi doujinshi out of the gate. It doesn't really help either that their English seiyuu got married.
    • Suboshi/Amiboshi, even lampshaded when Miaka sees them together and compares it to a romantic movie with the same person playing both parts.
    • There's also that scene where Taka and Tasuki inexplicably go take a nap together.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Nakago is a contender.
  • Memetic Mutation: "TAMAHOME!" "MIAKA!"
  • Moe: Nyan-Nyan, Boushin, Chou Kourin and Yuiren.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Suboshi violently murdering Tamahome's father and little siblings.
    • In Eikou Den, Mayo stealing Miaka's unborn baby and trying to erase her from existence.)
  • Narm Charm: A lot of moments in the English dub of the anime come across as either of these two. The main two that come to mind are episodes 4 and 5 of the second OVA: Tasuki's Near-Rape Experience with Miaka is dramatic until you remember what other roles Daran Norris has had, and Hikou's death is an absolute Tear Jerker...right until you hear the sound effect they use. In fact, the whole scene can be seen as Narm because of the music they're using.
  • Ron the Death Eater: Oooooh boy...Miaka's Hatedom just loves to do this to her so they can pair themselves/their Mary Sue with Tamahome instead.
  • The Scrappy: The anime's portrayal of Miaka tends to get her slammed as a Purity Sue. The manga portrays her in a more realistic way. Ironically, Mayo Sakaki from Eikou Den fits the Mary Sue bill more, technically speaking, and actually replaced Miaka as the Scrappy in the eyes of some fans with the release of Eikou Den. Ashitare, Yui and Tomo have also gained a degree of Scrappydom.
    • In fact, Miaka is one of the most hated female characters in anime/manga -- to the degree when fans used a "Level of Suck" meter to measure other shoujo heroines. "At least she's not a Miaka".
  • Villain Sue: Nakago, if you ask a good chunk of fandom.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Nakago.