| Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki | |
| Ja Kanji: | ふしぎ遊戯 白虎仙記 |
| Genre: | Fantasy, romance |
| Type: | manga |
| Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Ibun | |
| Author: | Yuu Watase |
| Publisher: | Shogakukan |
| Demographic: | |
| Magazine: | Monthly Flowers |
| Published: | February 28, 2015 |
| Type: | manga |
| Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki | |
| Author: | Yuu Watase |
| Publisher: | Shogakukan |
| Imprint: | Flower Comics Alpha |
| Magazine: | Monthly Flowers |
| First: | August 28, 2017 |
| Volumes: | 1 |
| Related works | |
| Content: | |
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It began with a one-shot,, published in Shogakukan's Monthly Flowers magazine in February 2015. The full series, Byakko Senki, launched in the same magazine in August 2017. The series was officially on hiatus since August 2018 after missing the June 2018 release, due to Watase's health issues, but has since resumed as of May 2024.
Byakko Senki is a prequel to Fushigi Yûgi, a sequel to , and the final installment in the Fushigi Yûgi "Four Gods" storyline. It tells the story of the Priestess of Byakko, Suzuno Ohsugi, in the land of Xi-Lang after she was transported into The Universe of the Four Gods. The Byakko Ibun one-shot, on the other hand, sets the mood for Byakko Senki by introducing one of its protagonists, a girl from Xi-Lang named Ning-Lan, and her companion Nirusha.
In Japan, Shogakukan published the series' first compiled volume in April 2018. In North America, Viz Media licensed the manga for an English-language release and published its first volume in August 2020.
Some time between Genbu Kaiden and Byakko Senki, a man named Nirusha travels to a small village in the country of Xi-Lang.[1] The village is under attack by a wild tiger, and the only person who agrees to help him strike it down is the youngest daughter of the local inn keeper, a little girl named Rei-Pin. Nirusha then hides from the suspicious villagers, but Rei-Pin tries to befriend him. It is revealed that she has 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 "Ning-Lan" and tells her about his past, and the two try to help one another.
In 1923, almost immediately following the epilogue of Genbu Kaiden, the scholar Takao Ohsugi brings the book The 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 Ohsugi, who may be trapped in the book just like Takiko Okuda (the Genbu Kaiden heroine, whom Suzuno considered an older sister figure); even more, the book is sometimes found near Suzuno.
Months later, the Great Kantō earthquake takes place. The Ohsugi 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. 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 Ning-Lan, an outcast young woman (and one of the protagonists of Byakko Ibun) who can transform into a fierce tiger. She also meets the kindhearted brothers Kasal and Karm Laotse. After a short time, the three realize that Suzuno fits 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 Ning-Lan 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. Ning-Lan then imposes herself as the priestess, to avenge her tragic past in which she was abused by near every person 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 Dr. 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 researching its translator. Soon, she and her foster father Oikawa discover everything about the tragedy of the Okuda family, Takiko's position as the Priestess of Genbu, and 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 and absorbs her right before the eyes of Oikawa and her fiancé.
Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki is written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It started as a 51-page one-shot, Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Ibun, published in the April 2015 issue of Shogakukan's manga magazine Monthly Flowers on February 28, 2015.[2] [3] [4] Watase launched the full series, Byakko Senki, two years later in the October 2017 issue of Monthly Flowers on August 28, 2017.[5] The manga was serialized every other month until chapter 5 was released on April 28, 2018. After missing a release in June 2018, it was officially placed on hiatus on August 28, 2018 due to Watase's "poor physical condition".[6] [7] The series resumed on May 28, 2024 in Monthly Flowers with chapter 6 and began following a monthly release schedule.
Shogakukan published the first compiled volume of Byakko Senki under the Flower Comics Alpha imprint on April 10, 2018.[8] The second compiled volume was release on August 9, 2024.[9] Viz Media licensed the manga in English and published the first volume under the Shojo Beat imprint on August 4, 2020.[10] [11] At the end of the first volume, Watase revealed that Byakko Senki will be the final installment in the Fushigi Yûgi "Four Gods" storyline; she vowed to "work hard to finish the story", despite her health issues.[12]
Caitlin Moore of Anime News Network called Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki a "must-read for longtime Fushigi Yûgi fans" and "worth a look even for newcomers to the saga." She praised its "gorgeous" artwork and "strong characterization", noting that Watase has a "gift for ... communicating their characters' mental and emotional states without them needing to say a word." However, Moore criticized the first volume for feeling "more like a prologue than anything else", something she said she "wouldn't take issue with" if the series hadn't been on hiatus since 2018.[13] Krystallina and Helen of TheOASG echoed these sentiments in their review; they called Byakko Senki a "beautiful, nostalgia-filled return to Watase's biggest classic", but said the manga's slow set-up and the wait for subsequent volumes made it "hard to give it an enthusiastic recommendation".[14] Anthony Gramuglia of Comic Book Resources, on the other hand, praised Byakko Senki as "absolutely incredible" and "essential reading for any fan of fantasy manga." He felt that, with its first volume, the series is "managing to surpass the original" Fushigi Yûgi.[15]