While Miaka, Tamahome, and friends are visiting the grave of Takiko, fifth Maiden of Genbu, Tamahome mysteriously is able to hear the voice of Takiko's spirit. Vanishing in a red flash of energy, Tamahome is returned to a changed world he thought he had left behind in the FY TV series, forcibly separated from his love, Miaka. The removed star-crossed lovers face complications on both worlds, ultimately leading to a confrontation with a new evil force.

The plot for this first OVA series seems like a weakly conceived excuse to regather the cast of characters from the TV series in one more showdown. The villain is given little detail, while events which occur are given little explanation or substantial rational motivation. Even the final confrontation pans out fairly predictably. There were some interesting plot twists early on, but as a whole the series was too hurried (given only 3 episodes) to develop any new or especially interesting material.

The cast of characters for the OVA series is essentially the same as from the original. Most characters do not develop significantly over the course of this short story arc, instead simply making token appearances. The primary potential character growth would have focused on Tamahome and Miaka, yet again, the hurried framework limited this potential development to already covered ground, leaving fans with nothing substantially new.

The cast of characters being essentially the same as that of the TV series, you would expect at least some additional character development.	Unfortunately, this isn't the case, even when the potential for development exists, as it does between Miaka and Tamahome.

The animation for the Fushigi Yuugi OVAs has OVA quality detail but TV grade animation. Battle animation is limited to very simple, low detail, low framerate effects, while the rest of the anime relied largely on well-detailed stills. One would have hoped for more significant animation in such a short OVA series.

The music for these OVAs is nothing special. Blasé j-pop openings and closings are joined by traditional anime accompaniments leaving the listener with a workable, but hardly memorable soundtrack.

The bottom line: these OVA episodes are only worth seeing for true fans of the TV series who feel that burning otaku desire to see it all. These OVAs are a weak follow-up to the series with nothing for non-fans. If you haven't seen the original series, like I have, you're better off seeing it or reading the manga and not wasting your time watching the OVAs. True fans also would probably be more interested in the amusing spoof clips of a journey to some hot springs that occur after each episode.

As an aside, this is a review of the first OVA series, which has only 3 episodes, and bears no reflection on the quality or lack there of in the second, 6 episode OVA series.

Distributor: Pioneer
Creator: Studio Pierrot
Released: 1996

Plot: C
Character Design: C
Animation Quality: C+
Music: B
Overall: C