Oh me.
This was the first anime I saw all the way through from beginning to end (original 52 episode series). It took a long time as I had to buy the episodes on VHS tape and at the time they were expensive and hard to find.
I loved it anyway. I loved the perky, kind of dumb but full of heart, heroine. I loved her handsome money-grubbing love interest (and his sexy dubbed voice). I loved her bevy of adventuring cohorts - the mask-wearing monk, the rambunctious bandit, the beautiful cross-dressing concubine, the beautiful not-quite-but-almost-crossdressing emporer.
I loved that while a lot of the series was pretty funny in tone, there were moments that were dark, dark, DARK. Rape-y bits. Murder bits. Child sexual assault bits. Family death bits. It may have looked like just another magical girl Sailor Moon knock off, but there were moments where Fushigi Yugi took things a lot further than expected.
It was a great show. An epic show. A show not without its flaws ("MIAKA!" and "TAMAHOME!" are still imprinted on my eardrums to this day) but still worth watching for every one of its 52 episodes plus three multi-episode OAVs.
The story, basically, has to do with a girl who gets sucked into a magical book and has to gather warriors and call a god in order to grant her wishes. Of course she also has to fight Big Bads, deal with a BFF that has turned to the dark side, fall in love, and keep from being devoured by an ancient Chinese fantasy god.
Just your typical teen adventures and all that.
I have dozens of fond memories of watching this anime with my own BFF (along with at least a dozen posters, wall scrolls, and one absolutely amazing original cell from the OAVs). And it still - to this day - makes me cry at the end. I kind of love that.
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