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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fygk_main01_04.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:350: Welcome to the Legend that started them all.]]
3''Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden'' (ふしぎ遊戯 玄武開伝, ''Mysterious Play: Genbu's Opening Legend'') is the first prequel written by Creator/YuuWatase to the popular manga/anime series ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. The series was serialized from 2003 to 2013 (though it went on hiatus from 2008 to 2010) in a total of 12 volumes. Soon spinned into 5 volumes of [[Main/AudioPlay Drama CDs]] depicting the first 5 volumes of the manga, and a Main/VisualNovel--''Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden Gaiden ~Kagami no Miko~'' for Platform/PlayStation2, [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]], and Platform/NintendoDS, marking the first ever video game adaptation for a Yuu Watase work.
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5In [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan the year of]] [[TheRoaringTwenties 1923]], roughly 60-70 years before [[Manga/FushigiYuugi Miaka and Yui encountered the book]] and around ten years before [[Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoIbun a girl named Suzuno]] did so too, novelist Einosuke Okuda came back to Japan from China obtaining the original Chinese version of an ancient ceremonial scripture called ''The Universe of the Four Gods (Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho)'' where he worked tirelessly translating them into Japanese and bind them into book form. Neglecting his ill wife Yoshie and stressed daughter Takiko Okuda, who recently moved from Tokyo to Yoshie's hometown for her mom's further care, has to put up with [[NewTransferStudent a new school life]], and being constantly teased by her classmates for having a sick mother.
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7Onto the moment when [[MissingMom Yoshie actually died]], the father and daughter went into a quarrel that led to Einosuke having an IHaveNoSon spit out towards Takiko. Grieved of loneliness, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness uselessness]], Takiko took the translated book from her father and was going to rip it apart until the book suddenly starts to shine bright and absorbs her into the book, becoming the legendary Priestess of Genbu.
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9The seven Celestial Warriors' backstories and point-of-views play an important part in the storytelling of this work. According to Watase, compared to the previous work, the viewpoints are more evenly distributed around the interactions between teammates as to just the heroine's character/love development POV. Therefore you might notice some surprising tropes that can only be found in the [[Characters/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden character sheet]].
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11The ending chapter was published in Flower Magazine's Spring Issue in February 14th, 2013, and the final volume in May 17th, 2013. This marked the end of the story spanning 10 years of publishing. Starting August 28th, 2017, 4 years after ''Genbu Kaiden'', Watase kicked-off her final part of her ''Fushigi Yuugi'' saga--''Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoSenki''; which continues the time setting directly after the end of ''Genbu Kaiden's'' story event.
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14'''[[LateArrivalSpoiler Late Arrival Spoiler Warning:]]''' [-'''Unmarked spoilers will be present''', for those who haven't read the story, '''please self-advise'''. This author is known for her rather harsh manipulative tendencies towards her characters, so for your sake of sanity, we strongly recommend you to ''NOT'' flip those spoiler blanks unless you have a heart strong enough to hold everything in.-]
15----
16
17!!This story presents the examples of:
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19* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Takiko for Uruki, and [[spoiler: Firuka for Hagas]].
20* BadassCrew / TrueCompanions: The Genbu Celestial Warriors along with their miko, being the first miko out of all four, and team of all 28 seishis of the world to appear. Compared to the future Suzaku and Seiryuu Teams, they are on average, dangerously powerful and badass to the near extreme. Their miko can wield a weapon, the majority of the warriors work very close together as a group, and their relationship is more like a [[SuperFamilyTeam family unit]]. Literally all bare ElementalPowers, and whom all has to pave way through the hells of prejudice, suppression, and [[FantasticRacism racism]] to make a better status for the future seishis to come. [[spoiler: And this trope pretty much sums up the whole story...]]
21** Since these peeps work so tight together, they would often overlap each other's responsibilities, but each member's ''standard'' positions are as follows:
22*** [[AFatherToHisMen The Boss]] / TheTeamNormal: Takiko
23*** TheCaptain: Uruki
24*** TheLancer / TheHeart: Tomite
25*** TheSmartGuy / [[spoiler: TeamMom]]: Hikitsu
26*** TeamDad: Inami
27*** TheBigGuy / TeamPet: Namame
28*** TheMedic / [[BarrierWarrior The Group Emergency Shelter]]: Hatsui
29*** EleventhHourRanger: Urumiya ([[spoiler: Tegu]])
30* BettyAndVeronica: [[PrecociousCrush Mr. Osugi]], Takiko's first love (Betty) and [[TroubledButCute Uruki]] (Veronica).
31** [[HopelessSuitor Tomite]] (Betty) and Uruki (Veronica).
32* BigBrotherMentor: Soruen towards Uruki, Hikitsu towards Tomite.
33* BigDamnHeroes: Hikitsu and Tomite pulled it off, ''twice''. First was to save their crew plus lots of other people from a big fire, second was to save Uruki and Takiko's ass from soldiers.
34* BittersweetEnding -> EarnYourHappyEnding: Yes, [[spoiler: both Takiko and Einosuke did die in the end,]] but [[spoiler: before Takiko reached her moment of death, she managed to use two wishes to save the country '''and''' ''two'' Emperors of Hokkan [[note]]Tegiru, then Temudan.[[/note]] managed to go down in just minutes of time, in which allows Uruki to ascend to the throne as Emperor. Eventually giving their country, Hokkan the peace and prosperity they wanted. To thank their priestess and king on their sacrifice of relationship, the people of Hokkan wished for generations in hopes to have Takiko and Uruki reincarnate and live HappilyEverAfter.]]
35* BroughtDownToNormal: The Celestial Warriors' consequence of summoning a beast god, in this case, Genbu. [[spoiler: For the duration of their priestess's chant to summon the beast's physical appearance, all seven warriors have to surrender their powers onto the priestess, and are at their most vulnerable state. This is the main reason why Tomite and Hikitsu did not survive, because they fell victim from the enemy's undercover attack during the summon.]]
36* CallForward: These two guys chuckled over this conversation at the time, but little do they know [[spoiler: they would be the ones to fulfill that...]]
37--> '''Hikitsu:''' [[spoiler: "...Even if you say that, I don't think we'll have the chance to meet The Suzaku Warriors anyway. This country (Konan) is peaceful now."]]
38--> '''Tomite:''' [[spoiler: "Haha true. [[ForeShadowing If we're a few hundred years before them]], [[TearJerker surely we'll be dead by then]]!"]]
39* CannotTellALie: The augurs. It's taken as granted that, whatever they speak is the pure truth as telling a lie would cause them to lose their prophetic powers. [[spoiler: Though it's revealed that two augurs have lied in the course of the story. One was the augur in a small temple, who lied to Shigi and Hien when they came after the priestess and warriors. The other was the augur who told Temudan about his son killing him if Genbu's legend were to come true... though she admits she didn't ''really'' lie about that.]]
40* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: And only the Fushigi series out of the whole genre/industry is capable of keeping the fangirls demanding MORE of them!
41* CentralTheme: As per WordOfGod, life and death
42* ColorCodedElements
43** Uruki's scarf is [[WindIsGreen green]].
44** Tomite's [[WaterIsBlue navy blue]] tribal outfit.
45** Hikitsu's [[WaterIsBlue light blue]] tribal outfit.
46** And Namame's purely made of yellow dirt.
47* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The ''Genbu Kaiden'' pictures tend to have a green theme going on, as the example picture above proves. The Genbu marks are black and most of them are depicted wearing black clothes, with Genbu's heavenly light being shown with silver.
48* CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds / PairTheSpares: It seems [[spoiler:Tomite]] is headed there with [[spoiler:Hikitsu's sister [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend Aila]].]]
49* CueTheSun: Due to [[spoiler: impending ice age, the Hokkan sky has been overcast for months. When Takiko makes her wish for spring, the sun finally comes out.]]
50%%* CompetitiveBalance: If you think about it in another way, this arc is pretty much just a fantasy {{RPG}} between the seven warriors themselves.
51* DarkerAndEdgier: Think this is ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' from [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE two hundred years ago]]? Think again.
52* DramaticIrony: Because Tomite, Hikitsu and Takiko's fates are DoomedByCanon, the narrative will indulge in this trope. There's Tomite and Hikitsu talking about not meeting the Seishi of the other Gods, Tomite falling in love with Alia right before the summoning etc etc...
53* DueToTheDead: A chapter features [[spoiler: Yoshie Okuda's Buddhist funeral]]. Additionally, [[spoiler: Takiko, who has just returned to Japan, passes out in the middle of it... and soon she finds out that she's about to die of the same tuberculosis that killed her mom.]]
54%% * [[DyingMomentOfAwesome Dying Moments of Awesome:]]
55%% ** [[spoiler: Soruen]]: LastStand, TakingYouWithMe
56%% ** [[spoiler: Hikitsu]]: [[TakingTheBullet Taking the Arrows]], YouShallNotPass
57%% ** [[spoiler: Tomite]]: AlmostDeadGuy
58** [[spoiler: Takiko]]: [[spoiler: Manages to summon Genbu and make two of her three wishes ''when not only she's dying of illness AND being absorbed by Genbu, but also suffering the effects of Einosuke's MercyKill''.]]
59* EarlyBirdCameo: Despite taking 10 chapters [[note]]Which was also 2 years in manga publishing.[[/note]] to be officially introduced in the story, Hikitsu already made his appearance in Watase's various splash illustrations ''since the very first chapter''.
60* ElementalPowers: Several characters have them.
61** [[BlowYouAway Wind]]: Uruki. Can also use the RazorWind method.
62** [[AnIcePerson Ice]]: Tomite. [[spoiler:Hikitsu will [[ForegoneConclusion power expand]] later.]]
63** [[MakingASplash Water]]: Hikitsu
64** [[DishingOutDirt Earth]]: Namame. And by itself is also a stone-made ShapeshifterWeapon.
65** [[ExtraOreDinary Metal]]: Hatsui
66** [[DeadlyGas Smoke]]: Inami... yeah, it looks elemental alright.
67* FamilyOfChoice: Due to Takiko and each celestial member [[ParentalAbandonment lacking in various family elements]] due to their country's discrimination and ill fate, have made them unite into one BadassFamily of their own.
68** BashBrothers: This is what Uruki and Tomite are if you take out the LoveTriangle thing between them. The two of them are the closest in age [[note]]Less than two weeks apart, mind you.[[/note]] [[SiblingRivalry and shoves similar splashes of hot temper onto each others' faces]]. But in the end they did proved to be very close, trusting, and depended on each other throughout various obstacles.
69** DesignatedParents: [[spoiler: Hikitsu and Inami]].
70*** [[spoiler:Inami lost both her husband and her unborn child when she was a young adult, therefore it comes naturally for her to fill in as a ParentalSubstitute towards all of her fellow teammates, since most of them are not even half her age]].
71*** [[spoiler: Hikitsu on the other hand was ditched by his entire tribe, leaving him with only his little sister. Therefore he's forced to mature very early and has to hone all the nurturing and survival instincts to help him and his sister survive]].
72** LikeBrotherAndSister: According to WordOfGod, this is how Takiko and Tomite are, ''despite'' the fact that it's pretty clear that Tomite was developing some [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited romantic feelings]] for Takiko through their [[AlmostKiss two almost kisses]], his [[TheRival rivalry]] (and a bit of [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter inferiority complex]]) with [[OfficialCouple Uruki]], and how he mutters that he guesses he didn't have a [[HopelessSuitor "chance"]] when Takiko tells Tomite that she is in love with someone else from her world in Volume 4.
73** SwornBrothers: Hikitsu and Tomite. And not only are they bond brothers, [[Creator/YuuWatase Word Of God]] said that [[spoiler: both of them "[[InTheBlood came from the same ancestor]]!"]]
74*** In Tomite's case, his dad died early in his childhood, but came into contact with Hikitsu at the same time. So not only does he admires Hikitsu as this [[BigBrotherWorship cool big brother]] to have, but also looks up to him as a [[ParentalSubstitute substitute Father figure]].
75*** While Tomite was having his heartwarming moment of sealing his brother pact with Hikitsu by holding their ancient ritual of serving water for each other, [[spoiler: Uruki and Hatsui joins the fun in self-serving the same water from the pond those two were drinking from]]. Which serves as an acknowledgment of brotherhood the four of them share together.
76* {{Fanservice}}: This is a Yuu Watase work we're talking about here, so we're guaranteed to get packages full of [[ShirtlessScene shirtless scenes]] and ''[[NakedFirstImpression beyond]]'' for BOTH genders of her characters.
77** To be specific, here's what some of our characters are known for:
78*** NakedFirstImpression: [[spoiler: Uruki and Takiko.]]
79*** [[ShowerScene Bucket Tub Scene]]: [[spoiler: Tomite. The tub's so small that the water inside barely covers his butt!!]]
80*** [[ShowerScene Other Shower Scenes]]: Shigi and Takiko separately.
81** The trip to Kounan immediately gives the reader a large panel of Tomite, Hikitsu and Uruki ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Hatsui, in the background]]) [[ShirtlessScene throwing their shirts off]] because of the heat.
82* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The country of Hokkan is a spinoff of Mongolia, which includes both Inner Mongolia of China, and The State of Mongolia (aka. Outer Mongolia) the sovereign nation.
83* FirstNameBasis: Unlike the [[Manga/FushigiYuugi Suzaku and Seiryuu warriors in the future,]] all Genbu warriors preferred ''[[RefusalOfTheCall not]]'' to be called by their Celestial names; it was proved especially clear with Tomite and Uruki, the first 2 warriors Takiko encountered. That's why Takiko referred them by their birth names for a good length amount of time until they slowly accept their Celestial identities. Once these two got used to their Celestial names, they were shown to be more comfortable in persuading the later recruited members to use their Celestial names.
84** [[ChildhoodFriends Tomite and Hikitsu]] [[AllThereInTheManual were and still are]], naturally more comfortable in referring each other by their birth names. But Tomite persuaded Hikitsu in using their Celestial names for the time being, and stated once they fulfilled their duties to Takiko, they can go back to normal. [[spoiler: Hikitsu called Tomite as Chamuka once again to compliment his good work as they die; but [[MustMakeAmends they ultimately agreed]] [[UndyingLoyalty to renounce their birth name usage,]] after realizing they died before Takiko.]]
85* ForegoneConclusion: Since this is a prequel, the reader goes into the manga knowing that [[spoiler: [[AllThereInTheManual Hikitsu, Tomite]], Takiko, and her father Einosuke will not survive]].
86* TheFourGods
87* HealthyCountryAir: Mrs. Okuda is suffering from tuberculosis at the beginning of the story. The family moves from Tokyo to Morioka, hoping that the mountain air would improve her health. The other students in Takiko's new class gossip constantly about it, and the Okuda family takes great pains to keep Mrs. Okuda's illness a secret, for fear that [[ValuesDissonance the social stigma would jeopardize 17-year-old Takiko's marriageability]].
88* HiddenDepths: Out of all characters, it is [[spoiler: Hikitsu]] that you have to be cautious of. By far, he has the [[spoiler: most tropes in the character sheet]], and he never showed the [[AllThereInTheManual majority of them]] within the storyline ''at all''.
89* InterruptedDeclarationOfLove: Uruki [[CannotSpitItOut failed to spit it out]] to Takiko thanks to Tomite minding his own business.
90--> '''Uruki:''' "Now I realize...that I..."
91--> '''Tomite:''' "Hikitsu, wait!"
92* KneelBeforeFrodo: [[spoiler: After she makes her wishes and dies, all of Hokkan bow before Takiko finally fully acknowledging their priestess]]
93* LoveTriangle: Mr. Ohsugi/Takiko/Uruki and Tomite/Takiko/Uruki.
94* OutdoorBathPeeping: Tomite came charging into his tribe's hotspring attempting to notify them that the enemies are near when Takiko just started drying herself from her bath. But then his [[MamaBear mom]] just went out for his blood instead.
95** Uruki and Tomite (again) also did this move while Takiko was bathing in the second premium drama.
96** Takiko ''really'' only spied on Shigi bathing in a river ''by accident''. She noticed at this point that Shigi [[spoiler: was an eunuch]].
97* ParentalAbandonment: Actually, all of the main crew have this background.
98** Takiko's mother Yoshie dies of tuberculosis in the ''first'' chapter, and her father Einosuke is never around because [[spoiler:he was researching the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho to find a way to save his wife]], not to mention the fact that he never wanted a daughter to begin with. [[spoiler: He apologizes for the last part, though.]]
99** As for Uruki, it was prophesized when he was born that when Genbu was summoned he would [[spoiler:kill his father]]. As a result, [[spoiler:his father]] is after his life, even going so far as to ally himself with the force trying to destroy his own country, even though he is a [[spoiler:member of the royal family]]. It is these actions that lead many to believe that this will turn out to be a SelfFulfillingProphecy.
100** In literal terms, Hikitsu [[spoiler: and his sister]]. His whole entire village ditched [[spoiler: them]] because his powers were too powerful and horrifying to his tribe, and his tribe believed in the superstition that he as a Celestial Warrior was a curse upon them.
101** Hatsui and Urumiya's parents have been dead since their childhood.
102** Even though he's the most luckiest dude of the group with a very supportive mom all alive and well, and was raised up with a comedic personality, remember that Tomite's dad died when he was a kid too.
103* PluckyComicRelief: Tomite, the one and only comic relief there is. And we all should really thank [[Creator/YuuWatase GOD]] for [[spoiler: not [[ShooOutTheClowns killing him]] till the very darn ''second-to-last'' chapter]], otherwise all readers would really become [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds blood-thirsty monsters]] on the author.
104* PowerTrio:
105** BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Hikitsu (Blonde), Tomite (Brunette), Uruki (Redhead).
106** TheThreeFacesOfAdam: Tomite (Adventure), Uruki (Authority), Hikitsu (Wisdom).
107** In terms of executing their Priestess' plan, Uruki would be TheCaptain, Tomite will be Uruki's [[TheLancer Lancer]], while Hikitsu would be Uruki's NumberTwo.
108* RefusalOfTheCall: Would you wanna come out of the closet when it's said that being selected as Celestial Warrior is doomed as a complete curse to mankind and all people of your entire country will discriminate against you? ...We think not. Literally every single Genbu Warrior that Takiko encountered openly refused to join her as their initial reaction once she introduced herself as the Priestess of Genbu. [[spoiler: Except for the very very last one.]]
109* RightUnderTheirNoses: The Urumiya Retrival Arc has The Genbu Team split into two teams: Team Takiko, Hikitsu, Inami, and Namame goes undercover posing as servants of the Hokkan palace to retrieve information on the location of Urumiya [[spoiler: Tegu]] from the inside, while Team Uruki, Tomite, and Hatsui searches the outer walls of the cave [[spoiler: where Tegu is potentially hidden]] to see if they can find a physical breakthrough without using their powers [[spoiler: to avoid Tegu's detection and repression]].
110* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Uruki and [[spoiler: Firuka.]]
111* ShoutOut: The journey to [[Manga/FushigiYuugi The Konan Country]] sure is a lot of fun for the gang.
112** Uruki and Hikitsu wore the same kind of top, but Uruki gets even with one unbuttoned just like some future Suzaku seishi guy name Tamahome.
113** The owner of the fabric store where the Genbu gang purchased their local clothing is [[spoiler: Nuriko's ancestor]].
114* SoapOperaDisease: [[spoiler:Takiko and Hagas.]]
115* SoHappyTogether: [[spoiler: Takiko and Uruki get shanghaid into a marriage right before the Kutou army invades. It's also the last moment of peace for all of the Genbu Warriors before Takiko summons Genbu, and the deaths of Hikitsu and Tomite.]]
116* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The American manga originally spelled names to Limdo, Hagus, Chamka, Ayla, Anlu and even used chinese names sometimes, like Téwulan, Zíyí and Fei'yan for Touran, Shigi and Hien respectively. Later releases went with the Japanese names for them and opting for romanization as Rimudo, Haagasu, Aira, Anruu and Chamuka.
117* SpyFiction: The Urumiya Arc. Where Takiko went [[RightUnderTheirNoses undercover]] into the Hokkan Palace, [[spoiler: top it with Hikitsu's [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands secret agent abilities]] to play it out perfectly.]]
118* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Actually averted - the parts that take place in Japan happen in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morioka Morioka]], the capital from Iwate prefecture.
119* StarCrossedLovers: Inherent in all of the priestess' due to the nature of the summoning. Uruki and Takiko's fates are also a foregone conclusion established in the original manga.
120* TragicKeepsake: The necklace of Anlu the Oracle, twice over. It serves as a reminder for Takiko of Anlu and the sacrifices needed to summon Genbu. Later, Uruki is wearing it as a reminder of [[spoiler: Takiko]]. Bonus points for also being a MementoMacGuffin first allowing Takiko to talk to Naname and later as the Shinzahou.
121* WorldHealingWave: Two of these take place, [[spoiler: as the two wishes Takiko manages to make before dying]]:
122** First, [[spoiler: Hokkan is about to be consumed not just by the upcoming war with Kutou, but by [[KillItWithIce a glacial era]] that would be a MASSIVE disaster since Hokkan itself is made of steppes and plains. Takiko tells Genbu "Return spring to this land once more", Genbu accepts and the climate changes accordingly, saving the country from being covered in ice for what could be centuries.]]
123** Second, [[spoiler: the wish that follows is basically one "for all the living things of this country to be restored to what they once were". Genbu fulfills it via creating a miraculous water that spreads through the country, healing wounded soldiers (which makes both sides of the Hokkan/Kutou war stop their fighting) and melting the snow away...]]

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