Trivia / Fushigi Yuugi

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• Acting for Two:
  • Hisako Kyoda voices the narrator and Taiitsukun.
  • Kouji Ishii voices both Mitsukake and Tokaki's older self.
  • The late Tomoko Kawakami, Chiriko's regular voice actress, also voices Tamahome's sister Gyokuran and some of the Nyan-Nyans.
  • Chika Sakamoto voices Nuriko, You Houki and Chou Kourin.
  • Tomokazu Seki voices Chichiri and Kouji.
  • Midori Nakazawa voices both Suzuno Osugi and Miboshi.
  • Katsuya Shiga voices Toki and Tokaki's younger self.
• Copiously Credited Creator: Besides voicing Miaka, Bridget Hoffman also directed and wrote the English dub.
• Creator's Favorite: Yuu Watase herself confessed that Nakago is her favorite character and tended to favor him because of it.
• International Coproduction: The Eikouden anime was produced by Pioneer Entertainment in the U.S. and by Fuji Creative Corporation, Studio Pierrot, and Shogakukan in Japan.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Tetsuya was principally played in Japanese by Ken Narita, but his Early-Bird Cameo in episode 8 was done by the late Nobuyuki Furuta, who is better known by anime fans as Sakyo from YuYu Hakusho.
  • Keisuke is voiced in English by Matthew K. Miller of Tenchi Muyo! fame for his cameo during Miaka's dream in episode 2 before Derek Stephen Prince would take over from episode 8 onward. The same applies to Ms. Yuki who was voiced in the former installment by Dorothy Elias-Fahn but is replaced by Mona Marshall for most of her appearances. Diana Perkins briefly filled in as Ms. Yuki during episode 26.
  • Michael Gregory replaces Richard Epcar as Mitsukake in the last two episodes. Weirdly, Richard still has one line as his character when the Suzaku Seven are debating what to use Miaka's final wish for, and is also given proper credit alongside Michael on the original VHS release. Michael also filled in for the first OVA and the Hot Springs Episode short.
    • Ashitare, also voiced by Richard Epcar in the series, is voiced by Kevin Seymour, Tomo's actor, in the latter installment.
  • Poor Yuiren was first voiced by Sandy Fox when Tamahome's family is introduced in episode 9 with Lenore Zann replacing her in episode 19. The death of Tamahome's family in episode 27 has Julie Maddalena voicing Yuiren who reprises the role in flashbacks late into the series. The third-eldest brother Shunkei also had a change going from Zann in episode 9 to Carolyn Hennesy in episode 48.
  • Yui's mother shares her daughter's actress Wendee Lee in episode 8, but her only other appearance during episode 46 is performed by Carolyn Hennesy.
  • Tamahome was recast in Eikoden going from David Hayter to Dave Wittenberg, likely because the former was busy with other work such as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
  • Houki's brief appearance in the TV series was handled by Emily Brown before Dorothy Elias-Fahn took over in the OVAs, though Brown still appeared in OVA 2 as Miru.
    • Mumin had a different voice for every episode of Eikoden. Kim Mai Guest voiced her in Episode 1, Christina Carlisi in Episode 2, Sherry Lynn in Episode 3, and finally Bridget Hoffman in Episode 4.
    • Shōka was voiced by Julie Maddalena in Eikoden, but her cameo in the second OVA was performed by Lia Sargent.
    • Tama the Cat was primarily voiced by Kevin Seymour aside from Eikoden Episode 4 where Bridget Hoffman voiced him.
  • The Italian dub of the TV series was produced in Rome. For the first OVA, it was instead dubbed in Bologna and everyone besides Patrizio Prata (Tamahome/Taka) was recast.
• Playing Against Type: In both languages, on Tamahome:
  • Japanese-wise, Hikaru Midorikawa has once admitted that playing as Tamahome was kind of out of his comfort zone; crazy, even, that he has to put extra effort to be proud of it. Prior to Tamahome, Midorikawa was typecast with the cool, brooding type characters like Joe Rival, and the one that pushed him back to the typecast—Heero Yuy; not that Tamahome doesn't have his brooding moments, he just had enough goofy moments to counter it.
  • English-wise... David Hayter. If you can imagine Solid Snake sounding like a goofier young man instead of a shell-shocked soldier, here's the show for you (hilariously, at one point, Tamahome's voice was lowered enough that he sounded like Snake preceding David Hayter getting the role)
• Playing Their Own Twin: Amiboshi and his twin brother Suboshi share voice actors virtually in every other dub (Yuji Ueda in Japanese, Steve Staley in English, etc.).
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Nuriko) and Daran Norris (Tasuki) were married during the time the English dub was made.
  • In the Italian dub of the TV series, Federica De Bortoli and her sister Barbara De Bortoli respectively voiced Miaka and Yui.
• Referenced by...: My Impossible Soulmate: Shortly after being sent to another world, Chiaki notes "having seen anime like this", with Fushigi Yuugi coming to mind for her.
• Studio Hop: The North American home media rights were originally handled by Pioneer Entertainment, before eventually being rescued by Media Blasters for home video and Discotek Media for streaming.
• Word of Gay: Yuu Watase has no problem acknowledging and teasing the Tamahome/Nakago Foe Yay.
• You Sound Familiar: Atsuko Tanaka voices Soi in the TV series and would later voice Takiko Okuda in the OVA.

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