Line #31 Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoIbun


1	[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fyib_main02.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:270:Nirusha and Reipin, cursed by destiny.]]
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4	''Fushigi Yuugi: Byakko Ibun'' (ふしぎ遊戯白虎異聞?, ''Mysterious Game: The Curious Tales of Byakko'') is a Japanese one shot manga written by Creator/YuuWatase. It was published by Shougakukan's Monthly Flowers magazine in February 2015. A prequel to ''Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoSenki'', it's set some time before the Priestess of Byakko, Suzuno Ohsugi, arrives to Sairou; it features two lonely and powerful people named Nirusha and Reipin, whose paths met by chance and chance their lives completely...
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6	'''Note''': ''Byakko Ibun'' is a prequel to the official story of the Byakko no Miko, ''Byakko Senki'', which officially began in 2017. Therefore '''''beware of MANY spoilers, marked or not.'''''
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10	!!Fushigi Yuugi Byakko Ibun has the following tropes:
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12	* AbusiveParents: Poor, POOR Reipin is treated like shit by her family, who not only beat her bloody but also treat her like a servant, force her to work even when she's injured after all the beatings, and [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment barely feed her]]. It's also strongly implied that [[RapeAsBackstory her older brother sexually abuses her.]]
13	* AdrenalineMakeover: [[spoiler: When Nirusha renames Reipin into Neiran, he also gives her his mother's old clothes to replace the rags she's wearing, and she walks into her abusive household with more confidence than ever while dolled up in them. It's helped by a protective charm that lets Neiran deflect any hits thrown at her.]]
14	* AnimalMotifs: Tigers. Justified, since Byakko the God is the "White Tiger of the West" among the Four Gods [[spoiler: and by a certain tigress's role in the story.]]
15	* AssholeVictim: Neiran's entire family. They physically, and in her older brother's case also sexually, abuse her on end, make her do slave labor that is tough for a child and barely give her enough food to survive. The fact that her father openly insults her, [[spoiler: and her mother [[SelfMadeOrphan that she had just killed by accident]] ]], does not endear him any more to the reader and it's practically a joy to see him and his family, [[spoiler: and the entire village that were assholes, too, be killed by Neiran's tiger form.]]
16	* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Reipin, now Neiran, decides to travel alone after killing not just her family but everyone in her village.]]
17	* BackDoorPilot: The story feels so off for a ''Fushigi Yuugi'' chapter, has only a tiny cameo of Suzuno on the last page and overall seems to have ''nothing'' to do with the plot of the story to begin with that it feels almost like it's a completely different manga. One only knows it's part of the ''Fushigi Yuugi'' universe because Neiran mentions the legend of the priestess and her warriors and the revelation that [[spoiler: Nirusha is actually Seiryuu Seishi ''Miboshi'']]. The proper story of Suzuno, ''Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoSenki'', would not start until two years later.
18	* BadassAdorable: Reipin, capable of wrestling tigers and shoot them with arrows. [[spoiler: Played for horrible tragedy later, when her first victim turns out [[SelfMadeOrphan not who she expected]].]]
19	* BirdsOfAFeather: Nirusha and Reipin bonded over how lonely they are and how people consider them cursed.
20	* {{Curse}}: [[spoiler: Nirusha's father tried to master a curse technique made by killing felines to make them demons, but lost his life in the process. The curse was passed on Nirusha himself, and he's trying to undo it by killing ther strongest felines... aka tigers.]]
21	* DarkerAndEdgier: Like ''Genbu Kaiden'' before it. The first chapter is not shy about showing how terrible Reipin's life until she befriends Nirusha and how badly her family treats her, as well as [[spoiler: the horrible discovery of her actual origins... and how [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed she dealt with it]].]]
22	* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: The audience will NOT feel sorry for [[AssholeVictim Reipin's horrible family]] when she murders them.]]
23	* FallenHero: [[spoiler: It's kind of a shock to learn that the cruel, sadistic Miboshi was a pretty decent guy in his past. And from what the audience sees in the first chapter, his kindness to Neiran is ''for real''.]]
24	* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler: Attempted by Reipin's mom, who gave infant!Reipin to her father since she couldn't legally keep her and told him to raise her well, under threats of coming in ten years and destroying the village if he didn't. [[AbusiveParents He and his family]] [[TooDumbToLive didn't listen]], and when Reipin finds out (after unknowingly killing her mom), ''she'' kills him and the others, before destroying the place.]]
25	* HalfBreedDiscrimination: [[spoiler: Reipin means "beast child", and she's subjected to this since her mother was a tiger with the power of shapeshifting into a woman.]]
26	* HeroOfAnotherStory: This prequel is focused on Nirusha and Reipin/Neiran rather than Suzuno. She only appears in the last page.
27	* HeroicBastard: [[spoiler: What Reipin turns out to be, since her human dad had an affair with her shapeshifting mom.]]
28	* HopeSpot: At one moment Reipin has gained a new best friend, has been renamed "Neiran" and is going through quite the AdrenalineMakeover, so it looks like she'll soon turn her life around. At the other, [[spoiler: she unwittingly kills her mom and has her muddled origins revealed her, and then '''everything''' goes to shit.]]
29	* InterGenerationalFriendship: Nirusha (early-to-mid twenties) and Reipin (10) strike one in the first episode.
30	* MagicKnight: Nirusha, who uses {{curse}}s to fight.
31	* MeaningfulRename: Nirusha takes Reipin under his wing, and renames her as Neiran. [[spoiler: Also his case, since "Nirusha" is just an alias: his actual name is Rasensei... and his Seiryuu Senshi name is '''Miboshi'''.]]
32	* MercyKill: Averted. [[spoiler: Tiger!Reipin begs Nirusha to kill her and use her bones for his quest, after her fatal and bloody rampage. Nirusha refuses and insists that both of them are human.]]
33	* TheNoseKnows: Reipin is said to have an excellent sense of smell, and she can find Nirusha by scent. [[spoiler: It's one of the first hints of her heritage as a half-Fuuin.]]
34	* OnlyFriend: Nirusha and Reipin become this to one another.
35	* SailorFuku: In her brief and only apparition at the end, Suzuno is seen wearing one. Justified, she's from [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan the years]] when the ''seifuku'' was officially implemented as a school uniform.
36	* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler: First, Reipin shoots down a tiger trying to help Nirusha, but the tiger turns out to be a shapeshifter... and her biological mother.]] Later, [[spoiler: when she snaps and destroys her village, her first victims are her WickedStepmother, then her father and stepsisters.]]
37	* VoluntaryShapeShifting: The ''Fuuin'', tigers that can transform into humans when they wear pendants named ''tiger skin''. [[spoiler: Reipin turns out to be the daughter of a ''fuuin'' woman and a human man. And she only finds out ''when she unknowingly kills her mother''.]]
38	** Nirusha also mentions ''renfuu'', aka humans able to transform into tigers. [[spoiler: This might not be ''as'' voluntary, though: Reipin's abusive older brother was turned into a tiger by a curse.]]
39	* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler: Reipin's dad was supposed to raise her well, since his ''fuuin'' mistress said she'd destroy the village if she ever found out that he didn't. He allowed Reipin to be mistreated ''and'' was very dismissive when she found out the truth. [[KarmicDeath Man, he brought his shit on himself]].]]
40	* TwoFaced: Nirusha, one of the POV characters from the first chapter, has quite the marks on one side of his face and his whole body. He covers the face marks with his bangs.

Context Manga / FushigiYuugiByakkoIbun