ふしぎ遊戯：乙女の心

{Warning - this page contains spoilers}

Eikouden is the final animated arc of the Fushigi Yuugi sequence. It is based on one of many novels written with the input and approval of original author Watase Yuu - that being so, it's likely they can be considered canon. This is the only one to ever be animated, however.

Some folk dismiss it completely, but I don't think it contradicts anything particularly. It's main annoyance is the character Mayo, but her aside, it's not as bad as people would have you believe - and in my view, certainly superior in plot to the OVA 1!

Eikouden (Legend of the Eternal Light)

NB: Literally the Kanji reads "Eternal" (Ei) "Light" (Kou) "Legend" (Den).
Opening Theme: Chijou No Seiza
Closing Theme: Yes - Koko Ni Eien Ga Aru

Set three real world years after the close of the second OVA (ten years inside the book), the Universe of the Four Gods has fallen into disrepair - and into disreputable hands! Swiped from the library by one of the students at Yotsubaida High School (Sakaki Mayo), it is within an inch of being thrown away!

However, after the wedding of Miaka and Taka, Mayo's jealousy gets the better of her and after realising what the book is, she enters the other world, keen to rewrite the story so that she ends up with Taka/Tamahome instead of Miaka. Meanwhile, in the real world, Miaka - now three months pregnant - collapses, and her baby disappears, reappearing inside Mayo in the book world. The book, now in Keisuke's hands, spends most of the arc at Miaka's hospital bedside whilst her worried friends try to find a way to resolve things. It becomes apparent that the break down of the world in the book relates to its physical condition, although it is also the confusion of the book world itself, because the Suzaku and Seiryuu worlds played out alongside one another simultaneously (whereas only one legend is meant to be told at a time). Because of this, Yui feels guilty about her behaviour when she was originally sucked into the book (although considering that the Seishi were there for her to meet and greet...I don't know why she should be so bothered. After all, they/Seiryuu called her in there...right...?)

Taka makes the decision to go into the book after Mayo, in an attempt to bring her back and set things to rights, though he is annoyed by Mayo's lies to Hotohori's son Boushin and his widow Houki. Boushin asks him to assemble the Suzaku Seishi, and he is soon reunited with first Chichiri and then Tasuki. The world inside the book has also become delapidated, with Reikaku-zan becoming little more than a few molehills and dark clouds and birds swarming the horizons.

Finding Tasuki and Chichiri is the easy part - Taka and the others also have to locate the resurrected four Seishi who died in the conflict against Nakago's Seishi so many years earlier. With the help of a magic crystal from Taiitsukun, they first find Chiriko, who is no more than a baby and who is in danger of losing his Seishi memories completely. They next find Mitsukake, then Nuriko - who breaks the crystal ball - and finally Hotohori.

Meanwhile, the dark force pervading the book world has manifested itself in the form of fake beast Gods, and the fake Suzaku has convinced Mayo that the Suzaku Seishi are a threat to her. Consequently she seeks to kill all of them except Taka - although she's fairly ineffectual at actually doing so! In fact, in one instance, the interference of her dark forces bring Mitsukake's memories back!

Eventually, when she begins to disappear from the book world, Mayo becomes disheartened and decides to kill herself. She is saved by Taka, and surrounded by the reborn Seishi as one by one they regain their memories and true forms. It is then that Nuriko pieces together the truth of what's happened - that Miaka sent her child into Mayo's body to help rescue the book world from destruction. With the teaming up of Mayo and Miaka, Suzaku is summoned (turns out Miaka's baby is the Suzaku Shinzahou, well, who'd have thought?!) and the dark forces destroyed. Taka is then able to take Mayo home, and Miaka is fine.

Their baby is born six months later, and named Hikari, "light" (which is conveniently the same kanji character as the one used for "kou" in Eikouden (Correctly, it IS "Eikouden", I've just been brainwashed by merchandising) - now you can see where the title comes from!).

The last scene shows the book back in the library, with the message - "Please don't forget us."