Deadjournal

This anime felt pretty mediocre to me, both in terms of story and visuals. Sure, animation quality isn’t as important as the narrative, but here the plot feels even cheaper than the art, it’s riddled with inconsistencies and plot holes that only the least demanding viewer could overlook. There are so many silly moments and logical gaps that I found myself instinctively facepalming more often than not. But considering the target audience, little girls, the creators clearly didn’t bother too much with such “unnecessary” things.

As for the characters, hardly anyone stood out. Maybe Nakago, but even he’s made entirely of clichés. Nuriko was somewhat interesting, but their abrupt shift from hatred (and even an attempt to drown Miaka in a swamp) to unconditional love and friendship with her was jarring and felt completely unearned. It was unnatural and lacked any believable justification.

And then there’s the ending. It’s awful. Not only is it overly drawn-out with way too many convoluted twists, but it’s also entirely predictable from the start. If the series had wrapped up around the midpoint of its final arc, it would have been far better than the agonizing mess we got in the last episode.
Final Score: 6/10

This anime will likely only appeal to fans of retro shows.

That said, Fushigi Yuugi had tremendous potential. The ancient China-inspired setting and the isekai genre are both concepts I really enjoy. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to what it could’ve been. Even so, I don’t regret watching it.