Welcome to another recap of Fushigi Yugi! You may notice the low rating! Let me explain - I meant to keep track but I believe this is the SECOND time Nakago uses rape as a means to manipulate a situation.

I want to remind you this is written by a female for a female audience and Nakago, aside from his depraved personality, is drawn quite attractively. AND THE GIRLS INVOLVED ARE AT BEST 16.

When I was originally reading this I was in the middle of at least three other fantasy series (From Far Away, Basara and Red River) and while Red River deals with the...dubious nature at times of Yuri's consent to Kail (read my recaps to see what I mean) rape is not a factor in any of them.

At most there's a scene in Basara where Sarasa is in danger, but it literally lasts two pages and was actually man on man sexual violence (Sarasa was dressed as a man and the guys involved saw her as a guy) not manipulation via sexual violence of a man towards a woman (not that it excuses the behavior, but the standard is differently held).

Yet in another volume or so we have ANOTHER instance of, at Nakago's insistence, Miaka being put in a sexually compromising position. That's THREE instances, all at Nakago's word, involving sexual violence (or the threat thereof) against either Yui (once) or Miaka (twice).

I just...I don't like this. Arata & Genbu do NOT feature this (at least not in a way I can remember so frequently), though Ceres (more or less an English translated contemporary to this series, also by Watase) was basically PREDICATED on the fact sexual violence was done, repeatedly and continued (Aya's brother, once possessed is SUPER INCEST RAPEY) and I remember a few other series being sort of big on it (Peach Girl's Sae was attacked, Boys Over Flowers had this for a while, as did Mars with Kira and her stepfather...) so maybe it was a 90s shoujo thing?

Elsewise Nakago is a team killing fucktard. Nuriko is pretty. Suboshi gets ahead of himself. And...I'm done with this volume. ( )

I'm not sure why I'm still reading this series but I am, and this might be the worst volume yet. I'm not sure what tops the pile: the treatment of Nuriko as a woman only after death, the idea that Yui's assault didn't happen and was only a plot device to get her to hate Miaka, the weird relationship between virginity and importance as a heroine, or the blatant lack of self awareness this series shows in reinforcing the tropes of a woman being ravished (assuming it happened) as a method of subduing her and only finding her self worth again through the love of her hero. Nope nope nope. ( )

wtf*
this is where bad stuff happens.

*then i found out it was based on a legit Chinese folklore ._. ( )