Fushigi Yûgi Byakko Senki

"Suzaku's Miko, Miaka. Seiryuu's Miko, Yui. 'Genbu's Miko, Takiko... And now, a new "Mysterious Play" will begin on this page!'' —Yuu Watase, about the series.

Fushigi Yûgi Byakko Senki (ふしぎ遊戯 白虎編, Mysterious Game: the Byakko chapter) is a Japanese manga series written by Yuu Watase. It's being serialized by Shougakukan's Monthly Flowers magazine, from August 28, 2017 onwards. The series began with a one-shot story titled Fushigi Yuugi Byakko Ibun (ふしぎ遊戯 白虎異聞) that was released on February 28, 2015, with the Byakko Senki manga being officially announced in April 2017. However, it went through a six years hiatus (from 2018 to 2024) while Watase both recovered from health issues and focused on finishing Arata Kangatari; it was in May 2024.

A mid-quen set between Genbu Kaiden and the original story, it tells the story of the Priestess of Byakko, Suzuno Osugi. A girl from the pre-World War II Japan and the daughter of Takao Ohsugi, who once worked and studied under the tutelage of Einosuke Okuda (Takiko "Priestess of Genbu" Okuda's father), Suzuno first finds herself in the land of Sairou after she's thrown into the Universe of the Four Gods during a very grim day in recent Japanese story: the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

Flashforward to 10 years later, in 1933. A teenaged Suzuno is about to finish highschool, and the memories of her brief "stay" in Sairou are all but gone save for them being her inspiration to paint and draw. Then, she briefly sees the Universe in her school library, begins recalling these days more clearly, and makes research on the book itself... which soon swallows her back into its pages and story. From then on Suzuno will have to play a similar role to the one her Cool Big Sis Takiko played before her, and later Miaka and Yui (and in the Suzaku Ibun game, Madoka and Misaki) will fulfill: become the Miko, reuniting her Seishi, summon the God that protects the country she serves, and make the wishes that the land needs. . .

NOTE: Byakko Senki started its run in August 2017. It's best to take all the tropes related to it here. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS, logically.

Tropes used in Fushigi Yûgi Byakko Senki include:

• Adaptation Dye Job: The Suzuno from the original Fushigi Yuugi had light brown hair, whereas the one from posterior illustrations is more of a blonde.
• Bait and Switch: FY-savvy readers already know that Suzuno's tragic True Love is one of her Seishi, Tatara. Cue the first two Byakko Senki chapters and... there are two young men who could be Tatara! Visually speaking, the brothers Kasaru and Karumu closely resemble one another, all the while each had different attributes of the “Tatara” seen in the original series: Kasaru has the right age/looks combo and the calm behavior, while Karumu has the looks and manages to bond quite a bit with Suzuno.
  • The deal was solved in Chapter 7. In a QUITE shocking fashion -- By having Kasaru killed off and revealing Karumu's Senshi mark right then.
• Big Damn Heroes - Rescue Introduction:
  • Neiran does this in Chapter 1, saving little Suzuno and herself from bandits.
  • Seiji Horie appears like this in Chapter 3, rescuing Suzuno from would-be slavers.
  • In Chapter 5, this is how Tokaki introduces himself to Suzuno.
• Break the Cutie: The first chapter of Byakko Senki takes a little girl from Tokyo and shatters her via detroying her home, killing off her parents, and sending her to the very hostile world of the Universe. . After the Time Skip, she's still deeply affected by all of this.
• Clingy MacGuffin The Universe, thanks to its magic, would always finds its way to Suzuno's surroundings, marking her as the closest candidate to be one of the Mikos. Chapter 3 of the series, however, offers a subversion: when Suzuno is sent back to Tokyo and then is almost Made a Slave by child traffickers, one of them grabs the Universe... easily from her hands, and after she's rescued by Seiji and Oikawa the book goes completely missing... only to reappear ten years later, when Suzuno is a teenager. . Considering how the Universe would later be stored for decades in the Tokyo Central Library and would only start "reacting" when Miaka and Yui went into the building together, it looks like the book will only fit into this trope when it's actually time for any of the Priestesses to raise into action.
• Dead Hand Shot: Seeing poor Tamayo's hand sticking out of the rubble of her destroyed home is all the reader needs to know about her fate....
• Downer Beginning: Byakko Senki actually begins few months after Genbu Kaiden... with an 8-year-old Suzuno losing her home and her parents in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and with her mortally wounded father Takao using his last bits of life to send her into the Universe of the Four Gods.
• Fake King: Reipin/Neiran, the protagonist of Fushigi Yugi Byakko Ibun, takes this role early on as she steals Suzuno's Tragic Keepsakes (her mom's kimono and her dad's pocket watch) and uses them to pretend that she's the Byakko Priestess. She does it because she has had an absolutely terrible life ever since she was born, and thus she desires to earn power and respect for herself.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Sairou is inspired by The Silk Road and Western China (the Uyghur-Xinjiang Region, Tibet, etc.)
• Handsome Lech: Since Tokaki was a Dirty Old Man in the old series, one bets that he'll be like this in his own Priestess' story. Confirmed when he actually appears, as he makes some comments on Suzuno's Generic Cuteness and implies that he actually was about to ask her for Rescue Sex after his Big Damn Heroes. He does turn completely serious when he realizes that she's not a random girl, but the actual Priestess of Byakko.
• Hero of Another Story: This is the story of Suzuno, who chronologically was the second of the four Mikos (with Takiko from Genbu Kaiden as the first). The first chapters happen in 1923, the rest of the story in 1933.
• Imperial Japan: Byakko Senki began after the Taisho-era set Genbu Kaiden, and the core of its story happened in the early times of the Showa Era.
• Keeping Secrets Sucks: Suzuno's parents Takao and Tamayo are the only ones who know the truth behind Einosuke and Takiko's deaths. Everyone else thinks it was just "murder suicide". The knowledge takes a heavy toll in their minds.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Suzuno doesn't know that Takiko, whom she wanted as her Cool Big Sis, is dead. Takao only tells her that she got married and left (which isn't a total lie, considering how she married Uruki before dying), and Suzuno properly finds out years later when she makes research about the Universe...
• Made of Indestructium: To follow the last wish of Einosuke Okuda, Takao Ohsugi did what he could to get rid of the Universe. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING worked: he tried throwing it into a fire, using an industrial kiln, sealing it in a Shinto shrine, etc.. He was about to throw it into the nearest harbor when Tokyo was destroyed in the Big Kanto Earthquake.
• Miko: The Hoshiyomiko, a bunch of court ladies who are also Fortune Teller-like oracles who read the will of the stars and are supposed to assist the Byakko Priestess. One of them is implied to have started to realize that Neiran is an usurper.
• Posthumous Character: Einosuke and Takiko are mentioned all over the first chapter. Takao and Tamayo become this after their deaths in the first chapter.
• Sailor Fuku: Suzuno is seen wearing a blue one in both the original Fushigi Yuugi, her cameo in Byakko Ibun, almost all the illustrations featuring her, etc. Justified, she's from the years when the seifuku was officially implemented as a school uniform.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Both Neiran and Suzuno look very pretty in Sairou clothing.
• Strong Family Resemblance: One of the reasons why nobody knows which of the Raotsue brothers is the true Tatara at the moment (as of 2023-2024) is this: Karumu and Kasaru look terrifyingly alike, down to pretty much every single physical trait (up and including the same Mismatched Eyes), save for Kasaru being a young adult and Karumu being a teenager.
  • Suzuno looks a lot like her mother Tamayo, but has her father Takao's hair/color scheme.
• Wham! Episode Near all of the first five chapters qualify:
  • Chapter 1 has the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which kills off Suzuno's parents and forces her dying dad to send her into the Universe of the Four Gods.
  • In Chapter 3, Neiran snaps on Suzuno and once she's sent back to Tokyo, she usurps her place as the Byakko no Miko to graps a chance to be loved and respected.
  • In Chapter 4, Suzuno finds the book again... and in Chapter 5 she's swallowed back into it.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: After meeeting Suzuno's mother, Tamayo Oosugi, once can see where Suzuno got her YN traits from since she's quite the example of the trope. She has the dark hair, cute face, kimonos, gentle but assertive personality, etc.
  • After the Time Skip, Suzuno is definitely confirmed to be in her way to become one of these.