Oh yeah, the question of where did the title "Fushigi
Yuugi" come from? I, who doesn't really have trouble over titles, really
had trouble with this one. Because it was a serious story since I was 18
years old, naturally it would be no good for it to have just "Suzaku",
so I had trouble giving it a title that fit my image. So I got stuff out
of various magazines and decided it should have a rhyme combination. When
I think of it now I think it's a really nice title. "Yuugi" seems to appear
a lot in Hong Kong films, like Bruce Lee's "Game of Death". It's meaning
is closer to "game" than "asobitawamureru". In short I guess it means "Fushigi
Game"? (Arrow):"Miracle Game" is uncool. Oh yeah,
actually I got into a PC game discussion with my assistant M-san and it
got into "Fushigi Yuugi" becoming a game, and we went on and on about it.
It was interesting but not because it was my own work. First the PC game
would start off by introducing the story with ordinary pictures, then the
game starts but the Universe of the Four Gods suddenly opens and a map
appears. Kutou Country, Hotohori's palace, Mt. Taikyoku, Tamahome's village!
It would be OK even if the manga story is warped. You start from where
you want and search for 7 people. Because it's RPG, enemies appear suddenly,
and because all of them have different abilities the fighting pattern changes.
If it gets to where "It looks like I lost!" you call "Chichiri", his kasa
would appear, and Chichiri would pop out and use his spells. Even if you
die if you're Tamahome you can collect money in certain places while on
the journey and come back to life. "If you suddenly go to Kutou Country
you have no experience so would be done in right away. By
Nakago." "Miaka is the player so besides her power wouldn't she
also have a love power gauge. When away from Tamahome it goes down." "The
game's over if you return to the real world." "No, there's Oniichan's help"
our discussion continues endlessly.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
To be continued
Translations Notes
Bruce Lee's "Game of Death" is called "Shibou Yuugi" in Japanese.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Asobitawamureru" means "play" or "frolic"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Watase actually uses the English words "game" and "miracle" here.