Kichiri, the fangirl no da ^_-

I didn't start out with Fushigi Yuugi. Years before, I saw this little article in Sassy (remember that magazine? I thought it was cool) about Ranma, of all things. Then I saw something about Lum. I tracked down the English translated manga and eventually found the videos.

Yes, I'll admit it, I watched the DIC version of Sailor Moon at first, and then fell hook, line, and sinker for Dragon Ball, of all things. And then one day, this nice person named Jennifer wanted to trade with me. She had this thing called Fushigi Yuugi. I hadn't seen much about it, but what little I had, hadn't impressed me. But I thought "Why not?" and traded with her anyway.

I haven't looked back since.

I had been writing for Dragon Ball before I ever saw Fushigi Yuugi, and when I first saw the series, I didn't even write immediately. I was prompted by a challenge issued on the FYML. I wrote my first fanfic (not an impressive one, might I add) and felt like writing more. I asked for prereaders, found Ritz, and the rest is history. =P

Through my love for Fushigi Yuugi, I have rediscovered an important creative outlet for myself in writing, something I had forgotten that I needed. My creative instincts continue to flourish in the realm of anime, and still Fushigi Yuugi, even after so long. (Ack, I sound so oooooold!)

True, I'm still a bit of a lurker, but I've had the fortune to meet alot of wonderful people through this fandom. I take great pleasure in these online friendships, some of which have survived the leap into real life. (You know who you are. ^_^)

Fushigi Yuugi and anime and manga in general has also inspired me to draw, learn new languages, try out martial arts, spend lots of money, as well as taking me from a computer illiterate individual to someone who has increasingly high standards for her page and her computer.

When I was considering this editorial, I was simply amazed at the grand repercussions anime and manga has had on so many aspects of my life. And to think people think I just watch it for the shirtless seishi. =P

Kristi

What can I say? I was the quintessential child of the 80's. My first contact with anime was Voltron (gotta love those Lions) and Robotech (aside from Scarlet in G.I. Joe, Rick Hunter was my hero). Of course, that was before I even knew that they were anime. Heck, I didn't even know that they weren't American!

I've watched cartoons for years, and always loved them. Man, I used to watch G.I. Joe reruns until they stopped playing them, and that was my freshman year of high school. Sometimes, if I got up early enough, I would watch Sailor Moon. You see, G.I. Joe was on at 6AM, and Sailor Moon came on an hour before that. 5AM was rather early for a show where I hated the two main characters, Serena and Darien. But man those Negaverse Generals rocked. Naturally, when you're a freshman in high school, you don't tell anyone that you watch cartoons! How silly!

Now I had this friend, Lynn, and she watched Sailor Moon too. We used to do high school drama together, and sometimes we'd talk about it. I got wise about anime, and how all the good 'ol stuff was really Japanese. But I didn't really do anything with my knowledge. Then, Halloween my sophomore year in highschool, she invited me to a meeting of JAC, where they would be showing the Sailor Moon R movie, in the original Japanese. JAC stood for Japanese Animation Club, which is held at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. I said, sure, why not. And I went.

There were a lot of people there. A lot. As in hundreds. It felt ...weird. And I was accepted. I wasn't a geek for watching cartoons! Here were college students watching the cartoons with me. They were showing a few shows. The Sailor Moon R movie, Fushigi Yuugi, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and something else that I couldn't make it for. It was the second or third meeting of the semester, so I was a little behind. In fact, they were showing episodes 5-6 of Fushigi Yuugi. Evangelion, and Fushigi Yuugi hooked me. I feel asleep during the Sailor Moon R movie.

Another old friend from elementary school, Priya was there too. We went out to McDonald's afterwards, and talked. Particularly about Fushigi Yuugi. Something clicked, and over that winter break, we wrote our infamous first parody.

It all went downhill from there. ^_-

confuzcius

My turn. Gad, I hate doing this. @_@;; Why couldn't I get out of the editorial this time? ^^;;

Lesse. I started watching Fushigi Yuugi when I just barely got into anime: the summer before college. At the same time, I was introduced to the joys of the Internet. Always a deadly combo.

I joined the FYML in the fall and lurked for quite a while. During my time there, I got into making webpages, writing (bad) fanfics, and drawing equally bad fanart. I blame the first two on my eagerness to get in on things. But the last... I totally blame on a net friend. I think she knows who she is.

I suppose I was the stereotypical FY fangirl: hyper, insane, and familiar with HTML. It all resulted in the same things: a FY webpage. Actually, I'm still most of those. I just hide it really well. I hope.

It's been a few years now, and I still love FY. I could watch specific episodes for hours on end. There's just something about the show that pulls me back. FY got me started on being a dork who is totally into anime. I don't know whether to laugh, or get really ticked. ^^;;

Now that I've been exposed to the net and anime for a while, I like to think I've gotten better: more calm, more profficient with HTML, and more mature. Don't you know, fangirls are like wine. They get better with time.

HAH HAH.

Kai Ling

I must say, the only reason I watched FY at the outset was because I saw a movie file of the opening theme and the setting, the animation of the characters and the song drew me in completely. Anyway, this was early-on in my Intenet experience and there weren't that many FY websites then. But, there were certainly enough to give me a good idea of the basic plot of the show without spoiling too much as well as having plenty of resources to play with.

FY Fandom now plays a big part in my life, whether it's the people I have met through the FYML, writing fanfics or designing webpages, but perhaps even more importantly, FY Fandom is important to Fushigi Yuugi, the series. I have received e-mails from strangers who have seen or read my fanfics who'd then become interested in FY. I know that I wouldn't have been interested in FY if not for what I saw on the web.