I was first introduced to Fushigi Yuugi (the anime version) in middle school by a friend. Only a few minutes in to the first episode and I was immediately hooked. The anime follows the manga very closely, although some small details have been omitted and changed (for the better in my opinion). I highly recommend the anime if you don't want to sit through all 18 volumes.
Our heroine, Miaka, is a 15 year old glutton who is clumsy, dull-wit, and overly naive. She's just your average school girl struggling to pass the entrance exam for high school. After she enters the Universe of the Four Gods, at the request of Hotohori, she decides to become the Priestess of Suzaku to wish for her acceptance into Jonan Academy along with her best friend Yui. As the story progresses, Miaka falls in love with one of her seven seishi, Tamahome, and together, in her quest to summon Suzaku, overcomes various hardships and obstacles and learns the importance of responsibility, courage, and self-sacrifice.
Unfortunately for Miaka, her best friend Yui was also sucked into the book and was manipulated to become her enemy. Determined to take revenge on Miaka, Yui becomes the Priestess of Seiryuu to summon the beast God to grant her wish to go home and to take Tamahome away from Miaka. Can Miaka stay together with her love Tamahome and save her frienship with Yui before Seiryuu seishi Nakago takes over both the book and the real world?
A lot of people complain how Miaka is weak and always needs her seishis to save her, but that's not true. She never backs away from the face of danger and despite being physically weak, throws herself at the enemy as bait just so her friends can escape. Miaka has the strongest will out of all the four priestess. Her belief in her love with Tamahome and in her friendship with Yui never wavered. Although overly naive and innocent, it is precisely these qualities along with her carefree cheerful nature that attracts four of the Suzaku seishi (Tamahome, Hotohori, Noriko, Tasuki) and one Seiryuu seishi (Amiboshi) to fall in love with her.
Everyone compares Miaka to Takiko in Genbu Kaiden. Yes, there is a world of difference in their maturity level. After all Takiko is the oldest of the four priestesses to enter the book. However, Miaka is without a doubt the strongest out of all four which shows at the end because she wasn't devoured by the beast god. Her character is more relatable as she's just your flawed, average 15 year old kid. Takiko is a very unrealistic heorine as she is just too perfect to be true and therefore, has no character development.
All in all, Fushigi Yuugi trumps Genbu Kaiden anyday. While I loved Genbu Kaiden, I find it boring compared to FY, although the art in Genbu Kaiden is WAY WAY WAY better. If I were to describe the plot twists and story development for Genbu Kaiden vs Fushigi Yuugi, then I would say Genbu Kaiden progresses linear whereas original FY is zig zag. There's just a lot more twists in the story in FY than GK, because we have an extremely smart and powerful antagonist Nagako from the Seiryuu side who calculates like 10 steps ahead of the Suzaku seishis.
Summary:
- Characters: Fushigi Yuugi (more comedic) = Genbu Kaiden (more mature)
- Art: Fushigi Yuugi (meh~) < Genbu Kaiden (WAY more beautiful)
- Story: Fushigi Yuugi (way more plots twists and drama) > Genbu Kaiden (a bit boring)
So overall, it's different strokes for different folks. The plot and story in Fushigi Yuugi is SO SO SO MUCH better than the story of Genbu Kaiden. On the other hand, the art in Genbu Kaiden is SO SO SO MUCH better than in Fushigi Yuugi. Fushigi Yuugi is also very comedic while Genbu Kaiden is very sad and dark. They're completely two different stories. It just depends on what kind of story you like. I personally like a great story with comedy sprinkled throughout, so my pick is DEFINITELY Fushigi Yuugi. Genbu Kaiden is a fantastic prequel and beautifully written, but in my heart, its story will never surpass or come close to Fushigi Yuugi (which is a classic in my opinion).