Suzaku no Miko
--Miaka--
Miaka is the main and most pivotal character in Fushigi Yuugi (even those who don't like her will agree on this). And with someone this important to an entire series, how can I begin to describe her? Well, first of all, let's begin with her normal life. Yuuki Miaka lives with her mother, father (though never seen), and brother in Tokyo, Japan. Miaka is a teenager and is taking the entrance exams to get into a good school. However, Miaka is not the typical nose-to-the-grindstone student. The truth is, Miaka would much rather be with her friends, go shopping, but most of all eat than to study. She cares about school, to a point. Although this may seem foolish, careless, or irresponsible, Miaka is already aware that school is not life.
Miaka has a very charismatic, sweet personality. She has a unique clumsiness about her that is all but a mistake, she uses it in her favor even when it gets her into a jam. Miaka's best and closest friend is Yui, who has been her friend ever since they were very young.
As far as how Miaka became the Suzaku no Miko is a strange tale. One day, Miaka went with Yui to a library so that Yui could drop off a book she had checked out. Miaka had gone over to a juice machine; when she fumbled her coins, a magnificent phoenix bird appeared before her and flew up lofty, dark stairs trailing its tail of light behind it. Miaka was practically entranced and followed it up, finding a restricted room full of old books. Once there, Miaka looked for the bird. The bird was gone, but as she searched, a book spontaneously fell upon the floor. Miaka picked it up and saw that it was written in ancient Chinese (which she couldn't read). Yui eventually found her in the room and was able to read the ancient book.
However, little did the two girls know that the book was truly magical. As Yui proceeded through the incantation, a red light shot through the book and blinded them. When they opened their eyes again, they were in a wilderness, completely stranded.
Here, I risk telling the story instead of examining Miaka as a character. If you really want to know what happens in detail, you can e-mail me, watch the series, or go to a site with an episode guide.
Miaka, once put in this magical world, soon became the Suzaku no Miko, or the maiden of Suzaku (the ruling god of the kingdom she had entered, Konan). Her role was to save Konan from utter ruin, as it was on the brink of war.
However, though Miaka spent almost all of her time amongst several capable guardians, being the Suzaku no Miko was incredibly dangerous. If the Miko of any one god was killed, none of her protectors could be summoned, and the kingdom that the god ruled over would not survive under war. Thus, the Miko was always a prime target in the battle for power.
Though Miaka has been viewed by several people as an incapable leader and a whining airhead, they have looked over her personal strengths. Miaka is a loyal friend until death and will do anything, anything at all, to help innocent people in need. Perhaps this is both a strength and a weakness, but Miaka will never hesitate to help someone, even if they are not trustworthy right from the get go. Miaka is also a very positive, optmistic and faithful person. She brightens a room and brings hope to a hopeless situation. If anyone doesn't like Miaka, it is only because of her personality traits which tend to be on the silly, girlish side. But there is a deeper Miaka, and she will go to the ends of the earth for her friends, family, and loved ones.
I consider Miaka to be one of the warmest, loving, and trustworthy characters of Fushigi Yuugi. Perhaps she can say stupid things and do stupid things, often at that, but there is always another unexplored side to a person's soul. For that, even though she does not exist, I respect Miaka's character.
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