The Universe of the Four Gods (book)

SPOILER WARNING!! This article contains SPOILERS. Continue reading at your own risk.

The Universe of the Four Gods Book
Anime
Origin	Shizou Temple, China
Power(s)	Portal in and out of the Universe of the Four Gods Alternate Timeline Indestructible
Material(s)	Magical Manuscript Paper/Bounds

The Universe of the Four Gods (四神天地書) is a book containing the scripture from an ancient Chinese scroll. Its story was transcribe by Einosuke Okuda and has the power to draw a reader into its story, thus making them part of the tale.

In Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, Einosuke's daughter, Takiko Okuda, is pulled into the book and begins the journey that prefaces Fushigi Yuugi: Byakko Senki and Fushigi Yuugi: The Mysterious Play.

Background

"Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the seven Constellations of Suzaku together. And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish. For indeed the moment the page is turned, the story will become reality."

—The Universe of the Four Gods, Manga Chapter 1

In the real world, Japanese author Einosuke Okuda traveled to the Shizou Temple in the mountainous regions of China. There, he transcribed the scripture of an ancient scroll that tells the story of a Priestess summoning one of the Four Beast Gods to grant three wishes. Having been consumed with the legend of the wish-granting scroll, he threw himself into his work in a desperate attempt to save his wife, Yoshie Okuda, who was sick with tuberculosis - an illness that, back in these years, was untreatable and always fatal. In the process he neglected his only child, Takiko, who took care of her mother in her father's absence.

When Einosuke returned to Japan in 1923, he compiled his transcription into a red book. But he was too late, as Yoshie had passed away minutes before he finished. Takiko, angry at her father's abandonment and perceived desire of having a son rather than a daughter, attempted to destroy the book that forced a wedge between him and his family. But instead, she was transported inside the book to the Universe of the Four Gods where she became the Priestess of Genbu, confirming the legend her father had chased. While Takiko was inside the book, Einosuke read along and followed her adventures, noticing how the written words changed as Takiko made decisions. It was truly a living novel.

Einosuke Okuda

Takiko, however, had already contracted tuberculosis, and according to her treating doctor (Oikawa) it already was close to the fatal stage. As she returned to the book and started succumbing to her illness, she was allowed three wishes before she began to be devoured by the Beast God. Seeing how his daughter was in great pain, Einosuke killed himself and, with the power of the book in his hands, killed Takiko. He left a will/letter his assistant, Takao Osugi, explaining what happened and instructed him to seal the book.

A few months after Einosuke and Takiko’s deaths, Takao returned to Tokyo and tried to fulfill his employer’s final wish, but he soon discovered the book was indestructible. Takao then elected to hide the book where no one could find it, however, before he could dispose of the book, the Great Kanto Earthquake hit the city. As his house collapsed above him and his wife, Tamayo, Takao told his eight-year-old daughter, Suzuno Osugi, to open the book for her protection. The child then entered the book as her father and mother perished in the earthquake. Upon returning from the Universe of the Four Gods, Suzuno was sent safely back to Tokyo and the book was presumably lost.

Ten years after the disappearance of the book, Suzuno found it again in her school's library. While it did not initially react to her presence, the book later it unleashed its magic and transported Suzuno into the world inside where she became the Priestess of Byakko.

Priestesses

According to Keisuke, the book will always be in want of a priestess, as the cycle must continue in order for the universe inside the book to live on. In exchange, three wishes are granted to the sacrificial priestess, who traditionally use most of them to save the world of the book.

The first to enter the book is Takiko Okuda in 1923. She enters the book three times:

1. Takiko tries to destroy the book during a fight with her father Einosuke, which causes the book to react to her presence, taking her inside.
2. Takiko briefly returns to Japan to attend her mother's funeral. After a hesrtfelt conversation with her father, where they start understanding each other's motivations better, she is transported back inside the book right before the ceremony.
3. After the Celestial Warriors of Genbu make Takiko return to her world to escape her fate of being devoured, she (whose illness has been declared untreatable and fatal) decides to return to finish her mission and dies in her own terms rather than at home. She ultimately dies inside the book, both from being devoured by Genbu and from her father killing himself while still holding the book in his hands, which fatally injures her too.

Takiko is followed by Suzuno Osugi, who enters the book at least twice:

1. To save his daughter from the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Takao Osugi sends Suzuno inside the book. After only a few hours in the book, Suzuno is sent back to Japan.
2. In 1933, a teenaged Suzuno finds the book in her school's library and takes it home. Having discovered its origins and her role in the story, she decides to return the book to the library. On her way, she is attacked by military students who hold grudges against her fiancé, Seiji Horie, and the book transports her back inside during the scuffle.

After Suzuno's adventures, the book is stored away in the National Library in Tokyo. In the 90s, the book is rediscovered by Miaka Yuki and Yui Hongo in the restricted section.

Miaka's entrances:

1. In the manga, Miaka and Yui arrive inside the book and then return to Tokyo together. In the anime, Yui is sent back to the library while Miaka remains inside the book.
2. In the manga, Miaka runs away from home after a fight with her mother and secretly returns to the book.
3. After returning to Tokyo for only a few hours, Miaka re-enters the book and her adventures continue almost exclusively inside the world of the book until the OVAs.

Yui's entrances:

1. In the manga, Yui arrives with Miaka but they promptly return to Tokyo together. Writing the experience off as a shared-illusion or dream, Yui does not wish to discuss the book any further. In the anime, Yui is sent back to Tokyo alone.
2. In the manga, after hearing that Miaka is missing, Yui breaks into the National Library in search of her friend. In both the anime and manga, it is here where Yui re-enters. When Miaka is sent back to Tokyo by Taiitsukun, Yui is taken inside the pages of the book. She remains inside until the Final Battle between Konan and Kutou.

Timelines Inside The Book

"What a weird book"

—Misaki, to Madoka regarding the book

There is no set rule for the passage of time inside the book. Generally, time passes more quickly in the book than in the real world and an hour in the real world can mean a month in the book. Whoever enters the book can spend years there and will return to a time not too far from when they left reality. This was first shown in the original series when Miaka returned to Tokyo for a few hours and then entered the book to find that three months had passed.

There have been instances of time in the book behaving slower than time in reality. In Byakko Senki, Suzuno first arrived in the book as an eight-year-old before leaving quite quickly. When she returned ten years later as a teenager, less than a month had gone by in the book itself.

Reading Along

In the Fushigi Yuugi anime, after Miaka and Yui meet Tamahome, only Yui is sent back to Tokyo while Miaka remains inside. Yui begins reading the book and following Miaka's own adventures, experiencing the same physical sensations as Miaka due to their connection through their school uniforms. After Miaka returns and Yui takes her place, Keisuke and Tetsuya Kajiwara take turns reading as Miaka re-enters the book to rescue Yui.

A page in the book.

In the original Fushigi Yuugi manga, both Miaka and Yui are sent back to Tokyo almost immediately after meeting Tamahome. Miaka then re-enters the book alone after she has a fight with her mother and goes into the Library on her own, unbeknownst to Yui. While Miaka is missing in the Real World, Yui senses what happens to her friend but she is not aware of the school uniform connection, as she is not reading along. When Yui discovers Miaka's true whereabouts, she goes to the National Library to retrieve her; she only begins to read along when Miaka gives herself a near-fatal wound inside the book and is promptly sent back to Tokyo, switching places with the nearest potential priestess, Yui, in the process.

Watase repurposed this reading-along subplot in Genbu Kaiden, as after Takiko Okuda is tossed into the book, he follows along with Takiko's journey inside it.

Powers and Limitations

• It generally only accepts one priestess at a time
  • According to Yui, the book can take and bear to make a priestess summon a beast god one at a time. This is the explanation why Yui was devoured even before she made her third wish, and normally, a priestess would only be devoured after she makes said third wish. The sudden appearance of two beast gods on a single day causes this.
• Indestructible
  • The book itself cannot be destroyed by any human forces, as proved by many failed attempts to do so. Takiko was sucked inside when she tried to rip it apart. Months later, Takao Osugi tried to destroy it with several different methods (including sealing in a Shinto shrine, using an industrial kiln, etc.), but all of them failed. He intended to either bury it in the mountains or throw it into the sea, but he was killed before carrying the out the deed.
• Selective magic
  • The book's teleportation magic only acts up around a person who can play a role that needs to be filled in the story. The role that the book needs to sustain itself is often the role of a Priestess and it targets teenage girls to bring into the story. But it is not exclusive to Priestesses: In the OVA, Tamahome was sucked back into the book to essentially "play" his part of a Celestial Warrior of Suzaku again after spending months in the real world with Miaka.
  • If a Priestess is not "needed" or not ready yet for her role, she can be sent back to the real world. ie., Suzuno was eight years old when she was first brought into the book and returned few hours later; the book would not seek her out until she was 18. Likewise, if the Priestess does somehow survive the summoning of her God, she will return safely home.
  • The magic does not activate its powers when it is not around a "chosen" person, such as a Priestess. This is shown when the book's power first deactivates when it's taken taken away by a slave driver trying to capture a child Suzuno, remaining "immobile" for at least ten years, and briefly deactivating again when Suzuno's school friend Sachi goes greet her all of a sudden. Its magic is only available when the targeted person is alone or in danger: in example, alongside the above mentioned examples, the book reacts to Suzuno and her boyfriend Seiji are about to kiss while home alone, and sucks her back in when Seiji's cruel classmates corner her and try to molest her.
• Connection across worlds
  • A speech connection or signal can be made in the two different worlds when two same objects are found on two people, one in the book and one in the real world. A few examples are Miaka and Yui's school uniform, Takiko's hair ribbon, and Miaka and Keisuke's strands of hair.