Date of birth: 26 October
Age: 15

For me, Yui was one of the least interesting characters of the series. It is true that she is also the most pitiful. All of us have probably realized at one point in our lives that sometimes, some people that we love may not return that, and it's a sad, painful feeling. Yui was a brave, smart girl at the beginning, but as soon as she gave up on Miaka, she seemed kind of weak-willed to me. I don't know what being raped would feel like, but I know that there are many rape victims who don't just give up on everything after their ordeal. Yui doesn't do that. But the reason I don't like her is not so much that as the cruel side that she shows when plotting against Miaka, but she keeps doing it even though she hurts herself when hurting Miaka.

There's no free talk about Yui in the manga! Watase says to go read an interview or something in an artbook. Oh well, I wasn't that interested anyway.

Nakago

Date of birth: 17 November
Height: 1.93m
Age: 25

I think I'll do like Savage Garden and describe Nakago with a thousand words: cruel, manipulative, shrewd, ambitious, ruthless, bad, evil, handsome, cunning, unscrupulous, charismatic, strong, determined, cold, unemotional... The only person Nakago is concerned with is himself, and he manipulates everyone else, including Yui (whom he pretends to care for) and Soi (his lover) to achieve his ambition of becoming all-powerful.

Just how cool can you get? And look at that gorgeous face. (I have a thing for blond guys.) Like Yu Watase, my favorite character is Nakago! And just so you know, according to one Fushigi Yugi page which tells you who your seishi is according to your birthday, mine is Nakago. It's a sign! Anyway, I think the reason I like Nakago is because he is such a strong person, both in mind and in body. He does what he wants and he has forged himself to be competent enough to get whatever he wants. The guy also reeks charisma, and is a born manipulator, not to mention very, very intelligent. The general consensus, shared by his voice actor in the anime, is that he really loves Soi, even though he doesn't show it much. So he's not completely without emotions. They make a gorgeous couple, don't you think? Okay, so he's evil, but there is a reason for that. Traditionally, villains have been some of the most interesting characters, and it's no exception here, but Nakago must be the greatest villain of all time.

Yu Watase gushes about her favorite character:

At last, we're going to talk about the Seiryu seishi! He he! Nakago! He is the first of the Seiryu seishi.

I wanted to make him different from Tamahome, a rival. That's why his hair is blond. I dressed him in armour (it's just an idea that came to me) and so he became a shogun. When I think about it, this gives him something that shows his heart (?). I never thought he was going to be this active. Tama, Nakago sends his kisses (laugh)! It was only to annoy Miaka and Tamahome. He kisses as if it was nothing, without being timid, but I'm happy because he's become very popular. Me, I like him. He is dumb but cute.

And here's an incredibly funny image that I shamelessly gleaned off a Nakago fan's page. If the author of that page sees this and wants me to take it off, I will, but it is such a great picture that I couldn't resist.

Why don't the other characters get extras like that? 'Cos Nakago is my only favorite!

Bu Koutoku - Amiboshi

Name: Bu Koutoku
Date of birth: 26 August
Age: 15
Height: 1.68m

Another fan favorite, Amiboshi is very popular because of his kindness. While he first tricks the Suzaku seishi, we later learn the truth about his feelings, and he does a lot for Miaka. Why does everyone fall in love with her, I wonder? Anyways, it's true that he is very gentle, self-sacrificing, peaceful, cute and mature, and I like him too, but he's pretty low down my list of favorites, because he comes across as somewhat bland.

Watase talks about this confused villain:

Amiboshi is very popular. He was fifth in the CD-leaflet poll. At first, when he betrayed the Suzaku seishi, everybody was angry at him (maybe because he died?) During the invocation ceremony, Amiboshi had doubts. When the village was attacked, he killed the enemy with his flute (No, he doesn't hit people over the head with it. He plays it. Um... Wait. That didn't sound so much better either. Back to Watase. In fact, he has enormous powers, but he doesn't use them during the ceremony. His feelings toward Miaka aren't love, I think. They have equally sensitive, and what Miaka said as he fell into the river touched him a lot. This feeling is like friendship bordering on love. By the way, for magic, he holds the flute in his left hand, but when he's playing for fun it's in his right hand, because he's ambidextrous.

Bu Shunkaku - Suboshi

Name: Bu Koutoku
Date of birth: 26 August
Age: 15
Height: 1.68m

Suboshi is Amiboshi's younger twin brother. I suppose that if they are twins, the age difference can't be more than a few minutes, yet the difference between the two is enormous. Suboshi is so juvenile, immature, naive, quick-tempered, and can be pretty cruel, too. Because of all this I tend to call him "Suboshi the pest".

There isn't that much to say about Suboshi except that he seems suspiciously close to his brother, to the point that most fans think there's something more than brotherhood between them...

But it's best to listen to Watase:

Suboshi looks exactly like his brother Amiboshi (which is normal, since they are twins), but he isn't very popular. His personality is very extreme. Everything is simple for him, he can even kill someone if they hurt his older brother. I feel this character isn't under my control anymore. At first, I wanted to just make him like his brother a lot, but now he's committing incest. Now you say that he's committing incest, and you'd be right. Not! Amiboshi is more balanced and normal. Besides, Suboshi is interested in Yui. They are the same age but Yui is more mature. I don't remember the reason why I created such twins. By the way, there's no difference between the two of them. But the readers say that they can tell which is which by their looks and attitudes. Yes, Suboshi has different facial expressions than Amiboshi which reflect his character. For the illustration in volume 10 (one where the twins are in a somewhat compromising position), I had a lot of reactions, but there wasn't any sexual meaning in it.

Haku Kaen - Soi

Date of birth: October 30
Age: 19
Height: 1.70m

The very beautiful Soi is one of the best Seiryu characters, in fact, she's my second favorite after Nakago. She is clever, brave and determined, and also in love with Nakago. She won`t hesitate to give her life for him, or for anyone else she loves. Deep down, Soi is aware that he is only using her, yet she keeps trying to win his love. Normally she is a nice person, yet if Nakago tells her to she can be very cruel. Her devotion to Nakago is very touching, and I'm of the firm opinion that Nakago also loved her. Yet my favorite moment is when she lets Miaka go to Tamahome after having tricked him. It shows that she's actually a very nice person. At the end, she too is only a love-struck girl.

Soi is also a kick-ass fighter. She can control lightning and electricity, and knows various ways of increasing ki through sexual intercourse (ahem).

Yu Watase on Soi:

Soi. There were a lot of girls who thought a handsome new man had arrived, with long eyes under his cloak, but it was a girl. She is the only girl in the Seiryu seishi. Talking about which, the seishi of Suzaku are all guys, but there wasn't a specific reason for that (I forgot that Nuriko was supposed to be the girl). I had a lot of difficulty in deciding on Soi's looks, I changed her three or four times. At first, to be Nuriko's counterpart, I made her a girl dressed as a guy, but it didn't work. I had problems with the hairstyle too. And the armour... But one day her long eyes came to me, then the rest. Normally she speaks like a man and looks like she has a very strong character, but the lipstick is a sign of her femininity. She puts on make-up in front of the people she likes. The illustration of the 67th story is a Chinese wedding dress. In fact, in front of Nakago, she'd prefer wearing that to her that than her armour.

Ashitare

Date of birth: November 21
Age: 34
Height: 2.13m

Nothing much to say about a wolf, really. But he's ugly as hell. I'm glad he didn't have such a large part to play.

Watase says:

No particular comments. I wanted someone who doesn't think much, and I had fun drawing him.

Chiun Rou - Tomo

Date of birth: 13 October
Age: 21

Brr... Creepy bastard. Sorry, I just don't like Tomo, he's annoying and ugly...

Watase likes him, though:

Tomo. I like this character (laugh). I received many compliments from readers. He is dumb, cute, and homosexual, but I love him. He's a golden boy (laugh). It was very hard to create him, and he was the last one I did. I wanted someone mysterious, like Chichiri, but I had no idea about the looks. I had already drawn soldiers, twins, girls, beasts, children. There was nothing else to do. One day, I saw a sign. It was a Chinese restaurant with the picture of a Chinese mask. I said to myself that I hadn't done "that" yet. So that's how this original young man who is like the theatrical and homosexual young man of Chinese plays came to be! I love him!

In fact, Tomo uses magic through seashells. This comes from an old story where mirages are the sighs of a giant creature who is dreaming under the sea. (But I wonder then how people explained the mirages in the desert.)

Miboshi

Date of birth: 4 September

Miboshi's role in the series is particularly short, and I'm glad! He's just ugly and annoying!

Watase seems to have realized this as well:

He is a character who controls ghosts and uses black magic. He was the one who produced the drug which Yui gave Tamahome. He is a bad guy. For the temple, I got the idea from the famous palace Palora. The thing he holds in his hand is not a toy but something which Tibetans carry and which has sutras written on it (not true). If I had had enough pages, I would have made Chichiri invoke God and make him fight against Miboshi's ghosts. This isn't a shoujo manga thing but more like a videogame thing. This character is very old.

For Miboshi and Ashitare, I'm not putting a description since I don't think they have any fans.

Go to the seishi of Suzaku