Fushigi Yugi

This started out seeming like an absolutely delightful story about two girls who find a book in a library don't-come-in-here type of room. The book seems to be a story about events in ancient China. It starts out:

"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."

One of the girls is Miaka Yuki, a young girl feeling intense pressure about getting into a particular high school. Miaka has an incredible appetite, rivaling Lina Inverse from the series Slayers. Miaka also is not the most gifted intellectually of all students so her chances of getting into a prestigious high school are not good.

Her friend Yui is the one that is intellectually gifted but it ends up being Miaka who goes into the book's story.

The series starts off in an interesting fashion but unfortunately (in my opinion) begins to drag. Then it tends to get extremely depressing, drags some more, kills off main characters right and left and moves at a soap opera's glacial pace. It's a series that I had high hopes for but now no longer look forward to watching further episodes.

A card that came with the tape