A prequel to Watase's Fushigi Yûgi, it details the creation of The Universe of the Four Gods and tells the full story of the Priestess of Genbu.

In addition to the manga, Genbu Kaiden inspired five audio drama CDs produced by Marine Entertainment and an adventure video game created by Idea Factory.

[3][4] It moved to Perfect World Fushigi Yûgi, a spin-off of Shōjo Comic, in May 2004[5] and was serialized quarterly until the magazine's cancellation in June 2008.

[8][13] The individual chapters of Genbu Kaiden were collected in twelve tankōbon volumes published by Shogakukan under its Flower Comics imprint.

[22] Genbu Kaiden is also licensed for regional language releases in France by Editions Tonkam,[23] in Spain by Glènat España, in Italy by Planet Manga, and in Germany by EMA.

[29] Idea Factory released the Sony PlayStation 2 video game Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden Gaiden – Kagami no Miko (ふしぎ遊戯玄武開伝外伝 鏡の巫女) in Japan on June 23, 2005.

A limited edition version of Kagami no Miko was released on the same date, containing an art book and a CD of interviews with the game's voice actors.

He noted that Watase "clearly enjoys returning to the Fushigi Yûgi world", but he felt that the sequel's "theme of father-child angst" and its "lack of humor ... make for a less welcoming read" than the original series.