Chichiri, by far is one of the most interesting characters I've seen on any anime. But before I get into him, let me get things straight between me and FY and Chichiri. I don't believe that FY is the best anime out there, nor is Chichiri the best characters out there. FY has a pretty good concept about warriors protecting a chosen one who will end up saving the world. Yet, it doesn't really do a good job at answering: why. Why was the world in danger? It seems as if the danger was the result of Miaka and Yui assuming their positions as priestesses. Then couldn't the world had been saved had they not been summoned in the first place? Had Miaka and Yui not appear in Ancient China, the two empires, Kutou and Konan wouldn't have gone on a rat race to summon their god to destroy each other.
In terms of character development, FY comes pretty weak. First of all, some characters were ignored, others are one-sided, and when they were suppose to change, they didn't. For example, I'm sure that every FY fan out there feels like not enough air time was given to Mitsukake and Chiriko, making them seem unimportant. So my friends couldn't help but laugh when Chiriko kills himself, saying good riddance. Now a good anime wouldn't make us want to do that, but FY did. After his death, the only two people who stays behind are Tasuki and Mitsukake. It's understandable that Mitsukake is there since he's the healer, but why Tasuki?? In the anime, there was no relationship between Tasuki and Chiriko, so why would Tasuki break down and cry the way he did? Well in the manga, Ms. Yu Watase clearly made a brother relationship between Tasuki and Chiriko. So understanding the manga side and watching the anime, it seems as if the anime was trying to give them some relationship to each other at the last minute. Anyways, we just said, good riddance!
As for the one-sided characters, that seems to be pretty much everyone. Miaka's the bimbo, Tomahome is the hero, Mitsukake is the silent healer, Chiriko is the nerd, etc. The point is, that's all they are. In the real world, people are more than what they seem, but not in FY. So, FY doesn't really capture the personal, human aspect I hope it wasn't trying to go for. Kudos for the maturity in characters though. I must applaud Hotori for moving on with his life and rising to meet his fate. Nuriko ended up Miaka's closest friend while she *ahem* was alive. And Miaka and Yui sure grew up, well, maybe a little. After being an almost rape-victim on many occasions, Miaka is still as naive as ever, jumping here and there into apparent traps. It's kinda funny, but true. But I must give her credit for somehow maintaining her cheerful, optimistic and childish attitudes in spite of it all.
All in all, FY is pretty shallow where it needs some substance, and where it doesn't need anything at all, it overdoes itself. The greatest example is the Miaka-Tomahome love affair. Every single time it pops up, one has just got to gag. It's just so overdone that corny is an understatement. Enough said, and back to Chichiri.
As I said before, Chichiri is one of the more interesting characters in FY. For one thing, he is the oldest, maturest, but nonetheless, he's also the only character who can act pretty childish, not for his own selfish reasons, but for the others. He does this to make others laugh and to lighten things up a bit. He succeeds in this through a magical mask which he wears to hide a scar. This isn't the most original idea, the man behind the mask, yet it's one of the cool points about him as it adds a pretty friendly air of mystery. In effect, it makes Chichiri more double-sided than all the other characters as his personality seems split between what's on the mask and what's under it. Now what's under the mask is his more serious side, which he tends to show during more intense battles, which I believe where deception and distraction by hiding true feelings wouldn't work at all. So he would bear them with a fury.
With relation to the other characters, Chichiri acts mainly as a counselor, specially to Miaka when Nuriko is no longer around, and to Hotohori. In battles, he is unfortunately used more of as a defensive and supportive fighter, than as an offensive, which I believe he could do with flying colors. Chichiri mainly casts barriers, disguises, and teleports characters to safety.
This makes him out to be the best Suzaku Warrior of the bunch. Chichiri is an adept magic user, he's cunning, deceptive to his advantage, and pretty powerful with his staff. I just wish his powers were used a whole lot more throughout the anime. And yes, I do believe that Chichiri could whoop Nakago's, Tomahome's, Hotohori's, and Tasuki's butts any time, any place (of course, if I make some personal adjustments.... ^.^)
Another little comment I'd like to make is about Nakago. He's too well-rounded compared to the other seishi and too smart also. But then again, in order to create such a scary, semi-omnipotent villain, one must make the protagonists more stupid and more limited in the scope of their powers. Ah, the ending was pretty pathetic because the only reason they won was Nakago became human...All of them combined can't even beat up one Seiryuu Seishi in a fair fight.