You've summed them up quite well. ^^ Good emphasis on the music and art. This is the first review I've read that didn't say that it was both good and bad. Hooray for you! ^_^
Saiyuki tv Review
Tougenkyou once where humans and youkai coexisted, this balance is disturbed by the practice of forbidden science and magic that has created a Minus Wave, poisoning the souls of youkai. The Sanbutsushin become aware of the situation and call out the highest of priests, Genjyo Sanzo, to stop the Minus Wave and the resurrection of Gyumaoh. The Sanbutsushin tell Sanzo to travel West with three youkai who weren't affected by the Wave: Son Goku, a heretic who has no recollections of his past or who he was; Sha Gojyo, a hanyou who was abused by his youkai stepmother; Cho Hakkai, a former human whom is said have killed a thousands youkai; and Hakuryuu , Hakkai's Jeep-transforming dragon.
Along the way the four encounters invincible foes and assassins, while being haunted by the remnants of their dark past.
How will they overcome those obstacles?
What fate awaits at the end of their journey?
Synopsis: Hakaru and flamedanceraxel.
Story & Characters
Gensomaden Saiyuki is popular anime that is loosely based on the Chinese tale 'Journey to the West'. For those who know this story and it's characters, fear not! We will not see any obese piggies hopping around fighting evil nor plump monks doing workout.
The main characters have been updated and bishounen-ified and they are as droolworthy as most other fine men in anime. There are four main characters; Genjo Sanzou, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo and Son Goku. By Kazuya Minekura, this series is action-packed and filled with side-cracking moments.
To give a brief on the characters, Genjo Sanzou is a very highly ranked monk however he isn't *quite* the typical. Very irritable, a chain-smoker especially on rainy days, he is most pleasant when supplied with gallons of beer, piles of cigarettes and perhaps some company for poker. Be careful not to piss him off people, he'll shoot your head off with his trusty Smith & Wesson. If you're lucky, he'll only bash your head with his almighty fan of doom.
Cho Hakkai is the nicest of the group. Ever polite, considerate and willing to help, Hakkai has a smile that is almost *always* plastered on his face. You don't want to get on his bad side though, he's got a history you *don't* want to know about. Not forgetting his trusty little dragon Hakuryu, that transforms into a jeep for the Sanzo-ikkou's transport.
Son Goku, resident dumb monkey and noisy glut. He'll drive you mad with his whining and then proceed to beat the crap out of whoever his opponent is. He and Gojyo are the only ones thick enough to annoy Sanzo, going through numerous life-threatening situations because of this.
The womaniser, Sha Gojyo is perpetually off to find women or get more cigarettes. Though seemingly much oldere than Goku, the both of them are constantly bickering. This often leads to a gun at one of temples thansk to Sanzo's crankiness and their suicidal tendencies.
To add to all this, they are constantly hunted by youkai, demons. You really have to feel for them, the youkai that is.
Rating:
Art
The art is quite nice, does not the word 'droolworthy' say much?. Nowhere near Ranma quality and thank the heavens for that.
You can sometimes look forward to feeling hungry even as the characters are eating. The food drawn really is appealing at times. No particular lopsidedness of the characters, unless you count lean and 'lookin good as bad qualities.
The colouring is very appropriate, no strange blue or green people running around except for the youkai which will sometimes have odd colouring of skin and hair.
Rating:
Sound
The opening and closing themes are also quite good and you should try to purchase the OST.
The first opening is 'For Real' by Tokuyama Hidenori, the second being 'Still Time' by the same artist. I really liked the music, both the instrumental and vocals, often sticking in your head for a few days.
The closing are just as nice, 'Open Up Your Mind' by Mirai and 'Alone' by Shimokawa Mikuni. Both are nice slow, sad songs that make one reflect on the characters sad pasts.
Overall quite nice music, from the rockin' openings to the sorrowful endings and the amazing instrumentals in between by Motoi Sakuraba.
Rating:
Presentation
The presentation is wonderful, the humor will often leave you rolling in your seat. As for the originality, well, do you see anyone else with Chinese tales modernised?
It is very enjoyable to watch, sometimes just for the humour when the characters take a break from major plot parts.
I am unsure of the game though, as I have not yet played it but will attempt to get hold of it soon and review ASAP.
What you may find interesting through is the fact that the world of Saiyuki is a mix of old world and new with guns and jeeps as well as towns that seem to come from hundreds of years before. The originality of the jeep though is definite, no other anime I know has adorable white dragons morphing into vehicles.
I thought it a nice effect because all of them sitting on a cloud would have really ruined the atmosphere created by the art. As with a lot of anime though, the characters never seem to change out of their outfits except when they happen to get wet and require a change of clothes from some kind soul nearby. Oh, and that leather on Sanzo is *definitely* not ancient Chinese. *winks*
Rating:
Final Verdict
9.1667 (very good)
Reviewed by mbgrobanite, Oct 11, 2004
Comments
-
iluvmonkeyz Jun 13, 2005
-
dissa Jul 10, 2005
yea !! i very, very, very loove saiyuki !! especially goku!! the OST and story very good!! :D XD XD
-
Khriss Aug 26, 2005
saiyuki.
RULES THE WORLD!u should see the art in the manga, fanTASTIC!
no homura but still amazingly good story~ ^^ -
blusirius Oct 27, 2005
Ah, Saiyuki, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways....This is one of my top favorite anime. Sanzo, you're too hot to be a priest! It's unholy!
-
rica-san Oct 28, 2005
Nice one! I loove Saiyuki! I also loove Goku-chan! The OSTs,, Don't Look back Again(Saiyuki RELOAD Gunlock op) is nice too,, but Gensomaden Saiyuki OSTs are great! The artwork is nice! The dubbing is awsome! I really ike Goku's & hakkai's voice. And the humor is very great because of those 2 humoris one: Goku-chan & Ero Kappa(Gojyo)!
-
SanzosSaru Feb 08, 2006
I looooooove this series!At first I jsut thought it was entertaining, but when the past-500 years ago-started to appear, I immediately got addicted.As such, my favourite part is Gaiden and the Homura arc, but I have to say that the last chapters in Reload-manga chapters-are being very itneresting indeed.
The seocnd thing I find interesting in this series is that the bad guys are, in fact, the good ones. Kougaiji and his friends are way better people and honorable, well-manered and treat each other better than the Sanzo-ikkou.My favourite character is Goku.He is cute, sweet, strong, innocent, brave, simple yet with a simple intelligence that reaches everyone....he's the only man for whom i would cook^^
Second would be Sanzo, and third would be Homura. Naturally, this three are my favourite threesome^^merged: 09-11-2006 ~ 06:27am
I don't like the anime that much. As always, manga is much better.
However, you made quite a few nice points (my fav being the hunger you get at seeing the food...I thought I was the only one crazy enough to feel like that XD)
The art is not bad, but it's not good. Manga is much better, specially around vol. 5 of Gensoumaden onwards. Sanzo is more droolworthy in the manga, as he's often compared to a woman *hehe* .Gojyo's hair is NOT pink, that you very much >.<
Music is nice...however, those EDs you mentioned are not ED's...more like songs, and just that...
I find OP much better...my fav is Still time (2nd OP) followed by Don't look back again (4th OP) -
nainoi Sep 26, 2009
oh! great anime.
-
Sanisa Feb 24, 2010
Thanks for the review! Nice ^__^
-
back07 Jan 26, 2014
nice review, i want to try to watch it
:) -
UberDog Mar 23, 2015
As I have the movies and did see the series, I find you did a wonderful review in recapping the story. I wouldn't have given it such a high ranking but you did good in capturing the ideas presented in the story, good job.
page 1 of 1 11 total items
Only members can post replies, please register.