Saiyuki Manga Review
- Manga Cover Volume 1
Saiyuki
is a great manga to read. It really is not that hard to get throug and
has some amazing fighting scenes. Plus you get to learn a little about
Buddhism as well. It is a bit hard at first to tell what era they are in
due to the clothing and the weapons being misleading at times. The four
main characters are basically a monk gone bad, an intellectual, a
perverted drunk, and a starving child. They seem to be the basics, but
they really are not. This was a manga series I could not put down. It
only took me two days to go through all nine volumes.
Saiyuki Plot
- Sanzo and a Youkai
Saiyuki
is about four men traveling together to gain perspective on why the
Youkai's have gone crazy. Youkai's and humans lived in harmony at one
point, but recently the Youkai's have started to kill people and do
random things. It is up to Sanzo, Gojyo, Goku, and Hakkai to find out
why. They are sent by Sanbutsushin on this quest. The Sanbutsushin
consist of three 'aspects' of Buddha. They take orders from heaven.
Sanzo and his group are constantly having to fight off Youkai's that
have come for Gyumaoh's resurrection. Gyumaoh was a demon king that is
now dead. His wife is attempting to give him life again but she needs
the scriptures (one of which Sanzo carries).
Shangri-La is the
setting in which this all take place. Here the humans and Youkai's have
lived peacefully. Some have even fallen in love with the opposite being
even though this is forbidden. Most towns fear any Youkai whether they
are sane or not. This makes it hard for the group to travel due to the
fact that Gojyo, Goku, and Hakkai are all Youkai. They have bands or
protection on them that makes them immune to what has happened to the
Youaki.
Saiyuki Characters
- Characters
There
are four main characters of Saiyuki. Genjyo Sanzo is teh team leader.
He is the only human of the four. He is held in a high position with
Buddhists everywhere due to his name. He loves to smoke and is the shoot
first maybe ask questions later kind of guy. Goku is the monkey king
and the rest of the group does not let him forget he is a 'monkey.' He
is constantly wanting to eat and sleep and do childish things. He may
look like a teenager but in reality he is older than he lets on. Gojyo
is the ladies man. He is hot tempered and tries to sleep with any woman
he can. He is also a chain smoker and a drinker. The last person in the
group is Hakkai. He is the quiet and intellectual man of the group. He
has a bloody past though.
The other characters in the manga are
people that show up from someones past or part of Gyumaoh resurrection.
Of the people that end up bringing someone's past back, only three seem
to be a big part of the story. Sanzo ends up having two people show up
at separate times attempting to get revenge. Shuei once knew Sanzo when
he was little. He took up for Sanzo when the older monks made fun of
him. He later comes back as Rikudo, a Fuda user who kills any Youkai
without question. A man calling himself Kami-Sama was once an
acquaintance of Sanzo. He ends up stealing the Maten scripture Sanzo
carries.
The Youkai involved in the Gyumaoh's resurrection are
Kougaiji, Lirin, Dokugakuji, Yaone, Gyukumen Koushou, and Ni Jianyi.
Gyukumen Koushou is the mastermind behind the Youkai's chasing Sanzo and
many other things. She is the legal wife of Gyumaoh. They have a
daughter Lirin, which Gyukumen intends to sacrifice to save Gyumaoh.
Kougaiji is Gyumaoh's son and half brother to Lirin. He only wants to
save his mother. He has two friends that act as guards for him:
Dokugakuji (Gojyo's half brother) and Yaone (a medicine user).
Saiyuki and the Youkai
- Youkai
Youkai
is just another word for demon in the Saiyuki manga. The Youkai only
live in the Shangri-La area though. Some are evil, but some do live
normal lives. A Youkai family can often be seen in the Shangri-La area.
There are Youkai's and humans that fall in love and have a child. This
is, again, forbidden to do. The child will come out having crimson hair
and eyes. This is how you can tell if they are a half breed. Gojyo and
Kougaiji are both products of a Youkai and human relationship.
I
hated that the manga was split up into two separate series. Saiyuki,
again, was a great manga. The story does not end though and continues
onto another series. Honestly they should have just put it together, but
possibly for marketing reasons they could not. I would recommend
reading Saiyuki especially if you like Samurai/Buddhist related mangas.
Overall Grade 8/10
