Saiyuki

paizuri · Post by **paizuri** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 1:42 pm

This is the official Saiyuki (AKA Gensomaden Saiyuki) discussion thread.

Official site (english)
Official site (japanese)

anime_flower · Post by **anime_flower** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 7:38 am

Yay...Saiyuki, I love Saiyuki (then again, I love many ANIME).

All the characters in Saiyuki are so funny, I can't stop laughing. Although some stories can get quite sad...but it is all good.

Has anyone watched the ANIME and read the MANGA??? The events in the MANGA are completely different. Basically, the basics are still there but some of the stories that turn up in the ANIME is not in the MANGA and vise versa...Like the three Gods in Saiyuki were never in the MANGA.

Oh well, it is still an awsome ANIME.

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:28 pm

Uh, what THE hell.

Anyway, yes - if you've seen some of the series, please don't hold it against the manga. The series, while covering a lot of the same ground as the manga, is stuffed full of filler between the plot elements - some of which is fun, some of which is not. Then it goes right off the rails 'round episode 26 with a story about a god trying to destroy the world as we know it before re-joining the manga story in Saiyuki Reload (a continuation with, AFAIK, better animation).

This happens with a lot of series, of course; it's the good old "start the anime series before the manga is finished" syndrome. ;P

There's also the prequel manga, Gaiden, which according to some fans is the entire point of the story, with the present-day characters being basically fate's puppets based on what their counterparts did centuries ago. IIRC Gaiden is the only one that's still going? I'm not sure whether Reload finished or was abandoned.

It does really dark drama well (in the manga, at least), which is easily overlooked in the silliness of much of the anime. The manga's humor is a little more snarky and about bickering among the group and a little less "hit bad guy, make wisecrack" style. Though both are fun.

The series has no fans at the org (I've only seen one good video for it, although I gave up looking a while ago), which is probably due to the bargain-basement animation. Kind of a shame.

(The English site seems to be dead? This is the ANN listing, at least.)

anime_flower · Post by **anime_flower** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:50 am

Oh, I never said I didn't like the MANGA. I love them both. Although, I have to admit, it sometimes comfuses my memory on things because everytime I read a MANGA, my brain automatically imagine the characters actually moving just like ANIME. Am I weird? Hm...

No, they were never quite clear on Reload, were they? To me, Reload is based on minor stories between the end of Saiyuki and the final battle in Reload. Then, they created Reload: Gunlock...I think Gunlock is the finish product of Reload, but I'm not sure.

Um...question...what is Gaiden? I know it's something like the Saiyuki characters' past life or something...maybe before they ended up where they are now?

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:23 pm

Setup for Gaiden spoiler wrote:
If you saw the flashback late in the Saiyuki anime when Sanzo was named Konzen and was a bureaucrat of sorts in Heaven, that's what Gaiden is about. Goku before he was locked away and lost his memory, and the earlier incarnations of the other three (Konzen, Kenren and Tenpou).

I don't remember offhand whether the manga gets into it much in the main series. Kanzeon Bosatsu tends to throw around references to Konzen & Co. whenever s/he shows up, because s/he knew them personally at the time and remembers their pasts even though they don't. Other than that, I don't remember.

Apparently their past is why Sanzo heard Goku calling in the mountain and was able to find/release him, as well as the reason why the four of them are friends in the first place. Don't know what actually happened yet, though, because it'll be a loooong long time till those books get released here. *sigh* (I know there are scanlations, but I like books.)

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:27 pm

Oh, and IIRC it takes place five hundred years before the main series. Or five hundred years and change. Before Goku was imprisoned. So it's pretty distant and doesn't end up where the main series starts, I don't think.

anime_flower · Post by **anime_flower** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:46 am

There's an IIRC? Oh man...many series set in different times...this can get quite confusing. OH well, I guess I'll have to wait until we hear about it and get it here.

I know what you mean about books. Scanlations can be good but nothing beats the sensation of books more. I, personally, can say the same thing about DVDs, you can get downloaded versions out there but...in the end, I prefer to have the real thing, the DVDs.

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 9:15 pm

Oops. IIRC = "if I recall correctly." I was talking about Reload.

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 9:16 pm

GAIDEN shoot me

I'm sorry. Series in chronological order:

Saiyuki Gaiden
Saiyuki
Saiyuki Reload
Saiyuki Reload Gunlock

I'm not sure where Requiem, the movie, fits in there. It's either among the regular or Reload episodes.

anime_flower · Post by **anime_flower** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:19 am

Ah...yes, that makes a lot more sense, however, I don't know... I think I like the order:

Saiyuki
Saiyuki Reload
Saiyuki Reload Gunlock
Saiyuki Gaiden might be in between Saiyuki and Reload.

I just think this way, it'll be like going back in time and it'll give a more indept look into the character and their relationship.

There's another movie besides Requiem...I think it's called something like 'Hope and Dispair' (don't know the real name...I kinda translated the japanese on my own

). But my friend and I noticed that their clothing from Saiyuki is different in Reload & Gunlock. So, if the clothing in the movies matches one of the series clothing, then it's between that time. Does that make sense to everybody?