Saiyuki: The Original Series Resurrected Edition 4

by Kazuya Minekura

The boys are back, in 400-page hardcovers that are as pretty and badass as they are! This hit adventure -- which blends mythology from around the world into a classic adventure story -- has been out of print for years, and this collector's edition is a fitting celebration of its return!

Genjyo Sanzo is a Buddhist priest in the city of Shangri-La, which is being ravaged by yokai spirits that have fallen out of balance with the natural order. His superiors send him on a journey far to the west to discover why this is happening and how to stop it. His companions are three yokai with human souls. But this is no day trip -- the four will encounter many discoveries and horrors on the way, and on the road, Sanzo will wonder... can he really trust his supernatural companions?

Genres: Manga, Comics

592 pages, Hardcover

Published January 5, 2021

About the author

Kazuya Minekura (峰倉かずや Minekura Kazuya, born March 23, 1975) is a Japanese manga artist most known for the Saiyuki series. Her other manga series include Wild Adapter, Shiritsu Araiso Koto Gakko Seitokai Shikkobu (Araiso Private School Student Council Executive Committee), and Stigma. Stigma is notable for being a full-color work, unusual as manga is generally drawn in black and white.

She had an illness that affected her writing from 2004–2007, which caused her to have a hysterectomy. On 28 September 2010, she went on Hiatus to undergo surgery for ameloblastoma on the right half of her upper jawbone. On 31 December 2010, she reported her surgery was successful after removing the tumor on her right upper jawbone and is currently resting and being fitted with artificial prosthetics to reconstruct the area where her bones were removed.

Reviews

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read this series (roughly 15 years ago, yikes!) the Kami-Sama arc solidified my interest in wanting to read the next installment, Saiyuki Reload. It's just a solid piece of storytelling, and it's good to see the character development of the main characters (and some of the side characters as well). I really hope Kodansha is able to re-release Saiyuki Reload in the future (and Gaiden, pretty please)!

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This was an intense volume. It was interesting to see the Sanzo Gang functioning when separated and their strategy to work as a team. Kannon said they were not ready for what awaits them in the west, that they would need to hone their skills as a team. There was a lot of Sanzo and Goyjo. Both of them have the same characteristic of snapping at each other but their actions say something else. Goku is so precious. He is truly the glue that holds them together. There are brief flashbacks of their lives which are very interesting. I would like to see a special edition with these glimpses of their younger selves to read them in context. My one question is why is Sanzo in such a hurry to get to the west. I believe he wants to accomplish his mission but I am curious about his sense of urgency. It just seems as if there is more to it that I do not see.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You know those men have a very important mission to accomplish. And yet, they are constantly stopping for these detours."

"A detour isn't necessarily a waste of time, you know. They still have a long, long way to go, after all."

The first Saiyuki series ends, and rather inconclusively. Kougaiji's gone through some severe changes--and not by his own recognizance--that are set up and then not addressed at all. And the last couple of volumes collected in this book, two-thirds of its length, is taken up by what the author herself admits is a long diversion, with the gents' journey not even halfway done. It makes me wonder why her publisher divided things this way.

I enjoy the setting of this story, even though it's kind of silly. The guys wear jeans, Sanzo has a gun, they drive a Jeep that's literally named Jeep, and so on. They play riichi mahjong, which would seem to indicate modern Japanese influences on the culture. (The riichi variant was developed in Japan in the early 20th century.) The bad guys' lair is a technologized lab that could have been designed by H.R. Giger. But the setting otherwise feels pre-industrialized, though now that I come to think of it, I wonder how your average person gets around, since I don't recall seeing any horses. Come down to it, it's a mishmash based entirely on the rule of cool.

This volume features a four-page-long interview with Minekura, and a nice set of color plates in the very back.

I'd like to at least see Saiyuki Reloaded in an edition like this. A quick look online shows a couple of other Saiyuki series that are prequels, that are short and/or that went on hiatus quite a while ago, and that are therefore less appealing to me.