#saiyuki original series

[noodle-anime]

just! finished saiyuki og series!!! discovered the first resurrected edition volume recently and it has been. well. it's been a journey lol

oooooooooh boy there sure was some Anatomy and Proportions happening in the first volume but it was super fun to see the art style progress actually. it encouraged me to notice more complex poses and things in the later volumes, and when there was an occasional repeat panel like Sanzo and Goku's first look it was very cool to see the difference in quality.

i have a coupla favorite panels/spreads and generally tried to pay a little more attention to how things are precisely laid out and it was a fun aspect of reading. i want to do some actual breakdowns now, maybe compare early and later layouts.

also! i discovered and watched zeroin! my first intro to saiyuki was discovering reload blast forever ago. the art style in zeroin and the fact that there's a whole set of characters i'd never heard of before made it feel like an au or semi-canonical anime movie, sorta, but i enjoyed it So much and there are some specific notes on sanzo characterization that i want to dig into

sanzo is my fave and the kami-sama arc was So Very Good in that respect but it also grew my love for gojyo three sizes.

the way that they all react when gojyo leaves cracks me up so much. they're So Offended. something so funny and also so tasty that they will not under any circumstances admit out loud that they care about gojyo and miss him so instead they're like we are going to Hurt Him (because he hurt us) for Disrupting Our Daily Routine (he's a fundamental part of our lives) and FORCING us to turn this car around (he left with the full knowledge and expectation that they would follow through with actually continuing to pursue this Very Important job like they always said they would)

mmmmm gojyo's savior complex mmmm it's good.

got blasted by the idea of gojyo and hakkai starting an orphanage when they're done with the mission. hakkai was a teacher and still models himself as a "childcare professional"/co-parent to goku and gojyo wants to save somebody So Badly. also good luck resocializing goku to not be killing people/fighting for his life every other day for Two Entire Formative Teenage Years, helping kids and not having it backfire spectacularly in his face would be good for him

i just read the fourth volume so that's most of what i've got on my mind, i know i have More thoughts from the other volumes

besides the fact that sanzo's joints are gonna/have gotta be So Fucked Up. he really is a grandpa. poor guy.

feels good to nail some characterization aspects like genjyo "i'm a coldhearted bastard and you'd better stay out of my way" (developed coping mechanisms to deal with the traumatic loss of a parent and people repeatedly Attacking Him at an early age) sanzo, cho "yes i'm the wife/mother, please excuse these skeletons, the cleaver is only for special occasions" hakkai, sha "i'm the only one here who understands how to be a normal person" (he does not but he does have the highest emotional intelligence) gojyo, and son "i'm a teenager" (he's a teenager, also growing up with the aforementioned trio as parental/familial figures and starting to come into his own!!) goku

not a single one of these men has had a normal relationship or even prolonged interaction with a woman

i had no idea there was a whole brainwashing segment with kougaiji?? and i really want to see more of lirin, there are fun parallels there to explore that i really wanna dig into

i had no idea to what level sanzo was a bastard gremlin with a gun who just Happens to also be the highest of high priests before and now that i do it delights me. the very hypocrisy of his acceptance in his position disgusts him because He Is Not Priest Material but also it's what his dad wanted for him so fuck everybody who tries to take that from him. in any other situation he'd be the shady penniless vagabond gun for hire but koumyou happened. and now we all get to enjoy it.

[bijectiveandinvertible]

Our main cast.

(Of the five, Gojyo's clothing design changes the most).

Of course the artwork improves a lot from these first chapters to the latest ones from Saiyuki: Reload Blast

[cpirits]

SAIYUKI REOLAD ZEROIN OST | main theme

[khalss]

saw someone saying they wished yyh would get a modern remake and idk. despite its issues i think the original anime is as solid as its going to get, especially the dub. im so painfully attached to the yyh dub i don't know if i could watch anyone else voice these characters

[tj-dragonblade]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. spread the self-love ❤

Thank you! This is such a hard question! I love most everything I've written, picking favorites is hard, I swear it would be easier to name the ones I'm least thrilled with lol. And just because most of these are Sandman doesn't mean I don't care about my older fandoms either, just that almost always what I'm happiest with writing is going to be the most recent years. Maybe one day I'll go through fandom by fandom to pick a top three from each, or something. But for now! In no particular order, and after much thought, here we go.

When the Chips Are Down from the tail end of my Saiyuki days, published 14 years ago this month. It's comical crack-treated-seriously based on an obscure canon-adjacent factoid and that sort of thing has never been my forte, but I succeeded admirably here if I may say so. It was a joy to write, Jiipu is my favorite and forever under-utilized in fic so centering this around him, around a ridiculous tidbit of info about his counterpart in the original Journey to the West and telling it in his pov was absolutely delightful. I had so much fun writing this one and I'm still so proud of the character voice work I managed in here.

The Thessaly breakup fic from fluffbruary 2023, which I like for having a semblance of plot and because I see lots of talk about what Hob would think of Thessaly but I don't know if I've run into any other actual fics dealing with it. Not that this is the Hob-gives-Thessaly-a-piece-of-his-mind fic that I think we all need, but I'm still very pleased with it. And I just really like the scene of Dream crying on Hob.

Of Cutoff Shorts and Classic Cars. I'm just. So happy with how quickly this one happened, how much it kept growing in the writing and how it turned out in the end. I also laugh at myself for nitpicking over the right British terms for back yard and driveway and such but then I completely spaced using bonnet instead of hood. 😂 Also fun fact this was my first time ever writing oral with a vulva and I'm very pleased with how well it's been received.

The Keeper and the Traveler currently sits pretty high because I've always loved and wanted to write that fairy-tale narrative style and this got pretty close. I don't know if it will still be in my top five by the end of the year but for now, it is.

And lastly will cheat a smidge and say Cruise Ship Boys, because I love both pieces of the 'series' and can't decide which I like better. The porn piece again happened quickly and wrote easily and I'm delighted with how it turned out. The sequel was meant to be one cute-ish little scene to revisit them but snowballed into a whole depressing backstory for Dream and an illuminating look into his everyday life and again, it wrote easily which seems to be a theme with these faves, lol. But yeah. I would love to come back to this AU one day.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Are there any changes in the adaptations that you liked better than in the book?

I kinda answered this once about how I really enjoyed the Monkey Magic 1998 and how they included Sanzang sneaking out of China to get the scriptures. This actually is more aligned with Sanzang's original journey rather than being similar to Xiyouji the novel. I thought this made Sanzang far more exciting as it gave him an in-depth look at how much he is willing to put his life and reputation on the line for the sake of these scriptures. It also makes sense that Sanzang doesn't want to get in trouble with any law if he is reported to the Tang Empire and deported back. It makes the stakes even higher for me as Sanzang is trying to keep three god-powered demon hunters in line.

I also really loved Bajie's backstory change in the 1996 series, where his punishment isn't that he was reborn as a pig but actually goes through 1000 heartbreaks, only to live through 501 of them and Guanyin saving him from the rest of the 499. I thought it made his vice of how easily and how deeply he falls in love shows the danger in how he can't control himself and just throws himself headfirst into any romance without forethought. The 1996 doesn't make love or romance a bad thing but rather gives a great insight into what you lose if you keep trying to chase happiness in other people when the only happiness you can attain is one that is found within yourself. Also I love the Sanzang of that series, as it was clear that he valued ALL life, yaogaui or human, making it fit much better why he wants Wukong to not kill ANYONE even if they could be a demon. Sanzang had that mindset that Wukong SHOULDN'T kill when someone hasn't hurt them... which made the audience question should WUkong punish demon for what they COULD do or must they have to wait for Sanzang to be in danger to really justify fighting them? I thought this made the Sanzang - Wukong fight with White Bone Demon far more interesting as it made the argument more realistic of two people trying to stick to what they believe is right. Wukong protecting Sanzang and Sanzang saving all life, yaoguai or human, has value.

A small detail but in the 1999 series I really enjoy the is that Wukong in the heavens destroyed the Imperial Stables not because of his low rank but because he wasn't really in charge... which is because of his low rank but he was morso made that he wasn't in charge moreso than any title thing. And in that he actually brought his fellow horse stables people to earth where I link to think they became the horn demons that gave him his Great Sage Title.

Also a classic but the 1987 series where they gave Bailong Ma his iconic backstory of his failed romance. This is where I was GASLITE in believing this was canon for YEARS but no it was just the series giving Bailong Ma more screen times where he actually burned down his father's home when he found out his now ex-fiance the Wansheng Princess was CHEATING on him with the Nine Headed Demon. I thought that it gave Bailong Ma at least ONE SCENE that he needed to be more in depth... also Wukong and Bajie being homies in that series and called Nine Heads ugly and how dare he steal their bro's girl. Fantastic arc!

Also any series that makes Wujing a silent genius, I just really like that trope where they show him being both sincere and kind but also he only speaks when he has to. It's not that he doesn't have much to say but when he does talk it always holds value. I see this a lot in actually the Saiyuki video game and Demon Strikes Back movie. It shows to his emotional intelligence and how he understands what is going on but just chooses not to meddle as that is not in his nature. I really like that as it shows his skills in reading people but also his own vices in his inactivity. I'm a big fan of the 1996 Wujing but he played as more of the emotional comfort of the group, the loyal and honest campaign between Bajie's and Wukong's stubborn pride that needed to break the group tension. I feel like there could and should be a perfect blend of these characteristics in a future series.

Honestly, some so many media and adaptions is it kinda hard to think but these are some of my favorite!

[l-in-the-light]

♥️ Your account. Wanna tell sth about yourself? 😋👀

Thank you for liking my account and enjoying its contents! ❤ Say something about myself... um, yeah, sure? So... what should I even say? I'm probably just gonna infodump some facts and interests of mine, and it will turn into a mini essay. I'm sorry, I'm just bad with things like that, but I tried! 😭

I won't be namedropping mysef, but you can call me anyway you like and use any pronouns you want for me too. My zodiac sign is Aquarius. I'm asexual, usually way too blunt (I try my best not to be though) and I'm a rather anxious person in general welp. I was born and lived my whole life in Poland (that forgotten European country, yep), but I'm in love with Osaka ever since I first visited it. I studied philosophy and anthropology at uni (I had also a short two-semester course of psychology).

I have been a manga&anime fan since elementary school back in the 90s. That's when I learned Sailor Moon is a Japanese anime and then I realized most of the animated shows I watched in kindergarten were also Japanese, like Yattaman, Kaiketsu Zoro or General Daimos. You could say I somewhat grew up with animes while not having any idea about it (I did watch other cartoons, but I didn't love them as much as the ones I mentioned. Animes were always captivating on a completely different level to me. The exception was some Disney movies, I was totally crazy over The Lion King). As a child I dreamed of being a superhero and to be able to read other people's thoughts, I blame Yattaman for that somehow lol.

My love to animes slowly grew over the years into fascination with the country of their origin itself. That means I devoured more and more Japanese (pop)culture like music (from anime openings, visual kei to Japanese idol groups; I started from L'arc en Ciel and Gackt, but my biggest love is Kinki Kids), books, movies and live action series, food etc. I fell in love with sushi after tasting it in the first ever opened sushi restaurant in my town. The first time I tried Pocky (I still remember it was strawberry flavour!) was when a friend brought me a single package as a souvenir from their trip, haha. I have been totally crazy about Japanese snacks for a while now. Anything with melon cream soda flavour or any senbei crackers would be easily my favourite, but I also wouldn't chicken out from trying really odd flavours (takoyaki or wasabi flavoured sweet carbonated drink? Count me in! Also wasabi is awesome).

I used to read tons of mangas and watch lots of animes; I have many more-or-less recent favourite series (like Assassination Classroom, Angels of Death or The Way of the House Husband), but over the years there are only some of them I always end up coming back to, no matter how many years have passed. Those are: all Clamp titles (Tokyo Babylon and Card Captor Sakura especially), Death Note (I used to read it when it was just starting coming out, crazy), Saiyuki by Kazuya Minekura, Please Save My Earth, some Ghibli movies (my favourite is Spirited Away), Slayers (anime), Rurouni Kenshin. One Piece now joined the parade of my all time favourites :D

I actually watched and read One Piece for the first time was when I was in high school, then came back to it at uni, then had a decade long break till my friend kicked my ass and told me to finally catch up and move on from Thriller Bark (which is where I stopped that decade ago, lol). I'm glad he made me take on the challenge, it was a while since I got so hooked and engaged in anything. It's also partially thanks to the Netflix's live action, it reignited the love for the series in me again as well. Yes, that means I caught up to be up to date rather recently, I believe it happened in January of this year only, lol. Have been pretty much obsessed ever since.

My favourite writer is Neil Gaiman, my fav book of his is Good Omens. If I had to choose only one movie to save for the future of mankind, it would be Battle Royale (has nothing to do with Fortnite btw lol). I love escape rooms and board games, but I have only one friend who sometimes likes to do them with me (you know who you are :D). I'm also a gamer, but I have a very peculiar game taste, I enjoy what most people wouldn't even touch with a stick, which is niche indie games, walking sims, puzzle games and horror games (especially, sometimes really obscure, Asian ones). Silent Hill 2 is gonna always be my most favourite game. The only multiplayer game I play is Dead by Daylight.

My favourite youtuber is John Wolfe, it started because of his series of random horror games, it ended with me just enjoying his vibe in general~ lately he does some ghost debunking vids too, it's so entertaining :D

My favourite holiday is Halloween, even though we actually don't celebrate it here so I could never go trick or treating myself, sadly. I'm kinda a tea addict, I love black teas (especially with aromas and things like petals or fruits in it), green teas (sakura green tea ❤), white teas (my favourite is with rose), darjeeling... the only teas I don't like at all are irish cream and earl gray, I'm sorry xD I also don't drink coffee or alcohol because they're too bitter for me, I have a sweet tooth (my hyperfocusing brain mode runs solely on sugar). But if Law joins the Strawhats, just like I predict will happen, I *will* make an exception and drink to that. A freaking rum, even, because arrrr! :D

I also love cats and have one currently, he's called Felix and he is adorable and silly, typical short-haired, white and gray fur cat :D

[ofdraiocht]

This is a multi mused account for a series of different fandoms, including some OC's. Full bio's for characters are currently unavailable, feel free to ask for information for any muses you do not know. The only exception atm are for OC's. I'll information up for any original characters I may have.

Semi-selective. Ship exclusivity for certain muses. Penned by fabgen Muse list via CARRD

Current Main muse: Rook [Dragon Age: The Veilguard]: [img posts] [info posts]

Directory: [Rules] [Main muses] [secondary] [OC's] [meme tag] [Private list] Other accounts: [Naomasa: MHA] [Iruka: Naruto]

Quick main muse list under the cut

Animanga [Naoe Kanetatsu: Orient] // [Qifrey: Witch Hat Atelier] // [Yuu Kanda: D.Grayman] [Gilbert Nightray: Pandora Hearts] // [Fai D. Florite: Tsubasa] [Izumo Kusanagi: K Project] // [Rei Suwa: Buddy Daddies] // [Yuno: Black Clover] [Ranger Black: Mister Villains Day Off] // [Oda Sakunosuke: Bungou stray dogs] [Son Goku: Saiyuki] // [Ichikawa Reno: Kaiju no. 8] // [Hoshina Soshiro: Kaiju no. 8]

Games [Biggs & Chadley: FF7 Remake/Rebirth] [Therion: Octopath Traveler] // Felix Hugo Fraldarius [Fire Emblem: Three Houses] [Gepard & Sunday & Moze & Misha: Honkai Star Rail] [Leon (Kingdom Hearts) & Squall Leonhart (FF8/Dissidia)] [Inquisitor Lavellan: Dragon Age: Inquisition (Info post)]

[bunnimew]

We were tagged by @9haharharley1 and @overmooneleven who could not have foreseen what a production this was going to turn into 😂 Thank you!!

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

*Gets out the record player* There's required listening while scrolling this list...

Now that the mood has been appropriately set, here we go!

Warm Bodies 10 Edit9It'sYourBoyJackFrostAightSo High Seas Hijinks pt 2 Android Pitch Neon Ideas Von Kaiser Mix Tape If you don't dance, no romance Jack Frost and the Quest for the Stanley Cup Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide YA Novel Merman/Nature Elf Baby It's Cold Inside Everything but the fresher sink Halloween bodyswap Saiyuki Fantasy AU Coffee and Fruit Snacks Untitled Document Blackice ABOlive Garden Concerned Neighbor AU Obsolete Force Monsters Donut Saga 2022 RotG Bingo RotG Bingo 2021 Free Day Light Magic Soulmate AU Sleight of Hand Android AU Wing fic space vampire arranged marriage fake ppl scifi book pogo kylux AU Hope Week 2022 Let's Play AU Clydeland Ghost roommate Omega hux Techwear AU Original magic apocalypse Holiday kylux Pink hair hux Goose steals the staff Quarantine Kylux twitfic college au ST/Kylux Omega hux sequel cyborg hux Fuck this I'm outtie hux Loud AF kylux Loud AF blackice Every floor is Loud AF Loud AF Zag and Than Angel/Demon AU Gymnast hux Parkour hux 5 times hux blows kylo A/B/O Hades Kylux A/B/Olive Garden Disney Princess Hux Hutt slave Mitaka Femlux Afterlife Bloom Halloween2020 sen aid + sen kid kylux Trivia and Other Flirtations Gertrude Pink hair Jack + Hux Teacher/Teacher Merge ST and EU frank/strange Bingo Fancy Dinner Matchmaker Cape Selection AU Senate Takeover Manny Moonbear's Pizzaria Guardians in Black Party fancy pitch Jasper/Lapis Suzalulu week 2016 horror ideas Untitled Terminator Game Terminator Ideas Frank/Strange coffee shop au Ideas for erotic stabbing Suzalulu week 2017 Zell birthday Gratuitous sleepytime Lulu the professional hand model au Peter has two dads au RotG Coffee shop AU Veelamate AU Sorceress Jack Guardian of the D Blanket Scenario i think Saiyuki bang 10k Clover AU Wizards unite AU X/1999/RotG [Redacted] Pitch's New Groove PoGo AU spacerace magic repo RotGRepo! Colormate AU Overqualified Merlin Caffeine and High Fructose Corn Syrup O2: Teammates Spideypool Bingo 2019 B1: Personal Trainer Spideypool Bingo 2019 Spideypool fairy AU Tie fix Soulmate tattoo AU 3 5 10 AU idea Silent Hill AU O1: Met at the Dog Park Spideypool Bingo 2019 ff8 werewolf au Buffate 2 Kink series Dance All Night Let Me and Your Body Talk Pounded in the Butt by the Physical Manifestation of the Fear That I Will Never be Good Enough While He Tells me I am Good Enough Also He's British  Silent Hill AU Bathtime Evening Horror Husbands Fic art 1 Morning cuddle Fic art 2 Spinel Jack Cover art Croptops Spiderman kiss Gargoyles

We literally do not know as many people as we have WIPs. I'd have to pull out the yearbook and start tagging people from high school and we're not going to do that. But we do have to tag @seekerseekingsomething for reasons they will understand and @askmyname @quillienvii @pheasantmadness for Other Unsaid Reasons ❤

[other-peoples-coats]

@lttrsfrmlnrrgby tagged me in this one - cheers!

What song comes on and ALWAYS makes you think "Yes! That is my jam!"

Always and forever Up the Wolves by the mountain goats; Brandie Carlile's hard way home is also a forever song for me, both because it's a banger and also because I first heard it driving from the Pittsburgh airport to my (now wife, then girlfriend)'s house for the first time at like, 3 am after the hilariously long trip from Melbourne to there (which ended up being like. 38hrs travel? if I remember?)

Honourable mentions : bleed it out (linkin park); Tusk (fleetwood Mac) and vs the heat death of the universe (the narcissist's cookbook)

If you could only reread one book/series forever what would it be?

Discworld, no questions asked. Which is a bit of a cheat option, really, since there's like fifty odd books; if I had to pick one mini-series within it it would be the watch books or the moist ones.

If I had to read only one book ever, it would be nightwatch; I imprinted on that book at a pretty formative point in my life, and I still re-read it most years.

If you could only rewatch one show forever what would it be?

look, the answer used to be leverage (original series; sort of bounced off the reboot); at this point in history though, it's a bit much. So uh, probably I would go back to my young weeb years and watch like, fullmetal alchemist or Saiyuki. Probably saiyuki, tbh, that is another very formative media for me and if you're familiar you can probably guess what sort of impacts it's had.

What did you do when AO3 was down?

lol I don't even know which one this is referring to, but statistically I either slept or was at work; that's usually when the outages have been. upper GMT+ timezone privilege in action!

no pressure tagging @frostbitebakery, @bytebun, @elwenyere, @phoenixyfriend, and anyone else who wants to play

[milkyetoile]

I've confused myself with my own Fandom Trumps Hate offer lol so I thought I'd make a new post. Please see below for my FTH offers and refer to the listing post for further details.

OFFER #1 Fandoms: Good Omens, Merlin, or original work Length: 5-10K words Highest Rating: M

OFFER #2 Fandoms: Any (including original work) Length: 3K words for fandoms I'm familiar with, 1.5K for fandoms I don't know Highest Rating: T

For examples of my podfics, you can refer to my AO3 profile here:

Please see under the cut for a list of fandoms I can do up to 3K words for:

Artemis Fowl (book ONLY ohmygod) Back to Back (musical series) Card Captor Sakura (only until 2nd movie, I haven't watched Clear Card yet) Chanters of Tremaris Trilogy Club Slazy Dear Evan Hansen (musical only - idk if the movie has differences) Detective Conan/Magic Kaito (separately or not at this point; I'm honestly so behind but idc LET'S GO) Diamond no Ace Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy (/cries) Dimension 20: Misfits & Magic* Doctor Who (New Who; I've only watched until start of Twelve but I'm familiar enough with the succeeding parts) Fullmetal Alchemist Frozen (movie and musical) Gensoumaden Saiyuki Good Omens Hadestown Hamilton Harry Potter (original series & Marauders era)* Howl's Moving Castle (book or movie) Idolish7 In the Heights Kyou Kara Maou! Legally Blonde (movie and musical) Marvel (mainly Avengers until Endgame) Mean Girls (movies and musical) Merlin Mula Sa Buwan Naruto (original until Shippuden maybe) Ouran High School Host Club Percy Jackson and the Olympians (original book series and TLT musical - haven't watched the TV series yet and the movies do not exist--) Phantom of the Opera (musical) Pokemon Prince of Tennis (The) Prom (musical and movie) Sherlock Holmes (ACD, BBC, Enola Holmes, RDJ movies) Spies Are Forever (TCB) StarKid: A Very Potter Musical* StarKid: Firebringer StarKid: Holy Musical B@man! StarKid: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals+ StarKid: Twisted Tiger and Bunny Tolkien (LOTR and The Hobbit movies) Usagi Restaurant Walang Aray Wicked (book and musical)

* If you're requesting these fandoms, please make a donation towards the Sherlock’s Homes Foundation or organizations that support transgender rights. + I'm honestly willing to go 3K words for any Hatchetfield verse. Or pretty much any StarKid that I can easily watch. The rest are on my list of to watch anyway. The same goes for other Dimension 20 seasons except maybe Fantasy High, which is ongoing and now very long. I'm only just working my way through the shorter ones ok 😂

Thank you very much for your consideration and donations <3

[bijectiveandinvertible]

We are off to the West!

[crehador]

brother crab's winter 2024 parting thoughts: ishura s1

tl;dr was originally meh on this for reasons that really aren't fair, ultimately wound up enjoying it well enough to pick up s2, but wouldn't necessarily recommend (especially if you'll be bothered by the fact that it's Very slow)

full review:

you know what i think for the first half of the season i really didn't give this show a fair shake. based on a skim of its summary and the fact that it had the battle royale tag, i went in thinking it would be structurally similar to shuumatsu no valkyrie (which i'd recently binged and enjoyed immensely)

and that sort of battle royale, a tournament between a roster of op heroes, does seem to be coming up. but unlike snv, ishura doesn't dump us straight into the tournament. there's a whole lot of buildup to it, in fact...

the whole first season is buildup for the tournament to choose a hero, which isn't necessarily a bad thing! just isn't what i expected, so i was a bit on the fence for a while

ultimately though i think i did enjoy this series. it's heavy on the action (and gore) but most of the fight scenes are pretty banging, and the cast is full of fairly interesting characters (many of whom are not long-lived lmao)

some of the characters are so cool, in fact, that it feels like a shame to not get more time with them. the pacing didn't feel bad or anything, but it's a very, for lack of a better word, scattered series. not in a negative way, though, because the relatively huge cast provides a wider look at the world. it's just a lot of build-up and so far not much payoff (but clearly it's the start of a longer thing, so i guess to me that's fine)

the worldbuilding to me is by far the strongest point of the series, even stronger than the action sequences. there are some elements of it that i really love, like the naming conventions ("taren the guarded" "dakai the magpie" "alus the star runner" and so on, instead of family surnames) and the word arts magic

the (fairly early) reveal that not only humans and wyverns but even these... constructs? that seemed like mechanical golems? could use this word arts magic was fantastic to me, and i hope we get to see more interesting things of that nature as we continue

ishura has had a second season announced and even though i was a bit lukewarm on it for half this season, i do think i'll continue. if only because the cast is absurdly stacked and i go where my favorite voice actors go lol

i would still say it isn't exactly exceptional as a fantasy action series, but does do some interesting things with worldbuilding that i don't think i've seen much of before (but i also haven't watched fantasy extensively yet, so don't have too much to compare)

dakai my beloved freak i miss u already umu it was such a trip hearing hoshi souichirou voice a character like dakai though lol i mean i'm sure he's done many before but i more associate him with darling momo revale (and more recently saiyuki swk) so this was. new. and a treat

[featherchan]

⭐

[ MULTIMUSE MEME: Send a " ⭐ " and I will list muses I would be interested in throwing at yours, or potential muse combinations if you are also a multi. / @roleplay-abiogenesis2 / Still Accepting! ] I know we haven't interacted much, but always feel free to pop into my IM to chat. Like, gush our love for our boys (Saiyuki) 🥰 or plot for our muses dread anytime.

Card Captor Sakura :  Li Syaoran

I can definitely see the Sailor Senshi, especially Hotaru Tomoe (Sailor Saturn), interacting with each other, due to their closeness in age. Michiru, also known as Sailor Neptune, and Haruka, also known as Sailor Uranus, are her adoptive parents who frequently travel. So, it is possible for them to meet in Hong Kong. Or with Setsuna also known as Sailor Pluto and Hotaru could infiltrate the school to investigate a powerful disturbance caused by a card or one of the Sailor Senshi's enemies.

Inuyasha : Sesshōmaru

I don't have any muses from Inuyasha fandom, but I am definitely familiar with the animated series. I can imagine a crossover between him and my original characters, with their Blood Plus Victoria verse. Kanako and Noburu, who are vampires/chiropterans, could potentially interact with your muse. My idea is. Rumors have been circulating that someone is raising an army by using both humans and demons as test subjects. The villain has kidnapped an unidentified and unregistered family member in order to use their family's or species' blood for a specific purpose. As a result, they have traveled across the ocean to put an end to it.

Saiyuki : Cho Hakkai, Genjo Sanzo and Hazel Grouse

YO! I LOVE SAIYUKI SO VERY MUCH! I love the series as much as I love Sailor Moon! I have watched most of the animated series and have kept up with the manga as well. Including Gaiden. I would be more than happy to toss you with Kanako, Noburu, Chidori, and even Mi Yue, with their respective verses at any time!

[the-monkey-ruler]

I'm a fan of the Saiyuki/Monkey 1978 show and I thought I'd throw in some extra info after seeing that last anon ask about "why is sanzang often a woman in japanese media"

First off, I hope I don't come across as nitpicky, but the show in English is called "Monkey", not "Monkey Magic", and the only reason I point that out because there IS another JttW adaptation (animated series, but also from Japan) called "Monkey Magic" and I don't want anyone to get the two confused. (But the theme song to Monkey 1978 IS called "Monkey Magic" so confusion abounds lol) You said "many Japanese media followed its example and had Sanzang be a woman." While Sanzang is often played by a female actress in Japanese media, the character is almost always still male, at least in the more mainstream direct adaptations of the JttW story. DBZ is hardly an accurate adaption, and Bulma being made a woman was probably just inspired by Sanzang being played by actresses, like you said. I could be wrong but at least from the ones that I've seen, the adaptations that do change Sanzang the character to be a women are usually ones that don't take themselves as seriously when it comes to "accurately" adapting the original story (not that there's anything wrong with that).

"I can’t say for certain why they made Sanzang a girl in the 1970s" Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a definitive reason either, but I did read once that the actor who played Wukong for the show gave an interview and said that the reason they hired an actress was "to generate buzz about the show" (but I can't confirm a source for that quote). I've also seen multiple theories that another possible reason is due to the fact that Sanzang is supposed to be a beautiful man, so why not have a woman play him to amp up the attractiveness factor?

Also, in the English dub Tripitaka is often referred to as "the boy priest" which to me seems a weird specification to point out, unless they're implying that he's very young or not even an adult yet in this show. Wukong calls him "the lad" a lot too, which maybe lends a little credence to this Sanzang being young. I don't know if that's also true in the original Japanese, but if it is, then that might also explain why they chose an actress to play him, to make him look properly youthful.

(Or maybe the English dub kept emphasizing Sanzang being a boy/a lad simply to help audiences know that despite being played by a lovely actress, the character is still a man lol)

OR who knows, maybe the casting director for the show felt like being progressive for the 70s, because Sanzang isn't the only cross-cast character; Buddha is played by a female actress and Guanyin is played by a male actor.

Sorry for such a long ask, I tried to keep things concise while still hitting the main points. I really really enjoy this show and I'm sad there isn't a whole lot of information available for it!

I'm a fan of the Saiyuki/Monkey 1978 show and I thought I'd throw in some extra info after seeing that last anon ask about "why is sanzang often a woman in japanese media" First off, I hope I don't come across as nitpicky, but the show in English is called "Monkey", not "Monkey Magic", and the only reason I point that out because there IS another JttW adaptation (animated series, but also from Japan) called "Monkey Magic" and I don't want anyone to get the two confused. (But the theme song to Monkey 1978 IS called "Monkey Magic" so confusion abounds lol)

I like that Monkey Magic anime that you brought up. It's good stuff!

You said "many Japanese media followed its example and had Sanzang be a woman." While Sanzang is often played by a female actress in Japanese media, the character is almost always still male, at least in the more mainstream direct adaptations of the JttW story. DBZ is hardly an accurate adaption, and Bulma being made a woman was probably just inspired by Sanzang being played by actresses, like you said.

I'm not saying that most Japanese media have Sanzang as a girl, just a lot of them, and yes most faithful adaptions of course have Sanzang as a boy but that doesn't discount how many girl Sanzang media has come out of this and could have been influenced by Monkey (1978). This is more just observing the combination of Japanese media that has femme Sanzang more than other countries' media.

The Saiyuki franchises do keep it that Sanzang is a male played by a woman there is other Saiyuki media that has him as a female on purpose. Saiyuki TV series (1993), Saiyuki (1994), and the Sayuki movie (2007) are clearly 1978-inspired but as such just have Sanzang is supposed to be a man. Maybe even Doraemon: The Record of Nobita’s Parallel Visit to the West (1988) since while the character is a girl she is still playing Sanzang as a man.

I didn't even consider Dragon Ball as an example of Sanzang being portrayed as a woman. I was thinking Saiyuki Starzinger (1978), SF Saiyuki Starzinger Movie Edition SF (1979), and Saiyuiki Journey West (1999) where you play as Sanzo and choose your gender as either a girl or a boy. There is also the Japanese anime Nanbaka (2016) where Sanzang is played by two different characters also a man and a woman. There is also just anime-games like Monster Super League (2016), Dragalia Lost (2018), Granblue Fantasy (2014), and Monster Strike (2014) モンスターストライク.

There are other non-Japanese productions that also follow the idea of having Sanzang as a woman and while these can be separated from Monkey (1978) I think they should also be considered to be have some influence. The Australian tv show Legends of the Monkey King (2018) is stated to be inspired by Monkey (1978) more so than Xiyouji itself. Korean Odessey (2017) and God of High School (2020) are Korean productions but I'm not sure if this is inspired by Monkey (1978) as it is a different modern take of the story and thus could be different. There has only been one Chinese media that I have seen with a female Sanzang Ultimate Westward Journey (2019).

I could be wrong but at least from the ones that I've seen, the adaptations that do change Sanzang the character to be a women are usually ones that don't take themselves as seriously when it comes to "accurately" adapting the original story (not that there's anything wrong with that).

I guess they don't have to be taken seriously but they should still be noted all the same because this is still Japanese media that is portraying Xiyouji characters. It doesn't have to be taken seriously to still note when and to whom gender bent happen (should also be noted that Bailong and Wujing are also common characters to have their genders differ). Just cause they are games or cartoons doesn't make them any less media that should be considered how easily it is to change Sanzang's gender even for casual and common everyday games and shows.

It's not so much about accuracy as that isn't needed but how to widespread the idea of changing Sanzang's gender. It's not a bad thing but something that should be recognized. Personally, in terms of Dragon Ball, I always like the idea of Krillin being as Sanzang as well since I think that being an ex-monk would be clever. But since there is a lot of Japanese media that has Sanzang has multiple characters that could be Sanzang it could just be up to interpretation as Bulma was the original idea for Sanzang representation.

"I can’t say for certain why they made Sanzang a girl in the 1970s" Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a definitive reason either, but I did read once that the actor who played Wukong for the show gave an interview and said that the reason they hired an actress was "to generate buzz about the show" (but I can't confirm a source for that quote). I've also seen multiple theories that another possible reason is due to the fact that Sanzang is supposed to be a beautiful man, so why not have a woman play him to amp up the attractiveness factor?

I was quoting from the Monkey 1978 Baidu page when I was talking in my last post and it did seem like they were going to hire Tamasaburo Bando until the change was made. @journeytothewestresearch suggested that it could have been to highlight Sanzang's natural beauty so perhaps that could be the case. But in any case it def left an impressive on lots of media later down the line.

Also, in the English dub Tripitaka is often referred to as "the boy priest" which to me seems a weird specification to point out, unless they're implying that he's very young or not even an adult yet in this show. Wukong calls him "the lad" a lot too, which maybe lends a little credence to this Sanzang being young. I don't know if that's also true in the original Japanese, but if it is, then that might also explain why they chose an actress to play him, to make him look properly youthful. (Or maybe the English dub kept emphasizing Sanzang being a boy/a lad simply to help audiences know that despite being played by a lovely actress, the character is still a man lol)

I think they could have been implying that he was younger in the show since there was some media in the early 1960-70s where young boys were played by women. I have only seen this in like musical movies though, so that the 'young boy' would have a higher-pitched voice.

OR who knows, maybe the casting director for the show felt like being progressive for the 70s, because Sanzang isn't the only cross-cast character; Buddha is played by a female actress and Guanyin is played by a male actor.

I do think that showing Buddha and Guanyin as genders differing from how they are usually portrayed was very innovative! Perhaps even touching on Guanyin's original legend where she was an Indian Prince, gives her an ambiguous gender role. It could be that the director seeing that both form and beauty are not limited to gender could be played by anyone as long as the acting is top quality.

Sorry for such a long ask, I tried to keep things concise while still hitting the main points. I really really enjoy this show and I'm sad there isn't a whole lot of information available for it!

I do wish that I could find more information and I'm surprised that there is very little despite how globally popular it was. I know that the sub was many people's intro to Xiyouji and further created a stronger legacy. But it could be that the show's run was to be short

[dorothygale123]

Today we will be talking about the magnificent Goddess of Mercy Herself, Kuan Yin (Kanzeon Bosatsu in Japan). She's an important character in JttW, but whereis she from? Let's take a closer look at her origins, shall we?

Now, her parentage is a bit vague. Some sources claim she's the daughter of the Jade Emperor, head honcho of Daoist Heaven, and some say she's a mortal who attained enlightenment and became a Buddha. Those sources don't always agree on her gender, though. She seems to have originally been a male deity that became a female over time (which gives some credence to her depiction in the Saiyuki series as a hermaphrodite). The story I'll be recounting here has her mostly female, but even it has some remnants of her male-to-female transition.

A long time ago, some bandits came to the house of 3 brothers to ask for food. The bros said "NO, you're bandits, why would we help you??" So the bandits went and robbed a rich house, killing the owners. Now, FOR SOME REASON, the gods decided the BROTHERS were just as guilty of the crime as the actual murderers and send them to Hell forever. Truly a just response. 😑

Luckily for the brothers, some king REALLY wants an heir and prays to the gods super hard, and they decide to reincarnate the brothers as their DAUGHTERS. The youngest is named Miao Shan (our future Kuan Yin)

Miao Shan doesn't exactly get on with her dad too well. Their dynamic can be summarized as thus:

King: You're getting married.

MS: No. I'm going to be a Buddhist nun.

King: NO!

This goes on for some time.

Eventually the king has Miao Shan executed for defying him (love you too, dad), but the gods see how pious and awesome Miao Shan is and help her out and let her become Immortal. Then they decide to punish the king for being a jerkwad and make the only cure medicine made by Miao Shan. She helps him because she's a mercy goddess, and he finally feels super bad about the whole killing her thing. Her whole family ends up moving to her special Buddhist palace in the southern seas and all become Immortal divinities devoted to the Buddha.

Even the dad.

Because sorry fixes everything! Including homicide!

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