Audience reviews
19 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
YamiRyusei
It should be noted that I have not read the manga so this review is based on the anime so if I write something out of place I'm sorry.
Gensoumaden Saiyuuki is an anime that for the long duration (episodes) you can expect something good but the reality is that there are 50 episodes in which you see practically the same thing (except for some episodes in which it tells the past of each character or something that is of interest to the story) as in each chapter are the same dialogues (Gokuu all the time saying that he is hungry and Sanzou scolding him or hitting him all the time) the story for its part is interesting but they could have exploited it more or do it in a better way but it is enjoyed from the first chapter and you want to continue seeing more.
Regarding the characters, I can on…
Read at the sourceReyvinHill
I'm very late to the game with this one. I saw a couple episodes of Reload Blast and instantly fell in love with the characters. I was talking about it to a friend who is an intense fan of the original so I went back and started from the beginning, and I'm glad I did. I could have enjoyed Blast without having seen the others but I know now that I will enjoy it so much more having seen what comes before.
Watching this twenty years later is pretty hard on the eyes. Animation has come a long way since then. If you can get past the nostalgia of the turn of the millennium style, it's 100% worth the watch.
What I loved about it:
1. The characters. The main characters, both good guys and bad, completely make this anime. Story, art, sound, ... none of it compares to these guys and how endeari…
Read at the sourceYung_Warrior
I got into this one because I heard it had a similar vibe to Yu Yu Hakusho, another fantasy series revolving around a four man main cast. For the most part, I think Saiyuki does not quite reach the heights of storytelling that series did, but it does distinguish itself in ways both good and bad.
Firstly, the plot is mostly episodic in nature, with copious episodes that succeed at establishing characterization and worldbuilding, but otherwise do not move the plot significantly. It is filler, but pretty good filler in my opinion, since it really gets the viewer immersed in the world. This is an old-school adventure story first and foremost, and the length of the journey is painted in the medium via this long-form storytelling. A certain patience is expected from the viewer as Hakkai's jeep…
Read at the sourceDarkRavie
Saiyuki is the story of Genjo Sanzo a monk that the gods charge to find why the peaceful demons are becoming mad and killing the humans. So with his 3 friends, Cho Hakkai, Son Goku and Sha Gojyo, they head west and have many adventures along the way.
My thoughts:
I truly loved watching this anime. The animation is very good and there's just something about a gun-totin' monk that just gives a 'je ne sais quoi' to the story. Following Saiyuki is Saiyuki Requiem (the movie), Saiyuki Reload and then Saiyuki Reload: Gunlock. Although sometimes the characters don't seem to like each other, it's my opinion that they in fact do care for each other like brothers. Their fights are more like siblings getting on each others nerves.
The anime has most everything in it; action, romance in a way, comi…
Read at the sourceChikkii
Minekura Kazuya is an absolutely phenomenal storyteller. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love lots of mangas of all genres and whatnot but Minekura’s story is definitely a one of a kind gem. The main cast of this series, the Sanzo Ikkou a.k.a the Sanzo Party are made up of four emotionally-charged personalities. Sanzo, the stubborn and quick-to-shoot Buddhist priest, Goku, the ravenous but extremely adorable Seiten Taisei, Gojyo, the flirt who walks and talks like a casanova but wonderfully clicks into a comedic duo with Goku and last but not least, Hakkai who is a sweet but simultaneously a scary man with patience like no other. Spinning a story from the legendary classic tale of the Journey to the West, Minekura’s characters carry dark emotional baggage that she cleverly weaves into their c…
Read at the sourceSaraaahh63
Saiyuki was the first anime I had ever watched and it remains the best. I don't think I will ever get over the feeling I have when I hear the opening theme or the piano version of 'For Real'. The characters and their relationships are all so well developed and wonderful, the story is brilliant and the art/music is spot on. You will definitely have a favorite character/character you relate to most, however, you will love and deeply respect all of them. Goku's story and his subsequent relationship with Sanzo will stay with me for a very long time. As this anime is slightly older, there are a few off things about its animation (like the amount of still shots during battle), but its merit is in its story/characters/humor so this doesn't take away from it at all.
I guess the point I want to ma…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
Saiyuki is one of those shounen action titles that tries being cool with the attitudes and vices that our main cast of characters give into as Sanzo and his demon comrades journey west from China to halt the efforts of demon forces to resurrect the powerful demon Gyumao. The series is really loose with faithfulness to Journey to the West with the four members of the Sanzo party having their vices to give into with the older members frequently smoking, gambling, womanizing or drinking and Son Goku depicted to almost always be hungry, no different from the character's depiction from Dragon Ball. Also several members of the demon side assisting in Gyumao's resurrection are more like honorable villains as they don't often cause trouble for Sanzo's party and usually find themselves teaming up t…
Read at the sourcephantom234
The characters are brilliant, but also cliche. The music is awesome, but the voices are awkward. The design is wonderful, but the animation is clunky.
Ultimately, this show somehow became one of my favorites.
The story is one of the most important parts of an anime, and to be honest, it's a bit lacking. Many individual episodes stand on their own, and sometimes it's hard to discern what is filler and what is driving the plot forward. The ending felt rushed. However, where it fails in tying together a plot, it succeeds in creating characters you want to root for, which is my second point....
The characters are very interesting puzzles. You think you have it figured out at the beginning - the angry one, the womanizer, the calm guy, and the childish guy. But there's more to it. You see why…
Read at the sourcemercury1980
I used to watch this anime when I was 12 years old. This anime is basically an adaption on the "Journey to the West" a Chinese novel. I also watched this show on TCS 8 Singapore Channel. However, the characters here are normal unlike compared to the one I watched in Singapore Channel.
Now, the music is so engaging even the ending song which says "You must fight against yourself". This is the quote I will never ever forget. In fact, in life we all learn to fight against ourselves, defeat evil.
Sanzo is a priest who has 3 followers who are youkais just like in Yozakura Quartet. Basically, they wanted to protect the world from harm. The battles are all right. There is not much to say here.
Now, we move onto the characters
Sanzo - calm and collected, badass also.
Gojyo - womanizer, badas…
Read at the sourceSonkaisin
The story is fantastic, but that and the fun characters were pretty much it for me. I couldn't get over the lack of action in the fights, things were very slow moving, and still shots of things here and there. Just not very exciting. If your looking for a good story its worth the watch, but if you like to have an exciting visual stimulation with your story I would pass.
Read at the sourceangelsreview
Well, I have to say that this is one of my favorite shows even if it does have some flaws. We open with one of the most epic narrations by Sanzo and then get into the bad ass additude as he attacks Goku. The why the show introduces the characters is actually one of the reasons why I really like this show. We see each character in their ‘element’ so to speak and not all at once. It also doesn’t give us a whole lot of narration about these characters because they don’t really need it this early in the show. We get small tastes of the personalities, then bring them all together. I do wish that they had a little more information on how the group did meet earlier in the series then they do though. The series seems to believe that we have all seen the manga and since I have not, it makes me feel…
Read at the sourceshadowfireflame
A badass, gun-toting priest (Sanzo) has to team up with two equally badass demons (Hakki and Gojyo) and a really freaking annoying monkey demon (Goku) to prevent the resurrection of a terrible super demon.
Here's my breakdown of the characters: I'm in love with Hakki, I like Gojyo, I tolerate Sanzo, and I would strangle Goku if I could.
Lots of violence on this boys-only road trip, everybody gets hurt, everybody kills somebody else. Character-building is something this series does really well, and it's much more interesting than the fights.
Read at the sourceanimefreak0007
Everyone hates a critic, but I am used to haters so it's okay. I am going to be truthful and not lie to you guys just because this is anime. Honestly, this was not the best anime I saw. In fact it's number 8 in my top 10 worst anime I ever watched.
Story- Let's start with the story. You have four guys, a priest named Sanzo, and three demons Gojyo, Goku, and Hakkai wo are going to India to stop the resurrecting of Gyumao. I never watched Dragon Ball Z so I am not going to say this show copied the whole story. However it did copied the traits of Goku in DBZ. I will explain that more in character.
Back to the story. Their journey west is always interrupted by some demons or Gods trying to destroy them for a scroll Sanzo holds. You begin to feel tired of the journey and wonder will they ever m…
Read at the sourceBishounen_Hunter
How would you know if Saiyuki is right for you? Simple; Do you like bishounen [pretty boys]? Action anime shows with a heavy bishounen cast but very few females, like Weiss Kreuz or Gundam Wing? Mild homo-eroticism and sensitive male EMO-angst-ishness? What I just said my seem like I'm making fun of the show...but I'm not, I'm quite serious. This series has a lot of it, but I'm not necessarily saying it's a bad thing. What I'm saying is that if you have issues with these traits in this or any type of program then Saiyuki is definitely NOT FOR YOU! Because all you're gonna say is that the show is so “gay” and blah blah blah and not really appreciate it for anything else! Now, I on the other hand, LOVED IT! I wouldn't be the “Bishounen Hunter” if I didn't, hee-hee!
~Art
Released in Y2K [Yea…
Read at the sourceLavenderKiwi
There are so many words to describe Saiyuki but i will try to keep it as short as possible. Saiyuki grabbed you from the first episode and it dident let go throught the whole series (Plus OVA's) Saiyuki hit you right of the bat with comedy and alot of it every episode there were many amazing comedy scenes that made you run out of air because you were laughing so hard but not only did it have comedy it had amazing fighting scenes and outstanding characters that grew in their ability to know who they are and also grow in power and understanding of the world. Saiyuki is at the top of my favorite anime and wont be leaving anytime soon. If you love Action,Comedy,adventure and hot guys than saiyuki is for you 10/10 i would also recommend this anime for anyone who likes YYH because they have the…
Read at the sourceimdeadnow
There are few anime I have loved as much as I have Saiyuki. The characters are fantastic, the storyline is entertaining, and the filler episodes aren't nearly so painful as in most other anime.
The art surely does Kazuya Minekura's original series justice. Although, the anime is old (anything older than 3 years is old by today's standards), so the action scenes are a bit less than interesting (yaaaaay for still shots!), but aside from that, the anime is very well-drawn.
The characters are excellent, (and sexy), and it's hard not to fall in love with each and every one of them. (but Sanzo is the best, in my not-so-humble opinion)
Also, this anime is actually one that I WOULD recommend you watch with the English dub. The English voice actors are actually very good (with a few exceptions), ES…
Read at the sourceRanivus
::QUICK REVIEW::
Story: 5 (another "Journey to the West" spinoff)
Art: 6 (Pretty above standard fare for its time)
Sound: 7 (English voice acting was impressive don't miss it)
Character: 8 (first male team that didn't make me feel gay)
Enjoyment: 9 (Main characters made this show great)
Overall: 35/50 = 7.0 (Didn't mean to make the score look like that)
::FULL REVIEW::
Ever since Dragon Ball, there have been a large influx of anime basing themselves on the "Journey to the West" epic piece. It's storyline is perfect for an anime iteration, but then again, any idea can become an anime. Well what I'm getting at is that this is another iteration based on that epic. And in my opinion, this is the best iteration of that tale that I have seen so far.
It's not historically accurate at all. If…
Read at the sourceyoohoodelilah
What is there to say? For one, Saiyuki has quickly crawled to the very top of my "favorite anime" list, and I don't believe it will be leaving anytime soon.
Story: Based on an old Chinese story, the story of Saiyuki is addicting and entertaining. The simple idea of four total opposites finding a way to travel together on a journey to "save the world" is kind of hilarious. Now, the story itself isn't quite as interesting as the comedy or the characters, but with an "evil" group trailing the Saiyuki boys, a few crazy demons here and there, and a huge secret from the past on their backs, it does keep you interested to the very end.
Art: The art style for Saiyuki is done in a way that it preserves the original manga style. While at times the drawings appear a little weird (and maybe dispropo…
Read at the sourceChelle
Saiyuki is one of those animes that just grabs you from the very first episode, and won't let you go, even though, it is an episodic anime. Most of the storylines only take 1 to 2 episodes to tell, as you follow these 4 travelers, sent by the gods, to prevent the reawakening of an old, extremely dangerous demon.
My only complaint about this anime would be the animation. There are a lot of "still shots" used during the battle scenes, but you can overlook that. The animation is also not as clean as I would like to be, but I think, maybe, it was intended that way, to go along with the story.
The characters are PERFECT. They don't get any better than this. Sanzo, the 'renegade priest' who swears, smokes, drinks, weilds a banishing gun, and has a tongue sharp as a razor. Goku, the lovable littl…
Read at the source