The Sanzo-ikkou and the people they've met, both on this journey and in their prior lives, bring Saiyuki enormous potential for couplings when it comes to fan speculation--and circles have been busily exploring the possibilities!

Here's a listing of couplings for which doujinshi or stories in doujinshi exist. The character given relative dominance in the coupling is listed first in each pair, with the pairs listed alphabetically by the dominant character's name.

That's the easy part.

I thought it would be interesting to group the couplings by how prevalent they are among circles, based on observations at doujinshi events and secondhand doujinshi shops (enroute to building a collection of more than 1,800 Saiyuuki doujinshi...not that I'm obsessed or anything...!). They fit nicely into four classifications:

• MAIN: These are the foremost couplings, in both popularity and numbers produced.

• MAJOR: Somewhat less prevalent than the "Main" couplings, these have plenty of dedicated circles, selling plenty of books.

• MINOR: Less common than the "Major" couplings, these pairings are promoted by circles fewer in number but no less dedicated. Doujinshi print-runs tend to be short, since fewer books are expected to be sold.

• MICRO: Even more scarce than "Minor" couplings, these are featured in at least one story but less than 20 doujinshi that I'm aware of.