Saiyuki RELOAD GUNLOCK, the continuing anime incarnation of Kazuya Minekura's "Saiyuki RELOAD" manga, is now airing weekly in Japan. But TV Tokyo and its affiliate stations aren't the only place episodes can be seen, what with pirates making them available for download worldwide on the Internet scant hours after broadcast. With episodes so accessible so soon, there doesn't seem much point in writing about them in detail...but what the hell! So, here's some random yammering after--and sometimes even during--each week's broadcast!
There's nothing like the anticipation in the moments before the first episode of a new series...
Oh, come on, what is this pachinko stuff? It's going on and on. And on. Yay, watch old guys play pachinko games with lame video effects. Um, GUNLOCK was supposed to start at 1:30am, right? It's 1:32...1:33...This is the right channel. Oh, man, 1:30am on April 1 wasn't the 1:30am after midnight last night, was it?!
Oh! It's going to be next--Sanzo promo! Am sooo relieved...have heard some after-midnight series sometimes go off at wonky times.
Here we go! Whoa. Our guys are aggressive! Oh, my. Gonna have to watch this title again afterwards to make coherent comments... Except. Well. Just a first impression, and I should watch it again before saying something like this that will doom me to burn in hell, but...the song kinda sounds like a hard-rock version of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins...
Driving in the woods...they're having trouble. Hakkai is really worried--he says Hakuryuu isn't responding as he should. Oh pleeze, tell me they aren't going to trot out "Hakuryuu can't go on" again...Hmm, not sure if it's a matter of "can't" or "won't" this time. Hakuryuu changes back to a dragon--aww, he's kinda hopping around! There's a temple among the trees. Hakuryu doesn't want to be picked up. He leads them there!
No one answers the door. Goku takes a peek inside, and smells good stuff. Sanzo is dubious.
A voice comes, inviting them in. They head inside--and there's still no one. The voice comes again, and they head toward the main chamber. Gojyo thinks the husky voice sounds sexy. Goku gives him a hard time. "Either she smokes like you, or she's a he!"
They reach the main chamber. There's a quick shadow on the wall. It disappears through a doorway. There's a serious spread of food laid out, waiting for them! Goku and Gojyo start in on it. Sanzo whacks them both with his harisen, but the food hasn't harmed them. Hakkai says he thinks it should be okay. Sanzo grudgingly joins them in eating.
The shadow is back on the wall. It's kind of round. From the other side of the doorway, she invites them to spend the night; there's a room for guests to stay. It's not fancy but she (he?) hopes they'll sleep well. Oh, there's Hakuryuu in the doorway! Huh, guess he wasn't there with them while eating...He starts off standing (?) in the doorway, but then he flies over to Hakkai. "You look happy," notes Hakkai. Awww, Hakuryuu looks so blissful, with his little eyes closed and even a little smile!
They aren't sure about spending the night, but they decide to do it.
That shadow pulls back through the doorway. When they go through it into a hall, there's still no one there! Hakuryuu hops down off Hakkai's shoulder into a doorway on the side. There are four futons.
Gojyo, the last one in, takes a quick look back out and down the hall. There's a bare leg and foot just going through the doorway at the end of the hall! Whoa, now there's a wolfish grin. Gojyo, you horndog! (But that leg sure did look like it belonged to a nekkid body...)
Commercial break. Zero-Sum commercial. Naruto PS2 game commercial. Reload PS2 game commercial...
Sanzo is asleep in the moonlight; it's coming in from the window. WHAA!! He was laying on his back and brought a knee up, out from under the cover, and that leg is bare! HEE, that opened his eyes! Down goes the leg. He feels around under the covers! (Oh pleeze oh PLEEZE let them make a reproduction cel of this!!) Ohhh my, there's an expression we haven't seen on Sanzo's face before! He's got his patented, vaccuum-sealed black sleeveless thingie on up top, but maybe that's all...!
There's a kinda-fast, kinda-soft thumping sound. Dead silence except for that. His heart? Maybe, but he looks white-hot mad now, not scared... It's outside the room. He gets up--starts to get up, make that; he goes back down pretty quick, and comes back up with the cover to wrap around his waist! (Wow, after this I'm gonna go back and frame-by-frame that, just in case...!)
WOW--Hakuryuu suddenly flaps past him, heading for the door! Out goes Hakuryuu. Sanzo looks around. Hakkai and Goku are still asleep. He heads into the hall--and Hakuryuu is just disappearing into a doorway. Lots of those thumps now!
Sanzo's outside that doorway now, gun at the ready (uhhh--where was he keeping it?!)--and whirls into the room, set to start shooting! Nothing there! NO, it's already running back out, between his legs!! Hakuryuu flies through them too!! Omigod, it's a wiener dog!! It's a little black and tan dachshund, and it's running like hell with Sanzo's pants! Away it goes in a flurry of those little thumps, and Hakuryuu is right behind! They zoom into the room at the end of the hall.
Inside, the dog and dragon are having a spirited tug-of-war with Sanzo's pants. They're in the foreground; in the background, Sanzo dashes through the open door, then stumbles to a stop. In the extreme foreground, the back of a naked human body--shaped somewhat like a stubby, five-pointed star--rises into the frame, surrounded by a bright light.
Cut to Sanzo trying to shield his eyes from the light. The light is so intense, the screen goes white, as the mysterious voice says, "Good boy, Kurosawa!"
It's morning. Back in the guest room, Sanzo wakes up and tentatively feels under the cover. He throws off the cover, and has his pants on (but there's a patch on each leg now!). Hakkai stretches. Goku's hungry. Gojyo's grinning, and lights up a cigarette.
Rear view of them driving away in the jeep, with voice-over of Goku and Gojyo squabbling. Goku says Gojyo's new sunglasses look stupid. Gojyo says he won them in a card game he'll never forget. ---...APRIL FOOL'S!!
GO TO RELOAD RICOCHET: Saiyuki RELOAD Episodes #1-4
GO TO RELOAD RICOCHET: Saiyuki RELOAD Episodes #5-8
GO TO RELOAD RICOCHET: Saiyuki RELOAD Episodes #9-12
GO TO RELOAD RICOCHET: Saiyuki RELOAD Episodes #13-16
GO TO RELOAD RICOCHET: Saiyuki RELOAD Episodes #17-19
GO TO RELOAD RICOCHET: Saiyuki RELOAD Episodes #20-22
GO TO RELOAD RICOCHET: Saiyuki RELOAD Episodes #23-25
GO TO RELOAD RICOCHET: Saiyuki RELOAD GUNLOCK Episodes #1-present
BACK TO JOURNEY TO THE REST: A Roadside Revelry in Saiyuki and Its Doujinshi.
This page was created April 1, 2004. Last updated April 1, 2004.
This page's text and source code are copyright Kagenami Q. DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION. Saiyuki, Saiyuki Gaiden and Saiyuki RELOAD are copyright Kazuya Minekura/Issaisha; Gensomaden Saiyuki is copyright Kazuya Minekura/Issaisha, Saiyuki Project and TV Tokyo 2000; the Saiyuki RELOAD anime is copyright Kazuya Minekura/Issaisha, TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Pierrot 2003; Saiyuki RELOAD GUNLOCK is copyright Kazuya Minekura/Issaisha, TV Tokyo, Dentsu and Pierrot 2004. All images are copyright their respective artists and creators. No copyright infringement is intended or implied.
CLICK HERE for the REAL YAMMER on SAIYUKI RELOAD GUNLOCK #1!