Let's hope the computer connection holds! Usual second opening titles...Minekura-sensei draws and inks Sanzo on a ZERO-SUM commercial...Reserve the upcoming "Saiyuki RELOAD GUNLOCK" game for PlayStation 2 and get a free kyoumon-like poster of the Sanzo-ikkou...

After a quick recap of the end of last episode, the Sanzo-ikkou are back on the road. Hakkai notices that the other three keep arguing even in their sleep. They wake up in a hurry when he screeches the jeep to a halt: Youkai are climbing from the ground ahead to attack them! Gojyo and Goku are eager for action...but Hazel and Gato have already gotten there! Pleased to have Sanzo in the audience, Hazel orders Gato to do his thing--and as the big guy wades into the youkai with both guns blazing, Gojyo and Goku retake their seats in the jeep, waiting for it to end. Sanzo is unimpressed and has a better idea: rather than wait and watch, they leave.

At Houtou Castle, Kougaiji is contentedly watching Lirin sleeping. The peace is clouded when Dokugakuji and Yaone report that several youkai have been found dead, and is downright spoiled when Nii arrives and smarmily fills Kougaiji in on how so many of the prince's friends are getting killed. Lirin sleeps on.

Eating at an inn, the Sanzo-ikkou is startled at the arrival of an expensive-looking bottle of wine. It turns out to have been sent over by Hazel and Gato, who are at a nearby table! As Hakkai removes the bottle from the basket, there's a handwritten note with it: "Death to youkai." He puts the bottle back.

Later, a tiny village's human inhabitants are strewn about, dead. So are most of the youkai that killed them--except for one, begging for his life to Hazel and Gato and promising he'll never kill another human. It'll be an easy promise to keep; Hazel has Gato kill him.

As Hazel and Gato start to leave the scene, though, they're forced to dodge a sudden blast of fire--and Dokugakuji comes leaping down at them, sword drawn! Gato fires furiously, Dokugaku knocks away the bullets with his blade...and as Gato reloads, he and Hazel find that Dokugaku has been joined by Kougaiji and Yaone. Kougaiji demands to know why they're killing youkai. Hazel sends Gato flying at them.

The Sanzo-ikkou are again driving across the desert. Hakkai stops the jeep, has Gojyo and Goku shush and listen...and the distant sound of gunfire reaches them.

Commercial break. Whoa, now here's a tenuous tie-in: Remember in Saiyuki Gaiden when Kenren introduces himself, above and below, as the "Abarenbou Shogun"? Well, here's a commercial for a CD release of a weird-ass stage review featuring the samba-dancin' and chonmage-topped Ken Matsudaira, star of the long-running Abarenbou Shogun TV series. Alllrighty then... Naruto movie promo; the movie starts August 21--yeesh, what an annoying squeaktoy they got to squall its theme song! And here's a commercial for doa's CD single, "Hi No Tori No You Ni." (Hey, I bought that last weekend, and really like it!)

Trying for Hazel, Dokugaku again has to square off with bodyguard Gato (and his amazing pistols that are sometimes shown spewing out their empty cartridges as he fires but are other times shown as having to have the empty cartridges physically removed...hey, anything can happen in these here cartoons! ;^) ). Yaone joins the fray, and her explosives actually force Gato into the defensive. When the smoke clears, there's a lot of rubble from fallen buildings, but no Gato left to be seen!

That clears the way for Kougaiji versus Hazel. Kougaiji hurls a fireball at him--but Gato reappears to rush between it and Hazel, blocking most of the blast in superhuman style! Dokugaku rushes at Gato--and gets a gun butt full to the jaw. Down goes Dokugakuji, and Gato is much more leisurely about reloading this time.

The Sanzo-ikkou finally reaches the scene, and as they drive up, Goku hails both Kougaiji and Hazel by name. Although Hazel and Kougaiji had been told about each other--probably by the same person, whaddya bet?--it isn't until now that they realize just who they've been fighting! Each asks Sanzo if he's a friend of the other; of course he isn't, and he has no intention of interfering.

The battle resumes. Sanzo wants to leave--but the others want to stay and see how it comes out.

Wow, Yaone has what looks like an army-issue hand-grenade! Except it's, uh, jet-propelled. It explodes, burning bits flying at his face, and Dokugakuji is charging close behind--yeah, Dokugaku slices off Gato's arm! (So that did make it into the anime after all--except Dokugaku gets the fun of doing it, not some miscellaneous youkai...)

Gato's arm thuds to the ground--but there's no blood. Oooh, and half of Gato's face has been burned off! Gato stoically picks up the arm and holds it in place as Hazel fingers his pendant. A golden beam flies from it, washing over Gato...and his arm is healed, and skin grows back on his face!

Now the souls of the dead youkai littering the place fly up and into the pendant. The pendant sends golden beams back out, and the humans that were killed reawaken with golden eyes. They shuffle toward Kougaiji, Yaone and Dokugakuji, bent on killing the trio. Kougaiji stops one with a fire blast--and is surprised when the body turns to clumps of dirt (since a human becomes a shikigami when a youkai soul is put in).

And whoops, Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo find themselves targets of the resurrected humans now, too! (Sanzo sits back for a cigarette break.)

Kougaiji, Yaone and Dokugakuji manage to dispatch all the resurrected humans. Seeming rather pleased with this surprise, Hazel again sends Gato at them. As Dokugakuji rushes to meet him, Gato empties his guns without success--and Dokugaku plants a boot in Gato's belly, then buries his sword in Gato's shoulder!

...And then Dokugakuji gets snagged by Gato, who calmly holds him with one huge hand and reloads with the other.

Kougaiji and Yaone have Hazel on the run. Kougaiji is confident Hazel can't escape--but then is startled by a bullet speeding by! The warning shot had been fired by Gato, in the distance. Next to the towering human, Dokugakuji is finally able to yank his sword free, gathers himself for another swing--and Gato shoots him, point-blank. Kougaiji and Yaone watch in horror as Dokugaku flies backwards in slow-motion, red blood from his gut soaking his coat.

End of episode...and oh my, that last shot was very well-drawn. Like, the we-had-a-panel-from-the-manga-to-look-at type of well-drawn...(oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no!!)

(The first time I watched this episode, I completely missed the ZERO-SUM commercial that immediately follows the episode's end; that's how shocked I was about Dokugaku...) The September issue of ZERO-SUM goes on sale July 28, and features a super-sharp Minekura cover of Sanzo and Hazel!

End titles. Some changes to the previously announced staff for this episode--including an entirely new storyboarder (and I can't make out the logjam of the second kanji of Tsunoda-san's first name, arrgh! Will have to come back and fix it after the finalized credits are published in ANIMAGE in a couple months), and the mighty major addition of series character designer Noriko Ootake as animation co-supervisor!

Next time--that shot again of bloodied Dokugaku flying backwards (narrator Goku says Dokugaku was "yarareta," which could mean either killed or defeated...hey, where there's ambiguity there's hope, especially in an episode preview...but still, it doesn't look good for Dokugaku). Kougaiji will have to go on fighting, and he won't forgive Hazel for what was done. Youkai versus human...leaving Goku to wonder what they should do! It's "Ginen ~hesitation~."