Art By Tracy Ellen
Archive of Newest News

OCTOBER 2003-JANUARY 2004 NEWS

ZS 3/04 Reload color 1/28/2004: LOOKING AHEAD This month's ZERO-SUM unfortunately did not have a chapter of Saiyuki RELOAD, but its pages still held news of plenty to look forward to!

The planned chapter's opening color page featuring Hakkai was published, but Minekura-sensei has been ill, and so the chapter itself will run next month. On the anime front, the long-awaited Kinkaku/Ginkaku arc starts tomorrow in episode 17, and ZERO-SUM celebrated with an interview with Sanae Kobayashi (the voice actress of both Ginkaku and Kinkaku) and sneak peek at Noriko Ootake's character design sheet for the youkai twins.

RakushinMarch 18 will bring the release of Bandai's Saiyuki RELOAD communication RPG game for Playstation 2. The Sanzo-ikkou's regular voice actors--Seki, Hoshi, Ishida and Hirata--continue their roles in the game, and ZERO-SUM devoted a page to interviews with them, screen caps from the game, and Minekura-sensei's own designs for the luscious long-haired boss character, named Rakushin!

The issue also offered an array of special ZERO-SUM goodies for sale, by mail-order only. Some, such as the Saiyuki RELOAD tapestry of last issue's front-cover art, telephone card, and "clear photo stand" with art of the Sanzo-ikkou's members, were also sold last month at Tokyo's Winter Comic Market. But there are also items never available before--including the Bus Gamer drama CD (based on another Minekura manga), and the special manga book edited by Minekura-sensei, "Saiyuki OFFROAD"!

Priced at 1000 yen, not including shipping,"Saiyuki OFFROAD" will finally reach fans' hands in April! A page count was not announced, but it will present a Saiyuki manga story by Minekura herself, Saiyuki parody manga by five special guest artists including Yun Kouga, Minekura's scripts for some of the CDs' mini-dramas, and other good stuff.

The order deadline is March 10, with shipping to start in mid-April. The tricky part is, payment needs to be made to the Japanese postal account of Comic ZERO-SUM--which means going to a Japanese post office, filling out a form detailing what you want to buy and your address (ZERO-SUM gives specific directions), handing the form and your money to the post office teller, getting a receipt for the transaction, and then (hardest of all!) waiting until late April for the stuff to arrive!

ZS 2/04 rightZS 2/04 left 1/20/2004: INTERESTING TIMES! If fan demand in December was any indication, the new Year of the Monkey should be an auspicious one for Saiyuki. Last month the entire first pressing of the "Saiyuki RELOAD Revolver Revolution 2003 Replay" two-DVD set sold out in less than a week! A second pressing was rushed into production, aiming to restock shops around January 23; until then, check out the first-release sets starting at 30,000 yen--close to US$300--on Yahoo Japan Auctions!

On December 28-30, fans swamped ZERO-SUM's booth at the Winter Comic Market, eager to bring home the Minekura-produced manga book "Saiyuki Offroad." Unfortunately, it had been delayed in printing so will be sold later (the March ZERO-SUM, coming out January 28, will have details)--but fans got a tantalizing trophy for their trip in the form of "Saiyuki Offroad Preview," a paper that offers a peek at eight pages from the book.

"Saiyuki Offroad" will gather Saiyuki manga stories by various artists, including Yun Kouga and Jiro Suzuki, along with a collection of Minekura-sensei's rough page sketches for Saiyuki RELOAD and Saiyuki Gaiden, scripts for some of the CDs' mini-dramas, and interviews...but the centerpiece promises to be Minekura's manga story, in which Goku is confronted by That Freaky Youkai Guy With A Pipe who appeared in the first RELOAD manga installment and at the end of "Deathmatch-2"!

Offroad PreviewThe February 2004 ZERO-SUM--at 816 pages one of the largest issues yet--came out on December 28 with a Saiyuki RELOAD cover and 17-page manga installment, including three pages of opening color. This chapter launches the Gojyo and Hakkai portion of "Burial," in which we see that some three years ago, life with ever-attendant Hakkai was getting to Gojyo. However, a welcome diversion bursts through the door: Banri, a youkai friend who Gojyo had hung out with until about a year ago. Gojyo is thrilled about the reunion; Hakkai--who, as Sanzo was reminded earlier in the chapter, is capable of anything--doesn't seem so sure...

ZS 2/04 color That issue's Saiyuki RELOAD news included the announcement of a new ending theme for the anime series: WAG's "Fukisusabu Kaze No Naka De" would debut with episode 14. (The first broadcast of that new ending title jolted the fan community, and quite possibly Minekura-sensei as well: In the new visuals that accompanied the song, color art of Ukoku--created for the Saiyuki RELOAD manga tankoubon Vol. 3--appeared to represent Hakkai! The goof was corrected the following week.) Meanwhile, the upcoming Saiyuki RELOAD DVDs, slated for monthly release starting January 23, will feature new jacket art by Minekura.

The New Year's first crop of anime monthly magazines, dated February 2004, held the news we've been hoping for: The Kami-sama arc will be animated as part of Saiyuki RELOAD, starting with episode 17! The anime series returned to the original Saiyuki manga with episode 15, using part of the events of Vol. 6 of the manga tankoubon, and anime RELOAD episodes 17 and 18 will cover much of the material in Vol. 7. Just before the wild ride of still-unknown length starts in episode 17, though, episode 16 will bring us an adaptation of Saiyuki RELOAD manga chapter 3.5, "3 years ago."

Animage 2/04 coverThere were lots of Saiyuki RELOAD goodies to go with the good news, too! ANIMAGE, boasting its second Sanzo cover in four months--this one by series character designer Noriko Ootake--came with a super-snazzy freebie: a foldable box of sturdy cardboard, printed with designs of the Sanzo-ikkou! The issue devoted eight color pages to Saiyuki RELOAD, highlighted by a look back at the first 13 episodes, an interview with director Tetsuya Endou on what lies ahead, a fun sidebar on the first 10 UraSais, and an interview with the voice actors, who were extra-gleeful after having recorded episode 10, "Youkai Genjo Sanzo." A further four color pages gave a detailed look at Bandai's upcoming Saiyuki RELOAD game for Playstation 2.

Meanwhile, NEWTYPE featured a fold-out color pin-up of the Sanzo-ikkou done especially for the magazine by Haruko Shibutani and Botan Kirishima. ANIMEDIA had a two-page color spread hinting at how Sanzo and Gojyo will have to work together in the upcoming episodes, as will Goku and Hakkai. In another two-page color feature, Hiroaki Hirata and Akira Ishida are interviewed about RELOAD and get possessed by the characters. The issue comes with a sharp B2-size color poster of Sanzo by Noriko Ootake!

At Anime Expo Tokyo last weekend, Bandai had a demo of its hotly anticipated Saiyuki RELOAD Playstation 2 game available for public play at its booth. The official release date for the 6800-yen game is March 18!

Pierrot was also at Anime Expo Tokyo, selling Gensomaden Saiyuki fukusei cels and memorial goods produced for last summer's Pierrot World 25th Anniversary event. Elsewhere in the dealer's hall, Commit offered a nice selection of Gensomaden Saiyuki douga and fukusei cels. A few Saiyuki costumes could be seen, and in the karaoke contest, a fan performed "For Real" (not me--I did the Da Garn opening theme ;^) ).

Offroad12/16/2003: SAIYUKI OFFROAD AND HAKURYUU FOR THE HOLIDAYS! Tokyo's Winter Comic Market brings the year to a gala close for fans, but this year's event promises some extra excitement for the Saiyuki faithful. Ever since September's exhibit of original Minekura art at the Ikebukuro Animate, where fans got their first look at an awesome color painting of Seiten Taisei Son Goku labelled as having been created for "Saiyuki Offroad," speculation has been spinning about what "Saiyuki Offroad" could be. This month's ZERO-SUM held part of the answer, backed by a tantalizing negative image of the Seiten Taisei art (shown at right): "Saiyuki Offroad" will be sold (along with other special goods) at ZeroSum's booth in the commercial exhibit area of the Winter Comic Market all three days of the event, December 28-30!

Shortly before that, Christmas Day will bring a double treat: Not only will "Backgammon Remix," a "best-of" collection of works selected by Minekura-sensei, go on sale then, but that evening Saiyuki RELOAD episode 13 will be an adaptation of manga Act 5.5 "Lovely Baby," in which our favorite li'l white dragon has a brief escapade with three adorable youngsters!

This all comes on the heels of last week's commemorative two-DVD release of the "Saiyuki RELOAD Revolver Revolution" live event and next Sunday's debut of Saiyuki RELOAD Image Album Vol. 1 (featuring vocals and instrumentals by artists led by Masaki Nomiyama, who both wrote and sang many of the songs on the earlier trio of Gensomaden Saiyuki Image Albums, and who also wrote "Bad Friends," "Game" and "The Clouds Break"). It's a mighty fine time to be a Saiyuki fan!

And how about the coming year? From the previews in this month's batch of anime magazines, Saiyuki RELOAD episode 14 (slated to air January 8) will finally get Kougaiji & Co. on course to reconcile the manga and anime continuity! And after that we can look forward to more of the series' "ingredients" that Hakkai listed in Saiyuki RELOAD's Hakkai Version B promo spot, most notably Kami-sama! ("Kyoumon, youkai, disaster, Kami-sama, bottle gourd, harisen, snow, mahjong...last of all, add the Sanzo-ikkou...and it's ready, everyone! Please help yourself.")

11/16/2003: SAIYUKI RELOAD OFFICIALLY SET FOR 25 EPISODES Movic recently announced its DVD and VHS release schedule for the Saiyuki RELOAD TV series. The first volume, priced at 2625 yen, will be released in Japan on January 23--and will contain a whopping one whole episode. Buyers will be rewarded with a raft of special goodies with it, though, including the Sanzo mini cardboard stand-up figure to go with the Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai now in stores.

Six more volumes are planned, at 6615 yen each, for a total of 25 episodes. Volume 2, with episodes 2-5, comes out February 25, followed by Volume 3 (episodes 6-9) on March 21, Volume 4 (episodes 10-13) on April 23, Volume 5 (episodes 14-17) on May 21, Volume 6 (episodes 18-21) on June 25, and finally Volume 7 (episodes 22-25) on July 23.

But there's a chance that episode 25 won't be the end. When Gensomaden Saiyuki started three years ago, it was planned to run 25 episodes, too. After six months on the air, though, the announcement was made that the series would continue, and 50 episodes were ultimately made.

The December crop of Japan's monthly anime magazines has come out. In addition to its four color pages of Saiyuki RELOAD coverage (including a two-page spread of new art of the Sanzo-ikkou and Kougaiji), NEWTYPE reported that TV viewership ratings for Saiyuki RELOAD's first episode were 4.2. That ranked it third--behind only Rockman EXE (6.1) and Full-Metal Alchemist (5.9)--among brand-new anime series that debuted the week of September 29-October 5, and 16th among the 38 weekly anime series that aired that week.

You're going to want the December 2003 issue of ANIMAGE, especially if you missed the November issue's Minekura cover of Sanzo. The November cover image is back this month as a huge poster, 103cm by almost 73cm, that comes free with the December issue! The issue also devotes four color pages to Saiyuki RELOAD (half of it a spread of the gorgeous portrait of the Sanzo-ikkou featured in the "Saiyuki RELOAD Revolver Revolution 2003" program book), and a further two to a behind-the-scenes manga look at the recording of the final episode of "Radio Saiyuki RELOAD: SaruKappa! Oretachi Wa Zettai Muri!" show.

This issue also saw the Sanzo-ikkou's return to ANIMAGE's monthly "Best 10 Character" readership poll results. Sanzo was third (behind Gundam Seed's Kira Yamato and Athlan Zala), Hakkai was sixth, Gojyo was 12th, and Goku was 16th.

Saiyuki RELOAD was also well-represented in the December issue of ANIMEDIA, with both a color poster and sheet music for its opening and end themes. ANIMEDIA's two pages of color Saiyuki RELOAD coverage featured new art of the boys and Tama/Mi-ke/Betty/Meimei, and hyped two episodes in particular to watch for: last week's "Little Will," and the upcoming episode 10, in which a question frequently pondered by fans will be answered at last: What happens when Sanzo gets splashed by the blood of that fateful 1,000th youkai?!

Zero-Sum 12/03 Opening Color10/29/2003: IT JUST SEEMS LIKE LONGER... Just in time to nicely complete Saiyuki RELOAD's third manga volume, this month's ZERO-SUM brings us a snappy stand-alone installment (eight pages plus one page of opening color; we'll rejoin the Sanzo-and-Goku portion of the "Burial" arc next issue). In it, Hakkai reveals an important fact from his carefully-kept system notebook: It's the one-year anniversary of the start of their journey! (The others wonder what else is in that disturbingly thick notebook...)

What started as a meal becomes an anniversary celebration, with plenty of potent drink (although Goku is only allowed cola--and wisely so...), good food, and reflection on the past year. Hours later, it's time to pay--but there's a problem: Sanzo's gold card is missing. Make that two problems: Kougaiji's group has found it...!

The issue also has a four-page report on last month's "Saiyuki RELOAD Revolver Revolution" event, drawn in manga form by Ikura Chihaya. Chihaya-san's likenesses of the voice actors are fun to see, and she did a great job capturing the highlights of the four hours, too.

Some exciting upcoming releases were announced, including manga Saiyuki RELOAD Vol. 3, coming out November 25, and Backgammon Remix, a best-of collection of Minekura-sensei's earlier artwork, slated for Christmas Day!

A new series of CDs will also debut soon. Two Saiyuki Reload Image Albums are planned so far, with a mix of vocals and instrumentals; the concept is similar to the previous three Gensomaden Saiyuki Image Albums. Movic will release Vol. 1 on December 21, with Vol. 2 following next March.

In other Minekura news, the Autumn issue of WARD will hit newsstands on November 15, and is planned to include manga Hachi No Su (delayed from WARD's summer edition). Tokuma Shoten has just brought out the third volume of manga Wild Adapter, and a vocal CD album has also been released.

Tomorrow, "Radio Saiyuki RELOAD: SaruKappa! Oretachi Wa Zettai Muri!" concludes its popular six-month run with an episode recorded during the "Saiyuki RELOAD Revolver Revolution" event. "Radio Saiyuki RELOAD" was a digitally broadcast show, but on Japan's actual AM-band airwaves, "Radio ZERO-SUM" recently began broadcast on Monday nights. Now that "Radio Saiyuki RELOAD" has wrapped up, some Saiyuki-related guest appearances are a real possibility.

10/12/2003: SAIYUKI RELOAD SINGALONG! Several people have asked about the lyrics of Saiyuki RELOAD's opening and ending themes, since they don't appear on the screen during the titles--so here are the lyrics of the songs' TV-size versions!

The romanized lyric is first, with the Japanese lyric in parentheses below it. I romanize using modified Hepburn, so keep in mind that "ou" is pronounced as a long "oh" sound, not like two-thirds of the English word "you." All katakana words have been spelled phoenetically (instead of substituting confuse for "konfyuuzu," image for "imeeji," etc.), so that they'll sound right if you sing along. (Although watch out for some of the lyrics' English words; speech was pronounced "supeechi" and R&R is short for "Rock & Roll"...!) Enjoy!

WILD ROCK
Lyrics by Haze, music and arrangement by BUZZLIP
Performed by BUZZLIP: Haze (vocals), Hajime (guitar and programming), DJ Meltdown (DJ and programming)

Kaosu joutai dare no sei? Kakuseishita yatsu dake ikinokoru gojisei
(カオス?逅撮斡音‖崔?里擦ぁ 覚醒した奴だけ生き残るご時世)
Kugutteku monohon no gate douseyan nara saijoukai
(くぐってくモノホンの gate どう瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹せやんなら最?逅撮斡音絣)
Kanjiru hazu daze yureru daichi uneru sound no kyamerukuratchi
(感じるはずだう瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹0彊四匹譴訛臙 う瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹ねる sound のキャメルクラッチ)
Chou denkousekka no speech Unare saikyou Wild Wild Rock
(超電光石火の speech う瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹なれ最強 Wild Wild Rock)
Wild Wild Rock Wild Wild Rock
Wild Wild Rock Wild Wild Rock
Wild Wild Rock Wild Wild Rock
Wild Wild Rock Wild Rock
Busou kaijo no crazy high way Jump it up Wild Rock
(武装解除の crazy high way Jump it up Wild Rock)
Karyoku tousai R&R Jump it up Wild Rock
(火力搭載 R&R Jump it up Wild Rock)
Kenryoku tousou rise&fall Jump it up Wild Rock
(研瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹0慨士脇? rise&fall Jump it up Wild Rock)
Yuiga dokusou midnight mission Jump it up Wild Rock
(唯我独走 midnight mission Jump it up Wild Rock)
Jump it up Wild Rock
Jump it up Wild Rock
Jump it up Wild Rock

ID
Lyrics by Shinpei Nozaki, music by Shoutarou Mitsuzono
Performed by flow-war: Shinpei Nozaki (vocals and guitar), Shoutarou Mitsuzono (background vocals and guitar), Kaichi Kurose (drums)

ID
ID
Saikin no bokura saiten sare kuraberare sanzan Try On sonna Days
(最近のボクら 採点され 比べられ さんざん Try On そんな Days)
Zenbu konfyuuzu de nani ga ii no kamo wasurete tsurikawa ni burasagaru
(全部コンフュ・瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹0彊札困 何がいいのかも忘れて吊り革にぶら王瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹0彊擦?)
ID Kimerareteru imeeji jidai sakugo no burein
(ID 決められてるイメ・瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹瘢雹0彊札 時代錯誤のブレイン)
ID Mondai no gentaisei ni makaseru no wa jisatsu koui
(ID 問題の現体制に 任せるのは?逅撮斡飴??逅珊坩)
ID

10/10/2003: PUMP IT UP! This week's episode of Saiyuki RELOAD, "Ugomeku Wana ?Wanted Dead or Alive?" ("Squirming Trap ?Wanted Dead or Alive?"), was the new series' first episode with an original story. The material wasn't all that was new; some cast members had a new look, too--occasionally drawn bulked up like either a superhero or new California governor!

Written by series director Tetsuya Endou, who co-storyboarded the episode with episode director Naomichi Yamato (animation supervisor Osamu Ookubo completed the lead production staff), this installment brought the Kougaiji-ikkou back into action. Previous anime series Gensomaden Saiyuki avoided certain events from the Saiyuki manga that promise to be pivotal in the animated RELOAD--so in this first step in piecing together the parts, we rejoin Kougaiji pretty much as we left him in Gensomaden. Well, except he's been getting into the creatine. A lot. Not only is he suddenly a much-more-muscled Adonis, he's now wearing the white outfit that's been standard in the manga since he came out of the tank in Vol. 8--except none of that has happened at all in the anime version; Nii hasn't snagged the youkai prince yet. That mind-frying is most assuredly in Kou's future, but for now, he's chasing the same carrot on a stick as before: if he can get Sanzo's kyoumon for Gyokumen so she can revive Gyuumaou, his mother will finally be restored.

An almost chibi-esque Lirin is determined to help her big brother, and confronts Sanzo and company in a place with something strange going down: tiny bugs are buzzing into the townfolks' ears and transforming them into sorta-kinda electric zombies. The rest of the Kougaiji-ikkou aren't far behind Lirin, and the usual four-quarter battle is soon underway, Goku versus Kougaiji and Gojyo versus Dokugakuji and Hakkai versus Yaone and Sanzo keeping Lirin occupied. It's just like old times--but the party doesn't last long with all those darn possessed townpeople around. They may be barely animated, but they're still armed with nasty knives and the urge to carve up the Sanzo-ikkou...!

The bugs are under the control of youkai Mushitsukai (which means "bug-user." Watch for the future appearance of his twin brother Mushikui ["bug-eater"], and second cousin Hanakusotsukai ["booger-user"], and...;^) )--who, unknown to Kougaiji, turns out to have been sent on the same mission as Kougaiji by a certain person we love to loathe. Mushitsukai has some pretty nice digital effects on his side in springing his trap, and Lirin becomes his scariest weapon of all...but in the end Sanzo and Kougaiji prove to have some mighty digital chops of their own.

An aside: In the "Saiyuuki Reload Revolver Revolution" program book and at the event itself, Kougaiji's voice actor, Takeshi Kusao, mentioned that when he was asked to return for the new series, he was shown the new designs of the starring Sanzo-ikkou but there was nothing to see for his own character. He signed on anyway--he said he hopes this role continues for the next 10 years!--but the lack of planning for the Kougaiji-ikkou occasionally showed in this episode. (C'mon, guys, Dokugakuji isn't supposed to have claws; he keeps them short to handle that sword...Although in this episode of pumped-up characters [don't miss the shot of Sanzo with his chest like a wine keg!], Doku actually got away with being drawn somewhat rangy--more as in the manga, which was nice. Kou and Doku look weird with all-normal teeth, though; where are the pointy canines? It's nice to see that the fire-dragons that transport them have such big dewy eyes, though...;^) )

The episode ended with a 40-second installment of UraSai called "Aru Hi No Gogo" ("One Afternoon"), scripted and storyboarded by Minekura-sensei herself! The Sanzo-ikkou play a game in which the participants stand in a circle, put both fists into the ring, and take turns trying to predict the number of thumbs the players choose to lift on each go. If you guess correctly, you can take one hand out of the ring; the first player with both hands out wins. As the winner, Goku wants something to eat--but time has run out (announced by a voice from heaven; it's Tae Okazaki, the new voice of Hakuryuu) and the plug is pulled on the broadcast!

Next week, the series returns to its manga source with "Shijou Saikyou No Teki ?Lethal Weapon?" ("The Most Powerful Foes in History ?Lethal Weapon?"), an adaptation of Chapter 4 and probably also Chapter 5, with the Sanzo-ikkou having to take on...themselves!

10/02/2003: JUMBI WA II KA, YAROU-DOMO! It may be called "Reload," but Saiyuki's newest anime incarnation is a different caliber than before--and just might have the most firepower yet!

Tonight's premiere episode (script by Miya Asakawa, and animation staff headed by series director Tetsuya Endou [episode director and storyboard] and character designer Noriko Ootake [animation supervisor]) brought the "Saiyuki RELOAD" manga's first chapter, "Run," to animated life. That was no surprise, but the way the job was done made for a strong start. The episode mirrored the manga in a gratifyingly faithful adaptation. Some money and effort went into the animation. Digital technology has grown up since Gensomaden and made for some stylish effects overall. The score by jazz-fusion group Dimension and Daisuke Ikeda--think of some of the instrumentals in the Saiyuuki Image Albums, not beatnik bebop--seemed a smooth fit. The voice cast was fine, as always. (Some trivia, added 10/04: Jeep is called Hakuryuu as before, and is now performed by someone whose last name appears to be Okazaki; am not able to make out the first name yet.) Minekura-sensei's original art is prominent in both the opening and ending titles (and ohh yes, "barcoded" Kougaiji is there!), and I was surprised that the new theme songs--which frankly hadn't grabbed me when they were played at the Saiyuki Reload Revolver Revolution 2003 event--actually made for an engaging whole when coupled with the visuals! (The lyrics don't appear on the screen, but we were given lyric sheets for both songs at the event, so I may post them here later if there's any interest.)

The episode also closed with a surprise. In the recent November issue of ZERO-SUM (which, by the way, had two "Saiyuki RELOAD" chapters but no "Saiyuki Gaiden"...*sigh*), Minekura-sensei mentioned she was working on storyboarding something called UraSai. UraSai, it turns out, is a funny mini-feature, less than a minute long, that runs after the previews for the next episode! UraSai's first installment, "Go West," showed the animated answer to a question submitted on a postcard from a fan: "Why doesn't the Sanzo-ikkou go to India by plane?" This installment was storyboarded by director Endou, so Minekura-sensei's is still to come!

So Saiyuki Reload has come out swinging--but that said, there are some areas for concern. The episode's closing minutes had some poorly animated cuts, and I don't know what was going on with that computer-effect shot near the end bouncing our guys in the jeep around (you'll know it when you see it, believe me...), but I felt carsick just watching it! (Then again, I ignored the warning at the beginning of the episode to make sure the room you're watching in is well-lit, and happily watched in the dark...uh-oh... ;^) ) I also get a little worried when I see a series' opening title that has to rely on reusing so much of its first episode's footage.

Most of all, though, there was the preview for next week's episode, in which Kougaiji's group makes its entrance. As sharp as the new character designs looked in the first episode, as well-animated as the first episode was...it looks like that first episode might have enjoyed some production talent that was missing from the second. Here's hoping I'm wrong...

For more on Saiyuki RELOAD, be sure to visit TV Tokyo's SAIYUKI RELOAD page--you can download some of the actual commercial spots, and there's lots more to see there too!

Finally, if you're able to get to Tokyo by this Saturday, the ZERO-SUM exhibit at Animate Ikebukuro is well worth seeing. Minekura-sensei's work on display in the gallery includes 24 color paintings (including the astonishingly detailed covers of the new editions of the Saiyuki manga [even little hairs on the stems of the plants!] and some work for G-FANTASY too), six large black-and-white illustrations (recent color illustrations of Sanzo and Kougaiji, printed full-page in blue and red tones respectively [May and July 2003 ZERO-SUM], are actually monochrome pieces that then had color effects added by computer !), 15 pencil sketches for ZERO-SUM covers and other illustrations (complete with often-silly comments pencilled down the sides), and 12 of the most dramatic black-and-white pages from the Saiyuki and Saiyuki RELOAD manga. (I stood and gawked at The Greatest Manga Panel Ever Drawn, of the four sitting around a mahjongg table, scrabbling the tiles, viewed up through the table from below [check it out in Saiyuki Vol. 9, page 22]! Wowww...)

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This page was created October 2, 2003. Last updated August 2, 2005.

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.