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This first of a planned two CDs presenting the Hazel arc will be about 70 minutes long, with the regular crew as the Sanzo-ikkou, and Kouichi Toochika and Rikiya Koyama of Saiyuuki RELOAD GUNLOCK returning to their roles as Hazel and Gato, respectively. The CD is 2500 yen, with mail-orders being accepted through August 22 from ZERO-SUM readers in Japan.
With the super-nice Saiyuki RELOAD manga-art trading cards having come out on July 8, the next day circled on fans' calendars is July 25, when the highly anticipated "Saiyuubito" Saiyuki Series Official Guide book will join the first three Saiyuki novels, rescued from Enix limbo, in the latest wave of goodies being released by Ichijinsha.
Soon after, the August 12-14 Summer Comic Market will be held at Big Sight in Ariake, Tokyo, with Saiyuki doujinshi to sell on August 12. The goods in the commercial area will include Saiyuki RELOAD and GUNLOCK douga at the booth of vendor Commit.
As hot a Saiyuki summer as this is, August 16 just may be the most sizzling day of all, when the Summer 2005 WARD brings fans the first new chapter of Saiyuki Gaiden in more than two years!
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Already in Animate shops across Japan is a June bonanza of new goods adorned with full-color art from the Saiyuki RELOAD manga: clear shitajiki, clear postcards, a leather-like business card case packed with laminate cards, uchiwa hand fans, various stickers, memo pads, and much more! Animate has also been promoting the Saiyuki RELOAD manga-art trading cards coming out July 8; sold in packs of 6 random cards for 420 yen, the series of 90 cards will also be available in both a "yellow box" and "red box" release, with each box containing seven random packs for 2940 yen.
July 25 will bring a quartet of Saiyuki books! Back in the G-FANTASY days, Enix published four Saiyuki novels; the first three will be reprinted by Ichijinsha, Minekura-sensei announced on her official site NITRO. (There are currently no plans to reprint the fourth, which was a novelization of movie Gensomaden Saiyuki: Requiem.) And even better, joining the three novels in bookstores July 25 will be "Saiyuubito," commemorating the manga's 10-year anniversary! This guidebook covers Saiyuki, Saiyuki RELOAD and Saiyuki Gaiden, and will also have a section of fan contributions. (In her online diary, Minekura-sensei commented that she'd thought reading through all the contributions might be a mountain of work, but it turned out to be a mountain of treasure!)
For those who missed out on ZERO-SUM's two previous Saiyuki RELOAD drama CDs, "Snow Drop/Three Years Ago" and "Burial," Ichijinsha recently opened an online shop to sell what's left of its earlier exclusive CDs. The shop currently handles only domestic orders, but you can check it out at http://www.ichijinsha.co.jp/zerosum/shop/!
Meanwhile, the July issue of ZERO-SUM, which came out May 28, offered a giveaway of its own: two designs (Sanzo and Goku, or Gojyo and Hakkai) of a keitai cleaner and mail-guard seal (all shown at left).
Featuring Hakkai on its cover (scroll up a bit to see), the July ZERO-SUM served up a 29-page installment of Saiyuki RELOAD, complete with three color pages (including the two-page spread at above right; Jeep's head is unfortunately deep in the gutter of this 836-page book).
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To reach the form, go to http://www.ichijinsha.co.jp/zerosum/campaign/050517/, scroll down not quite halfway through the page, and click on the light-blue banner on the left. The form is in Japanese, but here's some help in filling it out (fields with a yellow "*" mark on the form are required):
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The June ZERO-SUM included a full-page announcement of two ways that fans can help fill the pages of this commemorative book (which at that time was tentatively called the "Saiyuki RELOAD Gensaku Mook"; its official title, "Saiyuubito," was announced on Minekura-sensei's official site NITRO May 10) . The first way to participate is to send in a question for any Saiyuki character you choose. The second way is to submit a piece of artwork, 6cm by 8cm (about 2 1/3 inches by 3 inches) or smaller, of your favorite Saiyuki character or moment from the Saiyuki, Saiyuki RELOAD or Saiyuki GAIDEN manga--it can be full-color, one color, black and white, whatever you like...but it can't be an image printed onto a postcard; it's got to be original art that you've drawn or painted directly onto the postcard. (Once you send it in, it's the property of Ichijinsha and won't be returned.)
Each submission should be sent on a postcard. The ZERO-SUM page is a little confusing, but Minekura-sensei clarified in her online diary on NITRO that you don't have to choose between a question or artwork, or try to shoehorn both a question and artwork onto one postcard; it's fine to send separate postcards to submit both a question and a piece of art. It's also fine to submit a message to her this way for possible use in the book, too.
You'll need a blank or nearly-blank postcard of standard size (about 10cm by 15cm, or about 4 inches by 6 inches). Publisher Ichijinsha's address goes on the front of the postcard, and your question, art, or message goes on the back. Address the front to:
JAPAN 160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-5-10 成信ビル８F
(CLICK HERE to go to a page with the address on a white background, in case it's useful to print it and paste it to the front of your postcard. ;^) )
In an area well removed from Ichijinsha's address, in smaller letters list your address, name, gender (male or female), telephone number, school grade or occupation, age, and pen name if you use one. (It's probably all right if this personal information isn't in Japanese.)
Your question, art or message goes on the back of the postcard. If submitting a question or message, your best chance for it to be used is to write it in Japanese.
The deadline for postcards to arrive is May 31 (a postcard sent by airmail to Japan generally takes 5 to 7 days to arrive), so there's not much time! Let's help Saiyuki celebrate this milestone by showing its strength worldwide!
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As the four rest at an inn, Hakkai takes the chance to ask Sanzo a somewhat embarrassingly overdue question--why exactly is Gyuumaoh's side trying to gather the various kyoumon that form the Tenchikaigen kyoumon?
By itself, each kyoumon has great power--but in combination with any of the others, that power intensifies exponentially. The five together had been used in the creation of the world; if they were ever to be put together again, what could happen is just unimaginable. So the Sanzos have been scattered to various areas, keeping the kyoumons apart from each other.
That prompts a powwow of his companions, with Gojyo worried whether it's all right for someone like Sanzo to have two kyoumons, and Goku figuring it must be the kyoumon that's so exalted, not its keeper. Sanzo crankily starts to slap them down by pointing out the kyoumon is an inherited responsibility...but stops as something suddenly dawns on him.
There's a monster with tremendous power in Tougenkyou too, Ukoku tells him--a monster that's the source of all disaster. Aghast, Hazel is all ears, and Ukoku continues with a quiet little smile, "Do you know of the Seiten Taisei?"(highlight to read!).
Earlier in the month, on April 25, "Saiyuki RELOAD" manga tankoubon volume 5 came out as scheduled. In addition to gathering Acts 17-21 of the "Even A Worm" arc, its 200 pages include a finished, full-color version of the picture of Goku and Gato trying each other's weapons that appeared in line-drawing form in the April ZERO-SUM, and a new black-and-white illustration each of Gojyo, gloves-off Hazel, and barefoot Sanzo.
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Hazel and Gato have cornered their quarry, a youkai youth who Hazel intends to separate from his soul. Hazel's persuasion to him to give up--and Sanzo's approach to convince him otherwise--make for highly charged moments, cementing a rivalry that Goku and Hazel agree will continue as the two groups again part: Will Hazel and Gato annihilate all the youkai first, or will the Sanzo-ikkou be able to stop the disaster radiating from Gyuumaoh before then?
As our four drive onward, Sanzo muses whether Gyuumaoh's side, so persistent in their pursuit of the kyoumons to use in reviving Gyuumaoh, could really have overlooked a person with Hazel's powers of resurrection...while, elsewhere, Hazel and Gato encounter a visitor (click HERE and HERE TOO to see...if you dare)!
Also this issue, ZERO-SUM put out the call for prospective assistants aged 20 and up, no prior experience as an assistant necessary, for nine of its featured manga-ka...including Minekura-sensei! If you can relocate to Kanagawa prefecture, are fluent in Japanese, don't mind working in close quarters with a heavy smoker, and are lightning-fast with dozens of different shading films, here's your chance...!
This ZERO-SUM also noted that Animates across Japan will give a special paper to everyone who buys the upcoming "Saiyuki RELOAD" Vol. 5 tankoubon (an ad with the book's cover art is shown at left) there from April 25-May 25--and that on May 7, Minekura-sensei will sign that book for 300 people at the Ikebukuro Animate in Tokyo. Some further details not in ZERO-SUM: The first 300 people to reserve the book at the Ikebukuro Animate are the lucky folks who get to attend the signing, and there will be two signing sessions on May 7, starting at 2:30pm and 4:30pm. Reservations were accepted starting March 30; a photo of the crowd outside the Ikebukuro Animate at 6:40am March 30 can be seen at Journey To The Rest Area. Watch for a special report on 12 Seconds In The Presence Of Minekura-Sensei right here on May 8!
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The missing chapter will run in the big third-year anniversary issue of ZERO-SUM later this month--and then April will bring Vol. 5 of the Saiyuki RELOAD tankoubon, Minekura-sensei recently revealed in her online diary at NITRO! (3/04 Update: According to the preorder form received by bookstores in Japan this week, Saiyuki RELOAD Vol. 5 will come out April 25.)
In the meantime, discussions made public last December by ZERO-SUM publisher Issaisha and distribution associate Studio DNA have finally reached a conclusion, with the result announced in the April 2005 ZERO-SUM: As of March 1, Issaisha and Studio DNA have officially merged into a new company called Ichijinsha! (The "Ichijinsha" kanji are 一迅社.)
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At its booth in the commercial area, ZERO-SUM publisher Issaisha sold an array of special goods.
Commit, which handles the sale of Pierrot's officially released douga and some of that studio's fukusei cel releases, was also present--with a booth filled with hundreds of Saiyuki RELOAD and Saiyuki RELOAD GUNLOCK douga, available for sale to the public for the first time! Commit also offered a limited-edition Saiyuki RELOAD telephone card.
The February 2005 issue of ZERO-SUM, featuring a 25-page Saiyuki RELOAD installment with three pages of opening color (including a two-page spread created as an image of song "Destination" from "Saiyuki RELOAD Vocal Album Vol. 2," Minekura-sensei explained in her online diary on NITRO), brought a memorable new entrance for now-green-haired Zakuro, and also a powerful new friend for Goku to idolize, and also escalating tension between Hakkai and Hazel, who would love to put Jeep to use in motorized pursuit of youkai!
Driving hard to fill that fifth tankoubon, Minekura-sensei served up a 46-page Saiyuki RELOAD chapter in the March 2005 ZERO-SUM that came out last Friday (that issue also reported that readers voted Hakkai the scariest-seeming character to appear in ZERO-SUM's pages). In three beautiful sequences of introspection and interaction, the six branch into pairs you might not expect--and then it's back to full-blast toward the looming conclusion, with Sanzo looking dispassionately on as his youkai companions can finally take no more and square off against Hazel and Gato...and as, off in Houtou Castle, Nii's bunny meets a startling fate that takes us into whole new territory! (Click the image below to see...but for gosh sakes, don't look if you don't want to know!)
7/25/2005: 'SAIYUUBITO' SIDETRACKED "Saiyuubito," the anxiously anticipated 10th-anniversary commemorative guidebook to the Saiyuki world, will need a little longer to reach fans' hands. Originally planned to hit bookstores in Japan today along with the reissued first three Saiyuki novels (the novels came out as scheduled), "Saiyuubito" has met a slight delay and will instead join the September ZERO-SUM in publisher Ichijinsha's July 28 shipment to shops.
7/20/2005: COMIKET QUICKIE The Summer Comic Market, to be held August 12-14 at Big Sight in Ariake, Tokyo, will welcome 161 Saiyuki circles on the first day of the event. Meanwhile, in the commercial area, Saiyuki publisher Ichijinsha plans to offer a variety of special goods at its ZERO-SUM-centric booth all three days, including "Kozerosum" Vol. 4 and signed editions of DNA Media Comics.
7/10/2005: THE SAIYUKI SUMMER HEATWAVE CONTINUES! Hitting bookshops in Japan on June 28, the August 2005 ZERO-SUM featured the 14-page latest installment of Saiyuki RELOAD and the scoop on the latest Zero-Sum Original Drama CD, "Saiyuki RELOAD: Hazel 1"! The CD's cover is new art by Minekura-sensei, natch, and is shown at right.
6/20/2005: SUMMER FUN, SAIYUKI STYLE! Adding sizzle to the summertime, a flock of Saiyuki releases will hit bookstores and anime specialty shops this month and the next!
She also revealed on NITRO that Ichijinsha's next Saiyuki RELOAD Drama CD will be "Even A Worm" Vol. 1! As with past entries, this ZERO-SUM exclusive will be available for purchase by readers for two months, starting with the August issue that goes on sale June 28.
5/19/2005: "SAIYUUBITO" NOW TAKING SUBMISSIONS ONLINE! [updated 5/23] To help make it as easy as possible for fans to contribute questions and art to upcoming Saiyuki anniversary book "Saiyuubito," publisher Ichijinsha has added an online "Saiyuubito" contribution form to its web site!
Now there's nothing to stop you--except the deadline, May 31 Japan time (when the calendar might still be saying May 30 in some parts of the world), so don't miss out! Let's help Saiyuki celebrate this milestone by showing its strength worldwide!
5/16/2005: IT'S OFFICIAL--"GAIDEN" TO RETURN! The Spring 2005 issue of ZERO-SUM's quarterly sister publication WARD came out today, featuring a gorgeous full-color fold-out Saiyuki Gaiden poster (all new art by Kazuya Minekura, of course!) and the news that Saiyuki Gaiden, on hiatus since mid-2003, will resume in the next issue of WARD! That Summer 2005 issue will go on sale in Japan this August.
5/09/2005 (updated 5/12): INVITATION TO THE CELEBRATION! Slated for release sometime this summer, "Saiyuubito"--the book celebrating 10 years of Saiyuki (see SAIYUUKI NEWEST NEWS 3/07/2005 "Birthday Book!")--is taking shape...and fans are invited to take part!
（株）一迅社 最遊記D 愛読者アンケート系
5/01/2005: NEW "RELOAD" REVEALS A NEW TARGET! In the June 2005 Monthly Comic ZERO-SUM's 21-page installment of "Saiyuki RELOAD"--including three pages of opening color, shown at right and below left--Minekura-sensei's personal early-March epiphony (see SAIYUUKI NEWEST NEWS 4/06/2005 "Zero-Sum Turns 3!") shifted the "Even A Worm" arc onto an intriguing new course.
Having parted ways with Hazel and Gato, the Sanzo-ikkou finds an unexpected haven in a thoroughly stone-paved city built on land protected from youkai intrusion. They're told that years ago, a Taoist who would head the city invoked a magic protective boundary to keep youkai off its plot of ground. To this day, the area youkai don't dare test it--but yet the entire Sanzo-ikkou is able to enter the city with no problem at all, leading Gojyo to suspect it's a cock-and-bull story.
Although the details are something handed down from Sanzo to Sanzo, Genjyo Sanzo goes ahead and explains that the Tenchikaigen kyoumon is made up of not only the Maten and Seiten kyoumons, but also three others: the Uten, Muten and Kouten kyoumons. The people chosen to protect the five are the Sanzos. Just as his Maten kyoumon has the power to purify evil, each kyoumon is endowed with unique abilities: the Maten governs evil spirits and the yin principle; the Seiten governs holiness and the yang principle; the Kouten governs the unknown and the infinite; the Uten governs life and its surroundings; and the Muten governs death and nothingness.
In the meantime, Hazel and Ukoku are catching up on old times. It's been more than a decade since they were last together, when Ukoku had spent two weeks at the church of Hazel's master and told young Hazel about Tougenkyou. Ukoku asks after Bishop Filbert, and Hazel explains that his master the Bishop--an exorcist too kindly disposed toward monsters--was killed 10 years ago. When Ukoku asks for details, Hazel's memories are hazy; what remains are thoughts of trying to run away and the monster's tremendous power.
4/13/2005: BIG "GAIDEN" NEWS! From Minekura-sensei's official site NITRO comes the news that the Spring 2005 issue of WARD, ZERO-SUM's quarterly sister publication, will have a Saiyuki Gaiden poster and important announcement about that manga series! With this issue of WARD to be the last for Minekura's Hachi No Su, anticipation is high that Saiyuki Gaiden will take its place in WARD's pages. We'll find out for sure when the Spring 2005 WARD comes out on May 16--almost exactly two years after the last time Saiyuki Gaiden saw print (in the July 2003 ZERO-SUM that came out May 28, 2003).
4/06/2005: ZERO-SUM TURNS 3! Monthly Comic ZERO-SUM celebrated its third anniversary with its 790-page May 2005 issue, featuring a fine spread of special phone cards as special write-in giveaway gifts for readers (the especially-tasty quartet of cards for "Saiyuki RELOAD" is shown at right) and the 24-page chapter of "Saiyuki RELOAD" missing from last month's issue, part 8 of the "Even a worm" arc!
(Early last month, Minekura-sensei had confided in her online diary on NITRO that for the last several months she'd felt she was groping in the dark with the story, trapped with no way out...until the night of March 7, when she found the light at last. Brought to tears by relief and inspiration, she realized there's much more to this story--and the best is ahead!)
3/07/2005: BIRTHDAY BOOK! This year is the 10th anniversary of the birth of Minekura-sensei's Saiyuki, and the latest project update at her site NITRO made intriguing mention of a new book that's just in time to celebrate the occasion! The "Saiyuki Series Guidebook" will cover manga Saiyuki, Saiyuki RELOAD and Saiyuki Gaiden. Its size and format haven't been announced yet, but the book is slated to come out this summer from Ichijinsha.
3/02/2005: SPRING BREAK FOR MINEKURA, AND CHANGE FOR ISSAISHA! Although 24 pages had been alloted for the April 2005 ZERO-SUM's Saiyuki RELOAD installment, Minekura-sensei needed to take a short-notice break for her health. So the issue wound up with just one Saiyuki RELOAD page--but it's a fun one, with Minekura's apology accompanied by a full-page ink drawing of Goku and Gato checking out each other's weapons!
2/04/2005: THE VOICE OF THE SENSEI...ON CD! Today in her online diary at NITRO, self-effacing Minekura-sensei wrote that she was startled to read that her interview segment broadcast on "Radio ZERO-SUM" last October is the bonus track on the new "Radio ZERO-SUM Talk Pack 2" CD! Gathering several highlights of the manga monthly's promotional radio show, the "Radio ZERO-SUM Talk Pack 2" CD is currently available by mail-order to ZERO-SUM readers. The ordering deadline is February 21, and the 2500-yen CD is planned to ship next month.
1/31/2005: NEW YEAR STARTS WITH A BIG RELOAD BANG! As the calendar closed on 2004, fans in Japan found a sizeable spread of Saiyuki RELOAD goodies at Tokyo Big Sight's Winter Comic Market, December 29-30.
Highlights included a Saiyuki Gaiden mousepad (shown at right--and remember, 2005 is the year the embargo against reprinting Saiyuki Gaiden in tankoubon form ends...) and special "self-parody" manga publication KOZERO-SUM Vol. 3, for which Minekura-sensei drew a six-page murder-mystery strip titled "What if Sanzo was a detective...?"
Minekura-sensei's personal site NITRO
helped greet the New Year by breaking the news that "Salty-Dog III," a hardcover art collection featuring 62 of her latest Saiyuki RELOAD works--a few presented for the first time!--will come out February 25. (Click the "Salty-Dog III" ad at left to see Studio DNA's color "Salty-Dog III" solicitation sheet sent in mid-January to shops that carry ZERO-SUM!) Plans also call for the fifth Saiyuki RELOAD tankoubon and a series of Saiyuki RELOAD manga-art trading cards to come out in the spring; the specific dates have not yet been announced.
In her October interview broadcast on Radio ZERO-SUM, Minekura-sensei said the events in the manga version of the Hazel arc would be different from those in the animated version. The two versions still basically have much in common--but when it comes to character business, she wasn't kidding!
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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/Ichijinsha; 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.
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