English Dub Series Review: Saiyuki Reload Blast

The journey to the west takes a turn for the worst.

Overview (Definite Spoilers)

Courtesy: Funimation

Man, do you remember Saiyuki? I do. The art style, the irreverent bickering humor, the action… Well, it’s back, and just as strong as ever. For those that don’t remember, this is a modern retelling of the ancient Chinese epic Journey to the West. In it, a Buddhist monk went with three super-powered bodyguards across the continent of Asia to reacquire a sacred scripture and bring it back to China. This story has gone on to inspire different anime and video games throughout the years. Dragon Ball is a big one, but it also inspired some of the bosses in Mega Man: The Wily Wars. Journey to the West is a vital part of the pan-Asian culture, much like Lord of the Rings is for America. In Saiyuki, the tale is faithful to the original epic in spirit but seen through fresh eyes that gawk at rugged bishounen.

Saiyuki Reload Blast is much further down the trail of their story, and it begins to fill in bits of the plot about what is really going on here, and why these boys are now the buddies they are. The first few episodes were normal enough for the show. If you haven’t watched the previous entries in the franchise (Saiyuki, Saiyuki Reload, Saiyuki Reload Gunlock, and a couple of OVAs), they serve to introduce the characters and get you used to the format of the show. Genjo Sanzo travels to reacquire the missing scriptures that were used to create the universe. He has one, but the enemy has three. The enemy is a bunch of demons who intend to use it to resurrect their king. His bodyguards are Goku, an amnesiac boy with a bottomless stomach and the brains of a monkey, Gojyo, a half-demon womanizer who loves to smoke, and Hakkai, a calm chi-user who became a demon when he murdered over one hundred of them in one night. Oh, and they drive around in a jeep that is really a dragon, and there should be a bumper sticker for that sort of thing. Multiple episodes form a flashback arc in the middle of the season. In it, we discover that these four (five?) were all once in heaven, and a conflict with heaven’s bureaucracy caused them to be killed and reborn in their current form. But that only acts as an explanation for what comes next.

Courtesy: Funimation

The Sanzo party takes a pit stop at the Kouten Temple, home to another of Genjo’s order, Sharak Sanzo. She bears the Kouten scripture, which she uses to protect the town from crazed demons and allow those demons that haven’t succumbed to the evil energy suffusing the land to live in peace. They come under attack by Kougaji, their main nemesis throughout the show, but he is quickly put down by another party. Prince Nataku, the War God, arrives and lays waste to the demons. They may not know it, but this Nataku was at the heart of the conflict that caused the Sanzo party to be reincarnated. In short order, the boys are told to pack their bags and head home. They’ve been fired, and Nataku is taking their place. But, when he goes berserk and starts attacking innocents, the Sanzo party breaks out their party favors (read as guns and bladed implements) and goes to town on the doll-like killing machine. They are beaten but force him to remember painful memories, which causes him to retreat. The boys then continue on their mission, determined to recover the scriptures and end the evil Gyumaoh once and for all.

Our Take

This show is everything Saiyuki was in my youth, only with much better resolution. The action is hard hitting, and the characters are brooding, without getting monotonous. Why? Goku and Gojyo are the comedy duo that their post-apocalyptic version of China and India deserves. The two bicker constantly, but when someone else gets into the mix, the two of them double team with unparalleled sass. It’s almost like having MST3K: the Anime, only with Gypsy being a bespectacled man. At the same time, the story follows the tale of the Journey to the West without making it stale. Have you read all of these ancient Chinese poems? I didn’t get past Goku’s backstory, but I know how the rest goes. That doesn’t matter here. The writing admixes the characters in strange new ways with this dark fantasy/post-apocalyptic world. You have no clue where this series is going to go, except to Gyumaoh’s doorstep.

Part of why Goku and Gojyo are so good is their delivery of their jokes. This is all due to Greg Ayres and Ian Sinclair, who provided their voices. Greg has been on Goku-duty since the 90’s and knows this character inside and out. Ian is new to Gojyo, but has settled into the role so well, I almost couldn’t tell. They have excellent comic timing and seem like they genuinely enjoy playing these characters. When every comedic line feels like it was an outtake, you know they’re having fun and making the characters their own.

Courtesy: Funimation

The art in this show is unique. The characters have interesting angles to their faces, making them look hard and stoic, yet regal at the same time. There is exceptional detail put into each frame of animation, because the show’s direction knows a great shortcut to making the action feel epic, without breaking their budget. If you look closely, each shot during combat has the characters standing still, but being slid across the screen while they talk or chains move in front of them in a cycled animation. Then, there is a blood spurt or a flash, and the shot changes. This concept is used to make the characters appear to move far more than they actually are. In our modern era of digital processing for animation, the cycled animation is even easier to work with than it ever was. Now, all sorts of effects are possible with a button click. The animators use this to their advantage to move characters around and make them advance or recede on the camera without ever redrawing. That way, all of their efforts can be focused on making the frames look good. I would have liked to see them break out of this style a bit more often, but the studio got so good at it, you’ll still feel the hits of the battlefield.

So, if you haven’t picked up this epic tale, you definitely should. Excellent action, solid character growth, good animation, and laughs galore. You don’t need to have seen everything to get what is going on, but I would at least recommend watching the original series on Hulu. It does make things more dramatic. This series gets nine points out of ten, and not just because of my nostalgia.

Oh, and watch past the credits of every episode. Most have a comedic aside called Uru Sai that you shouldn’t miss.

SCORE
9.0/10