Saiyuki Beginner's Guide - Complete Anime Review & Watch Order

[@Accelerator0001]

I was so young when I first saw Gensomaden Saiyuki. I think berserk goku vs Kougaiji in the desert was my very first episode. I fell in love with this series because of Son Goku; I just thought he was so badass during his transformation and mysterious.

[@johans9866]

Saiyuki video in 2023??? wow... I'm a huge fan of the manga series and still waiting for it to update :(

[@ethanalvarez81]

Someone has made a video on Saiyuki!!!

[@serenadhillon8276]

Thank you so much for this video, I've always loved this series, but there is so little content around it. And this explains everything so clearly. You are doing god's work

[@bobsamurai]

glad to help!

[@jeebay5188]

I had watched saiyuki, and the first few episodes of Saiyuki reloaded. I enjoyed what I had seen.

[@ranger12YX]

I've always had a soft spot for those 90s/2000s shounens

[@henrytomas]

Your videos and anime recommendations are the only thing keeping me going at this point. Thanks.

[@bobsamurai]

glad to help

[@MoodyBabbles]

I'm a long time fan since Gensomaden Saiyuki. I didn't follow Reload because there were some changes, but I see now I should have given it a chance. But I always liked all characters. Recently I watched Gaiden and Reload Blast and it just re ignited my love of the anime.

[@Arcaeau]

I was reading GOH and found buddha referring to mori/seiten taisei as son goku and i found this character in saiyuki by researching. Definitely gonna get into this, this summer

[@ditta7865]

Saiyuki was on a strange list back in the day and when men saw it they didn't know much about its past and what it was based on except for the bit about the journey to the West. We were given a DVD or seen a show and then it was in the list of what we saw. Pretty sure I saw half of it out of order and then the rest of it. I couldn't get my hands on and it wasn't even finished

[@ethanalvarez81]

Finally!!!!!!

[@bobsamurai]

LOL ikr? Saiyuki rarely gets talked about

[@CornishCreamtea07]

Thank you for the watch order, it's very daunting when you see a series has a load of TV shows, OVAs and Movie with no clear chronological order.

[@shinyanakagawa8241]

The chronological order is the manga release order. Saiyuki>Saiyuki Reload> Saiyuki Reload Blast. Then we got Saiyuki Gaiden and Saiyuki Ibun (origin story of Sanzo's master Koumyou and the turning point of Ukoku//Ni Jianyi) serve as prequels. For the anime, it is a little bit tricky since they juggled the manga arc quite a lot and scatter them where they see fit. But for the sake of your own sanity, just follow the release order of the anime. Gensomaden Saiyuki> Saiyuki The Movie> Saiyuki Reload> Saiyuki Reload Gunlock>Saiyuki Reload Blast. You can ignore the 1999 Interactive OVA since it is served as a promotional pilot, you can always revisit it whenever you want. Then, you can enjoy the prequel OVAs, Saiyuki Gaiden and Saiyuki Burial. Though Saiyuki Gaiden arc were sprinkled in Gensomaden Saiyuki (in flashback episodes, it serves as the promotional content to promote Gaiden manga which was currently running at that time), and also completely redone in Saiyuki Reload Blast anime. I highly recommend watching Reload Blast version of this arc because the character design is a lot crispier and decently animated whereas the OVA had a lot of stills/slideshows and the design is kinda off model compared to the manga and other anime seasons. The only best part of the Gaiden OVA was the soundtracks and the voice acting. The last arc in Saiyuki Reload anime is actually the final arc told in Saiyuki manga, whereas the first cour of Reload anime are fillers. Reload Blast is a through and through adaptation of the on going Reload Blast manga, padded with complete Gaiden arc in the middle of the season. The latest anime season, Saiyuki Zeroin is an actual adaptation of the final arc in Saiyuki Reload manga, in which has been partially adapted in the final arc in Saiyuki Reload Gunlock anime. Gunlock diverged from the manga midway through the arc because the anime caught up beyond the manga content. I advice that take a look at Gunlock's first cour since they are Saiyuki Reload original content plus some decent fillers that are actually good.

[@Zero_did_nothing_wrong]

The Saiyuki watch order has always confused me since the anime adapted the manga out of order. I had always wondered if I were supposed to watch it the way the manga was released. FYI, not all of Saiyuki is josei. The original and Gaiden are shonen because they were serialized in a shonen magazine called GFantasy.

[@bobsamurai]

it may have started in a shounen magazine, but its content was very consistent with what would come later. Strange choice for it to go there, but I guess there was a good amount of thematic overlap. As for the manga order, I gave up on trying to sort that out. It seemed more complicated than the anime because there were some random 1 shots in between major installments. Plus I couldn't find a lot of it translated, sadly. Would be cool if it were officially licensed and released in a big manga box

[@londonjackson8986]

I'm definitely excited for that (likely HUGE) Beginner Guide to the Original Xiyouji (lit, West-Journey-Record or Record of Journey to the West) Novel & it's Countless Adaptations. I've read & finish most of the original novel (Anthony C. Yu's Unabridged Translation) several months ago & have watched plenty of Chinese (Donghua) & Japanese (Anime) Adaptations over the past few years, so I'm a bit fair of an expert on our Dedicated Chinese Buddhist Monk (Tang Sanzang/Seng), his 3 Morally-Grey/Questionable Yaoguai Disciples (Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie/Wuneng & Sha Wujing) and their Long 84-Chapter Journey to India. On a Side-Note: I find it definitely surprising how Minekura's Saiyuki (Japanese for Xiyouji) Manga actually got it's start thanks to Doraemon's Movie Parody of Xiyouji/JttW & not Minekura just reading a Japanese Translation of the Original Novel for inspiration, like I thought. Then again, after seeing Toriyama's original concept design for his VERY loose interpretation of Son Goku (you can tell he was BLATANTLY inspired by Tezuka's Boku no Son Goku), I probably shouldn't be too surprise, should I...

[@LovesDarkness]

Literally my FAVOURITE anime EVER!!! For the last 20+ years Also... It's Not Gojo... It's Gojyo.

[@fullpetalalchemist]

Thank you for this. I am so grateful

[@shadowofthenorthstar989]

i remember this anime it was my childhood but its been a while since ive watched it

[@Chibikurokun]

I love Saiyuki!

[@xanderx51]

Ty this was helpful.

[@animebackwhen]

Idk what it is about Saiyuki I never liked but I could never stand it and it’s too long. But I’m glad it’s finally clarified about it not being a adaptation of journey to the west

[@DamienMuto]

my question is, maybe i missed it, how/when does the series end? maybe like you said, its the type of show you enjoy for the journey, not the final fight... but dam... i watched the original in 2001 or sum, reload, reload sumthin else,.... and the final boss hasn't even growled yet lol and i also bonded most to the original english voices, so i gotta get use to probably 3 different sanzos lol

[@achsdu17]

Love the description... a long road trip with gods credit card and for emotional healing. 😂 I do really enjoy watching this series, but even if it comes off as gay... especially in season 1. Never bothered me. I like the main plot, and wish there was more progression. Especially when you bring in guys like Okoku Sanzo / Dr. Ni. Then of course we have that shock ending in Reload Blast. I'm really happy they went back and did Zeroin, mainly for the Dr. Ni arc. It was hinted at, but it was something that should not be skipped. Loved Burial... you never mentioned Saiyuki Guiden. That was the original 3 part OVA series that went over the gangs past lives. Though Reload Blast did fix one major problem with it... why Goku was targeted and what set off the chain of events for their execution. I hope we get new Saiyuki soon... it's a series I highly enjoy and is a must watch when it's on. 9/10 for me.

[@bobsamurai]

I covered gaiden but later in the video. I do hope they keep making them though it’s still solid as is

[@ShantesTravelThings]

kogaashi was weak af. i thought he was gonna be more of a sasuke friend/foe type

[@Slorrpee]

Honestly I loved Saiyuki in my childhood and im so glad you made content for this anime, i tried to rewatch this as an adult and realized my love towards certain characters such as Sanzo and Hakkai, especially Hakkai's back story. 🥹

[@Chibikurokun]

I have the art book the manga is gorgeous!

[@CCJ1998]

I think the dub changes turned me off this anime initially. ADV did a great dub on the first series, then Geneon did a so so one on the second. Funimation got the ADV gang back together to do the later ones. Shame they didn't go back and redo the second one. I really enjoy the male focus, not enough of these since most of the animes I see come out these days is full of screaming screeching girls with way oversized breasts.

[@LovesDarkness]

There are no words to describe how much I miss Illich Guardiola as Gojyo 😭

[@civilwarfare101]

This seems kind of interesting...the OVAs sound the most up my alley since it has good fights and it's like Samurai X. I'll look into the show and I'll try to keep in mind that there is no real overarching plot, it being a Josei sounds intriguing too. I think I'll watch the OVAs and the original series and then see if it captures my interest. The fact that the voice actors aren't consistent in the dub is a bummer however, but if an anime is good, I can look past the language barrier. I am wondering if I do become a fan of the series if it's structure can sustain itself, not even sure if I can continue to watch Sailor Moon without doing something while it is playing, it's a great background noise show but I want to start to view it as something more than that since it's pretty lengthy.

[@bobsamurai]

yea if you're not planning on getting into the franchise, you could just watch burial and requiem, just don't confuse it with understanding what the anime is about, as that only brushes the surface of the characters

[@civilwarfare101]

@@bobsamurai I tend to watch anime movies and OVAs of long running anime as a quick "gateway" of sorts in the franchise. Same reason why people watch movie adaptations of superhero comics and books and even play a good licensed game. It's a quick way to get into the series without an overwhelming time investment.

[@Bewefau]

It was cool anime and goku was cute even demon mode I'd still hit it 😍 it was funny too hearing goku and gojo's fights.

[@naimamirul7453]

from black myth wukong to saiyuki

[@bobsamurai]

looking for something close to the book? check out the Chinese 2011 tv series journey to the west

[@omegashenron8]

I remember seeing this series around growing up. I just never bothered with it cause it looked like it had yaoi themes.

[@NightStarOP]

Who is the Main character of the anime.?

[@84jordie]

The monk.

[@Chibikurokun]

Sanzo

[@chahinebourenane6291]

Why does friendship always become gay with you ? What'z fuckin wrong with this generation ? The video started good honedtly then it went down hill.

[@bobsamurai]

Always? Did you only watch the few gay anime I reviewed?