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andrasteDespite having been a Saiyuki fan since 2002, I'd never read Saiyuki Gaiden until this week. I was reading the manga in its official English release until TokyoPop went belly-up, and they never translated Gaiden. Also, I knew it would be sad.
However, I've now finished re-reading all of the official main series translations and, uh, acquired the remaining chapters. There was really nothing for it but to finally read the tragic backstory.
It is really sad. But not quite as hopeless as I thought it might be when I was half way through.
The first consolation of Gaiden is that the heavenly lives Konzen, Tenpou and Kenren give up to become Sanzo, Hakkai and Genjyo aren't worth a lot to them anyway. Konzen's divine boredom radiates off the page, while Tenpou and Kenren are heroic sacrifices just waiting for somewhere to happen. They love Goku partly because he's really alive in a world where there's so little life. Despite how hard their existence in the world below has been, I doubt any of them would go back.
The second consolation is that what they do isn't actually useless even though they're killed and Goku is caught. If they hadn't done anything, Goku would have been killed outright and Li Touten would have succeeded. Merely getting stuck in prison for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS is a win by comparison.
Also - and this is the part that actually made me cry - we finally get proof that Kanzeon Bosatsu really is the goddess of mercy. Despite being the source of all their trouble, she's on their side in her own special way. Hugging the Seiten Taisei takes serious guts.
Of course, now I'm intrigued by how all of this is going to impact on the present day story. We know that Nataku is still in play. It's obvious that, should the Sanzo-ikkou find out what happened five hundred years ago, they are going to be upset, pissed off and otherwise emotionally discombobulated. I don't know what I'm looking forward to more: the look on Goku's face when he remembers what Konzen, Ten-chan and Ken Nii-chan did for him, or the look on his face when he realises they came back.
It's possible that they still have some allies they don't know about, too, because we never find out the precise details of what happens to Marshall Tenpou's regiment, aka the Ants of Heaven. Tenpou tells them to kill everyone who saw them helping him, and as far as I can tell that's the last we hear. Late last year Minekura released a side story filling in some details about those guys and showing exactly why they're so loyal to Tenpou and Kenren, which makes me think we might see more of them in future. (The side story also involves Kenren cleaning Tenpou's room without his shirt on. Because those two somehow manage to be even more married than Hakkai and Gojyo.)
Most of all, though, I want everyone to find out that Hakuryuu used to be Goujun, Dragon King of the Western Sea, leader of Heaven's Western Army and all-around bad-ass. Hakkai and Gojyo's reactions to finding out they have been using their former superior officer as transportation have to be worth seeing.
Because I am secretly twelve I find it amusing that, due to Goujun's undeniable hotness, Saiyuki can be accurately summarized as 'four bishounen go for a long ride in a fifth.'
However, I've now finished re-reading all of the official main series translations and, uh, acquired the remaining chapters. There was really nothing for it but to finally read the tragic backstory.
It is really sad. But not quite as hopeless as I thought it might be when I was half way through.
The first consolation of Gaiden is that the heavenly lives Konzen, Tenpou and Kenren give up to become Sanzo, Hakkai and Genjyo aren't worth a lot to them anyway. Konzen's divine boredom radiates off the page, while Tenpou and Kenren are heroic sacrifices just waiting for somewhere to happen. They love Goku partly because he's really alive in a world where there's so little life. Despite how hard their existence in the world below has been, I doubt any of them would go back.
The second consolation is that what they do isn't actually useless even though they're killed and Goku is caught. If they hadn't done anything, Goku would have been killed outright and Li Touten would have succeeded. Merely getting stuck in prison for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS is a win by comparison.
Also - and this is the part that actually made me cry - we finally get proof that Kanzeon Bosatsu really is the goddess of mercy. Despite being the source of all their trouble, she's on their side in her own special way. Hugging the Seiten Taisei takes serious guts.
Of course, now I'm intrigued by how all of this is going to impact on the present day story. We know that Nataku is still in play. It's obvious that, should the Sanzo-ikkou find out what happened five hundred years ago, they are going to be upset, pissed off and otherwise emotionally discombobulated. I don't know what I'm looking forward to more: the look on Goku's face when he remembers what Konzen, Ten-chan and Ken Nii-chan did for him, or the look on his face when he realises they came back.
It's possible that they still have some allies they don't know about, too, because we never find out the precise details of what happens to Marshall Tenpou's regiment, aka the Ants of Heaven. Tenpou tells them to kill everyone who saw them helping him, and as far as I can tell that's the last we hear. Late last year Minekura released a side story filling in some details about those guys and showing exactly why they're so loyal to Tenpou and Kenren, which makes me think we might see more of them in future. (The side story also involves Kenren cleaning Tenpou's room without his shirt on. Because those two somehow manage to be even more married than Hakkai and Gojyo.)
Most of all, though, I want everyone to find out that Hakuryuu used to be Goujun, Dragon King of the Western Sea, leader of Heaven's Western Army and all-around bad-ass. Hakkai and Gojyo's reactions to finding out they have been using their former superior officer as transportation have to be worth seeing.
Because I am secretly twelve I find it amusing that, due to Goujun's undeniable hotness, Saiyuki can be accurately summarized as 'four bishounen go for a long ride in a fifth.'