SAIYUKI

Plot

See also: List of Saiyuki characters

Saiyuki is the story of four anti-heroes: the monk Genjyo Sanzo (or just “Sanzo”), the monkey king Son Goku, the half-demon Sha Gojyo, and the man-turned-demon Cho Hakkai (formerly known as Cho Gonou). They have been dispatched by the Sanbutsushin (the Three Aspects of Buddha, who relay the orders of heaven) to travel to India to stop the possible resurrection of the Ox-Demon-King, Gyumaoh. Along the way they are beset by inept assassins, bad weather, and their own tragic personal pasts. Meanwhile, the villains, two unlikely confidants, Gyokumen Koushou (Gyumaoh’s concubine, a demon) and a mad scientist, Dr. Nii Jianyi (a human), continue their attempts to restore the long-dead king. These experiments, a forbidden mixture of science and magic, spawn the “Minus Wave”, infecting all of the demons in Shangri-La with madness, shattering the fragile peace that once existed between humans and demons.

Genjyo Sanzo
One of the main characters and a priest, he is the one who brought the group together to travel to the west under the command from the Sanbutsushin and from Kanzeon Botatsu, the Goddess of Mercy. He is also the one who released Goku from his 500 year prison and who now looks after him like a father. He carries the Maten scripture that some are after but uses his gun (a silver banishing gun in the anime and an ordinary snub-nosed revolver in the manga) as his main weapon. Some demons come after him because they believe that eating a priest would make them immortal, but that was soon proved wrong.Sanzo is voiced by Toshihiko Seki in Japanese, with the exception in the original OVA in which he is voiced by Wataru Takagi. In the English Dub, he is voiced by David Matranga in the original series and Requiem, while in Reload and Gunlock he is voiced by Lex Lang.

Hakkai
Cho Hakkai (豬八戒^?) is the mild, polite and level-headed member of the group who always looks out for their day to day well-being. Hakkai rarely displays anger, but when he does even Gojyo and Goku are afraid of him. He also is able to manipulate chi, allowing him to heal others (depending on how wounded they are), and create blasts of chi and make protective barriers. Hakkai also owns a pet dragon, named Hakuryuu (or Jeep). Formerly, Cho Hakkai had been known as Cho Gonou and worked as a school teacher. He was romantically involved with his elder sister, Kanan (not Kanaan), though they hadn’t originally known this as they had grown up in separate orphanages (this is revealed in the manga, but is never made clear in the anime). Kanan was later raped by a youkai noble, Hyakugen Maoh, while Gonou was away at work, and despite being rescued, she committed suicide, not wanting to bear the child. Originally human, Hakkai had changed into a youkai after massacring 1000 youkai, consisting of his neighbouring villagers, a tribe of crow demons who were blackmailed into sacrificing Kanan in order to save themselves, as well as Hyakugen Maoh himself and the rest of his clan/household. Hakkai is found by Gojyo near-death, and is later tracked down by Sanzo and Goku. He tries to run away, but is confronted by the last surviving member of the crow tribe he massacred who tells Hakkai he ripped out the eyes of his dead brother. To atone, Hakkai proceeds to rip out his own right eye. He is about to tear out his left eye as well but is stopped by Goku. Hakkai then kills the demon, stating that he wants to keep living. In penance for his crime, Cho Gonou was metaphorically killed and reborn as Cho Hakkai. To control his youkai powers, Hakkai wears a set of 3 power limiters, in the form of ear cuffs on his left ear, and he rarely removes them, only doing so when absolutely necessary. As a youkai, although much stronger, he becomes susceptible to the minus waves. Hakkai is voiced by Akira Ishida in Japanese, and Braden Hunt for the original series and Requiem. Steve Cannon voiced Hakkai in English for Reload and Gunlock.

Gojyo
Sha Gojyo (沙悟浄^?) is a hanyou,^[4] a cross between a youkai and a human, and uses the Shakugetsujou, a metal weapon staff with a sickle and chain, as his primary weapon. In the anime it is revealed that Gojyo can hold his breath for prolonged periods of time while submerged, possibly an inheritance from his demon father, who may have been a water demon (hence, Gojyo’s own nickname as “Kappa”). His eyes and hair are blood-red, which expresses his status as a half-blood. Due to this, he is labeled as taboo and unclean by general society. As a child, he was perpetually being either ignored or beaten by his stepmother, who had been devastated to learn that her husband had an affair with a human woman. In the manga, Gojyo’s father and his human mother commit suicide; there is no explanation of their deaths given in the anime. After the deaths of his father and mother Gojyo was given to his father’s youkai wife. He was very close to his older brother, Jien, who constantly pacified his mother whenever she became violent toward Gojyo (in the manga, it is revealed that Mama Sha and Jien begin a sexual relationship at this time, but this is never expressly stated in the anime), especially whenever he tried to cheer her up as she was in a permanent state of depression over her husband’s infidelity and death. Eventually, their mother goes insane and attempts to kill Gojyo (using her bare hands in the anime and an ax in the manga). Jien kills his mother to save Gojyo’s life, but not before she carves two deep scratches into the side of Gojyo’s face. Torn with shame and guilt over the tragedy, Jien abandons Gojyo, and the brothers only meet again years later on opposite sides of their current conflict. Gojyo smokes, gambles, and flirts with nearly every woman he meets (the last trait is implied to be mainly due to the trauma of being unloved by his abusive stepmother, despite his constant efforts at winning her affection). He and Goku are also prone to fighting, like brothers will. Gojyo is quick to defend others and holds particular sympathy towards threatened children. Gojyo is voiced by Hiroaki Hirata in Japanese, with the exception of the first OVA series, in which he was voiced by Kōichi Yamadera. He is voiced by Illich Guardiola in English for the original series and Requiem, and voiced by Tony Oliver for Reload and Gunlock.

Goku
Son Goku (孫悟空, Son Gokū^?) is the cheerful “Monkey King”^[2] who uses a staff, known as the Nyoi-Bo,^[3] as his primary weapon. There is no explanation given in the anime as to the origin of Goku’s weapon; in the manga, it is revealed that the Nyoi-bo was sealed in a canister in the temple, which he and Gojyo shattered whilst goofing off. He is the Seiten Taisei, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and whose true self and powers are released when his diadem is removed. As the Seiten Taisei he is very destructive and cruel, and nearly invincible. He’s even able to take in the Earth’s energy and regenerate because he was spawned from the sheer energy of the earth itself. During Saiyuki Gaiden, Goku was made a ward of Konzen and befriends both Tenpou and Kenren. When his diadem was removed, Goku killed many celestial beings in his craze. Konzen, Tenpou, and Kenren work to protect Goku, but all four became banished from Heaven. Goku was locked in cage high in the mountains and lost his memories. Goku is found by Sanzo and freed from his imprisonment, and Sanzo becomes something like a foster father to Goku. Goku accompanies Sanzo on his mission to track down Hakkai, and helps to prevent Hakkai from killing himself, and Hakkai later becomes his teacher. Goku joins Sanzo, Hakkai, and Gojyo to stop the resurrection of Gyumaoh, during which he discovered that he was Seiten Taisei, having previously been aware of it. Goku is voiced by Sōichirō Hoshi in Japanese, with the exception of when he was voiced by Kōsuke Okano in the first OVA series. He is voiced in English by Greg Ayres in the original series and Requiem, while Yuri Lowenthal voiced him in Reload and Gunlock.