Gensomaden Saiyuki Summary / Information
Demographic: Shonen Genre: Adventure, Action, Comedy , Historical Fiction, Drama
Saiyuki is the story of four reluctant - and irreverent - anti-heroes: the monk Genjyo Sanzo (or “Genjyo”), the monkey-youkai Son Goku, the half-youkai Sha Gojyo, and the man turned youkai Cho Hakkai, dispatched by the Sanbutsushin (the Three Aspects of Buddha, who relay the orders of heaven) to India to stop the possible resurrection of the Bull-Demon-King, Gyumaoh. Along the way they are beset by (inept) assassins, bad weather, and their tragic personal pasts. Meanwhile, the villains, two unlikely confidants, Gyokumen Koushou (Gyumaoh’s concubine, a youkai) and a mad scientist, Dr. Ni Jenyi (a human), continue their attempts to restore the long-dead king. These experiements, a forbidden mixture of science and magic, spawn the “Minus Wave”, infecting all youkai in Shangri-La with madness, shattering the fragile peace that once existed between human and youkai.