Minekura Kazuya - Saiyuki Gaiden, vol. 02

Go me! I read the whole thing in Japanese without the help of my trusty electronic dictionary!

This would probably be more impressive if I chose to do it without my trusty electronic dictionary because my Japanese was so wonderful. Alas, it is actually because I have misplaced my trusty electronic dictionary. I guess that makes it my not-so-trusty occasionally-lost electronic dictionary.

This is a companion piece to Minekura's Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload. It's not a sequel. Instead, it tells the story of Hakkai, Sanzo and Gojyo's previous incarnations -- Tenpou Gensui, Konzen Douji and Kenren Taisho (respectively). Note that "Gensui" and "Taisho" are actually Tenpou and Kenren's ranks, so I'm assuming "Douji" is a rank as well. Goku is still Goku.

Instead of being in quasi-modern, quasi-historical China replete with youkai, Gaiden is set in Heaven (Tenkai, literally "Sky/heaven world"). Not traditional Heaven, but the sort of dwelling place of the ancient gods of China Heaven. This made me very happy, since this is where the beginning chunks of Journey to the West are set. Tenpou is a marshal of heaven and Kenren is one of the generals reporting to him. Konzen is the nephew or something of Kanzeon Bosatsu. The entire story basically gets started when Kanzeon passes off a strange, golden-eyed animal to Konzen for some reason -- and thus, past-Sanzo and Goku are together!

Herein ends all the rational explanation, because now I'm going into spoiler-land and mostly just squeeing incoherently.

( Spoilers ahoy! )

In conclusion, everyone should read this so that I can squee to other people about the wonderfulness of the series and of Minekura in general and how hot and wonderful all the characters are.

Random notes

1. Woe. Brain has been eaten by Saiyuki and Olympics. Must find more Kenren/Tenpou fic. Hope desperately that two opposing zombie-like forces do not combine in one frightening nightmare involving the Sanzo-ikkou figure skating and snarking about their horrible spandex costumes, complete with Sanzo threatening to shoot the commentators, the judges, and his fellow competitors.

2. Yay Evan Lysacek! I am going to the special hell for ogling at his loooong legs. And yay Plushenko, even though he wasn't skating as well as I've seen him. I feel like sticking my tongue out at the commentators because I like his program when he is on. I continue to dislike Johnny Weir (oops, nearly typed "Johnny Weird") because of his interviews and his costumes. And yay Jeffrey Buttle, who I like!

3. Am greatly looking forward to ice dancing and rooting for Belbin and Agosto.

4. Am ignoring the fact that Tanith Belbin's free skate costume involves cutaways with pink underneath. I like them too much for mockage (well, at least open mockage).

5. Yarn market tomorrow! Wallet is doomed.

6. Finally got smart about book buying moratorium and headed over to the library, where I managed to get Midnighters 2, Queen of Attolia, the Sharon Shinn YA (I am giving her one more chance, hoping desperately that I just dislike the Samaria books), a book set in 1600s France and involving swashbuckling and somehow shelved with the new fantasy books, book 5 of Fables, and Rebecca Tingle's sort of sequel to The Edge of the Sword.

7. Have been thinking about the book posts and the oddness of not knowing how many people read my LJ or what they're interested in, and how comments are rather deceptive in this regard. This will probably come out as some giant, meta, totally incoherent post later, but right now, the general reaction on my end is: "Huh."

Minekura Kazuya - Saiyuki Gaiden, ch. 018-020

As Elliott on Scrubs would say: Frick. Frick frick frick.

I thought I could not possibly be more obsessed than, oh say, two hours ago, but then rilina sent me the raws and text of ch. 18-20 of Gaiden and OMG TEH ANGST!

I think the last time I felt like this, I was reading Dunnett.

( Spoilers )

I swear, this LJ will return to coherency sometime in the near future, but right now, must find more! Why is it not licensed here?