Minekura Kazuya - Saiyuki, vol. 01-09 (Eng. trans.) (reread)

[oyceter]

Really, this is just an excuse to use my shiny new icon! Yay ikkou love! Yay Sanzo waving a gun around!

I noticed more random and fun things this time around! I adore Minekura and how she sneaks these little things in.

Spoilers for all of Saiyuki!

- Kougaiji rescues Yaone from being taken away to Hyakugan Maoh. Imagine, in another life, she might have met Kanan!

- I am totally amused that Kami-sama called Gojyo "Mr. Red," largely because Dokugakuji befriended Kougaiji because Kougaiji reminded him of Gojyo. And the "kou" in "Kougaiji" means "red." And Dokugakuji and Yaone both call him "Kou" (though I wonder how that works in Japanese).

- I love that the Gaiden references start out much, much earlier than I realized! Kanzeon calls Sanzo "Konzen" in vol. 2 after she sucks Gojyo's blood (um... yay?) and obviously feels some affection. I completely forgot about the Nataku bits. So... did he not quite kill himself? Huh? And I just love love love the one page spreads of Tenpou, Kenren, Konzen and Goku standing around when Kanzeon talks about them, or how she keeps watching over them. Ahhh, I am such a sucker for backstory!

- I also absolutely love that Goku looks exactly like Gaiden!Goku when he's in the cave, down the the exact same clothes.

- I wonder if Sanzo would have turned out much more like Konzen had Koumyou not been slaughtered in from of his eyes.

- Pretty much everything that has to do with Goku in a cave for 500 years, calling out for someone he doesn't even remember, completely breaks my heart. I especially love the small snippet of kid!Gonou freaking out the nun, kid!Gojyo feeling unwanted, kid!Kouryou being confused, and Goku realizing he's lonely after playing with the bird. And then... Kouryou says he'd never answer someone who called him, then he lifts his head, thinking he hears something. Gah. Me = reduced to incoherent wibbling.

- I also like that Yaone's name is "Eight Hundred Mice," which matches the eight in Hakkai ("hatsu" -- the "tsu" becomes a small tsu when combined and forms the double letter for "kai").

- I must have read the books entirely too quickly the first time through, because I didn't like vols. 7-9 as much as vols. 4-5. But now, I adore them, particularly Hakkai being silently pissed off at Sanzo for leaving Gojyo behind, the slamming of the coffee pot, Goku being sad that everyone is off, and all that. And of course, all of them beating the crap out of Gojyo when they finally do reunite.

And the mahjongg game!

- It was really fun rereading, because when I first read the books, I didn't really care about any of the characters until vol. 4, which is when I began to violently adore Hakkai. I just liked Sanzo because he's a pissy bastard. And I didn't really like Gojyo until vol. 5 and the Kami-sama arc. It took me forever to warm to Goku.

Now I feel like shaking my old self and yelling, "How could anyone not warm to Goku?!?!"

He's just so happy and undamaged, considering that he was locked in a cave for 500 years, and he's got his head screwed on straight, unlike the others. And he cares so much. I adore him getting out the mahjongg set and making everyone play, and that proud little smile he gives Sanzo when Sanzo decides he's not going to be beaten anymore.

- Saiyuki mahjongg! Man, I so, so, so wish I had the raws for the mahjong chapters in particular, because I really wanted to know what they were playing! I think I know most of the combinations they're talking about, but I'm not sure because I'm not familiar with the Japanese names (fannishly taught me the really cool complicated way of playing mahjongg, and I love it!). But Sanzo's final winning hand is indeed the highest you can get. I peered at the page and checked out all the tiles just to make sure. Ah, mahjongg! How wonderful you are! You even revitalize the spirits of sarcastic, cynical monks!

Oh man, this is bad. I now want to make everyone else talk about Saiyuki as well, or write fic, or something, because I am just that hooked.

Comments

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Putting my hands over my ears and going LALALALALALA as I dash-scroll to the comments button...

I'm currently reading Saiyuki for the first time - since I acquired the whole first series at once, courtesy of Amazon's sale, this is SAIYUKI WEEK for me. Random comments about it on my LJ should be appearing all week. *grin*

... so you see, I obey your command to talk about Saiyuki. Do I get a cookie?

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Goku gives you a cookie!

[oyceter]

Yes! Many cookies for you! Joy!

I think I've got some more Saiyuki posts elsewhere in my memories section that aren't spoilery....

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

- Kougaiji rescues Yaone from being taken away to Hyakugan Maoh. Imagine, in another life, she might have met Kanan!

I thought the point was that if Kougaiji hadn't rescued Yaone, she would have met Kanan's *fate*--and Hyakugan Maoh's men wouldn't have hit Hakkai and Kanan's village and Kanan wouldn't have been kidnapped. So in a sense Kou's act of kindness destroyed Kanan and Gonou's lives.

Need to run out the door but am so excited to read the rest of your post!

[octopedingenue]

It's been a while since I read the early volumes in order, but is the timeline really as close as that? (I can't remember if Yaone ever says specifically how long she's been with Kougaiji.) Kou takes Yaone away from Hyakugan Maoh because the Maoh already has a reputation for raping/killing his kidnapped slavegirls, so it's clearly something he does a lot--it never even occurred to me that there might've been a situation of the Maoh going "Got a nice tasty youkai slavegirl en route to me--darn, she got taken away! Guess I'll go kidnap this human girl named Kanan instead." I definitely think there are obvious parallels between Kou/Yaone and Hakkai/Kanan--with Kou being able to save Yaone from both things (rape and suicide) that Hakkai couldn't save Kanan from, and the connection Hakkai felt for (and the audience feels for him) Kou and Yaone because of that (which gives a really nice and unusual Kou/Hakkai connection that's interesting and surprising because they're dissimilar characters who interact directly very little). Are we really supposed to think that the thematic parallels are actually literal parallels, and Kanan is dead because Yaone is alive because Kanan was switched for her?

[oyceter]

Yeah, I was debating that with Rachel the other day! I thought at first it could be they were swapped, because it was probably around a similar time period, but then, I also thought maybe Hyakugan Maoh doesn't just limit himself to taking one person per... whatever time period.

Either way, it's really cool!

[boxmint.livejournal.com]

Here's what I don't get, I say, wildly changing topics. How come Dokugakuji keeps going on and on about how much Kougaji reminds him of his brother, and that's why he became loyal to him, etc, when his actual brother is right there? I'm missing something fundamental here. Why is he sticking with the substitute when the real thing is across the way, flourishing weapons affectionately? Is it because he feels guilty about killing his mother, or what? Also, what happens after Gojyo's mother gets killed? Does Dokugakuji just waltz on out the door into exile, saying "That's the last favour I'm gonna be able to do you, kid," leaving Gojyo stricken on the floor?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Does Dokugakuji's name really translate to "in the corner"? I remember that the HK bootlegs I've got of Gunlock have Yaone as Eight Hundred Mice for one episode, and Doku as In The Corner a few times.

[oyceter]

It does! It's something like "in a corner alone," which is even sadder! doku=alone, kaku=corner, ji-sharp

I want your HK bootleg so much!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Kougaiji hadn't rescued Yaone, if she'd been taken instead of Kanan. Man, I could do a five-story set just riffing off of variations of that. Yaone gets taken instead and Kanan is still with Gonou when he meets Gojyo some other way! Yaone and Kanan meet in the cell! Yaone fails to save Kanan, but does poison the guards and meets Gonou on her way out! Kougaiji shows up to rescue Yaone, finds her dead and Kanan alive, and rescues Kanan instead! Etc!

The whole four-way Kid!Ikkou flashback section, when it cuts from Goku wailing to young Sanzo thinking, "Did I hear a voice?" just kills me.

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

Man, I could do a five-story set just riffing off of variations of that

Yes, yes!

[oyceter]

Yes you should totally do that! (no, really, I am in no way bad and trying to tempt you away from real work)

Gonou gets there too late to save Kanan but drags Yaone out instead! Gonou somehow gets confused and rescues Yaone instead!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yaone fails to save Kanan, but does poison the guards and meets Gonou on her way out I want to read this so much.

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

((whimpers pathetically for Saiyuki))

[oyceter]

*pats*

*promises some tonight*

[octopedingenue]

Yaone's name is REALLY "eight hundred mice"? ........WHY?

[oyceter]

I have no idea!

I wonder if it's for the Hakkai parallel? Or... maybe she's a minor character in Journey to the West?

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

She has the power to summon eight hundred mice, but we have not yet seen it because (unlike the power to summon, say, eight hundred centipedes) it is utterly useless.

Um, no idea. I like that she and Hakkai both have the character "eight" in their names, since they get along so well. (From the Japanese "ya/ttsu" "eight (physical objects)" in her case, I assume, rather than "ha/chi" ("(number) eight.") Perhaps eight has some symbolism that applies to both of them?

[kate_nepveu]

I pulled out a bunch of pages for a vol. 9 art post a while ago, back when I was coming down with the first of my colds this winter. I really need to get back to that--I'm not letting myself read _Reload_ until I get through the art posts, probably one LJ post asking about some of the attachment stuff, and then a booklog post.

Which is okay, really, because I kind of like building up a bunch of unread _Saiyuki_, but still, I can't wait until I'm not sick and having work kick my ass, because you're so making me want to read and re-read now!

[oyceter]

Oh, I love your art posts! Yay!

I really want to make some giant post on attachment and detachment and "muichi motsu" and Buddhism, but I suspect it would just be silly because my knowledge of Buddhism is confined to a single college class.

And ooooo, it is so nice that you still have Reload to look forward to!

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Just noticed-

And Dokugakuji and Yaone both call him "Kou" (though I wonder how that works in Japanese

I hope that's not true about Yaone. Dokugaku calls him Kou. Yaone calls him Kougaiji-sama. She *wouldn't* call him Kou alone. I mean- (flaps appalled hands) she *wouldn't*, any more than she'd call someone a douchebag.

[oyceter]

No, I probably just messed up because I was typing too fast at work.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Sanzo would have turned out much more like Konzen had Koumyou not been slaughtered in from of his eyes.

I'm inclined to think not, given what we see of little Kouryou during various flashbacks. I'm thinking, in particular, of the one where Koumyou says that he heard Kouryou calling, and Kouryou says that if someone did the same to him, he would pop them in the nose.

I love the bit with the coffee pot.

I also realized, upon rereading, how much I just passed over all the Gaiden references the first time around, since they didn't mean anything at the time.

[oyceter]

I love grumpy little Kouryou. And I love how right after the popping someone in the nose statement, he gets a look because he sort of hears Goku! Awwwwww.

I think Mely's on the mark in that maybe the case is how much Kouryou would have been like Konzen if he had just been raised normally and spoiled and etc. instead of being the monastery outcast.

I really love that there are things to pick up on the rereads!

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

Now I feel like shaking my old self and yelling, "How could anyone not warm to Goku?!?!"

GOKU LOVE

[oyceter]

OMG YES.

I love the Sanzo-ikkou so much!

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

(1) I love that the Gaiden references start out much, much earlier than I realized! Kanzeon calls Sanzo "Konzen" in vol. 2 after she sucks Gojyo's blood (um... yay?) and obviously feels some affection.

There's a Gaiden flashback in V.1--a narrow panel of Konzen with the long ponytail falling, I think when the Three Aspects are expositing the Minus Wave and/or Goku's backstory in the beginning.

(2) Kanzeon is the best authorial stand-in ever. Kanzeon is Mary Sue as a hermaphrodite goddess. I love him/her.

(3) - I wonder if Sanzo would have turned out much more like Konzen had Koumyou not been slaughtered in from of his eyes.

I wonder if it's that Sanzo would have turned out much more like Konzen if he hadn't had Koumyou, period. I want to compare Konzen's relationship with Kanzeon to Sanzo's with Koumyou, but I just don't see it; Kouryou clearly adores Koumyou, whereas Konzen seems deeply irritated by Kanzeon. Kanzeon and Koumyou both seem to have the same kind of deep and deeply amused affection for their charges, though.

I think it comes down to Heaven in Gaiden being a bad place--because it's trying to be perfect, and being perfect means being static, and being static means denying reality. So Konzen is better off as Sanzo, in the imperfect world of attachments. Which really makes me wonder what Minekura is going to do with the ending of regaining Heaven--because I can't see any of the Sanzo ikkou wanting to go.

(4) Goku in the cave: You should read xsmoonshine's Fifty Lies (http://www.ficwad.com/viewstory.php?sid=2244).

(5) I love Goku so much. I love how much of the series is getting to watch him grow up -- I mean, it's oddly like Hikaru no Go, where I suddenly realized happy-go-lucky Hikaru was changing. And I love how Goku is so happy, really, in his eternally hungry way. He has his family, he has lots of good food, he instinctively knows what and where he wants to be. I love how he cuts through Gordian knots with mahjong games and hunger and apologies, and I love how he slowly begins to control the fearsome monster inside himself.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Which really makes me wonder what Minekura is going to do with the ending of regaining Heaven--because I can't see any of the Sanzo ikkou wanting to go.

I can't see the ending as anything other than the guys getting back in the Jeep and driving off into the distance and another story.

[stalkerbunny.livejournal.com]

(feeling intimidated by all the intelligent comments...naah)I didn't know that about Yaone's name...interesting. I've thought for a long time that the kougaiji-tachi is sort of a mirror image to the sanzo-ikkou, similar and yet not. Actually I thought it was sort of too obvious, which is perhaps the reason that nobody has mentioned that... :/

And really, wee!goku is too adorable (not that the older one isn't, but even more so). I was surprised that Sanzo is even capable of such a gentle smile...little Goku's powers of cute are truly frightening (nodnod)

[oyceter]

Oh yeah, I'm sure the Kou-tachi are mirrors to the ikkou!

Wee! Goku is the best thing ever ^_^.

[chomiji]

Oyceter-san,

I'm absolutely sure you must have read this. How could you not have done so? You have been here on LJ so much longer than I have.

But I couldn't find any reference to it, and I thought it would really be a pity if you hadn't. So herewith, a very sweet (good sweet, like a good apple, not sticky-sweet, like cotton candy) fanfic that I discovered last week.

Small Miracles

(And please forgive me for wasting your time if you have read it.)

- Cho

[oyceter]

Oh cool, thanks for the link! I haven't seen that before (I usually am very lazy about searching for fic, heh).