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!

[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!

[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.

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Goku... gives someone else food? Voluntarily?

HE IS AN IMPOSTER! BURNINATE! BURNINATE HIIIIIIM!!

[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.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I see you've gotten to volume four...

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

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

Yes, yes!

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

((whimpers pathetically for Saiyuki))

[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....

[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?

[octopedingenue]

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

[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!

[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!

[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!

[oyceter]

*pats*

*promises some tonight*

[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?

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

((bounces))

[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?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

XD It's not a great version because at least a third of the episodes are corrupted and unwatchable, but since the animation and writing is so bad, that doens't really affect it. I may be able to copy it to other DVDs, but I may not - beep me in a couple of weeks and I'll give it a try. :)

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

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."

As far as I can tell that seems to be someone's fanon interpretation that's not borne out anywhere in the manga. Hyakugan Maoh has a reputation for taking women, raping them and killing them (I believe the Japanese says 'eating' but it's been a while since I read the manga.)

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Well, you can read Hakkai as meaning 'eight renunciations', which is amusing because one generally takes nine vows of renunciation upon joining some kinds of Buddhist order (and also fits well with his I-am-a-lay-monk sash). So you can sit there with a list going 'What didn't he give up? Sex? Drugs? Anger? Does it vary according to the phase of the moon?'*

I am however familiar with absolutely no symbolism involving eight, nine, eight hundred, or mice. Somebody really should check Journey to the West.

*Booze. He didn't give up booze. This crushed the soul of one of the people who was watching with me, because it means that he ought to be avowedly celibate. Unless, of course, it varies according to the phase of the moon.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

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

To note: kaku can mean corner, yes, but it also means 'animal horn.' Doku means alone but also 'single' ie one. The way ji is written- ie not in any of my kanji dictionaries- says to me that Dokugakuji is someone else imported from the novel originally, and unfortunately my hanzi dictionary says that character means 'female rhinoceros.' Single-horned female rhino, guys. ^^;;

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Sanzo didn't give up alcohol, cigarettes, gambling, or anger (sex is debatable), so I wouldn't expect that Hakkai would be a perfectly observant monk either.

Maybe it means "eight renunciations I didn't make." Which would raise the question of which one he's keeping.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I love a language in which a name can be translated as either "Alone in the sharp corner" or "single-horned female rhinoceros."