Saiyuki: Reload Volume 1

Loud, noisy and obnoxious… enter the crazy world of Saiyuki Reload. Even the rocking theme tune could not prepare me for what was to follow: sunglass wearing monks, foolish assassins and incompetent demons. Meet Genjyo Sanzo: the gun toting trigger-happy priest who’s the leader of a demon slaying crew of monks. In his gang are Cho Hakkai, the only serious person in this anime. Then there’s Sha Gojyo, the perpetual playboy who woos women (albeit unsuccessfully) and the childish Son Goku who is always, always only thinking about his stomach! Together they are the renowned Sanzo party enshrined with the task of bringing peace to their demonic world.

Demons are trying to revive Gyoumao, a poerful demon lord, who was banished 500 years ago. But the experiments to revive him are releasing the Calamity, a type of madness, which is destroying the delicate balance between humans and demons. Already a popular manga with a few anime spin offs, Saiyuki Reload picks up on their journey westwards as the Sanzo party travel to India to stop this uprising.

Whilst the story itself is simple, it’s the characters and their conflicting personalities that really livens things up. These guys are rugged, foul-mouthed and er… not too bright. Cue lots of infighting, poor leadership and bad decisions. Take their leader, Sanzo for instance, who’s a deadpan talking, cigarette-smoking brute. His leadership style is somewhat questionable – ordering his monks to buy him more smokes because he’s too lazy to do it himself. And rather than saving a damsel in distress he shoves her into a side room, telling her to get out of his way. This is heroism, Saiyuki Reload style!

Just when you think things can’t get any crazier, the Sanzo party have to fight their toughest enemies ever, who turn out to be clones of themselves. On realizing that their leader could be in serious trouble, his comrades abandon their own fights and run back to Sanzo. At which point you think, despite their flaws, they are actually a loyal bunch of people. But no, they have no intention of helping him, the opportunity to beat up a replica Sanzo is too good an opportunity to miss. They are completely shameless! But that’s what makes this series so much fun to watch.

Saiyuki Reload is rather brazen. It’s attempts to be heartfelt comes across all wrong and what you get is a rather hilarious comedy. It’s a nice change to see heroes who aren’t perfect or noble. Far from it. These guys squabble, fight and deliberately get on each other’s nerves. When the first volume quickly draws to a close, I’m a little worried that the fate of the world rests in their hands… I guess we’re all doomed then!

In summary

It’s not intelligent, it won’t change your life, but it is very funny.