Saiyuki Reload

OH LORDY! They done did a few changes to an already bad project....and made shit hella worse! Saiyuki Reload at first seems like an improvement with glossier art, less animation shortcuts and different voice actors from the first installment of [Gensomaden] Saiyuki. But if you're anything like me and you've watched more than your fair share of anime shows, then you should come to the same realization that I have....Reload is prettier but it's not better. ~Art Right off the bat you will notice that the art and the character designs are a little bit different. The correct term I would use would be “off” I feelthe art is off. Meaning, it definitely doesn't look like “Saiyuki”it doesn't have that trademark “Kazuya Minekura” style. This just looks like a regular anime or someone else's rendition of Minekura's work.....I guess the word I'm looking for is “FANART” tho to it's credit, really really good fanart [but never as good as the original]. You can obviously see the difference on how the characters look from the closing credits and the anime...very drastic. But even with all the upgrading, there still a lot of shortcuts with the animation: a whole bunch of still-frames & sliding cells being used in the fight scenes. The only good thing now I guess is that, when Sanzo shoot's demons or whatever they actually bleed and die, instead of the image turing to black and white and them using some cheap dissolving F/X. ~Sound Another notable difference is the change in voice cast. The obvious downshift with the swearing....personally, it was too over the top and so unnecessary [I can appreciate swearing if it made sense....like in Black Lagoon, it made sense for the characters to talk like that], about the casting, I really liked the original Sanzo's voice David Matranga [who also did Orphen], he really had a better voice and could really convey Sanzo's cynicism, Gojyo's voice is definitely better, Goku's voice is also a little better [but still a bit too whiny for my tastes, tho], Yaone's voice is OK but I have a preference for the original voice by Shelley Calene-Black. However OMG! but what is with the Merciful Goddess' voice, she sounds like a complete and total tranny! And of course they totally turned Hakkai into a complete pansy....with some kind of English accent, WTF? ~Story OK so the the original story got COMPLETELY derailed. Some of the stories seem pretty good, regardless of the obvious deviation from the original work, Like, for example, I loved episode 4 [The Final Promise] which again showed that not all things will come to a happy ending. But of course there were definitely more than a few stories that were complete and utter rubbish: Foolish,waste of time stories like the little dragon-jeep pet going off and defending orphans or the other one about stray kittens These stories were a waste of time, even as far as filler content is concerned. If watched better fillers in Naruto. ~Character Like I already said, the character design is a complete deviation from Minekura's style. It's not ugly or anything but more like really good fanart. I also hate the new Kougaji face also with the markings. ~Verdict I think it's worse than the first installment, this show brought zero WOW-factor.

Okay.. others have spoken about the dub and switch to Geneon, so I'll only touch on that. There is much more to say, and Reload is superb for many reasons. Yes, Geneon licensed Saiyuki Reload and they also licensed the next part, Saiyuki Gunlock -- for those of you who didn't know there was a next part, there is, and the start of it is available, although not in English dub, just with subtitles. And I agree, Illich Guardiola and the rest of the crew did a good job with the original series, Gensou Maden Saiyuki and the movie Saiyuki Requiem. Make sure you catchthe extended interviews with the voice actors on the Saiyuki Requiem DVD. Illich Guardiola is particularly interesting and funny, as are the rest. Which leads us to Saiyuki Reload and the third series, Saiyuki Gunlock. If you haven't seen any of Gunlock yet, you are in for a TREAT. The art and the animation are awesome, and the story grabs you from the first episode. Saiyuki Reload is also superb, and the *furthest* thing from a "retread" of the original as you can get. There is a HUGE piece of plot information that falls into place in Reload. It is NOT to be missed. You won't see it coming and it will stun you. If only for this plot twist, Reload would be excellent, but there is so much more.. And it prepares you for Saiyuki Gunlock. Seemingly impossible situations, things which have never happened before; it's breathtaking. Don't worry about the dub, don't worry about Geneon -- those things will fade VERY fast once you get into the series, and the end (prior to the beginning of Gunlock) will leave you breathless with shock and anticipation, and amazed at the many plot twists (and breakthroughs) that you will not see coming, but which will make tremendous sense once you've seen it. I've watched the entire anime, and it is fantastic. Saiyuki is only getting better. The same is true for Saiyuki Gunlock, which picks up right where Reload leaves you.

This is a review of the anime only. I have not read the manga. This felt more like a long OVA than a true sequel but it was still worth the watch. If you like the characters already and want to spend more time with them, this is a great way to do it. What i loved about it: 1. The characters. These four are just so awesome. I can't get enough of them. 2. The art was far improved to the original. That was a plus for me. 3. It was super funny. Funnier than the original. 4. I liked the hand-drawn cards during the ending song.5. I liked the ending song (but not the opening). What I didn't like about it: 1. There was no solid throughline like in the first series. There was no clear adversary nor goal. It was mostly episodic. If you're a fan of Gintama and how it can go from ultra funny to ultra serious and tragic ... that's sort of what this series does over the course of all these series put together. The first series was mostly serious and dark. This one is much more lighthearted. We get to see the characters interacting in situations that are more humorous and I enjoyed that. So if you'd enjoy that too, then you'll like Reload.