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#now I’m gonna be thinking about the fact that the entirety of Immortality is filmed and edited and we may never see it
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I think that if the final round of the shizun fuckets tournament ISN'T Mo Ran vs Luo Binghe then something is very wrong with the people voting 😂
Yeah you’re right it would honestly be a huge upset if anyone else even managed to make it that far. Hopefully it was seeded well so they match up in finals instead of semifinals. The two hydrogen bombs in a sea of coughing babies. Although I gotta say I love the additions of shizun fuckers outside of Chinese media fandoms. I hope Yuuri makes it at least a couple rounds, truly inspired submission whoever did that one. Sadly I don’t know if tortall has enough pull for Daine to get anywhere but I am Hoping. She deserves it. Daine and Numair are theeeee most narratively satisfying Tamora Pierce romance in my opinion, closely followed by Alanna’s daughter and her crow-turned-human boyfriend.
Mo Ran should win but I know he’s not going to just because 2ha has been denied a successful adaptation so far. But he fits the trope better! Tbh!!! There’s a reason why modern au bingqiu fics sometimes make Shen Yuan a TA or something but modern au ranwan writers always gotta make chu wanning mo ran’s professor or something, just for the accurate vibes.
Oh my god I just remembered that I’m pretty sure the 2ha translation is fully out now, the last volume was in December, I gotta read the whole thing ASAP now that it’s entirely available.
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floggingink · 3 years
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OH HERE WE GO LADIES IT’S RIVERDALE, CHAPTER EIGHTY: “Purgatorio”
I’m tuning in to be VERY entertained on the grounds that I missed almost the entirety of S4 and will not understand anything
we open with an incredible analogue comparing the football team to the Army, as men do construct rituals: football players get blown into the sky, etc., in a heartrending mash-up of Archie’s innocence + the American ideal/expectations/pipeline of masculinity
Archie Company is decked out appropriately to storm Hürtgen Forest
that art direction trope where a character’s hearing goes EEEEEEEEEEEEEE after an explosion……...delightful
the Vixens and friends cheering him on from the sidelines as if Archie can only process his unprocessable present through the lens of his past………...hits the spot
distressingly wood-based rifles for our purposes
Archie > Dawson: I don’t mind telling you I felt emotion upon Archie hoisting his war buddy over his shoulders to that quadruple-toned “Chivalric Archie Using His Strength for Good” tune, like when he broke his whole hand busting Cheryl out of Sweetwater River
WHEN HE SAW HIRAM LODGE, I’M TELLING YOU! 
Hiram’s dragon-scale gloves? absolutely savory; he would
“Yonkers” is one of those New York place names I don’t totally buy is real (Poughkeepsie is another)
the sepia-toned light in this hospital room rings true judging by all the Captain America fanfiction I’ve read; I also like the mint-colored hand towels draped on Archie’s bedframe bought, one assumes, using the Department of Defense’s Kohl’s Cash
Archie made Sergeant, which is the best ranking for a fictional character: important enough that they can be a leader, get into trouble; low-profile enough that you don’t have to write them in the room making terrible decisions; probably won’t die immediately, as a Captain or Private might be
Fifth period is AP English: Archie reads A Farewell to Arms to Corporal Jackson, a WWI novel by Hemingway that Jug definitely turned him onto
Christ, Archie looks good in that on-leave jacket thing
I like Jackson’s subtle graph paper-print hospital gown
Gay?!: was Jackson in love with Archie? is he gonna bus to Riverdale once he’s off his pain meds? RAS, is that you in there?
God you know I love that haunted-ass Exorcist wooden bench bus light lighting
how long has the WW been relocated under Pop’s??? I do NOT know what happened to La Bonne Nuit
Sexy, aesthetic Southside: Fangs’ hair? his Tony Stark glasses? the girls’ “I’m a Slave 4 U” Burmese pythons? Toni’s headdress and immaculate glossed lip? 
Sixth period is Intro to Film: the only part of From Dusk till Dawn I’ve seen is Salma Hayek putting her toe in Quentin Tarantino’s mouth but judging from that I figure I’d like the rest 
The female gaze: Jesus Sweet Pea still looks good
Toni’s stage is flanked by twin pillars of melting candles and I would like someone to track those down for my bathroom
if they lay one hand on Pop Tate…
Betty appears to be, on her own, running the FBI training course. Betty is such a freak
Betty’s FBI-appointed psychologist is “Dr. Starling,” wears a great yellow blouse; Betty eats what appears to be a mini-sized Milky Way
her blond FBI trainer-boyfriend (uh) Glen appears to be an unholy fusion of Jimmi Simpson and that one actor with brown hair and really sharp light eyes whose acting credits I can’t think of right now, you know who I’m talking about (not the guy from Vampire Diaries)
I quite like her patterned blouse and I hate his yellow (gold?!) and blue tie
Please protect Betty: obviously we stan the Silence of the Lambs shit even as it remains infuriating Bryan Fuller couldn’t get his hands in it
Betty’s cat’s crying was so disturbingly baby-like that I had to leave the room once I realized it was in fact a cat
I’ve watched the Elisa Lam tape too many times in recent hours to handle this hallway shot
REALLY GROSS LICKING NOISES
the Trash Bag Killer coming at her was scary :(
Betty’s lovely blue knit cardi with the puffed sleeves!
50 Shades of Betty: clearing her throat before the doctor quite finishes her sentence—Lili Reinhart continues to be great at conveying “slightly perturbing subterranean tension”
was Charles a serial killer too??? oh damn!
Betty has been successfully holding off giving Glen a key to her place until now, an era that must come to a close
fellas, “Do I at least get a kiss?” is a bad move
Veronica was rich: Veronica’s new digs: exposed brick, bougiely avant-garde chandelier; possibly an elevator door right there behind the dude?
Veronica has married Hiram, to no one’s surprise
Chadwick looks like Jimmi Simpson and brunet Evan Peters plus a jaw
Veronica’s single-puffled-sleeved gown…..madamn (she has absolutely been taking secret birth control pills)
Summer + Blair = Veronica: of course Veronica would be great at Howard Ratner’s job; I MUST know what “specialty showcase haute couture offense” Vinnie has committed
T-Dubbs’ green jacket
Veronica pretended she was working at like, a department store? but she MISSED the EDGE post-day-trading
their apartment is so expensive that their bedroom is totally exposed
oh my god, Hermione
Best costume bit: please get me these satiny green high-waisted slacks?! and ugh her blouse has shoulder tassels……..she’s flourishing
“That’s threatening to an alpha like Chad.”
yes, they have a private elevator. fine.
Glen and Chad get their ties from the same Men’s Warehouse
“When that helicopter went down on the way to Martha’s Vineyard…”
you know kissing is 4-real when one person cups their hand to the back of the other person’s neck all close
I don’t understand the drop of the Glamergé egg but I appreciate that there is one and that Veronica is like, get this the fuck out of my house
Veronica’s shiny cropped tweed two-piece, Yvonne’s weird feathery coat that matches her bf’s shirt (you know she’s supposed to be “too much” because she’s got big hoop earrings)
God, Jughead is next and I’m not gonna be able to handle it
OH GOD IT’S SO MUCH WORSE THAN I THOUGHT
Alphabet City?! the piano?? the fucking East Coast Beat typewriter shit—the day robe? I’m—READING CLUBMASTERS? FORSYTHE???
OH GOD HE’S DATING ANOTHER WRITER (she has nice pants)
Jughead eats: “that place you like” is a HOT DOG STAND in the middle of SOME GRASS
I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: Jughead wears high-ankle light blue jeans, grey socks, and spectators that blend to create the illusion of wading boots. I’m going to commit a crime
Jughead doubts it: “So did Kerouac. And Hemingway. And Fitzgerald.” 
fuck yes I love Floundering Jughead, and his Pushy Agent who pronounces “career” like “Korea,” and the continuing tradition of Jughead getting kicked out of his house
I like Literary Grifter’s sweater
the Brat Pack, and most of the Rat Pack for that matter, were actors, but I assume RAS couldn’t resist the rhyme 
I was 100% afraid we were about to learn Cora was an uncomfortably-young undergrad
the musical cue as she reaches into her bag is absolutely as if she’s taking out a gun, and it might as well be! it’s the scariest thing in NYC: an unpublished manuscript
showrunners doing a classic I Love Lucy job partially concealing Vanessa Morgan’s pregnancy via medium close-ups, draping black clothes
Cheryl slowly turning to ask if doesn’t she look okay 10/10 icon
Cheryl’s pins: she has either a tiny spider or maybe a tick
Cheryl’s sheaths: the lacy red thing, amazing
why is Cheryl’s left hand gloved?
Cheryl’s a chaos angel from hell: Cheryl’s going to forge a Rembrandt, which unfortunately means she’s my favorite person on the planet (she does not look happy about doing this)
btw is Nana Rose an Immortal?
please tell me about Toni’s eyelashes
EXTREMELY HAUNTED DOLL?!
“Damn good coffee”: Archie’s earnest “Where are people gonna sit for the bus?” slayed me
fuck YEAH Ghoulies party house! terrible music but really good skull spray paint art
Jug looks LOW lol
Veronica’s blouse + buttons, impeccable
I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: Tabitha/Squeaky
the hellscape semi’s red backlighting and its skeleton’s red eyes
I like Linette’s glossy bomber!
the trucker who’s about to kill her can’t also be the Trash Bag Killer….truckers have to stick to too much of a schedule….but he could be Betty’s meandering serial
I loved this episode
NEXT WEEK: Archie brings the FBI down on some people paying their rent :(
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mittensmorgul · 5 years
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Sometimes I think about how devastated Cas was in s14 when he talked to Jack about outliving Sam and Dean, and it makes me really sad to think that they might not go the human!Cas route so they can all be together. It's just so stark to me that Dabb has been watering the human endgame garden for a long time. It's the one thing about his arc that I feel like they MUST address and follow through by the end of the series.
Hi hi! (sorry for the delay in replying, I know it’s only a couple of days, but I needed time to sit down and dig out sources for this one!)
I believe you’re referring to 14.14 here, and this scene:
Jack: I hate seeing him like that. But he's gonna be okay, right? I mean, it's Dean. It was a fight. It was -- It was just a fight.Castiel: Every time we go out, there's always a risk.Jack: I-I can't think about losing him or -- or Sam or you. I-I just -- I hate -- I hate thinking about it.Castiel: Yeah. So do I. But, Jack you know, Sam and Dean, they're human, and they're very extraordinary, brave, special humans, but they're -- they're still humans. And humans burn bright, but for a very brief time compared to, you know, things like us. And eventually, they're gone, even the very best ones, and we have to carry on. It's just -- It's part of growing up.Jack: Losing people?Castiel: Yes.Jack: What's the point of being a cosmic being if everyone I care about is just gonna leave?Castiel: The point is that they were here at all and you got to know them, you. When they're gone, it will hurt, but that hurt will remind you of how much you loved them.Jack: That sounds awful.Castiel: It is. But it's also living. So when Dean wakes up -- and he will wake up -- we just have to remember to appreciate the time that we all have together now.Jack: What if he doesn't wake up? [ Sighs ] What about Michael? What if --Castiel: I don't know, Jack.Jack: Okay, but I could use my powers.Castiel: No, Jack, I know you want to help, but you cannot --Jack: What is the good of having these powers if I can't help the people that I love, if I can't help them when they need it? Jack -- It's selfish of me not to.
(note: I’ve been meaning to edit this transcript on the superwiki... I’ve noticed several errors but haven’t had time to rewatch and fix them yet... apologies if there’s any mistakes in this snippet, but the entire gist of the conversation is here, if not the exact wording of the exchange... full disclosure: I did not create this particular transcript)
But this is the script a small coalition of us purchased the Blue Draft version of, which was not the production draft. It’s dated December 11, 2018, and the episode wasn’t filmed until January 7-16, 2019. So something significant changed during that month... You can see a couple of the changed pages here:
https://teamfreewillbettertogether.tumblr.com/post/185484195593/along-with-justanotheridijiton-mittensmorgul
and go here: https://sites.google.com/site/tvwriting/us-drama/show-collections/supernatural, click on the script for 14.14 (the last one on the list), then go to page 39 and 40 of the PDF to see this entire scene did not exist in the blue draft.
Which I find HIGHLY significant... as this was a mirror to the scene in 14.09 where Michael was talking to Jack about this exact same concept of immortality, but with a far darker, nihilistic point of view:
Jack: Why am I here? Why didn't you just kill me?Alternate Michael: In your present, powerless condition? Why would I bother? [ Gets up and walks to look out large windows ] Are you familiar with Kansas City -- the people, the terrain? Back in my world, I enlisted a garrison to invade it. We leveled it. Death from above. But there was human resistance. Things got messy. I'm trying something different this time -- an insurgency from within. My monster army turning every last man, woman, and child -- a wave of transformation. Vampires or werewolves -- it won't matter which. Everyone they turn will be mine. No muss, no fuss.Jack: Why would you think I want to hear any of this? I hate you.Alternate Michael: Oh, but, Jack, we're family. You know, in fact, we're the only kin each other has left in this world.Jack: My uncle's in the Cage. And you -- you're not family.Alternate Michael: Well, not literally, no. Our connection, our relation is more a matter of scale of power. Haven't you learned yet? In this reality, monsters, humans, even angels -- they are insects, atoms compared to us. But you [chuckles] -- you're just a child, a mere infant. For you, the past two years -- the entirety of your existence -- feel like eons. You don't even know what time is. But you will. Real time, the time that makes mountains, that wipes out species. You'll see it all with me.Jack: No.Alternate Michael: Year by year, century by century, and as your power returns and grows, we'll only become more alike. Oh, I know. Your loyalty to Castiel, the Winchesters, the rest of humanity? It will fade. And so will the minor differences -- angel armies versus monster armies, this Kansas City or that Kansas City, one world from another -- they'll fade, too. 
interesting difference, yes?
It says an AWFUL lot about Cas, about how he feels trapped in his own immortality. Resigned to it, almost, as if he didn’t have a choice in the matter. And considering everything I’ve heard in PR for s15 (and yeah, pr is not showrunning, but Dabb and Bobo both said this in some version or another in the sdcc roundtables this year), there will be a heavy focus on “what really even is free will?” and “what does that mean for TFW and their own choices?”
So given all of that, yeah, I have a really hard time believing that Cas’s situation won’t be a major focus of s15... what really are his choices? What would he really choose if it were entirely up to him, and he COULD just choose without cosmic consequences?
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recentanimenews · 7 years
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An Introduction to the "SAIYUKI" Anime
An Introduction to the SAIYUKI Anime... As Told By a Fan Who Read the Manga Almost a Decade Ago
By Dee Hogan
After being off the air for nearly 13 years, Saiyuki has at last returned to grace our televisions with attractive men beating the crap out of each other while waxing poetic about their dark-and-stormy pasts. But with Saiyuki's previous anime seasons scarce and its manga volumes even scarcer, you might be hesitant to check out the new series.
  Well, fear not! I, an ardent Saiyuki fan who read the manga as it was coming out almost 10 years ago, am here to provide you with the story exactly as I remember it. Which is to say: Very vaguely! Now you, too, can enjoy Saiyuki Reload Blast as if you were right there with the rest of the fandom, reading the manga in the mid '00s, selling the volumes to help pay for grad school, and now racking your brain to piece together the semi-existent plot of that gloriously feelsy action series you still love so very, very much.
  Come along with me on this journey, won't you? This journey...TO THE MAX!
Caution: Loving irreverence, questionable accuracy, and spoilers for the Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload manga below. Content warning for mentions of child abuse.
  But First, a History Lesson!
Saiyuki began as a manga created by Kazuya Minekura. Well, I guess technically it began as the Chinese novel Journey to the West. Saiyuki is based on that classic epic, in the same way that Taco Bell is based on Mexican food.
Journey to the West is a Buddhist-inspired comic adventure story that follows a monk, a monkey king, a half-pig man, and an exiled immortal as they travel to India to retrieve sacred sutras. It's a complete story that has been translated in its entirety into English, unlike the Saiyuki manga, which is neither complete nor fully translated. Tokyopop imploded (along with half the U.S. anime industry) in the late '00s, leaving us one volume short from finishing Saiyuki Reload, and we've seen neither hide nor hair of the manga since. I am still salty about this.
  Pictured: Saiyuki sexily locked out of the U.S.
  The anime adaptations have fared somewhat better, at least: the three TV series (Gensomaden Saiyuki, Saiyuki ReLoad, and Saiyuki ReLoad Gunlock) were all released in the U.S., as was the film (Saiyuki Requiem) and the most recent OVA series (Saiyuki Gaiden). I only caught about 15 episodes of the anime, but my memory is that it's a reasonably faithful adaptation, albeit one that tones down the R-rated elements and adds a bunch of filler stories. Depending on where you live, you can stream both the original TV series and the Gaiden OVAs, but the two ReLoad sequels are confined to dusty DVD shelves for the time being.
  And if all these title variants are confusing you, then congratulations! You're well on your way to being a Saiyuki fan, because they're confusing to me, too. Saiyuki is to manga as Kingdom Hearts is to video games. The series has been running off and on for twenty whopping years, and it's splintered in a  bunch of directions along the way. For now, all you really need to know is that the central story goes Saiyuki, then Reload, then Reload Blast. Everything else is prequels and side stories.
  As for what that central story is all about, well...
    The Story!
Saiyuki takes place in Shangri-La, a fantasy world created by plucking Chinese fiction and history fruits from across the centuries, tossing them in a blender, and adding a splash of good old-fashioned manga tropes for spice. Humans and youkai share the land, six-shooters are as common as swords, and the main characters ride around in a jeep that's actually a dragon. (Or is it a dragon that's actually a jeep?)
  Things are going great until a youkai sorceress hooks up with a mad scientist and they start brainwashing youkai into murdering the faces off every human they can get their hands on. Then the local humans start panicking and murdering the faces off every youkai they can get their hands on, whether they've been brainwashed or not, and pretty soon everyone in Shangri-La is starting to feel pretty Shangri-Low.
To keep the peace, the local Bodhisattvas decide to send their Top Man, Double-Oh Sanzo, out West to find the culprits and tell them to knock it off. Our priest is joined on his quest by three companions: Goku, Gojyo, and Hakkai, each with their own uniquely upsetting backstory and particular set of skills. They're also all youkai (or at least youkai-adjacent), but they've been equipped with handy-dandy power limiters to keep them from going berserk like the others.
  Together our quartet travel across the lands, getting into scrapes, fighting off the minions their mysterious antagonists send after them, and frequently threatening to kill each other as they journey ever Westward, hoping to one day reach their foes and stop their nefarious scheme.
    And I'd tell you all about that nefarious scheme, but I have straight-up forgotten it. The Big Bads' oh-so-sympathetic underlings are prominent in the original Saiyuki series, but then they have to take an extended spa vacation, so most of Reload is one long semi-self-contained arc about cowboys and necromancers. It's GREAT, mind you, but all the tension and shootouts and good good angst have shoved what's-her-name and scientist-face and their plan to do something-or-other straight out of my head.
  Honestly? It doesn't matter. Saiyuki is about the journey, not the destination. More to the point, it's about the people you get to hang out with along the way.
  And speaking of...
    The Characters!
  There are a lot of compelling supporting characters (mostly antagonists) who drift in and out of the Saiyuniverse, particularly Kougaiji and his merry band of Youkai In Need of Hugs. But the story is carried by its four protagonists—most of whom you're also going to want to hug, and two of whom may try to kill you if you do—so you're gonna want to get to know them.
    A chain-smoking, booze-slinging, trigger-happy, permanently irritated Buddhist priest, he's the current holder of the Sanzo title and the wielder of some very powerful sutras, though he's usually content to keep those stored away and just shoot people in their dumb faces instead (all faces are dumb to Sanzo, I'm pretty sure). He met his trio of party members through various traumatic adventures and brought them together, offering them a chance to start over. Despite his grouchy exterior, deep down he's a good guy.
  ...Deeper than that. No, further. Little further. There it is! See? Good guy.
  Sanzo's history is told in fits and starts, which is to say I can't keep it straight anymore. I feel pretty confident saying he had a rough childhood, because this is Saiyuki we're talking about. And I know he witnessed his master's murder and it messed him up right proper. I have a working theory that Mr. Mad Scientist (Jianyi! That's his name!) is involved, because he used to be a Sanzo priest himself and sure seems to know a lot about our Sanzo, but take that with a grain of salt. Sure would make for some good drama though, yeah?
    Goku's the youngest-looking of the gang and often acts like it. Don't let that fool you, though: He's actually a powerful monkey king who was imprisoned on a mountain for hundreds of years. His memory's as patchy as mine, so all he really remembers is being lonely and then Sanzo freeing him and then him not being lonely anymore. See, happy things do happen in this story!
  Like another Son Goku you may know (who's also based on the monkey king in Journey to the West, by the by), this one fights with a staff and loves to eat. He's generally cheerful and friendly, but if you take off his diadem, he gets real angry, and not just because that diadem brings his whole outfit together, you uncultured boor. Mostly it's because the diadem is his power limiter, and removing it makes him hulk out somethin' fierce.
  I know this is the part where I'm supposed to say “you won't like him when he's angry,” but berserker Goku leads to some of the best fights and dramatic beats of the series. I like him when he's angry a lot more than I should.
    Half-youkai, half-human, Gojyo is the child of a “forbidden” affair between the two species. A literal redheaded stepchild, he was abused by his youkai stepmom and shunned by society at large. He had an older brother he loved (not like that, you pervs) who stepped in to defend him, to the point where he was eventually forced to kill his own mother to protect his brother. The two eventually meet again and it's... it's real sad, y'all. Gojyo's backstory is real sad.
  Nowadays he's a foul-mouthed gambler who likes to pick fights with Sanzo and quarrel with Goku, but he's maybe the most loyal member of the team and (despite being the least powerful) doesn't hesitate to step up to defend others. An asshole with a heart of gold, more or less. He fights with a sickle-flail that doesn't make sense but looks real cool, and he's technically a womanizer, but don't let that stop you from 'shipping him with one of his teammates. Gojyo is Extremely Shippable, you see.
    There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who think Hakkai is the best character in Saiyuki, and those who are wrong. Since the rest of the team has zero chill, Hakkai has an excess of chill to balance them out. Perpetually smiling and perpetually The Saddest, he's the team peacemaker and magic user, the owner-driver of the Dragon-Jeep, and a secret badass. Hakkai has removed his power limiters exactly twice, and exactly twice he has ruined his opponents. Other fun facts include: Can and will drink you under a table. Technically died once to save his friends. (Don't worry, he got better.)
  His backstory is basically one big D: emoji. Born a human, he had an older sister he loved (yes, exactly like that, you pervs) who was kidnapped by the resident evil youkai noble. Hakkai slaughtered ONE THOUSAND MUTHAFUGGIN YOUKAI on his way to rescue her, but she died anyway because Kazuya Minekura is a cruel, cruel manga-ka. Also, it turns out that when you slaughter ONE THOUSAND MUTHAFUGGIN YOUKAI, you, uh...turn into a muthafuggin youkai yourself. Womp womp.
  Hakkai wasn't doing so hot after all that. In a fit of guilt and despair, he even ripped out his own eye to appease a vengeful youkai (he eventually replaced it with a fake one, and got a rad monocle to match). He was ready to rip out the other eye, too, but Team Sanzo showed up in time to slap his hand away and offer him a new life and a second chance. They're his FAMILY now and he loves them VERY MUCH and they all need to PROTECT each other and—
  Er. Ah-hem.
  So. Uh. Yeah. I used to scour eBay looking for a UFO doll of this guy because that's how badly I needed to give him a hug. Hakkai is Best Boy. It is known.
    Okay, But What's it About?
  Kicking ass and having feelings and looking damn fine while doing it.
  And if that's not enough for you, then here's a bit more: The title of the manga (最遊記) is a play on the Japanese title for Journey to the West (西遊記). They're both read as Saiyuki, but the manga replaces the kanji for “west” with the kanji for “most” or “extreme.”  With one simple character, our journey to the West has turned into a journey... TO THE MAX!
  And, honestly, that's what Saiyuki is about. Big expansive world, big bombastic fights, big heart-on-sleeve emotions, big tragic histories, big meandering narrative. Everything is cranked up to 11. The series first ran in a shounen magazine (targeted at boys) before later finding a home in a josei one (targeted at adult women), which I think speaks to the way it dances between all those extremes: From rip-roaring action-adventure to character (melo)drama and on over to broad or black comedy before bouncing right back to one of its other modes again.
    Is it over-the-top, unfocused, and unapologetically packed with shipteases and emotional fanservice? Oh, yeah. One hundred percent. But, all teasing aside, I love it. I used to devour new volumes in one sitting, cheer out loud during the fights, bite my nails when my boys were in danger, giggle at their down-time bickering, and lap up all those theatrical, quasi-philosophical monologues.
  I love it in a way that's hard to put into words because it's so intricately tied to being a stressed-out high school/college kid in the mid-to-late '00s, but I think it comes down the series' overall tone and message. Because, despite its many moments of levity (particularly in the early going), as bullets fly and youkai rampage, the story always comes back to a bunch of sad-yet-defiant survivors trying to make it in a world that seems fundamentally, maybe even permanently broken.
  It's devastatingly grim at times, but even at its most dismal, it always manages to offer a kind of skeptical hope instead of just pessimistic tragedy porn. “Everything is terrible, but I'm not gonna give up,” in essence. Or maybe more to the point: “Everything is terrible, but I have people who support me, so I can get through it.” And there are times even now when that message has been a comfort to me, melodramatics or no.
  Saiyuki is too gleefully ridiculous, both in terms of world-building and staging, for me to take it too seriously or champion it as A Great Classic That Everyone Should Try. Frankly, if you read “a jeep that's actually a dragon” and didn't at least crack a smile, you probably should have walked away right there.
  Even so, with its raging battles, skewed sense of humor, smokin' hot anti-heroes, and willingness to dive head-first into sensationalized but nevertheless sincere explorations of trauma, depression, community, and identity, it scratches a particular itch and does so very effectively. Saiyukiis intense and bombastic, as overloaded with bullets as it is with feelings. It's stylish, heartfelt, top-tier trash, and I can't wait to roll around in it all over again. Lock and reload, gang. It's gonna be a blast.
  About the author, Dee Hogan
Dee is a nerd of all trades and a master of one. She has bachelor’s degrees in English and East Asian studies and an MFA in Creative Writing. To pay the bills, she works as a technical writer. To not pay the bills, she devours novels and comics, watches far too much anime, and cheers very loudly for the Kansas Jayhawks. You can hang out with her at The Josei Next Door, a friendly neighborhood anime blog for long-time fans and newbies alike, as well as on Tumblr and Twitter.
  SAIYUKI RELOAD BLAST is available for viewing now on Crunchyroll!
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