Another painfully by-the-numbers volume of Saiyuki, although if I could I'd give it a 3.5 instead of a 3 - but it doesn't do enough to enter four star territory. We have our obligatory human/yokai love story, and then a rather silly subplot featuring one of Kougaiji's subordinates working undercover to get close to Sanzo and the gang - as a waitress. Ayup. The second half of the book, however, shows much promise with the blast from Sanzo's past and the rather bloody cliffhanger of an ending. Add to that the glimpses into Hakkai and Gojyo's back story and we have the showings of an improvement in quality hopefully soon. Hey, the story might suck right now, but at least the boys are pretty? ( )

I love the Saiyuki series. In this book, we get more background about Sha Gojyo and Genjyo Sanzo. The anime closely follows the manga so far.

Again, the fact that pages aren't numbered makes it hard to look up sounds in the glossary, and I've given up already. The story is great, though, and fun to read. ( )

I’m really enjoying this more and more, especially as I begin to feel more comfortable with my own ability to decipher what’s going on, and find myself confused less and less. The artwork is still gorgeous, and I found myself squeeing just a little over young Sanzo. So adorable! Also, the ending made me wibble lots. Stupid crazy Buddhist monks always cause problems.

I am a little uncomfortable about the roles in which women are represented in this for the most part; though I suppose that since Saiyuki (for all its anachronisms) is supposed to be set in ancient China, that’s only to be expected. It will be at least two weeks before I can pick up the third volume. I hate this town’s complete lack of decent bookshops.

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