Kazuya Minekura

What a shame, that it would slide back into 3-star territory so soon after a very good fourth volume. But the entire arc of how Sanzo's group got together seems to lack . . . something, I can't put my finger on it. And once again, female characters are evil or unable to help themselves or change their own destiny, so that they either die or stand meekly to the side while the men take charge yet again. Let's not get started on the new minor villain introduced in the last chapter, allegedly a guy in drag, who Sanzo has no problem addressing with the f-word and insulting in a way that made me incredibly uncomfortable. Although I might have to chalk that one up to the translation, which seems like it is trying its damndest to make everyone sound more hardcore than they are. But considering Saiyuki's terrible track record for LGBTQQI characters, and add to that the cheap jokes about how -not gay- they are because being gay would just be the worse wouldn't it?, then I'm not so sure that Minekura's completely off the hook for the more offensive bits of dialogue in this volume.

Casual aside: Is this when Minekura started her Gaiden series? The flashback story arc seems like a good jumping point to run a series parallel to the main one that explores more of the series' history, but I don't know for sure.… (more)