I loved the Saiyuki anime series. These books are great, and you can see how the episodes were taken directly from the manga. Some things are added, this first volume covers something like the first several episodes, so they obviously have some filler. But there are also some details that are in the manga that you just don't get from watching the anime. That's why I picked these up, and why I'm reading them all.

If you like anime, or action-oriented manga, you'll love this series. It's based on the Chinese story "Xi You Ji", or Journey to the West. In Chinese, the title reads "Zui You Ji", but in Japanese apparently the Xi and Zui characters sound the same. So it's a clever play on words, if you know Japanese, which I don't.

The only annoying thing is all the "background noises" that are written in phonetic Japanese. There is a glossary at the end of the book with page and frame numbers, but pages are rarely numbered (less than 1 in 10 pages has a number on it), and frames are never numbered. Still, I enjoyed the book and will read the whole series. ( )

I really liked this. I think L. recommended it to me a while back as the manga I would probably be most likely to get into, and she was right. This is my second time to read this volume; I wanted to get it all straight in my head before I pick up volume two. I love the characters, and the way they play off one another. The dynamic is fun, especially when it introduces the humour that helps to balance the plot line. I will readily admit to not knowing much about Chinese/Japanese myth and legend, but I like how they put a twist on what I do know. The artwork is really, really beautiful, as is the layout of the pages - the way your eye was drawn through the pages and then made to linger on set pieces was really beautifully done, I thought. ( )