Saiyuki Reload Gunlock (Vol. 1)

I love the series

Saiyuki Reload may not be as good as the original Saiyuki series but if you love the original Saiyuki you would definitely enjoy this one. The characters still go on their long journey to the west and the comedy is back with a whole new segment in every episode called Ura-Sai which is like a behind the scenes of the Saiyuki characters(not the voice actors)and its just a quick 1 to 2 minute extra on every episode that is always funny and can give you a good laugh. The action is also back and better then ever. The new music for this series is pretty good especially the opening song and the 2nd ending song. Highly recommended to any Saiyuki fan.

While I love Saiyuki to death, Geneon can be eaten by worms for all I care. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought so. Beforehand, I LOVED watching Saiyuki in dub when ADV had their hands on it. (Mind you, I don't enjoy many dubs.) David Matranga was the BEST Sanzo, his voice was so fitting, as was Illich's. Lex Lang...is no Sanzo, oh no no no. All the new Enlgish voices that Geneon threw out there...the people who did casting obviously had NO lick of sense whatsoever. That accounts for the minus of one star. (Can't give it less than a three just because of poor dubbing, no matter how bad it is.) If you aim to watch this, watch it in subtitled Japanese, you're better off. As another reviewer said, they're Japanese voices rule. They're awesome. As for the show in itself, it's great. The animation has gone up a few notches, the Urasai bits at the end of each episode rule (especially the paper sumos), and it's a pleasure to watch. Don't miss out on it, it's a perfectly fine DVD! (Just don't watch it in English. ><; )

Very disappointed. DVD looked like it was factory sealed, but the disc was scratched up and messed up. It wasn't as described.

I loved Gensoumaden Saiyuki, especially the second season. The animation, the music, the plot, everything was perfect. But simply put, Saiyuki Reload is whack. They must have hired a completely new animation team because everything I loved about the original series is gone. What happened to the bright colors and sharp designs and artsy split-screens and overlays? The character designs have also changed for the worse. They veered away from Kazuya Minekura's stylishly lanky, angular designs, and instead we have . . . Big Buff Sanzo and Co. What happened to the waifish, slanty-eyed bishounen we know and love? The background music is OK, neither better nor worse than the original series, but the opening theme is just lame half-ass hard-rock-ish stuff. Overall, they seem to have tried "shounen-izing" the series so that it's more like your typical Saturday morning action anime. Ultimately, the only thing that kept me watching was my desire to know what happens in terms of plot (again, I was disappointed; Saiyuki Reload is pretty much all filler) and the top-notch voice acting. A lot of people seem to have complaints about the American cast; I wouldn't know, since I firmly decided not to scar my virgin ears by watching the dub, but I'm sure it's awful, since people seem to prefer the original series' American cast and I thought they were still vastly inferior to the Japanese cast, who are utterly amazing. The hilarious Uru-sai segments only further serve to showcase the talent and impeccable ear for comedy of the Japanese voice-actors. Overall, Saiyuki Reload is not worth buying, and only worth watching if you really, really can't get enough Saiyuki. I've started watching Gunlock (the sequel to Reload) and it doesn't seem to get any better. Me, I'll just stick to the original series, which is a masterpiece worth watching again and again.

I wish that I could give different ratings for this DVD. The episodes themselves were great and if you're a Saiyuki fan like me, it was good to see this refreshed view of the characters. Those of us who watched the original series would be the first to admit that the animation was nothing to write home about. Thankfully the animation seemed better this time around, with more attention paid to detail (like Goyjo's haircolor - finally it's proper blood-red). The action was tight and the re-introduction of all the characters went smoothly. The storylines at first were mostly rehashing of what we'd seen in previous eposides, but they quickly improved for Episodes 3 & 4. There were quite a few humorous moments (like when Goku, Hakkai and Goyjo broke off from battle just for the chance to beat on Sanzo's dopleganger), and hopefully the plotline with continue to tighten up. I can't critique the American voice actors since I never watch the dubbed verious, but the Japanese voice actors seemed to be the same from the original serious and the subtitles were accurate. As for the DVD itself, it was more than dissapointing. I never heard of Geneon Entertainment before, but there were none of the extras that we were accustomed to seeing on the original series DVDs. I really missed the cultural notes and fold-outs that came with each DVD. For those who don't have a strong background in Asian mythology and the original text of the Journey West, the notes were very helpful in explaining some of the stuff going on and why certain things were important. The Urasai bits at the end of each episode were serious giggles, but not enough to make up for the loss of the other extras.

Horrible

That must've been the pitch the writers made to the producers: It's a comedy. Dirty Harry and the Three Stooges as the modern day revision of the classic Journey to the West. It'll be funny! And it is!