Saiyuki (manga)

Togenkyo (Shangri-La) is a land of peace and harmony, earned after generations of war between humans and yokai. At the beginning of Saiyuki, it is revealed that someone is trying to bring back the yokai god Gyumao, which is generating waves of evil energy that flow throughout the land. As a side effect, this inflicts a dark curse on the previously peaceful yokai, causing aggressive, murderous urges that drive them to massacre humans. The Buddhist Trinity urgently dispatch one of the five Sanzo, the sacred guardians of the five creative sutras of the world. Genjo Sanzo, the complete opposite of the image expected of a high-ranking priest, is entrusted with the mission of going to the west of Togenkyo in order to stop the resurrection of Gyumao. He is accompanied by three yokai: faithful companion Son Goku, a 15-year-old child who looks like a little monkey and spends his time eating, Sha Gojyo, a great flirt and drinker before the eternal, and Cho Hakkai, always friendly but hiding a heavy past. Those three seem to be the only yokai who aren't affected by the dark curse. Along the way they encounter many adversaries as the dark curse continue to spread. Sanzo, Goku, Gojyo, and Hakkai meet Shunrei, whose lover was a yokai, during a short stopover in a village. We also discover that Gojyo is looking for his half-brother, Jien, who disappeared shortly after saving his life. Later, while Sanzo and his gang are resting in a bar, they are attacked by Yaone, a herbalist who works for Kogaiji, the son of Gyumao. From here on out, Kogaiji will continue to pursue them himself, along with his assassins. A little further down the road, they discover a mountain of yokai corpses. It seems that the person responsible for this carnage is a monk nicknamed “The Savior”. But in truth, he is Shuei, a specialist in incantations that Sanzo knew during his childhood, now possessed by an evil incantatory seal. When he confronts Sanzo's gang with the intention of killing Goku, Hakkai, and Gojyo for being yokai, he instead accidentally lands an almost fatal blow on Sanzo. When he sees this, Goku goes berserk and his diadem (a power limiter which restricts his yokai strength) breaks. With his full power released, Goku becomes violent and begins to destroy everything in his path. Eventually the group manage to calm him with the help of the goddess Kanzeon Bosatsu, who restores his diadem. At Hojo Castle, a yokai named Lady Gyokumen is revealed as being one of the main coordinators of Gyumao's return. Furious at the delays at killing Sanzo and his traveling group, she demands further measures be taken; Ririn, Kogaiji's half-sister, decides to join the effort alone. As Sanzo, Gojyo, Hakkai and Goku continue their pilgrimage west, they encounter a fortune teller named Chin Yi-So. He is revealed to be a yokai who has the ability to summon shikigami. Chin Yi-So has a fierce hatred towards Hakkai, whom he calls by his old first name, Cho Gono. During a flashback sequence, it is revealed that Hakkai had murdered his entire village, and scores of yokai, after his sister was given as a sacrifice to a yokai lord named Hyakugan Maoh. The son of the lord, Chin Yisou, used his blood to transform Hakkai into a yokai before turning himself into a shikigami, reborn as the Chin Yi-So we see in present day. After fleeing Hyakugan Maoh's castle, Hakkai lay in the forest outside waiting to die. This is when Gojyo finds him after a night of drinking, saving his life and encouraging him to find a new purpose. Hakkai eventually agrees and renames himself to try and leave his past behind. The two later met Sanzo and Goku when the Buddhist Trinity sent them out to find Cho Gono; seeing as Cho Gono has already taken on the new name of Hakkai, Sanzo deems the criminal already dead, and instead befriends Hakkai and Gojyo as they journey together. In the present, Chin Yi-So forces Hakkai to confront his past and finally reveal it in full to the group. While Hakkai is convinced this will mean the other three will abandon him, instead they reaffirm that someone's past is their own, and they continue traveling together after defeating Chin Yi-So. It is also revealed that Gojyo's brother, Jien, is working for Kogaiji as one of his assassins. During their journey, Sanzo and his gang infiltrate the lair of a desert yokai believed to have stolen one of the sutras of the opening of Heaven and Earth. But during their fight, Sanzo collapses, struck down by the yokai's poison, and the desert lair begins to collapse after the battle. Fortunately, the Sanzo gang is saved at the last minute by Kogaiji. He challenges Goku to a duel in order to recover the sacred sutra. Shortly after this ordeal, the gang rests in a neighboring town. While out in the local market, Gojyo saves a boy from a group of thugs. Soon after, Goku and Hakkai are imprisoned in a pocket dimension contained in the jar of another yokai, Kinkaku, splitting the party as they face off against the yokai and his twin, Ginkaku. While there, the party learn of a new, darker adversary who calls himself "God". During their clashes, God manages to steal a sutra from them, leaving the group in pursuit to take it back once they escaped his domain. ==Media==