Gensoumaden Saiyuuki

It should be noted that I have not read the manga so this review is based on the anime so if I write something out of place I'm sorry.

Gensoumaden Saiyuuki is an anime that for the long duration (episodes) you can expect something good but the reality is that there are 50 episodes in which you see practically the same thing (except for some episodes in which it tells the past of each character or something that is of interest to the story) as in each chapter are the same dialogues (Gokuu all the time saying that he is hungry and Sanzou scolding him or ... hitting him all the time) the story for its part is interesting but they could have exploited it more or do it in a better way but it is enjoyed from the first chapter and you want to continue seeing more.

Regarding the characters, I can only say that each one has its grace, and each one compensates for the weakness of the other and makes you want to know more about each one.

In gerenal the anime is quite good but only that since by the extension of the chapters they could make it more interesting and not only put still images (this is more noticeable in fights or when it is a scene in which there is a situation to highlight) like this that if you have nothing to see you can see it without any problem but do not expect it to be the masterpiece.

There's so many good review already, mine would be extra and might not help much but I can't seem to find anyone have a complete list of story order around the net though, it took me some time, I hope it helped anyone who interested ... Enjoy ...

- Saiyuki Watch Order -

0. (1999) Saiyuki Premium | 2 Episodes (Original)
1. (2011) Saiyuki Gaiden | 3 Episodes (Before They Reborn?)
2. (2007) Saiyuki Reload Burial | 3 Episodes (Before They Team)
3. (2000) Gensoumaden Saiyuki | 50 Episodes (After They Team)
4. (2001) Gensoumaden Saiyuki Requiem | Part 1 Movie
5. (2002) Gensoumaden Saiyuki Kibou no Zaika/A Sin of Hope | ... Requiem Sequel Part 2 Gamerip Movie
6. (2003) Saiyuki Reload | 25 Episodes
7. (2004) Saiyuki Reload GunLock | 26 Episodes
8. (2017) Saiyuki Reload Blast | 12 Episodes

I will keep it as short and as simple as possible.

I never care about animation or quality, I've seen countless animes where people in chorus complain how terrible the animations were, yet I never saw anything wrong at all. But Gensoumaden Saiyuki is the first anime where the animation is so lacking and rudimentary that I can't help but call it "BAD", because it is. Most visible in fighting scenes that look so poorly animated it's almost painful to look at.

What I mean is there is barely any animation whatsoever. Just static images moving around the screen with some flashy background. One example is ... when the characters were riding the truck and fell into a river. You would imagine this is depicted, but it's not - you see them driving towards the river bank and shouting, next thing you see is the sky and a splash animation coming from the bottom of the screen.

Now imagine this is the level of animation for 50 episodes. How do I know it keeps going for 50 episodes when I dropped it on episodes 5? Well, I skimmed through the last 3 episodes and it's the same thing. When I began watching it, I was hoping the animation will get better later on, assuming the anime became more popular, but alas.

The second problem is the story - overall it seems like an interesting plot, but each episode feels like an anthology and as if they aren't interconnected. The pacing is so slow and boring that for 5 episodes I could not get intrigued, I found myself pausing and doing other things all the time. I had to watch the episodes on x1.25 speed too. All signs of really a boring presentation.

In comparison when I began watching things like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach or something else, they became interesting in the first 2-3 minutes of the first episode and after that I just couldn't stop watching them until I realized hours have passed.

For me it just isn't worth it wasting time watching it.