Aug 19, 2019
Saigo no Saiyuuki was one manga I really wanted to survive but unfortunately it got axed, the last chapter being number 23 which was released one day before this review.
Story: 6/10
What I imagine was the cause of Saiyuuki getting axed is it's slow beginning, it takes place in modern day and follows Ryunosuke a young boy who likes baseball. Saiyuuki is character driven for the most part so it relies a lot on the relationships the characters have and build which it does very well. What it doesn't do as well is the amount of complicated and wordy concepts it introduces, it takes heavy influence
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from the Chinese book "Journey to the West" which I have no experience with but I assume it's more well known in Asian cultures. Due to this I think a lot of the story may be lost to me or anyone who has no idea about this book since we can't make any parallels to the original source, that being said the story is still coherent it's just that it isn't very clear. The concepts it introduces include some really cool ones such as the way the monsters Ryunosuke fights are derived from folktales and they are manifested by people who are scared who have had their "mou" opened.By the final chapter which is basically a glimpse of what Saiyuuki could have been, we get a full picture of what the ultimate events of the story would have been. For such an abrupt end it handled it really well and effectively told us what might have happened while thematically tying everything up, it makes me sad to see such a promising story go to waste.
Art: 10 /10
I love the art in Saiyuuki! It's shaded really well and uses the use of solid gray and black tones to really elevate it's art as a whole, especially more freighting scenes where the pages is practically enveloped in black. The character designs are really cute and the come across to me as a modern interpretation of older shounen manga, I'm not sure why but I get major YuYu Hakusho vibes from it. Another great thing about the characters is how well Nonoue Sensei illustrates facial expressions, they're very emotive and some of the best I've ever seen! Fear, Sadness, Shock , Happiness ... they're all done so well and really convey the characters emotions which helps makes the more heartfelt moments be a bit more emotional. Action scenes and the creatures in this manga also look phenomenal, they're creepy and thatch reflective of what they are: Fear and scary stories. The manga is also really clean looking and laid out in a neat and intuitive way so it's easy and enjoyable to read with the bigger action spreads looking amazing! It's not the best drawn thing in the world but it has so much charm and appeals to me so much I can justify it having the maximum score.
Character: 7/10
One of it's best aspects is the characters which despite the short runtime have really cemented themselves as some of my favorites in recent memory, Ryunosuke being a young child who just wants to play baseball but can't due to various reasons is handled really well as it depicts the more selfish side of children in a way that is understandable but despite this he still does the right thing for the sake of another and while what he does is not as high stakes as other shounen protagonists for a young child he is a very admirable character. His sister Koharu is blind with 4 prosthetic limbs so she can't do much herself and proves to help characterize Ryunosuke but she herself is a bit of a plot device and while there is an attempt to get the readers to care for her she never really does much as the story presents her as something rather inhuman, with more time I could definitely see her as an interesting character. Other characters like Estelle and Ryonuske's father are also well done and offer something unique that I wish got more time to explore, but overall for the time it got the characters are interesting and well done.
Conclusion:
In my eyes Saigo no Saiyuuki was something special that presented a lot of interesting things about the human experience, facing your fears, getting over trauma and forming bonds which it illustrates masterfully. While it might not be the most exciting or action filled I definitely see in it a more serious shounen manga that would have presented some really compelling topics that we don't usually see. I recommend everyone to read it, it's short at 23 chapters and It didn't deserve to get axed, I even bought the first volume and will buy the other two despite import costs being very high and me not understanding any Japanese, I just love it that much, so please give it a try if your interested.
Why it Failed:
From what I could read through translations it wasn't received well in japan at all, as many said I think the story being so slow especially with the first 7 or so chapters taking place in a few rooms makes it hard for it to gain traction above the other series in Jump. I also feel that spectacle is often more sought out than deeper emotional moments in most cases, not that it's wrong for it to have a more emotional way of storytelling but it doesn't seem to work as well. Some of the dozens of terms it comes up with also could contribute to people not liking it since it's an investment to read, worth investing in my mind but it's often the case that people want something easier to digest. I'm happy it got published and the way Nonoue Sensei ended it was well done and handled in a way which was very respectful as if he took pride in his work even though it didn't work out in the end, I hope that he develops more and comes back with an even greater series that takes Jump by storm next time, I will wait patiently until then.
FINAL SCORE: 8/10 - Very Good
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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