~Art
The art is the same as part two [Reload], which as I've stated before is pretty OK. Nothing jaw-droppingly amazing or anything. If I wasn't so fed up with the series and the way they adapted the artwork from the original designs...I might have been OK with it. But watching something that had sooooooo much potential to be way better than it currently is just brings up strong feelings of revulsion. The art is nice, maybe if they have another project to draw I can truly to appreciate it. The animation still sucks though. Same cheap f/x and animation shortcuts....especially for an “action anime” that's very disappointing.
~Sound
Goku's voice is like nails on a chalkboard by this point. Does he have balls? Why does he whine so much? Hakkai is as gay as ever [not that I have issues with gayness...obviously!] Like I said in my Reload review, Sanzo and Gojyo have decent voices. The cast is a mixed bag of good and bad....the music for this series is pretty decent.
~Story???.....................WHAT STORY???
Scooby-Doo! That's what I felt like I was watching. There is ZERO progression with the story, ZERO plot or character development, ZERO entertainment! The show became completely stagnant [YES, I said STAGNANT] and straight-up ridiculous! I mean when I got to the board-game episode, that which was an obvious rip of the movie “Jumanji” I kinda barfed in my mouth a little bit and called it quits for this series. And I dare anyone to tell me that episode wasn't bullshit. This whole installment was a waste, what happened to the Merciful Goddess, Nataku and all that drama that was going on in Heaven? What happened to all the angst and darkness that was so pronounced and almost so very palpable in the first installment? That's what made this show worthwhile in the first place....it's SUPPOSED to be IRONIC or didn't anyone get that? Saiyuki is supposed to be about beautiful guys with very ugly and twisted pasts, and yet, somehow it became this watered-down shonen crappola! Also I don't know if anyone else noticed but in part one the [lesser] demons were kinda more like raving mad monsters foaming at the mouth affected by the evil miasma spreading across the land or whatever it was that's supposed to be driving them crazy but eventually they just became these generic, foul-mouthed henchmen who attack people just for the sake for attacking people.
~Character
At this stage, I wanna kill Goku! I wanna shove my hands down his throat and rip out his vocal chords. The chronic “I'm hungry, I'm hungry” whining of his ISN'T funny anymore! Actually it never was.....and why do anime creators think gluttony [over-eating] is soooo fucking hilarious? It's not, it's cliché not to mention gross. I love Goku's look, physically he's very cute [not sexually – I'm not a hentai freak or anything, I'm just saying as far as anime bishounen designs go, he's nice looking]. Actually all four main characters are nice looking....but something about Goku's and Hakkai's personalities really grate on my nerves by this 3rd installment of the series. I admit that Hakkai was a little on the meek and soft-spoken side from part one of the trilogy but secretly he was a beast, he had a very dark side and is probably second strongest to Goku.....but you'll never guess it from watching Reload or Gunlock, because by then he's like the group's bitch he does the cooking and the cleaning and his voice is equally irritating. I'm also fed up with all the same slapstick, 3-Stooges routines going on between all the characters: Goku and Gojyo fighting over food and whatnot and then Sanzo saying he's gonna shoot them, it gets very tiring.....I hope by the end of the series, he actually shoots them! [not that I intend to stick around for the end of this farce of an anime!]
~Verdict
*le Sigh!*
Look, I will always love my Saiyuki wall posters and calendars....and I'll more than likely buy and read the manga, provided it's a completed work of course. However this anime is simply WRETCHED! This gets a [4] simply because of the art and the bishounen factor and because I do think the Saiyuki franchise may hold a lot more potential than this current rubbish.
Hopefully they redo the whole thing like they redid FullMetal Alchemist!
