Xi You Ji

Yellow Robe Demon vs. Zhu Bajie (Episode 19 唐僧变老虎)
天堂有路你不走，地獄無門你闖進來
translates to Heaven has a way, you don't go, hell has no door, you break in
Sounds epic in Mandarin, frighteningly epic in Cantonese

This is one of my favorite Chinese animation since long ago when I got the VCDs. I have watched in both Cantonese and Mandarin, I can speak both. Cantonese is the best dub for me, best voices and the language-based humor of the script is off the roof. The show is cool and kickass, it's got amazing art. I find this Sun Wukong is the most handsome/sexy Monkey King in all Journey to the West ... adaptations.

Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie are both big trolls. Jade Emperor is a funny habitual liar troll too. Ever since Sun Wukong crashed his court 500 years ago for his injustice, he still don't do the right stuff. He ostracizes Sun Wukong, acting like the too good for you calm prick god he is, and then he's here when Sun Wukong holds him to his responsibilities. He is really scared of the destruction Sun Wukong causes. I like the literature, it shows the deities above or below are also flawed or imperfect.

Sun Wukong is close to a deity himself, The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal 齐天大圣, Zhu Bajie himself was once a Heavenly Navy General of 80,000 Heavenly Soldiers 天篷元帅 banished into a pig, and Sha Wujing the 3rd disciple another banished Heavenly General 卷帘大将. For redemption of punishment, their powers are used on a pilgrimage to the west to protect the monk Tang Sanzang (from evil demons that want to cook and eat his flesh for immortality) to bring back Buddhist scriptures.

The long journey to be completed on foot is a sacred test observed by Buddha to see if they can overcome the many trials and if their wisdom for it is seeked, aided by the Bodhisattva powers to cast off evil. Faithful and so fun to watch adaptation of the classic Journey to the West literature.

Disclaimer: This review will be based on my memories as a child when I was watching the Chinese dub version of the show. Also, I watched this without any English subtitles and I did not watch an English dubbed version.

Considering this was an adaptation to one of the four greatest Chinese literature (Journey to the West) it did an outstanding job to make it accessible for a young audience (i.e. children) to watch and enjoy the show. I remember watching this and always enjoyed the fight scenes and the magic (fa shu) used by the characters in the animation.

Story-wise I believe most of the characters ... are present (if you exclude the main gang: Sun Wu Kong (monkey), Zhu Ba Jie (Pigsy), Sha He Shang (Sandy), and Tang San Zang (Tripitaka)) to give a coherent story from beginning to end on how the Journey to the West came about. Although considering the style of the show has the "monster of the week" trope and there are 52 episodes altogether it might not add up to the total tribulations that Tripitaka has to overcome. However, it is enough to keep you entertained in terms of character development and the dynamic between the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Underworld. I will add that there is some simplicity in the story where you can say "Isn't it just good guys beat bad guys?" and I will say yes it does feel like that but for a young audience it does make sense. If you are interested in each of these "monsters" and want to understand why they became the way they are then it may be better to read the original literature and read from there.

Art and Sound are impressive considering it was from the late 90's that it was produced. Of course, it will not compare to current animation production but at the time it was good enough to get you hooked into the series especially the many fight scenes present.

Characters are very enjoyable and unique in their own way - though, considering the tribulations had to be unique it makes sense. There is the repeat of saving the monk or helping a stranger since their close friend/relative was kidnapped scenarios but the way the characters resolve each one and the reasons why these mishaps happened are unique in their own way. Moreover, the series does it quite well to show the impacts of one character's actions (in one episode) do have consequences, in the long run (like 5 episodes or more), where it will come back to bite them.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable show that simplifies the story of Journey to the West in a well and understood story. A simple beginning, middle and end with little to no complications that could confuse the story. (I might be biased here considering that I am doing it from memory rather than actually rewatching the whole thing).

SIDE NOTE: Remember this was meant for a young audience to watch so the language used will be very basic with little complications. Therefore, they will not go into too much world-building nor would they try to explain all the mechanics for using magic (fa shu) that the characters used. So if you were hoping for a deeper, in-lore about the ancient gods and the reason why they act as they do then you may need to do a little bit of research yourself (or watch some Chinese tv dramas) to get this information.

Journey to the West is one of the oldest action adventure tales as well as one of the oldest examples of the five man band trope (yes, the horse counts) but this incarnation of the tale still holds up as a highly original work in a landscape saturated with action-adventure shows inspired from it. The most prominent of these is Dragon Ball Z, and I'm just going to come out and say it: Xi You Ji walks all over Dragon Ball Z even when I remove my nostalgia glasses. Yes, it's still mainly an action-adventure series aimed at kids so there won't be much intellectual ... substance, long, complex story arcs, deep characters, nor emotional drama. It doesn't reach for these things either, as its tone, visuals, and music indicate that it's an honest attempt to tell fun, episodic adventures, and its plentiful charm allows it to succeed in this. Whereas Dragon Ball Z's 2 episode long constipating contests, poorly handled power creep, and corny hero-villain dialogue make it inaccessible to viewers who didn't grow up with it, Xi You Ji's charm holds up for both kids and adults just like Tom and Jerry's childish slapstick comedy is timeless.

(Edit: To say that Xi You Ji has nothing to say of substance would be inaccurate. The Journey to the West is about the individual's journey to cultivate the self. Wukong represents the mind, Tripitaka represents the heart, Pigsy represents our base instincts, and Sandy represents our common sense. We need to balance all these aspects of the self and in order to do so, we must go through numerous tribulations. Tripitaka's compassion and spirituality leads him to be too trusting towards demons and lands him in trouble and that's why he needs Wukong's cunning intellect, practicality, and ability to do what needs to be done. Wukong on the other hand, suffers from lack of self-restraint and spirituality. Compassion and spirituality must be tempered by logic and practicality. When Wukong decides to leave Flower Fruit Mountain and continue his journey, his monkey subjects beg him not to leave. They tell him that if he goes, he will suffer numerous hardships whereas if he stays, he can enjoy being king and having everything at his disposal. Wukong replies that he must go, because going through the 82 tribulations is honing his soul and his character. )

Most of this charm comes from the mandarin voice acting itself (which is fantastic, especially in the delivery of the comedic moments) and Son Wukong's personality. Mischievous, clever, persistent, and rebellious, Son Wukong stands up for what he believes is right, with a particular disdain for pompous authority figures. Moreover, he can back it up. His journey from a monkey born out of a giant rock to Monkey King, to Great Sage Equal to Heaven, is equal parts empowering in the way he takes on all of Heaven and wins.

Endearingly humorous, he answers trickery and connivery with clever wit and even greater trickery stemming from his monkey mischievousness. Here is what separates Xi You Ji from most other action-adventure series/shounen. The action conflicts are not simply bouts of who is more powerful or who is more intelligent; yes, Wukong is more powerful than his enemies most of the time, but he prefers to use his ability to transform into anything and deception to play with his enemies (monkeying around, if you will), making for some really fun sequences. As a result, it doesn't have to rely on power levels to get viewers invested in the fights, and each fight is unique and creative.

It's really hard to describe (and that's a good thing) so it's best you look up clips on Youtube to see what I mean. For now, I'll give an example. In one episode, it seems Wukong has finally met his match in Erlang Shen. In most series where two rivals fight, they try to hype it up with insane feats of power from both characters (Oh my god, they're both moving so fast we can't see them! Woah, he's so strong! Wow, I can't believe how he predicted that move!). Here, Wukong and Erlang Shen do compete to see who can grow the biggest, but then they both reach their limits and they start arguing about who should grow smaller first. Later, Wukong tries to flee so he turns into a sparrow, so Erlang Shen turns into a raven to chase him. In turn, Wukong turns into a hawk and chases Erlang Shen, who then turns into a condor, etc, etc.

In general, the villains are also charmingly villainous. Most of the time, they'll just be demons doing demon things, saying "We'll eat Tripitaka and gain immortality!" and they'll sound cute and diabolical at the same time. Objectively, many of the villains are repetitive, just like how in this 52 episode series some of the episodes may start to feel boring and drag due to the lack of much of an overarching plot and sparse character development. Still, the decent stories and villains are well distributed throughout the series. The fact that each of the villains are defeated in a different way, often requiring Wukong to come up with a creative solution, especially helps reduce the wear from the episodic story structure. However, it is also clear that Wukong is too overpowered for the story's good and some episodes will depower him to create conflict and use deus ex machinas to defeat the villain. Another thing to note is that though this series is supposedly for children, there is an ample amount of violence. Wukong has no problem killing his enemies with a big thump of his Ruyi Jingu Bang (and the show makes it clear people are dead), in case you're worried the action is too childish.

Even though I did say that there aren't any deep characters, Sun Wukong is still a great lead character unlike any other whose charisma keeps him interesting all 52 episodes. Zhu Bajie (Piggsy) is one of the best comedic characters out there, whose lovable lust, gluttony, and selfishness rivals Sun Wukong's lovable mischievousness, cleverness, and rebelliousness. Sandy's just there most of the time to play the straight man and is pretty weak in a battle unless it's in the sea. Tripitaka is the damsel in most of the episodes and often comes off as pious and self-righteous, making Sun Wukong's devotion to him somewhat unbelievable. And yet, the bond between teacher and student does provide for some emotional moments throughout the show, bolstered by the great soundtrack.

From a technical standpoint, Xi You Ji might not be anything special compared to anime from the same time period, but it should be noted that the Chinese animation industry was crippled for decades by communist censorship and what Xi You Ji has achieved in spite of that should be given high praise. The backgrounds are beautifully drawn and the art is shows a unique Chinese touch without leaning on the style of the much more mature anime industry. As I said, the music is exceptional as well. The opening song tells of the legend of Wukong with powerful dignity, conveyed by a vigorous male voice that puts most generic rock OP's to utter shame, while the ending is a catchy children's choir song.

Not only is Xi You Ji a significant cultural work drawing on the last remaining vestiges of Chinese civilization that have escaped communist depravity, but it is the best kind of children's story- the kind that will make you rediscover and cherish our youthful monkey nature.