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Shangri-La is a world where magic and science exists together.
It is an unsafe land, a land in chaos. Experiments to release
the demon Lord Gyumaoh have turned the world's demon population
mad. The only hope for the land is the Sanzo Party - four
disparate adventurers who travel to India where they must
stop the revival of Lord Gyumaoh. Along the way they have
to contend with both angels and demons who have their own
agenda...
Volume
Six of Saiyuki Reload is with us. With the show
only running to twenty-five episodes, I presume that this
is the penultimate disc, in which case it has a lot of story
to catch up with if it is to rescue the overall story - which
on many of the discs has been all but ignored.
Episode
twenty, Prelude, and the show tries to make the most
of its 4:3 ratios by playing with the pictures construction.
At points you get a half screen or the middle third which
gives a faux widescreen picture. So, for anyone who has been
following the show, it will come as no surprise that the Sanzo
gang have reached another town and another set of demons.
The strange thing about the show is that although they mention
in this episode that they have nearly made it to India, you
really don't get the feeling that their voyage is really going
anywhere, given the repetition within each episode. With Gojyo
missing the gang go in search of him only to come up against
a magic barrier. Gojyo, meanwhile, finds a temple and awakens
a malevolent god.
Episode
twenty-one, Fight, and the Sanzo gang are close behind
Gojyo, but Gojyo is having problems of his own. Having reached
the temple he is enveloped in a fog that induces hallucinations.
When he finally overcomes the obstacle he faces off against
the god, even though he is horribly outmatched. When it looks
like he is going to loose the fight the Sanzo gang arrive.
Episode
twenty-two, The Broken, and the Sanzo gang face off
against god. What follows is a fairly pointless protracted
fight, which the Gang have no chance of winning, though even
following their defeat Sanzo is still determine to kill the
god.
The
show is presented in Japanese or English stereo in 4:3 aspect
ratio. Extras consist of some trailers, some TV spots and
the DVD credits.
To
be honest - as the show has progressed so many of the stories
have revolved around the gang just turning up at a new town
only to fight the demon of the week - any impression of time
or distance passing has been lost. You never really get an
impression whether they have travelled thousands of miles
or thousands of feet.
This
lack of attention to the overall story arc becomes more noticeable
as the show progresses. And whilst individually each show
has much to offer, as a coherent whole there is much lacking
in Saiyuki Reload.
Charles
Packer
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