 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | MVM | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 4:3 FULL SCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 60 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | 15 | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 12/07/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 12/16/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SANDRA SCHOLES |
SYNOPSIS:
This spectacular box set opens with episode one: 'The Bullets Have Been Reloaded' introducing the characters of the famed Sanzo Party, four warriors on the side of good, Genjyo Sanzo, a travelling monk and leader of the group, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo and Son Goku. They arrive in a distant village notice they have been followed there and take on the demons, but once that is done they discover another threat, Lady Lirin and Lord Kougaiji who appear on the rooftops wanting Sanzo to hand over the scroll or face elimination. They are used to fighting though and see them as nothing more than ants in their way. Their main reason for wondering is focussed on the Sanzo Party going to India to prevent Gyumaoh the demon from being brought back to life and into the human world. Shangri-la is where men and demons once lived in peace, but someone's making sure that that peace is threatened and, unknown to them there are forces at work trying to capture the fab four in order to eliminate them too. It's a good thing the four of them are stronger than they look. Genjyo has his own silver revolver to keep the demons at bay and a fan especially for idiots! Cho Hakkai has his magical hands and something deep inside him that is devastating and doesn't show the others, Sha Gojyo has his double-ended staff while Son Goku has his own staff like Monkey from the original series. Along with Hakkuryu, their friendly dragon that doubles as their jeep they can't be beat by anyone.
REVIEW:
It's time to settle back for a perfect comedy with four likely characters and a dragon that don't seem to get on together. Cho is the mild-mannered member of the group who has to get the others too see reason in their arguments and get them to settle down, Sanzo is a monk, but without the niceties, he would rather shoot anyone between the eyes rather than listen to them moan, and gets irritated at nothing, Sha is the lascivious one who is part yokai and wants to bed every girl who he sees but actually has a nice side to him, as well as a need for justice while Son Goku, the Monkey character is only interested in settling his fight with Kougaiji and wanting food (all the time!) Part of its charm is the humour, the other part is the characters and how effective they are in the series. The comedy just keeps coming, and the actions of the characters are so out of this world that the viewer just has to sit up and laugh out loud. Each character has his own humour set, and they always go against each other unless they are in a fight with other youkai like Kougaiji and his underlings, but even Kougaiji is more of a decent character than the cruel and devious Ni Genyi who constantly experiments on others with his own agenda in place.
EXTRAS:
This box set is just teaming with bonus material and general extras that will make anyone take notice of how good this is: Text less Opening, Original Japanese Opening Animation, 4 Bonus "URA-SAI" Episodes, Credit less Ending, Original Japanese Ending, 4 Bonus "URA-SAI" Episodes, Commercial Collection (Sanzo Version) 4 Bonus "URA-SAI" Episodes and Trailers, Commercial Collection (Goku Version) 4 Bonus "URA-SAI" Episodes, Commercial Collection (Gojyo Version) Original Japanese Ending Version 2, 3 Bonus "URA-SAI" Episodes, Commercial Collection (Hakkai Version) 3 Bonus "URA-SAI" Episodes, Trailers, Line Art Gallery, Text less Japanese Opening Version 2 and 2 Bonus "URA-SAI" Episodes.
IN SUMMARY:
Comedy at its finest - you'll be hooked after the first episode - It's a wonderful take on the Monkey story. |
