After hyping up his fans with a brief clip of the main cast, Yusuke Murata released a rough cut of part 1 for his new anime Zaiyuki, a modern and unique take on the Chinese epic Journey to the West. Considering his work on ONE’s One-Punch Man, and the quality of this rough cut, it’s safe to get hyped for this anime.
Murata uploaded the first part of Zaiyuki in two parts to his Twitter feed. Viewers are introduced to the kappa Tripitaka and the hijinks he gets up to at the airport, which involves a powerful monkey taking on a SWAT team with no effort whatsoever.
Considering that this is “part A,” Zaiyuki might not be a long series, and could just be an OVA. He also admitted that one of the parts was cut out of order, so a complete version of Zaiyuki is likely to be released sometime in the future.
Zaiyuki Part A, 1
いったんAパートの出来上がってるとこだけ字幕つけてまとめてみました。重いので分割1/2。 pic.twitter.com/is8xSHrHom
— 村田雄介 (@NEBU_KURO) March 6, 2023
Zaiyuki Part A, 2
分割2/2。オリジナルのアニメを制作中です。 pic.twitter.com/2iSUaECMmN
— 村田雄介 (@NEBU_KURO) March 6, 2023
Kappa Tripitaka’s Unexpected Vacation
In the world of Zaiyuki, mythological figures seem to coexist with normal humans.
Our kappa stand-in for Tripitaka is introduced as being rather weak compared to the other kappa. Unlike other kappas, he can’t swim, he can’t sumo wrestle, and he apparently hates cucumbers. During a festival, he pulls a pearl out of a butt-shaped box — a nod to the myth that kappa pull a shirikodama, an orb-shaped organ, from a victim’s butt — and wins a free vacation for himself and his family.
While in line at the airport, an old, sick monk approaches the kappa and asks him to transport a stone orb to a man at his receiving airport, by the main gate. Kindly, the kappa agrees and safely transports the stone to his destination.
While getting his luggage, his bag hops around and the stone bursts out, hatching into a golden monkey with a crown, Sun Wukong. This matches the original Journey to the West, where Sun Wukong hatched from a stone egg. However, Zaiyuki‘s Sun Wukong already knows martial arts, and already has the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the magical staff. The monkey king bows to the kappa in respect. After taking down a SWAT team in epic and comical fashion, a van drives through the main gates, and a gyaru pig girl grabs the kappa and Sun Wukong.
Kappa meets the man he was supposed to deliver the stone egg to, and his partner, a gun-toting gyaru pig girl, who openly flirts with him. He’s pulled into a chase with these two dangerous people, beginning his adventure.
The Future of Zaiyuki
There’s no further information beyond this rough cut, which shows raw, quick scenes. They didn’t even color Sun Wukong in every frame, and there’s an animation error that shows Pigsy without her wing in the rearview mirror before she takes it off. This might just be the out of order cut that Murata mentioned. There’s no known premiere date for Part B, or for a complete version. There’s also no information about whether or not a major company is going to partner with Yusuke Murata’s Village Studio for more funding or a major release, though one can hope.
What do you make of Zaiyuki so far? Do you now have a thing for gyaru pig girls like I certainly don’t? Do you think this Sun Wukong is badass like I certainly do? Let us know in the comments below.
