Saiyûki

I was about 7 years old when Monkey was first aired in this country (Australia). Now days I don't remember too much about the experience, other than that my dad made me my very own Monkey staff, made from a 6 foot length of orange electrical pipe, and complete with rubber protected ends to prevent me from hurting myself (and anyone else). That pretend staff got a stack of use over the next 12 months, and with it thousands of imaginary demons were destroyed. Now I'm in my early 30s and I have begun collecting the series on DVD, and I have to say that the reason for the show's huge popularity should be no mystery. The special effects are not much greater than those used by my dad with the electrical pipe, and the stories are repetitive and simple, but what makes the show special is the 4 central characters. Masaaki Sakai (Monkey), Toshiyuki Nishida (Pigsy), Shiro Kishibe (Sandy) and Masako Natsume (Tripitaka) are all very likable and charismatic people, and it is largely thanks to them that the show got everyone's attention. Monkey was of course the most important and popular character, with his huge friendly grin and lovably arrogant personality demanding the lion's share of the attention in every episode. Pigsy too was a very likable character, despite his piggish tendencies, and his fabulous portrayal of a pig in human form combined wonderfully with Masaaki's character. Next was Sandy, another friendly and lovable goof who was the more steady of the three, but who still managed to get himself into serious jams in nearly every episode. And lastly was Tripitaka, easily the most puzzling of the 4. Both beautiful and determined, Tripitaka was the perfect leader for such a bunch of ignorant misfits, but why on earth did they choose a woman to play the part? It has puzzled me ever since I first watched the show, but I never felt disturbed by it. Instead, I always imagined Tripitaka to be what she really was: a girl! Whenever I heard Monkey refer to her as 'that boy' or 'master', I simply ignored it. But why they did it in the first place did indeed perplex me. I was also puzzled as to whether the show was Japanese or Chinese, though I now know it to be the former. Just how important these particular actors are to my enjoyment of the show became clear recently when I watched the first episode of series 2, which appears out here on the end of Vol 9 of the DVDs. The dragon they had to defeat was ridiculous, as was the battle itself, but I could bare that if it meant being able to see the gang together again. The new addition of the horse in human form seemed odd but was acceptable, as was the higher level of emotion that Tripitaka seemed to be showing. But what I absolutely could not accept was the new Pigsy. It's terrible to say, and he's probably a great guy, but he completely lacked all of the character that Toshiyuki had.

Every time Pigsy came on screen I couldn't watch it, and it made up my mind that I would not be buying any volumes past No 9. Other people may disagree, but for me it appears that the show is ruined once just one of the four is replaced. Thank goodness I still have 26 43 minute episodes from the first series to enjoy whenever I wish.

This series has achieved a cult following and for very good reasons. It's wacky, off-the-wall and just plain weird.

The story focusses on a small band of pilgrims travelling from China to India to fetch the holy scriptures. Leading the party is Tripitaka, a Buddhist priest and played by a girl, Masako Natsume. Following him is Monkey, Sandy and Pigsy. Apart from the priest, all are effectively spirits, cast out of heaven for causing mischief of various forms, and sworn to help the priest in his quest.

Now, the effects are cheesy, the acting is typically overacting, and the script of each episode typically has the band of pilgrims defeating some horde of demons in order to continue on their way. The demons are typically just actors with theatrically painted faces and occasionally horns and goofy teeth.

The English language version is fairly-well dubbed, and you get used to the voices not matching the lips straight off. Of interest to fans of the original LOTR animated movie is the fact that the voice of Pigsy was done by Peter Woodthorpe, who voiced Gollum in the animated film. The voices are virtually identical, except of course, Pigsy never goes on about "his Precious".

Monkey is the main star of the show, though, and has a number of magical powers at his disposal. His fighting staff can shrink or expand at his command (he often hides it in his ear!) and he can summon clouds to ride around on (which is just plain silliness, and brilliant anyhow!). I seem to recall he could also create duplicates of himself by plucking hairs from body.

Pigsy, as mentioned above, sounds just like Gollum, and is hedonism personified. He constantly craves women, food and alcohol to excess, though he rarely ends up satisfied.

Sandy is a fish spirit and is the only "heroic" character I can think of who goes around sporting a necklace of skulls.

Tripitaka is the priest who tries to keep them all under control. In reality, he only appears to have any direct control over Monkey, and he usually keeps the others in line.

In the second series, the actor playing Pigsy changed, though the voice remains the same. Also a new character appears in the form of Tripitaka's horse, which is apparently a dragon spirit (though he's a pretty cowardly dragon) called Yu-Lung.

The fight sequences are silly, and the weapons are very obviously rubber for the most part. But there is something about "Monkey" that transcends this and entertains you regardless of its technical failings. In the end, all the silliness just becomes part of the fun of the show and you watch it mainly for the interplay between the characters, not the plot or anything else.

Warning - once you hear the theme tune to this show, you'll never totally get it out of your head!

Monkey Magic is probably the craziest and most enjoyable TV series of the 1970s and I have very fond memories of watching it as a small child, growing up. Recently, the videos became available and I bought one just to see if it was as fun as I remember - and it is!!

Monkey Magic rules!

Monkey Magic is just the best childrens(?) series in the world. I remember watching it on Children's Tv when I was 5 or 6 years old - despite the time gap, I could still vividly remember the music, Monkey's kung-fu fights and his magic staff. As soon as the videos came out, I was determined to buy a copy..... and I was not disappointed! The fact is, Monkey is an oaf who wants it all (he's still likeable just because of his effrontery - challenging Buddha, what chutzpah!), but as he sets on his mission with Tripitaka you can see that he does have plenty of good qualities. Pigsy is amusing because of his lustful nature, Sandy is a bit earnest and Tripitaka is just untouchable. The soundtrack is funky man! The dated nature of the fx just add to the appeal of Monkey and the fights are still wicked. You do learn a bit about Buddhism as well. Buy the videos and have a good night in with your friends.

How good was this show. I watched it in the UK, aged 10 years old. It was on at dinnertime, everyone watched Monkey.

I live in Japan now, every Japanese my age knows this show as well.

My Japanese son has just starred as Monkey in a school play.

How about that for full circle?