Bad Friends, Better Family: Sanzo and Gojyo
So this is what happens when I have four three stories to write, I start doing essays in a fandom I don't have anything due for. Long possibly rambly meta about Gojyo and Sanzo follows. Pictures, including terrible MS paint illustrations. Y'all been warned.
So the translations of the Saiyuki 39 character book have been floating around Tumblr, and they are super fun, as you might expect.
Here's Sanzo's 'compatibility rating' with Gojyo:
Sha Gojyo November 9, group B
A STRUGGLE CONTINUES!
They have a way of seeing things very differently, between them there is a strange kind of energy, bickering constantly. Underneath everything there’s the same strong desire for freedom in Sanzo’s type, but at the same time the emotions of Gojyo’s type are more intense, is because of this they create some problems. For this reason, Their behavior and conversations get very tense. Also, these two don’t hide what they think of each other. Despite not getting along, they compensate each other, opening to the world. (Source, thanks Saru et al!)
So this is, you know, hilarious, but it also got me thinking of the ways Minekura deliberately puts them together and contrasts them, in part because both of them are far more similar than they'd ever want to admit.
Let's start with the simplest illustration of this:
Yep. They've both almost drowned. And now they're kicking each other under the water like toddlers. Awesome.
Okay, so what do they have in common aside from being spiteful and ridiculous?
It's not as easy to notice, because Gojyo's backstory is far more broken up -- Sanzo has a whole Burial chapter devoted to his growth instead -- but his development mirrors Sanzo's in a few crucial aspects. Let's start at the beginning.
Sanzo was orphaned at birth; let's assume for the sake of argument that Nii is right and his mother is dead, father unknown/never involved. He's found almost immediately by Koumyou. While Koumyou seems pretty friggin' awesome, this can't have been an easy life for Koryuu; they were separated at at least some times (with little Koryuu left at the tender mercies of the monks?) and traveled together at other times. Granted, Koryuu would likely have never been the 'play well with others' type, but this life gave him little stability and few connections.
Gojyo seems to have lived with his parents until he was three and they committed suicide. If he remembered them at all, he'd only remember them very vaguely. Then he too ended up with a life with little stability and few connections: a tight, claustrophobic nightmare with an abusive mother and a half-brother who tried to protect him, but was caught in the same horrible cycle.
And then, when they're both twelve, everything changes.
I almost went slightly insane taking scans and images from both scenes but then I realized:
a) Most of you have already seen this stuff a million times;
b) Minekura's careful to generally present the scenes from different angles;
c) I am so lazy, guys. So lazy.
So. MS Paint to the rescue!
When Koumyou dies, he's literally immobilized Genjo and has physically put himself between the youkai attacker (Y.D., for Youkai Dude) and Genjo.
Hard to believe I'm not an artist, huh? What am I doing writing fanfic?
Gojyo's mother's death is the opposite; she's so focused on killing Gojyo (nice ax, huh? I'm fucking Picasso) that she doesn't realize Jien will kill her.
But Gojyo and Sanzo both share this, at the death of their only adult caretaker: they're scared, unable to move, and can only see that looming presence -- one protective, one threatening, and both soon to be gone. Just like that, everything changes.
I don't think it's a coincidence that Minekura does this; she doesn't generally do coincidences, as they say.
So Sanzo was - is - at a place near the top of the social ladder, and lost what stability his life had; Gojyo was at or near the bottom, and suffered the same fate.
Off they go, alone in the world and not many steps from suicidal: Gojyo, who was ready to let his stepmother kill him if it would stop her from crying, and Sanzo, who picks a small gun 'cause it's the perfect size to put a bullet in his head if it comes to that. They both have a big dose of survivor's guilt and abandonment issues.
They come to the intimidating task of survival with a disparate set of skills.
Sanzo.
I find myself wanting to do this by D & D stats. I will refrain. Mostly.
Offensive skills: Very strong, so much that adults comment on it.
Defensive skills: Same.
People skills: Not great. Sanzo seems to be able to read intent, but was utterly lousy at not keeping his mouth shut, which probably cost him worse when he was a kid (not everyone finds that sort of thing as hilarious as Shuuei did). (As he gets older, he seems capable of turning on the charm when/if needed, and usually just shut the fuck up and lets others with more patience and skill do the talking.)
Special skills/attributes: Buddhist priest, which means he can generally find a place to stay and enough food to keep from dying. Rightful owner of the Maten and Seiten sutras, with the Maten in his possession. At some point he must learn to use it, though it's not clear when or how -- it might have been part of his normal training and might not have been.
Gojyo.
Offensive skills: Unknown. Jien might have taught him basic fighting skills, but it's hard to say.
Defensive skills: Pretty good, thanks to years of experience taking a beating.
People skills: Very, very good. Gojyo can sum people and situations up pretty quickly, generally gets along with people, and seems to be liked well enough even at the bar where he makes a living winning at cards. Like any good gambler, very good at hiding his actual emotions and reactions.
Special skills/attributes: Hanyou. This doesn't seem to be recognized by most humans, which is probably why Gojyo ends up living in human society. Good at cards, though as with Sanzo and the sutra it's not clear when he learned.
Notice that they kind of compliment each other, skills-wise? (Of course, all of the ikkou do.)
What follows for them both are a few years of emptiness; Sanzo wandered around, killing when he had to and haunted by his conscience. Gojyo also wandered around, depending mostly on the comfort of strangers and older women, and at fifteen Banri found him. Saiyuubito calls them 'partners,' but it hardly seems like an equal relationship. But his relationship with Banri, messed up as it is, has some benefits; for a guy like Gojyo with his screwed-up background, it must have been incredibly good to have a relationship with a youkai who didn't seem to give a shit what his hair color was. And he got that house out of the deal somehow. Net gain, kind of.
So at least by 18/19, Gojyo has a home. It's kind of a wreck and he doesn't remember when trash day is, but, you know. Home. Sanzo has a home by 16; it's full of monks who drive him crazy, but again, home.
And at 19, Gojyo sees someone on the ground, who looks up at him like he's hoping to die.
And at 18, Sanzo hauls his ass up a mountain, and sees a kid crouched on the ground, who looks up at him like he's too far gone to hope for rescue.
Yeah, that never gets old basically.
But there they are; they both rescue someone and take them home, and while Goku basically just never leaves, Hakkai is more unsure, leaves and comes back.
But Sanzo is a lot more brittle than Gojyo; he doesn't handle people leaving nearly as well (compare Gojyo's reactions to Hakkai and Banri's leaving to what happens when Gojyo leaves the ikkou or when Goku gets hurt). Of course, part of the reason for this is that Gojyo doesn't think he deserves any better. For all his isolation, Koryuu never wanted for affection or affirmation in his early youth.
Let's go back to that quote:
They have a way of seeing things very differently, between them there is a strange kind of energy, bickering constantly.
One of the reasons they always push against each other is that they are similar; they both pick up strays, look out for for kids (Gojyo in the Kami-sama arc, Sanzo in the Snowdrop arc and "Even a Worm"), have lost parent/guardian issues, and can be stubborn, demanding and prickly.
Oh, and they smoke like chimneys.
I'll leave you with one last thing, though. First, Gojyo's flashback from the Kami-sama arc, from when he fell and Jien saved him.
And then there's this, from earlier in that same arc:
Will you look at that.
They're bad friends, but they do okay as siblings, I think. Don't you?
All scans from mangarush 'cause I was too lazy to dig up my own. For dates/timeline, I used the chronological table that veronicacode shared. So helpful. Note that Gojyo's age changed from 8 to 12 when his stepmother died from the earliest chapters to the current canon; I went with the later date.
So the translations of the Saiyuki 39 character book have been floating around Tumblr, and they are super fun, as you might expect.
Here's Sanzo's 'compatibility rating' with Gojyo:
Sha Gojyo November 9, group B
A STRUGGLE CONTINUES!
They have a way of seeing things very differently, between them there is a strange kind of energy, bickering constantly. Underneath everything there’s the same strong desire for freedom in Sanzo’s type, but at the same time the emotions of Gojyo’s type are more intense, is because of this they create some problems. For this reason, Their behavior and conversations get very tense. Also, these two don’t hide what they think of each other. Despite not getting along, they compensate each other, opening to the world. (Source, thanks Saru et al!)
So this is, you know, hilarious, but it also got me thinking of the ways Minekura deliberately puts them together and contrasts them, in part because both of them are far more similar than they'd ever want to admit.
Let's start with the simplest illustration of this:
Yep. They've both almost drowned. And now they're kicking each other under the water like toddlers. Awesome.
Okay, so what do they have in common aside from being spiteful and ridiculous?
It's not as easy to notice, because Gojyo's backstory is far more broken up -- Sanzo has a whole Burial chapter devoted to his growth instead -- but his development mirrors Sanzo's in a few crucial aspects. Let's start at the beginning.
Sanzo was orphaned at birth; let's assume for the sake of argument that Nii is right and his mother is dead, father unknown/never involved. He's found almost immediately by Koumyou. While Koumyou seems pretty friggin' awesome, this can't have been an easy life for Koryuu; they were separated at at least some times (with little Koryuu left at the tender mercies of the monks?) and traveled together at other times. Granted, Koryuu would likely have never been the 'play well with others' type, but this life gave him little stability and few connections.
Gojyo seems to have lived with his parents until he was three and they committed suicide. If he remembered them at all, he'd only remember them very vaguely. Then he too ended up with a life with little stability and few connections: a tight, claustrophobic nightmare with an abusive mother and a half-brother who tried to protect him, but was caught in the same horrible cycle.
And then, when they're both twelve, everything changes.
I almost went slightly insane taking scans and images from both scenes but then I realized:
a) Most of you have already seen this stuff a million times;
b) Minekura's careful to generally present the scenes from different angles;
c) I am so lazy, guys. So lazy.
So. MS Paint to the rescue!
When Koumyou dies, he's literally immobilized Genjo and has physically put himself between the youkai attacker (Y.D., for Youkai Dude) and Genjo.
Hard to believe I'm not an artist, huh? What am I doing writing fanfic?
Gojyo's mother's death is the opposite; she's so focused on killing Gojyo (nice ax, huh? I'm fucking Picasso) that she doesn't realize Jien will kill her.
But Gojyo and Sanzo both share this, at the death of their only adult caretaker: they're scared, unable to move, and can only see that looming presence -- one protective, one threatening, and both soon to be gone. Just like that, everything changes.
I don't think it's a coincidence that Minekura does this; she doesn't generally do coincidences, as they say.
So Sanzo was - is - at a place near the top of the social ladder, and lost what stability his life had; Gojyo was at or near the bottom, and suffered the same fate.
Off they go, alone in the world and not many steps from suicidal: Gojyo, who was ready to let his stepmother kill him if it would stop her from crying, and Sanzo, who picks a small gun 'cause it's the perfect size to put a bullet in his head if it comes to that. They both have a big dose of survivor's guilt and abandonment issues.
They come to the intimidating task of survival with a disparate set of skills.
Sanzo.
I find myself wanting to do this by D & D stats. I will refrain. Mostly.
Offensive skills: Very strong, so much that adults comment on it.
Defensive skills: Same.
People skills: Not great. Sanzo seems to be able to read intent, but was utterly lousy at not keeping his mouth shut, which probably cost him worse when he was a kid (not everyone finds that sort of thing as hilarious as Shuuei did). (As he gets older, he seems capable of turning on the charm when/if needed, and usually just shut the fuck up and lets others with more patience and skill do the talking.)
Special skills/attributes: Buddhist priest, which means he can generally find a place to stay and enough food to keep from dying. Rightful owner of the Maten and Seiten sutras, with the Maten in his possession. At some point he must learn to use it, though it's not clear when or how -- it might have been part of his normal training and might not have been.
Gojyo.
Offensive skills: Unknown. Jien might have taught him basic fighting skills, but it's hard to say.
Defensive skills: Pretty good, thanks to years of experience taking a beating.
People skills: Very, very good. Gojyo can sum people and situations up pretty quickly, generally gets along with people, and seems to be liked well enough even at the bar where he makes a living winning at cards. Like any good gambler, very good at hiding his actual emotions and reactions.
Special skills/attributes: Hanyou. This doesn't seem to be recognized by most humans, which is probably why Gojyo ends up living in human society. Good at cards, though as with Sanzo and the sutra it's not clear when he learned.
Notice that they kind of compliment each other, skills-wise? (Of course, all of the ikkou do.)
What follows for them both are a few years of emptiness; Sanzo wandered around, killing when he had to and haunted by his conscience. Gojyo also wandered around, depending mostly on the comfort of strangers and older women, and at fifteen Banri found him. Saiyuubito calls them 'partners,' but it hardly seems like an equal relationship. But his relationship with Banri, messed up as it is, has some benefits; for a guy like Gojyo with his screwed-up background, it must have been incredibly good to have a relationship with a youkai who didn't seem to give a shit what his hair color was. And he got that house out of the deal somehow. Net gain, kind of.
So at least by 18/19, Gojyo has a home. It's kind of a wreck and he doesn't remember when trash day is, but, you know. Home. Sanzo has a home by 16; it's full of monks who drive him crazy, but again, home.
And at 19, Gojyo sees someone on the ground, who looks up at him like he's hoping to die.
And at 18, Sanzo hauls his ass up a mountain, and sees a kid crouched on the ground, who looks up at him like he's too far gone to hope for rescue.
Yeah, that never gets old basically.
But there they are; they both rescue someone and take them home, and while Goku basically just never leaves, Hakkai is more unsure, leaves and comes back.
But Sanzo is a lot more brittle than Gojyo; he doesn't handle people leaving nearly as well (compare Gojyo's reactions to Hakkai and Banri's leaving to what happens when Gojyo leaves the ikkou or when Goku gets hurt). Of course, part of the reason for this is that Gojyo doesn't think he deserves any better. For all his isolation, Koryuu never wanted for affection or affirmation in his early youth.
Let's go back to that quote:
They have a way of seeing things very differently, between them there is a strange kind of energy, bickering constantly.
One of the reasons they always push against each other is that they are similar; they both pick up strays, look out for for kids (Gojyo in the Kami-sama arc, Sanzo in the Snowdrop arc and "Even a Worm"), have lost parent/guardian issues, and can be stubborn, demanding and prickly.
Oh, and they smoke like chimneys.
I'll leave you with one last thing, though. First, Gojyo's flashback from the Kami-sama arc, from when he fell and Jien saved him.
And then there's this, from earlier in that same arc:
Will you look at that.
They're bad friends, but they do okay as siblings, I think. Don't you?
All scans from mangarush 'cause I was too lazy to dig up my own. For dates/timeline, I used the chronological table that veronicacode shared. So helpful. Note that Gojyo's age changed from 8 to 12 when his stepmother died from the earliest chapters to the current canon; I went with the later date.