"How'd I end up in your 'we'?"

[viridian5]

Whereas some earlier volumes of Kazuya Minekura's Saiyuki Reload meandered off the road at times--although they were mostly enjoyable meanderings--volume 6 feels like we're hurtling forward, completely on point, and it's great. The one side-trail bit here is funny and may well have importance further along. There's a nice mix of angst, plot, and

Comments

[scatteredgray]

I've read a couple of volumes, and I actually find the the WA charachters pretty different from the Saiyuki ones. Or at least, I don't think Kubota is Hakkai's clone in charachter, or Tokito Gojyo's. *resists getting into meta*

And it does get better.

Kubota's stu-ness--which I wasn't actually bothered by, since I had the feeling there was going to be point to it. I don't know if there was, but hey--gets diluted somewhat by Tokito taking up at least as much spotlight once he's a functioning charachter.

Also, I hope its okay that I friended you.

[viridian5]

What I know about Wild Adaptors I mostly know from fandom. I'm interested in creating my own opinion as I see more of the series for myself.

I hope so. Volume 1 was All About How Cool Kubota Is. I'll be getting volume 2 for my curiosity on Tokito.

Sure, it's okay!

[vom_marlowe]

Reload 6 is just awesome. I wish they'd translate them faster.

I have a personal theory about WA. I think Kubota is a Sanzo who really doesn't care, who succeeded at moji-whatsit, rather than a Hakkai. But it's just a theory. :) I like the later volumes much more.

[viridian5]

My friends read the raws and then wait for fans to translate, while I have dial-up and have to wait for Tokyopop.

I'm interested in seeing where Wild Adaptors goes. Guess I get to wait another four months for volume 2. ::misses Tpop's old every-three-months system::

[author_kun]

Sanzo and Goku have a great conversation about life, death, and whether people should be brought back from the dead, with Sanzo even smiling a little at times. It's sweet and then... oy. It's like the universe said, "Nyah-nyah, caught you caring, Sanzo!"

Especially the little smile as he says "That's good enough for me." Then there's ow. So much ow. It's not the first time that someone Sanzo cares about has been cut down right in front of him. And wow, he was completely unable to do anything about it this time, too. Ouch.

"Summer Scenery": Sweet and sometimes meta. Wee Goku! Too bad Sanzo looks like an alien. *g*

Slightly odd-looking art aside, the last page was so terribly cute.

[viridian5]

I loved the little smile!

The last page was very cute. I'm just mystified by Gray Alien Sanzo. Maybe she thought him looking sexy there would disrupt the cute?

[author_kun]

Who knows. But why would anyone want to disrupt the cute?

I loved Goku's description of the sounds - the distant cicadas, cracking ice, the buzzing of the fan, and Sanzo's breathing... It made it all very vivid to me. Of course, I remember when we didn't have air-conditioning where I lived in Tennessee, so most of that was familiar anyway.

[viridian5]

The very precise descriptions there really worked.

[mistressrenet]

Hakkai claiming that he took a correspondence course in lockpicking kills me.

I will never stop laughing over that. Especially the way he treats it-- like everyone takes correspondence courses in lockpicking when they get bored.

It's funny because I read the raws and then get the translations-- but there's so much you miss in the raws, both by reading onscreen and by only getting translations. And those twin conversations-- Hakkai and Gojyo and then Goku and Sanzo-- man, they just kill when you get the whole of them.

[viridian5]

Maybe Hakkai is actually a youkai from the Boy Scout clan. *g*

I know what you mean. I first read Weiß Kreuz: An Assassin and White Shaman as raws with a side of fan translations, but rereading recently with translations inside the voice and thought bubbles made a big difference. Alternately, friends of mine who had seen the raws and fan trasnlations for Reload vol. 6 ages ago kept talking about Hakkai's perfect woman being his "zombie" wife, which is even more disturbing considering the Chin Yisou thing. They were disappointed by Tokyopop's translation changing that to "indestructible"!

Having pages on my computer can be fun, but I always get more reading them on paper in a book. It's just the way I am.

The Goku/Sanzo conversation tore my heart both for subject content and Sanzo's small smiles.

[mistressrenet]

Now I'm picturing Hakkai in knot-tying class. Oh boy.

See, I think the connotation is 'zombie' even if those are not the words he's using-- they're in a town full of zombies, after all.

Sanzo's so...comfortable in that scene. It's just amazing, a really subtle underscore to the point he explictly makes earlier about changing.

[viridian5]

I can't understand the original to see for myself, but you make an interesting point: they kind of are zombies. It's easier to see them as such when you watch the earlier town shamble toward the Sanzo party as a hive organism out to destroy youkai, but even these living-their-lives yellow-eyed afterlifers can be considered zombies.

Sanzo's been subtly different throughout the present-day parts of Reload--Saiyuki volume 9 had some major breakthrough moments for Sanzo that have been applied to the Reload series--but it doesn't really get spotlighted until his "I'm not the same" moment against the youkai and the almost gentle expressions he has for Goku when he senses this is an important conversation instead of something just about food. It's like in an earlier post where I noticed that Gojyo looks older now than he did in the original series. Subtle evolutions make me happy.

[anonymous]

Reload 6 is starting to make me think that they actually might get to India sometime in the not-too-distant future, lol.

I'm not sure that Goku really understands what it means to die, even when he's talking to Sanzo about it at the end - he knows it's bad, but being sort of unstoppable for most of his existant, I think he thinks of it as something that happens to other people, or even something people choose. When he meets Zakuro, he says "Why'd you lie down and start dying?" like it was something he intended. I don't know, maybe the Japanese is different, but it kind of struck me anyway.

I don't think he really knew what losing was like until they met Kami-sama either.

Maybe I'm underestimating Goku, but I mean, how would an immortal (or a semi-immortal) understand death? How could they? Sanzo keeps telling Goku not to be afraid of death because it's something that bothers him a lot, but I don't know if Goku (or even the others) really get that most of the time he's talking to himself.

[viridian5]

I know! Wouldn't them actually getting to their destination be a kick in the head?

I know what you mean, though in Zakuro's case he might have been referring to the nearby fruit and stream that Zakuro didn't notice. *g* Goku's killed a lot of people, and he's seen his "family" near death many times (although they always get better), but it's hard to say if he really gets it on a personal level.

I completely agree with you on the Kami-sama thing. Kami-sama was a wakeup call for all of them.

[anonymous]

I don't get the idea that Zakuro really has to try to miss something that obvious... heh. I think he's my favorite non-villain in the series so far. XD