Saturday, September 20, 2008

Yūyūki

is a video game title developed by Pax Softnica and released by Nintendo for the Famicom Disk System in .

The game consists of two disks, released on October 14, 1989 and November 14, 1989 respectively. The game's full title is , and the game is the second of the Famicom Fairytales series after ''Shin Onigashima''. The game was never released outside of Japan.

Gameplay


''Yuyuki'' is an adventure game played by choosing from several text commands shown on screen. It resembles its predecessor, ''Shin Onigashima'', in its implementation of the "Change Character" command, usage of traditional Japanese fairytales, and general screen layout and appearance. The story-line is a parody of the Chinese legend ''Journey to the West'', where two main characters, Goku and Chao, embark upon separate journeys to find one another.

In ''Yuyuki'', the "Change Character" command can switch between a maximum of five different characters. However, there are very few points in the game where it can actually be used to such extent. Its main use is to switch between Goku and the others accompanying him. Like ''Shin Onigashima'', the character in use can greatly affect the descriptive text shown on screen, and the significant increase in number of characters allowed for more variety in each scene. It is possible to enjoy the game by viewing the reactions towards choosing completely unrelated characters or commands in certain situations.

While ''Shin Onigashima'' demanded rather complex puzzle-solving abilities, ''Yuyuki'' mainly focuses on having the player carefully read and understand the story-line. Puzzles are solved easily in this game, and very few choices actually lead to a "game over" screen. Easy trivia questions and simple action gameplay emerge at certain points, and players may find themselves searching for the obvious answer on screen more often than thinking hard to solve the puzzle at hand.

Main changes in gameplay from ''Shin Onigashima'' include the implementation of the "Ittaisan" command, which saves progress at any point during the game, and faster animation of game text. The shortening in load time after choosing commands, and an overall decrease in difficulty allowed ''Yuyuki'' to run at a much quicker tempo than its predecessor.

Plot


Once upon a time, a little girl named Chao lived in a small village in . One night, a meteor fell near Chao's home, which burst open to reveal a monkey inside. Chao named the monkey "Goku," and took care of him for a while. However, Goku is led away and imprisoned by for the various crimes he has committed, and Chao sets off to find the "Gavel of Light" in order to save him. Several years later, the world is put under peril at the hands of the bull-monster Gyumaou, and Goku is called upon to save the world...

Characters


The links labeled "see also" are articles for each character in ''Journey to the West''. Descriptions given here may differ significantly with that of the actual novel.

The player has the option of choosing different names for Goku and Chao at the start of the game. The "Change Character" command can be used with the first five characters listed below.

;Goku
:The hero of the game. Rough, rude, and often selfish, he attempted to take over heaven with Gyumaou, but was caught and exiled to a far corner of the world by Oshakasama. He learns the importance of kindness and diligence through his travels with Chao .
;Chao
:The heroine of the game. She enjoys reading romance novels, and often dreams of idealized love relationships. Her parents have already passed away, and she begins her journey to save Goku; her only remaining "family" member. She is an innocent and kind-hearted individual.
;Sanzo
:A lecherous, lazy, and unhygienic monk. He travels to in search of a scroll containing the "Philosophy of Enjoying Life Without Working." He rides on a named "Ryukichi," and has a habit of adding "''-nandana''" to the end of his sentences .
;Hakkai
:A greedy pig youkai with a never-ending appetite. He speaks in Kansai dialect, and has transformation and clairvoyance abilities. He was a petty criminal before being beaten up by Goku. Like Sanzo, he joins the journey to discover the "Philosophy of Enjoying Life Without Working" .
;Gojo
:A capable of reading minds. He joins the group because he is dissatisfied with his current life. He exhibits a discreet personality most of the time, but is actually an alcoholic .
;Gyumaou
:A cold and ruthless bull youkai bent upon taking over the entire world. He was banished from the Earth ages ago along with Goku, but managed to return and restart his evil plans.
;Oshakasama
:The peacekeeper of the heavens. Appears on occasion to give advice to Chao and Sanzo on keeping Goku on the righteous path and defeating Gyumaou .
;Rasetsujo
:Gyumaou's wife. Rumored to be extremely beautiful, but her actual features are horrifically ugly. Wields a fan with magical properties .
;Kougaiji
:The son of Gyumaou and Rasetsujo. Arrogant and big-mouthed, but pathetically weak in terms of fighting ability .
;Kinkaku & Ginkaku
:A pair of thugs that terrorize Onna Village. They are employed by Gyumaou, and lure potential victims into participating in their trivia contest.
;Kumojijii
:A master of martial arts living on Borscht Mountain in Siberia. Over 300 years of age.
;Katyusha
:Kumojijii's girlfriend. Kidnapped by Gyumaou and his cronies.
;Sunajijii
:The younger brother of Kumojijii living in Hawaii. Spends most of his life living underneath sand.
;Gyudon store owner
:The owner of a gyudon store located on the Hawaiian beach. His daughter is kidnapped by Rasetsujo.
;Gyudon store owner's daughter
:The kidnapped daughter of the gyudon store owner. She is imprisoned in the Gyumaou Hotel.
;Dancing people
:A deranged group of people dancing in the streets of Tokyo.
;Ittaisan
:The game's narrator and only returning character from ''Shin Onigashima''.

Television commercial


An odd commercial for the game was aired prior to its release, featuring real-life versions of the main characters visiting various locations by plane in a "Tenjiku Tour" . The most striking part was the commercial's jingle; the developers employed a strange song of no particular meaning that ranted the names of the main characters. This was the last FDS game advertised on television.

Port issues


While ''Shin Onigashima'' was ported to the Super Famicom and Game Boy Advance, no talk of porting or remaking ''Yuyuki'' for other systems has ever emerged. The explanation given was that the game lacked proper copyright clearance from developers and writers, but this explanation is dubious because ''Shin Onigashima'' was created by the same company and staff. The FDS's disk rewriting service ended in September, 2003, but rewriting for ''Yuyuki'' was terminated a year earlier in October, 2002.

Yuyuki and Kirby's Dream Land


Goku and Chao made cameo appearances in the ''Kirby's Dream Land'' series. The appearances do not add to the game's storyline, but they play key roles in finishing each game.
* Chao appears in ''Kirby's Dream Land 2'', which was released in 1995. The player's progress is shown in percentage on the menu screen in this game, and the only way to reach 100% is to rescue Chao from a certain mini-boss. The picture shown on the sound test screen is a parody of a scene in ''Yuyuki''.
* Both Goku and Chao appear in ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'', released in 1998. Finding Goku and Chao on a certain level awards the player an item needed to defeat the final boss of the game.

The Monkey King (manga)

, also known as ''Katsuya Terada's The Monkey King'', is a dark fantasy manga series, written and illustrated in full color by Katsuya Terada.

Story


Based on the 16th century Chinese fantasy adventure classic, ''Journey to the West'' Katsuya Terada's take on the legend of the Monkey King in a savage, lusty saga that The Portland Tribune calls "a Buddhist version of Conan the Barbarian." He raised holy hell as the baddest ape in ... until the Lord Buddha himself dropped a mountain on him! Now the Monkey King will get his parole with one condition - he must escort a Buddhist nun through the demon-haunted wastes of the Silk Road on an impossible quest: reach India and bring back a collection of sacred scrolls!

The Monkey King (TV miniseries)

The Monkey King, also known as The Lost Empire, is a four hour television mini-series produced by NBC and the . It is a contemporary take on the classic Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. It stars Ling Bai, Thomas Gibson, Russell Wong, and Randall Duk Kim. The film is directed by and written by pre-eminent Asian American dramatist David Henry Hwang.

"A businessman, a powerful monkey-like being and his weird sidekicks battle an army of demons for a Chinese manuscript."

Plot


Nicholas Orton is an American businessman who has lived in China for several years. He has a chance encounter with a beautiful Chinese lady who says that he is the only one who can save China from reverting back five-hundred years. He is unswayed by this until many modern buildings begin disappearing before his eyes. This mystical lady transports him to a portal which offers entrance, through the teachings of Confucius , to the ancient Chinese underworld.

When Nicholas Orton reaches the other side of the portal, he finds that his studies of Confucius will come in handy for the path that lies ahead. Nicholas Orton's first action is to rescue Sun Wukong the Monkey King from the mountain which he has been imprisoned in for centuries. Sun Wukong travels with Nicholas Orton in his quest to save the original manuscript of Journey to the West from destruction. They are later joined by Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing to help them on the way.

Releases


The film is available on DVD and videocassette.

Starzinger

was an anime series aired in Japan from 1978 to 1979. It translates literally to "Science Fiction Journey to the West Starzinger". In the US it is referred to as Spaceketeers and is part of Jim Terry's Force Five series. In the UK, it is referred to as Sci-Bots.

Story


The story revolves around the Princess of the Moon, Aurora and her three cyborg companions who must travel to the Great King planet and restore the Galaxy Energy. The universe is becoming more and more unbalanced as the Queen of the great Planet grows older. Their adventure includes battling the starmen who are transformed from the unbalanced minerals and planets.

Concept


Starzinger is essentially a Sci-fi space opera retelling of the ''Journey to the West'' from the Ming Dynasty. The Sci-fi twists were designed by Leiji Matsumoto based on the Terebi Magazine manga .

Staff


Director: Yugo Seirkawa, Kozo Morishita, Kazumi Fukushima

Creator: Leiji Matsumoto

Screenwriter: Tatsuo Tamura, Michiru Umadori, Sukehiro Tomita

Design: Masaki Suda

Animator: Masaki Suda, Satoshi Kamimiya

Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi

Characters


{|class="wikitable"
! Japanese Name
! English Name
! Spanish Name
! French Name
! Voiced by
! Power
! Vehicle
! Description
|-
|||Aurora||Princesa Aurora||Princesse Aurora|| Kazuko Sugiyama || Telepathy and psychic abilities, can channel Galaxy energy || || The only human among the main four characters. She is the last of the Moon people. Based on .
|-
||| Jesse Dart ||Galáctico||Yann Kougar||Hiroya Ishimaru || Wield Astro-lance that change size, shoot laser || Starcrow || A cyborg. Has bad temper. Based on the monkey-demon, Sun Wukong.
|-
||| Arimos ||Giorgio|| ||Kei Tomiyama || Wield Laser-trident with freeze abilities|| Starcopper/Sea Wasp ||A cyborg. The most intelligent of the three. When in doubt he asks his portable computer. Based on the water-demon, Sha Wujing.
|-
||| Porkos ||Glotín|| ||Kousei Tomita||Swing that turns into a flail, shoots rocket from his feet. || Starbood/Space Hog || A cyborg, cheerful, hungry and the comedian. Based on the pig-demon, Zhu Bajie.
|-
|Prof. Kitty ||Empress ||Doctora Sandra || ||Eiko Masuyama|| || ||A scientist. She reared Aurora after the death of Aurora's parents. Based on Guanyin
|-
|Assistant Prof.Dodge ||Prof.Schnitzel || || ||Jouji Yanami || || ||An intelligent Professor, He made Kugo into the cyborg he is
|-
|Prince Gaima || || || ||Keiichi Noda || || ||Based on the son of Bull Demon King, Red Boy.
|-
|Gingin Man & Kinkin Man|| || || ||Kenichi Ogata || || ||Monster Brothers. Based on King of Gold Horn & King of Silver Horn
|-
|Beramis || || || ||Noriko Ohara ||Electronic sword || ||A female cyborg. A captain of Queen Lacets.
|-
|Captain || || || ||Satomi Majima || || ||
|-
||| || || ||Takashi Tanaka || || ||Based on Bull Demon King.
|-
|Queen Lacets|| || || ||Yumi Nakatani, Nana Yamaguchi || || ||Based on Bull Demon King's wife.
|-


Adaptations


The movie was aired in March 1979 by reusing footages from the first segment of the series. It was more or less a summary.

The last 9 episode of the actual series was rebranded as ''"SF Saiyuki Starzinger II"'', though when shown outside Japan it is treated as one continuous series. It was never intended to be anything more than remarketing the last few episodes, since it was aired immediately after the first 64 episodes were shown in June 1979. The 65th episode began instantly in July 1979 with all the galactic energy restored in the storyline.

Internationalization


Starzinger was aired in early 1980s in Latin America with the name of "El Galáctico", as part of the four-series show ''"El Festival de los Robots"'' which translate to "Festival of Robots". The other shows were "Steel Jeeg", "Gaiking", and "Magne Robo Gakeen".

In North America, it was aired as ''"Spaceketeers"'' as part of the package show Force Five. As the "Journey to the West story" is not well known in the region, the characters were renamed to reference the Three Musketeers. To also fit into the Force Five time slot, the show had to be edit-squeezed into 26 episodes. The US version puts them on a mission to the Dekos Star System which contained evil powers changing peaceful creatures to evil mutants. It should be noted that the Force Five version not only just produced 26 episodes, but this English Version of the series never reached their conclusion.

24 episodes of the original 73 also aired in Scandinavia under the original name Starzinger.

List of what episodes were cut out can be found at:


Screenshots




Trivia


* It was aired every week Sunday 7:00pm to 7:30pm.

Saiyuki: Journey West

Saiyuki: Journey West is a video game released for the PlayStation by Koei. It is based loosely on the popular novel ''Journey to the West''. The game's title is simply ''Saiyūki'' , which is the Japanese name ''Journey to the West''.

It follows the basic outline of the plot of the novel, in which the main character, a Buddhist practitioner named , travels from China to India on a religious mission and has a variety of adventures along the way. The game also features several other characters from the novel, including , the monkey king. In contrast to other renditions of the story, the game allows Sanzo to be played as either a male or a female character at the player's choice.

A gameplay twist is that every character except Sanzo can transform into a monstrous form for a limited time. Instead of transforming, Sanzo has access to summon spells that each boost the party's stats in different ways for a number of rounds and allows him/her to use an extra spell at will. Furthermore, each character has a native element that powers their spells and weakens them to opposing elements.

The game softens the original story, with most of the heroes' negative characteristics removed, and most of the villains surviving at the end.

Characters



Characters in recruiting order.

Sanzo - Portrays the righteous Buddhist monk, based on . His/her element is Nature.

Son Goku - Portrays the rebellious Monkey King, Sun Wukong. His monster form is a giant fire-breathing ape, and his element is Fire.

Cho Hakkai - Portrays the lustful pig demon, Zhu Bajie, here rendered as childlike and food-obsessed, with an overall goal of becoming a great chef. His affiliation is Earth. He transforms into a monstrous humanoid boar.

Shu Ryorin - Haughty but kind-hearted daughter of the King of the Eastern Dragons, on the run from her father and a forced marriage. She fights the party before joining, because she thought her father had sent them to capture her. Her monster form is a powerful bronze dragon, and she is consequently aligned with Metal.

Sha Gojo - Portrays the man-eating sand demon, Sha Wujing, here an intellectual human cursed with monstrous fish-like alternate form. He's ashamed of his monstrous nature, and at first rejects the party's help before Sanzo convinces him to join. His element is Water.

Lady Kikka - A dryad-like spirit who is found trapped in her tree. Her monster form is a giant humanoid butterfly. Like Sanzo, her element is Nature.

So Kinrei and So Ginrei - Twin girls accidentally transformed into monsters during the course of the story. Their monster forms are identical giant humanoid golems with oddly technological attacks . Their elements are Metal.

Chin Genshi - Grandfather of Lady Kikka, and formal teacher of Cho Hakkai. He may or may not join the party, depending on Sanzo's actions. Like his granddaughter, his element is Nature, and he transforms into a tree-like form.

Reikan - Ryorin's fiancé, who is trying to get her back. Starts out as an enemy, and will only join the group if the Sanzo says the right things to him during previous meetings. His element is Water, and he transforms into a turtle-demon.

Taurus and Tessen - Portrays the Ox-Demon-King and Jade-Faced Princess from the novel. They start out seeming to be the main villains , before plot developments cause them to reform and join Sanzo's side. Their monster forms are a minotaur-like bull demon and a humanoid scorpion respectively, and their elements are Earth and Fire.

Shu Ryorin, Lady Kikka, So Kinrei, So Ginrei, Chin Genshi, and Reikan are not based on any characters from the novel, but are entirely made up for this game.

Other Characters



Lady Kannon Bodihisatva who guides Sanzo throughout the Journey

Saiyuki (TV series)

is a 2006 Japanese historical TV based on the 16th Century Chinese story ''Journey to the West''. It is a successor to the popular 1970's TV show ''Saiyūki'', known outside Japan as ''''. There have been 3 dramas and one special based on Journey to the West that have aired previously, making this one the fifth adaptation in Japan.

made an unusual decision to air this on 9pm every Monday, a primetime slot usually reserved for romantic dramas, hoping to capture both the young and the old by making this choice. While the series started off with viewership nearly reaching 30%, its rating gradually sank, barely making it at 20% at one point; the last episode finished off with 24.5%.

Rather than producing a second season, and Toho produced a feature film version of ''Saiyūki'', that was released in Japan on July 14, 2007. The film was a box office success. The DVD was released on January 1, 2008 in two formats; a single disc version with audio commentary and trailers, and a 2-Disc limited collector's edition with documentaries and making-of featurettes.

Cast


* - Shingo Katori
* - Eri Fukatsu
* - Atsushi Ito
* - Teruyoshi Uchimura
*Rin Rin - Asami Mizukawa

Notable guests


*Kadono Takuzo
*Takuya Kimura
*Rieko Miura
*Keiji Mutoh
*
*Shaku Yumiko
*Ayumi Ishida
*Masaaki Sakai -- Portrayed Son Goku in the original ''Monkey'' series

Trivia


* Japan was the first country to adapt this enduring story into a TV series, when aired '''' in 1978; China would not make a live action series until 1986.
*Eri Fukatsu actually shaved her head for her role as Sanzohoshi.
*Traditionally, the role of the monk has been played by a female in Japanese dramas.
*The theme song, "Around the World," is performed by Japanese pop group Monkey Majik, who took their name from the theme song of the original series, "Monkey Magic," performed by Japanese group Godiego.
*''Journey to the West'' is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written during the Ming Dynasty, in the 1590s. Its attributed author is Wu Chengen.

Patalliro!

is a long-running manga series by , one of the few known male mangaka for shōnen-ai manga. Patalliro! is supposedly the first shōnen-ai series on television.

Plot


The story focuses less on shōnen-ai than it does on comedy, primarily the wacky adventures of Patalliro himself and the kingdom of Malynera.

Characters


Main characters


*Patalliro du Malyner VIII
The 10 year old diabetic brainchild king of Malynera.

*Maraich Juschenfe
18 year old Swiss former assassin from the Diamond Syndicate. His former lover Count Larken told him not to return until he could kill Bancoran, but ended up reforming and becoming Bancoran's domestic partner. He has a ferocious temper and seethes with jealousy whenever a bishōnen is in Bancoran's vicinity. He beats the snot out of Bancoran on a regular basis, regardless of whether or not he cheats, and somehow got pregnant twice, despite being completely male.
His pregnancy is cut out of the anime. In the manga he first gets pregnant in volume 10, and gets pregnant a second time in volume 46 .

*Jack Barbarosa Bancoran
Major Bancoran of the British M16. Nicknamed "Bishōnen Killer" for his ability to seduce young men with just his eyes. Women are also attracted to him, but the only woman he's shown even moderate interest in is Etrange. Meeting Patalliro has changed his existence; after playing bodyguard to the most annoying person he's ever met, he's now living with Maraich, who tried to kill him, and their son Figaro. Bancoran is known for his blue eyeshadow , his long black hair, and the fact that he never takes off his gloves, even in bed. When he becomes frustrated or embarrassed, he grooms himself like a cat. His name comes from Henri Bencolin.

*Tamanegi
Patalliro's biseinen bodyguards, forced to hide their beauty under padded uniforms, frosted glasses, masks that cover their mouths, noses, and onion-style wigs.

Recurring Characters


*Pulara Plasma
*Arthur Hewitt
Bancoran's Lolicon friend, who has zero luck in love.

*Figaro Bancoran
Maraich's second son after losing the first. Figaro always wears the same thing and plays dated video games in his every waking hour. He's a genius and can grow older at will.

*Etrange
Patalliro's mother and queen of Malynera. She stayed at a sanitarium after her husband passed away and remained after killing Count Larken.

*Zachary
A ticklish boy who can do an interesting trick with tarot cards. He has an intense crush on Bancoran. Patalliro attacks him in a flirtatious manner every chance he gets.

*Skunky
*Super Cat
*Okuma
A very manly cross-dresser.

Cameo Appearances


*Rashanu
A bisexual prince from India who's even more aggravating than Patalliro and immune to Bancoran's stare. He tried to have a relationship with his uncle, but both of them seem to have difficulty with commitment. He has terrible luck in love but does manage to get a wife and a son named Bishone.

*Asterot
*'''Mi-chan''
A chibified mascot of Mineo Maya himself who has not only managed to weasel himself into the animated series, but had 3 manga of his own.'

Saiyuki Cast


*Patalliro as Son Gokuu
*Maraich as Genjou Sanzou
*'''Bancoran as Banko-sama
*Cho Hakkai
*Sha Goujo

The Kingdom of Malynera


The name is inspired either by Santa Marinella, a region of Italy with a castle, or an homage to singer Marinella, whom was popular around the time of the manga. Malynera is a producer of diamonds, and the first adventure of the series focuses on the kingdom's separation from the International Diamond Syndicate.

Media information


Cast


Boku Patalliro!


*Patalliro: Fuyumi Shiraishi
*Bancoran: Kazuyuki Sogabe
*Maraich: Toshiko Fujita
*Police Chief: Ichirō Nagai
*Head Guard: Takeshi Aono
*Tamanegi: Akio Nojima, Toshio Furukawa, Tōru Furuya, Yūji Mitsuya, Yoku Shioya, Kaneto Shiozawa, Kazuhiko Inoue, Akira Kamiya
**The Tamanegi were portrayed by the members of ''Slapstick'', a seiyū band Sogabe was a member of.
*Etrange: Makiko Ikeda
*Sanders: Junpei Takiguchi
*Patalliro 7th: Kazuko Sugiyama
*Patalliro 10th: Minori Matsushima
*Plasma X: Hideyuki Hori
*Afro 18: Eiko Masuyama
*Pulara: Michiko Nomura
*α Random: Junko Hori

Patalliro! Saiyuki


*Patalliro/: Yuki Kaida
*Maraich/: Reiko Takagi
*Bancoran: Takehito Koyasu
*Mi-chan: Kenyū Horiuchi
*: Yoshirō Matsumoto
*: Rikiya Koyama
*Gautama Buddha: Kazuya Tatekabe

Opening themes


* by Fusako Fujimoto
* by v-u-den

Ending themes


* by Eri Takeda.
*"Cock Robin Ondo" by Fuyumi Shiraishi & Slapstick. "Who killed Cock Robin?"
* by Berryz Kobo.

About the author



Mineo Maya does primarily shōjo & classic-style shōnen ai manga. He is married to a ballerina and his daughter is also a ballerina. They also have a son who bears a resemblance to Patalliro. Everyone in his family can draw.

References and external links


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