Saiyuki Gaiden is wonderful. The story is great, the art is beautiful, and the fights are epic.
This manga makes me very emotional. It's heartbreaking...the interactions between Nataku and Goku;;;what is inevitably going to happen...it's all very heart-wrenching.

Gaiden, I promise you, will make you ball your eyes out. As it is a prequel, I would always suggest reading the sequel first. The feeling of nostalgia, call me masochistic, but it makes the overall feeling even better. It's not BL, but their bond is something that I think everyone will love.

Well, if you're searching for something like poetry in form of manga, THIS is the manga for you.
You'll surely be able to learn something from this story... :-)

P.S.Not necessary, but higly suggested to read the main story, Saiyuki (gensoumaden) to fully appreciate it!

... Last updated on June 22nd, 2011, 4:54pm

I have watched Journey to the West original version (Chinese film) since I was small and I loved the story, although Sanzo in that story is a bit (or a lot?) dumbfound. In the original story, Son Goku held great loyalty toward Sanzo, the other two are not described well enough for me to love.

I admit that when I came upon this series, all of my childhood memories come back vividly. I love the art, I love angst, I love twists, that's why I love this manga although it has no concern with the original work.

I have re-watched the Journey to the West series in all version, read this manga, and I always have great melancholy toward Son Goku's past. He was naive, was childlike, but at the same time, he was kind and generous to all of his loved one, but the Heaven couldn't allow such reckless act.

I have always asked myself as I watched the film, is being a bit childish are not allowed in the world of adults?

Since the past is the past, and in the original, all of past events ended with Goku being banished from Heaven, I think this piece of work won't be brought back again in the Sequel. And I think, with three of them died, one exiled, Heaven would be back to order, so there is nothing much to develop.
=> Which mean there is no Sequel special for Gaiden I suppose.

I'm looking foward to Saiyuki Ibun, as I know, Sanzo's part are being told in detail in the original script as well.

Personally, I think Sanzo/Goku makes a perfect pairing

I just finished, and it was absolutely unbelievable. I has everything; characters, politics, violence, beautiful art, beautiful relationships, tragedy, hope...oh my goodness, I can't even get over the ending. Whomever is reading this review: you will not be sorry you read this. Truly one of, if not Minekura's best works. If I could rate it higher than a ten, I would.

I loved this manga.
It definitely fights for first place on my list of read manga! It gave me such a warm and bittersweet feeling. The art is amazing - there is no amateur feeling to it - really professional and clean. I love the character designs, the clothes they wear, their hairstyles; I loved the plot (which links to the sequels) and I think i like this more than Saiyuki (and the prequels) itself! I am actually amazed at how smooth the storytelling can be, and how powerfully one or two panels can convey certain emotions - for example, The emotions in the scene didn't need words to convey anything - and I found that really smart, because it is true when someone is feeling a deep emotion, it goes beyond words!

You can easily connect with all the characters in the short span of 4 volumes, and every part of the plot works seamlessly together. I loved all the relationships, Goku and Konzen's was really sweet and it is a rich selfless kind of love that I believe everyone would appreciate. Nataku and Goku's friendship is another one that I yearned to see more of, When the ending came, you really feel for Goku, because you know everything that led him to be there, and you feel his loneliness, and this underlying pain to it all...and then comes the beginning to Saiyuki ^.^

The OVA for this is also nice, I liked it all in colour, but in comparison, the manga is better. The manga is nicer because it has more happy, fun and character-building parts than what the OVA allowed. THE OP AND ENDING SONGS ARE SOOO GOOD IN THE OVA!! *Q* . It really illustrates the emotions in the story!
but yup, it's a great one

... Last updated on September 30th, 2013, 7:18am

This manga was beautiful. The characters, the story.. everything was absolutely beautiful. The ending was so good!! And tragic... T_T Aaaaa! It was so wonderful!! The art is not much to my taste but the scenes were amazing. The relationships between the characters were touching. It was a good read.

Despite being the shortest, I think it's the best in the Saiyuki series. Maybe it's because it had a wonderful ending, unlike Saiyuki (because we haven't even reached Gyumao yet :/) and a great many mangas out there. Gaiden had an emotionally satisfying ending. By that, I meant that I wouldn't have ended it any other way. It was an ending that brought a great series to a great close.

Of course, it's not really the end because if you haven't yet, there are still 20 volumes of Saiyuki to read through Which actually brings me to my next point. I think Gaiden is a great standalone manga but read the Saiyuki or Reload first for better enjoyment. You already know what needs to happen to the main characters in the end for the original series to happen but you're powerless to do anything about it. It's more emotionally charging than reading this first then reading the original series.



TL;DR: Just read it. It's beautiful.

... Last updated on May 8th, 2013, 7:16pm

When I first found out there was prequel, I didn't waste any time to read it.

Oh, how I regretted... Don't take this the wrong way! I regretted it because after reading this absolutely stunning manga, I can never look at any manga the same way again. My standard went up so high, nothing could satisfy me at all!

And like what everyone said, this manga is terribly heartbreaking. To take the only friend and family of Goku was...too much for any of us to handle. What made me cry the most was when (spoiler) the goddess hugged him and said on Konzen, Kenren, and Tenpou's behalf, "I'm so happy to have met you." THAT LINE I WAS BAWLING MY EYES OUT SHIT.

So like everyone else, I very much recommend this manga. Just prepare a box of tissues or something...

Yesss. I understand why everyone below my comment said that you need to read the sequel first.
Personally, i think that sequel are less fun than the prequel or Gaiden. (part of this is because Goku is my fav character and he's like the main actor in Gaiden, with a long hair that makes him look even cuter!!! ♥♥♥)

I mean I like the main first story (Saiyuki) but Gaiden is even better, even tho it didn't end very happy (but you know that it doesn't just end like that coz there are sequels)
The art is great, especially the lovely Goku XD, the plot well done. It is full of emotions that made me cry. I havn't cried for reading such a good manga in a long time
Another reason why i said to read sequel first becoz Sensei draw the sequel before actually draw the prequel. However, the prequel is much more fun, so if you read the prequel first, you will surely disappointed with the sequels(Gensomaden and Reload)

Just try this, like everyone have said and you will love it!!!

... Last updated on February 12th, 2011, 9:40am