Written by: Jei Beltrano | Published on: January 10, 2020 at 10:03 PM PHT (GMT+8)
The popular "Even a Worm" arc of the original "Saiyuki" manga series by Kazuya Minekura has been announced to receive a TV anime adaptation titled "Saiyuki Reload: ZEROIN" as revealed on Sunday by its official Twitter which has opened the same day. A new key visual, a logo and an announcement promotional video (PV) were released to reveal the new project.
The TV anime will be animated by LIDEN Films and the previous TV anime series Saiyuki Reload: Blast's cast will reprise their roles which includes:
Toshihiko Seki as Genjo Sanzo
Souichiro Hoshi as Son Goku
Hiroaki Hirata as Sha Gojyo
Akira Ishida as Cho Hakkai
Japanese voice actor Hōchū Ōtsuka (Yoshitada Otsuka) will also join as an additional cast. No other details were revealed as of writing.
In addition, the announcement also reads that the original manga series has exceed 25 million copies in circulation.
The original manga series written and illustrated by Kazuya Minekura was serialized in the Monthly G-Fantasy from February 18, 1997 to January 18, 2002. The series' sequel Saiyuki Reload began its serialization in the monthly Japanese Jousei manga magazine Monthly Comic Zero Sum until 2009.
The next sequel Saiyuki Reload Blast was serialized in the same magazine on the same year. The manga series lead to the serialization of two spin-off series titled Saiyuki Gaiden and Saiyuki Ibun in 1999 and 2009, respectively.
Its first original video animation (OVA) inspired from the original manga series was released in 1999. It was then followed by a TV anime adaptation titled Gensomaden Saiyuki which was aired from April 2000 to March 2001 and was animated by Studio Pierrot and Dentsu with a span of 50 episodes.
inspired a 1999 OVA and a 2000 television anime adaptation, as well as a sequel film and OVA. Saiyuki Reload inspired two anime adaptations and a prequel OVA. Most recently, the Saiyuki Gaiden prequel manga inspired an OVA adaptation in 2011. Saiyuki Reload, a 25-episode TV anime adaptation of the manga series of the same title was aired from October 2003 to March 2004 and its sequel Saiyuki Reload Gunlock airing from April 2004 to September 2004 which consisted of 26 episodes.
An anime film titled Saiyuki: Requiem was also inspired by the series in 2001 and another OVA titled Saiyuki Reload: Burial covering the Burial Arc of the Saiyuki Reload manga was also released in 2007.
Saiyuki is the story of four punk-like heroes: the monk Genjyo Sanzo, the monkey king Son Goku, the half-demon Sha Gojyo, and the man who turned into a demon Cho Hakkai (formerly known as Cho Gonou). They have been dispatched by the Sanbutsushin (the Three Aspects of Buddha, who relay the orders of heaven) to travel to India to stop the possible resurrection of the Ox-Demon-King, Gyumaoh. Along the way they are beset by inept assassins, bad weather, and their own tragic personal pasts. Meanwhile, the villains, two unlikely confidants, Gyokumen Koushou (Gyumaoh's concubine, a demon) and a mad scientist, Dr. Nii Jianyi (a human), continue their attempts to restore the long-dead king. These experiments, a forbidden mixture of science and magic, spawn the "Minus Wave", infecting all of the demons in Shangri-La with madness, shattering the fragile peace that once existed between humans and demons.
Source: Saiyuki Reload: Zeroin Official Twitter, Comic Natalie
