History Manga / Saiyuki

* {{Bishonen}}: There is a ''lot'' of male eyecandy in this series, and some (although not all) of it is in the classic "delicate, slightly femme" bishie mold. Sanzo/Konzen and Hakkai/Tenpou are particularly noted for attracting attention from both genders.

* GeckoEnding: The RELOAD: Gunlock ending.

* GenkiGirl: Lirin
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* {{Handsome Lech}}: Gojyo, unequivocally.

* ForgottenChildhoodFriend: Nataku and Goku.
* FourStarBadass: Tenpou and Kenren.

** Can also be interpreted as Western-style {{Four Element Ensemble}}s (instead of the 5 element system usually found in Chinese settings). Earth: Goku (literally born from a stone) / Lirin. Water: Gojyo / Dokugakuji (both sons of a kappa, a water demon). Air: Hakkai (from zephyr to hurricane) / Yaone. Fire: Sanzo (blazing sun) / Kougaiji (literally shoots fireballs out of his palms). A tear-out poster from the end of ''Gaiden'' shows the Konzen-ikkou in this configuration.

** Chin Yisou, too. He's in permanent niko-niko mode, and much like [[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Xellos]], is one of those characters whom you really don't want to [[RedEyesTakeWarning open his eyes]], because it usually means he's about to do something really...uh...bad.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Sanzo's group, with help from their [[FriendlyEnemy buddies]] in Kougaiji's bunch, join forces to defeat a bunch of soldiers from the army of heaven, as well as three high-ranking gods. {{Justified|Trope}}, since with the exception of Goku, the members of Sanzo's party [[spoiler: were [[AuthorityEqualsAssKicking high-ranking gods themselves in their past lives]]. Gojyo was a General, and Hakkai was his direct superior, while Sanzo was the Goddess of Mercy's nephew.]] This wasn't in the manga, however. In the manga, the guys that fought there only appeared briefly in the Gaiden-arc.

* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Kougaiji
* DarkSkinnedBlond: Lirin (though she has orange hair in Gensomaden Saiyuki anime, in the other anime and manga color pictures she is blonde).

* {{Filler}}: Tons. The filler in the first anime series, ''Gensoumaden Saiyuki'', is generally considered superior to the filler in ''Saiyuki RELOAD'' and ''Saiyuki RELOAD Gunlock.'' All three series liked to rehash the old familiar sob stories, but the Gensoumaden writers applied them to new situations and even animated chapters of ''Gaiden'', while RELOAD/Gunlock tended towards endless flashbacks or ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''-esque character-of-the-day side stories.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Konzen, thanks to CharacterDevelopment. Sanzo too, when he thinks no one's watching. (What was that about the cat being a nuisance?)
* JamesBondage: Oh holy cow, does Sanzo ever suffer from this in the anime adaptations. Sucks to be like this as well in the [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest original source]].

* StalkerWithACrush: Chin Yisou, at Hakkai. If anyone personifies refined bad-touch... His friggin' arm's off and he still doesn't drop the honourifics! Also Dougan, from the ''Requiem'' movie. The lengths that boy goes to in order to get Sanzo's attention are... [[{{Yandere}} something else]]. Sanzo even ''calls'' him "demented stalker bastard" to his face.

** The Stalker with a Crush, Dougan, certainly fits this trope, being downright moe-moe as a monk.

** Arguably, the Creator/{{Tokypop}} manga translation.

* IWasJustPassingThrough

* TheRival

* TrueCompanions

* OvertookTheManga: Several times, leading to loads of {{Filler}} and a GeckoEnding for Gunlock.

* RelationshipVoiceActor: Goku is Creator/SoichiroHoshi and Hakkai is Creator/AkiraIshida.
** And Sanzo is Creator/ToshihikoSeki. We've got [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala and Rau Le Creuset]] hanging around like [[WithFriendsLikeThese 'buddies']].

* BarrierWarrior: Hakkai very quickly developed the ability to generate shields with his chi after realizing that he'd need it for the times somebody needed to be protected from any sort of projectile fire and/or incidental fragments.

* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Gojyo's eyes and hair are "blood red," proof of his human-demon hybrid nature. The actual color used to indicate "blood red" varies from darkish pink to a weird orange, depending.
** As Goku helpfully informs us after having seen Gojyo in the bath, the carpet does not match the drapes. [[spoiler: It's black.]]

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Sanzo's group, with help from their [[FriendlyEnemy buddies]] in Kougaiji's bunch, join forces to defeat a bunch of soldiers from the army of heaven, as well as three high-ranking gods. {{Justified|Trope}}, since with the exception of Goku, the members of Sanzo's party [[spoiler: were [[AuthorityEqualsAssKicking high-ranking gods themselves in their past lives]]. Gojyo was a General, and Hakkai was his direct superior, while Sanzo was the Goddess of Mercy's nephew.]]
** This wasn't in the manga, however. In the manga, the guys that fought there only appeared briefly in the Gaiden-arc.

* DistressedDamsel: Kanan when she is kidnapped by Hyakugan Maoh and thus becoming a DisposableWoman. Lirin [[spoiler: when she is taken off by her mother for scientific experimentation only to be saved by Kougaiji, Yaone and Doukugakuji]]. And somewhat Yaone when she failed her mission and was saved by Kougaiji when she attempted to kill herself.
** ''Gensomaden'' has one filler episode involving Yaone investigating a group of humans that hunted down demons [[spoiler:secretly led by a demon who just wants to consume other demons]], got captured after taking down several humans and tied to an X-shaped cross, and would have been [[spoiler:consumed or worse]], if it wasn't for Kougaiji's team [[EnemyMine and Sanzo's as well, at the request of Hakkai]], coming to her rescue. And the anime treated [[BoundAndGagged Yaone being tied up]] in 'dead serious drama' style, with dark lightings and only a few glimpses of her body, not in full.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Kanan waited until Gonou (Hakkai) arrived to rescue her, told him that she was now pregnant with the demon who kidnapped and raped her, and then killed herself. To be fair, it wasn't that she wanted to force him to watch - she didn't have the means to do so until he arrived carrying a knife.]]

* EyesAlwaysShut: Shien and (usually) Koumyou Sanzo.

** Hakkai puts his own eye out, and wears a glass replacement. The anime [[{{Bowdlerise}} toned it down]] so that the actual eye didn't, y'know, come out.
*** Minekura specifies that it isn't glass in a Q&A session of an artbook. It's actually bio-mechanical (there's your SchizoTech again) and he can see through it.

* {{Fanservice}}: For everybody! Lirin, Yaone and several incidental girls are incredibly busty, and the four protagonists are kind enough to remove their shirts on occasion. Especially on Hakkai and Goku.

* FauxActionGirl: Yaone, at first. She gets better in RELOAD.
** Justified, though, since she never claimed to be a fighter and is referred to as an alchemist/apothecary.

* ForegoneConclusion: In ''Gaiden''. Konzen, Kenren and Tenpou have to die for the main plot to be possible.

* GeniusDitz
** Ken'yuu: "I can't tell whether you're brilliant or retarded." Koumyou: "I get that a lot."

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler:Goku, at the end of ''Saiyuki Gaiden''. Also qualifies for TearJerker]].

* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Yaone and Doku choose to fight on behalf of their lord Kougaiji even when they don't agree with his methods, most notably when he's BrainwashedAndCrazy. [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in that neither Kougaiji nor his retainers are evil; Kougaiji in particular is a NobleDemon, and his servants' loyalty [[spoiler:help [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight inspire Kougaiji]] to break free from his evil programming.]]

* {{Omake}}: [=UraSai=] of the Reload anime.
** And a bunch of the random filler at the end of a few manga volumes.
* OnlyAFleshWound: ''How'' many times was Sanzo shot in the Gunlock ending?

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou

* PapaWolf: Konzen. Made all the more satisfying because he, unlike Sanzo, has had some damn fine character development and is willing to perform all kinds of death defying thrills for his adopted son, Goku.

* {{Prequel}}: ''Saiyuki Gaiden'', ''Saiyuki Ibun''.

* RedHeadedStepchild: Not only does Gojyo have red hair, but it's a sign of his mixed heritage, which is in turn one of the key reasons his stepmother beats him so much. Once, [[PrecociousCrush he brought her red flowers]], and she brutally beat him specifically because they reminded her of his hair color. Given that it's a Japanese franchise, the whole story is surprisingly similar to the Italian/Irish stepfamily situation which purportedly started the expression in the first place.

* SayMyName: "SAAANZOOOOO!" being the earliest example.

* SchizoTech: The setting is ostensibly 7th century China, but no one blinks at Jeeps or credit cards.

* SenselessSacrifice: In ''Saiyuki Requiem'' [[spoiler: the girl introduced in the story sacrifices her life in order to destroy the big bad in the movie for good, so that she can die knowing her life was worth something.]] Too bad that accomplished absolutely nothing and the BigBad is ''completely'' unaffected.

* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Goku and Hakkai being the gentler and more polite (hardly in Goku's case) Sensitive Guy to Gojyo's cruder, rougher Manly Man.

** [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] because Hakkai is ''[[BeneathTheMask also]]'' a [[BewareTheNiceOnes deadly]] StepfordSmiler to Gojyo's ChivalrousPervert BruiserWithASoftCenter.

* StepfordSmiler: Hakkai. He generally plays the role of a cheery pseudo-mom/housewife of the group, but he used to be a CreepyChild who eventually ended up in a loving romantic and sexual relationship with his older sister, murdered 1,000 demons and an entire village because she was kidnapped, and can [[EyeScream calmly pluck out his own eye.]]

* TykeBomb: Nataku, despite being a kid, is used by the celestial army as a living weapon.

* {{Yandere}}: Hakkai, in the past.

* YourMindMakesItReal: The Very Meaning to Zakuro's Powers

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In act. xx "Aim to be the the best in the world" look at the former champion's loincloth in his first panel. And at the victor when he wears it.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Kanan and Gonou/Hakkai didn't realize they were long-lost siblings until after they fell in love, apparently. The anime toned it down it so that Kanan was only ''like'' an older sister to Hakkai, instead of actually ''being'' his older sister.
* BrokenBird: The show has lots of male examples. Sanzo, Gojyo and Hakkai are all deeply psychologically scarred, cynical, physically attractive, snarky (except for Hakkai) and hypercompetent at their job... that is to say, killing things. A lot of the villains would also count.

* WomanInWhite: Kanzeon Bosatsu (Well... Man/Woman anyway...)
** Gojyo's stepmother.

* [[AlternateCharacterReading Alternate Character Meaning]]: The written title is a pun on the traditional spelling of "Journey to the West". Instead of the kanji for "west" it uses a character that sounds the same when read aloud but turns the meaning into "Journey [[AC:to the Max!]]"

* JerkassFacade: Sanzo. Acts like a {{Jerkass}}, except it's very clear why others follow him and put up with his behavior, nor is he oblivious to his bad image. Plus he has stated (in his thoughts) that his own traumatic past has made him prefer people he doesn't have to protect, which implies he's this caustic as a defense mechanism.
* JerkassGods: Even the Merciful Goddess comes off as manipulative and self-centered.

** Kougaji's view of seending {{mooks}} out to kill the Sanzo party is this, and he's pretty much right on the money.

[[caption-width-right:340:Clockwise from right : [[ThreeFacesOfEve the husband, the child, the seducer,]] a snarky priest [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou with a gun,]] and [[{{Shapeshifter}} their means of transportation.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:340:Clockwise from right : [[ThreeFacesOfEve the husband, the child, the seducer,]] a snarky priest [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou with a gun,]] and [[ShapeShifter their means of transportation.]]]]

* PowersThatBe: The pantheon presented is essentially the synchretized version of Buddhism that dominated Tang China, which contains Taoist and Confucian elements not found in Indian Buddhism, such as a heavenly bureaucracy ruled by an emperor. Kwan Yin (Kanzeon) being a hermaphrodite is Minekura's invention, but the Goddess of Compassion is an important Chinese deity.

* {{Reincarnation}}: [[spoiler:Sanzo, Gojyo and Hakkai are the reincarnations of three gods who apparently died trying to save Goku from being persecuted or turned into a second Nataku]].
* RetGone: [[spoiler: Ukoku's Muten Sutra.]]

** Also that one episode where once again Yaone failed her mission and gets kidnapped by another demon, and when Hakkai heard that, he requests the team to save her, leading to an EnemyMine situation with Kougaiji & co.

** Arguably, the TokyoPop manga translation.

* {{Filler}}: Tons. The filler in the first anime series, ''Gensoumaden Saiyuki'', is generally considered superior to the filler in ''Saiyuki RELOAD'' and ''Saiyuki RELOAD Gunlock.'' All three series liked to rehash the old familiar sob stories, but the Gensoumaden writers applied them to new situations and even animated chapters of ''Gaiden'', while RELOAD/Gunlock tended towards endless flashbacks or {{Pokemon}}-esque character-of-the-day side stories.

* {{Shotacon}}: A lot of fans seem to be uncomfortable with the idea of Goku in any kind of romantic or sexual relationship, given his childish nature and appearance, despite the fact that he's physically 18 ''and'' ReallySevenHundredYearsOld. This is especially bad for those who have only seen the anime--while it showed the very beginning of his CharacterDevelopment in the Kami-sama arc, it quickly OvertookTheManga and tended to treat Goku like a standard [[IdiotHero stupid]] {{Shonen}} protagonist.
** Faceless bystanders tend to spread rumors of this nature about the relationships between Koumyou and Kouyruu and Konzen and Goku.