'The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!' (Monkey! - Episodes 1-3 (DVD))

Member Name: thereddragon

Product:	Monkey! - Episodes 1-3 (DVD)
Date:	18/05/09 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: So cute, hilarious and heartwarming, a really unique classic

Disadvantages: If you don't like this you have no soul (or not zany enough humour)

Starring:
Masaaki Sakai as Sun Wu-Kong (Monkey)
Toshiyuki Nishida as Zhu Ba-Jie (Pigsy)
Shirô Kishibe as Sha Wu-Jing (Sandy)
Masako Natsume as Xuanzang Sanzang (Tripitaka)

I used to absolutely love this incredibly funny, crazy and utterly heartwarming Japanese TV series when it was on, and in a couple of rounds of repeats since then! This show ran in the UK from 1978 to 1980 as three series of 13 episodes. There were a further 13 episodes that were never shown here at the time, but they have now been released and are presented as bonus tracks on the DVD releases of the show.

The story of the series is based on a 16th century novel written by Wu Ch'eng-en (c1505-1580), of which I have an old and tatty paperback translation by Arthur Waley issued by Unwin Paperbacks (1979). If you loved this show, I can heartily recommend trying to find a translation of the book, which, despite how many centuries ago it was written, is still a fresh and very funny read!

The plot of 'Monkey' (original Japanese title 'Saiyuki') is based on an ancient Chinese legend on the origins of Buddhism. A Buddhist monk, Tripitaka, is tasked with taking a long journey to India to find a set of holy scriptures capable of saving the world. Helping him (although strangely, in the TV series, 'he' is played by a girl for some reason) along the way are three animal spirits who once lived in Heaven but were kicked out for various transgressions and now serve as bodyguards and assistants: Monkey (who considers himself 'King of the Monkeys' and 'Great Sage Equal of Heaven'), Pigsy (a pig spirit, as the name would suggest!) and Sandy, a fish spirit.

Though, sometimes they can be more of a hindrance than a help, especially when the wildly impetuous Monkey goes off on one of his hotheaded tangents. But, he has magical powers, ranging from being able to summon up a cloud he can ride on anywhere, to a magic cudgel that he keeps behind his ear in miniature form but can make it grow to any size he requires at the time. Pigsy is a bit of a womaniser and a lush, which is not exactly helpful, and he sometimes needs to be rescued. Sandy often seems the most level-headed, and tries to be sensible much of the time. In later episodes, there's an additional character in the form of a dragon spirit who inhabits Tripitaka's horse; the spirit evolves enough to occasionally manifest itself as a man called Yu-Lung.

Being from the days of the martial arts film craze, there's lots of kung-fu type fighting in this, though of a nature more silly than impressive, and there are some of the cheesiest special effects you can imagine. The English voice dubbing is quite hilarious, with silly voices and irreverent, often rude, dialogue, and there's an extra bonus for Lord of The Rings fans - Pigsy's voice acting is by Peter Woodthorpe, who voiced the Gollum character in the recent LotR movie trilogy. The show also has both the most infectious AND cheesiest theme tune ever.

This DVD consists of the first three episodes of Series 1, and one bonus track:

1. Monkey Goes Wild About Heaven

Here we meet Monkey for the first time, in a fight sequence. Monkey steps forward and proclaims, 'I'm the greatest, do you understand? I love to FIIIIIIIGGGHHHHHT!!!!' He goes to see the Dragon King, whose daughter presents him with the later-infamous magic cudgel ('The Magic Wishing Staff') that he makes plenty of use of through the rest of the series.

Fed up with Monkey's shenanigans on earth, the Jade Emperor of Heaven invites him to Heaven to take up employment there in order to keep him out of trouble. Here we get our first glimpses of Pigsy and Sandy, currently still in their human heavenly form, working as assistants to the Emperor.

However, the employment Monkey is offered is as a stable hand, which affronts his dignity and he goes berserk, chasing other heavenly dwellers and picking a fight with Pigsy. He's offered a better job, as caretaker of the Heavenly peach garden, and immediately gets stuck in eating as many peaches as he can stuff down his neck. But, how long will it be before he gets 'restless' again?

2. Monkey Turns Nursemaid

This episode starts by showing Monkey imprisoned in a stone mountain, having been cast out of Heaven (so, things didn't go well in the previous episode, then). Then we cut to two men finding their boat invaded by a scary guy wearing a necklace of skulls who emerges from the sea. 'Ha-ha, I'm going to eat you!' he declares with a cheerful grin. The narrator breaks in to announce 'The once Heavenly commander had taken to being a cannibal', and we see that this is Sandy in his fish spirit form, so he's been kicked out of Heaven as well. He chases the two men on land and is surprised to find that he can't defeat them, and then learns that one is a priest with supernatural strength and the other is Buddha in human form. They tell Sandy that they want him to take part in a holy mission.

As they discuss this, Pigsy (also now in animal spirit form) appears from the bushes and ambushes them. But, upon learning who he's fighting, he pleads for forgiveness and he too is recruited for the mission. Finally, the holy men free Monkey from the mountain, and our team is complete. We then go to see Tripitaka, who at first declines the mission. But we know that won't last long!

3. The Great Journey Begins

As the title indicates, off they go on their journey. But not without a few hitches, as expected. The episode begins with Monkey refusing to go any further, completely fed up with having to make such a long journey on foot, and he sits down and bemoans his blisters. However, Tripitaka manages to convince him to continue and they are met along the way by a priest who gives them a protective roll of scripture to help them against evil. And so, after the introductory first two episodes, the journey begins.

Bonus Track: You Win Some, You Lose Some

With a main title of 'Monkey II', this episode is in Japanese with English subtitles. It's from the later episodes where the horse spirit is now spending some of his time in human form. This one starts with our intrepid travellers journeying along a countryside trail and encountering a tree with ten dead bodies hanging from it. They venture into the town and, finding it apparently deserted, go to investigate.

It's really strange to hear the characters talking in their real voices here rather than the dubbed English ones - their real voices are more natural sounding and less silly, and Monkey's voice is much gruffer - but interestingly the real Tripitaka's voice is similar to the dubbed one. The whole soundtrack actually has a somehow different quality to the dubbed one, so it's quite interesting to be able to compare the two versions.

Other DVD extras:

Principal cast/character biographies
Still Galleries
Web Links

I recommend this series so highly that words just don't exist to do it enough justice! If you want to see something completely absorbing, entertaining and side-splittingly funny and wacky, plus totally offbeat and weird, this is your show. I read something vague about there being a possibility of a movie or remake, but there's just no point - nothing can ever hold a candle to the original Monkey Magic!

Also on ciao.co.uk as thereddragon.

Summary: A must-see if you like crazy Japanese humour