Updated 01 June 2004; created Monday, 17 May 2004
My Study of Genjyo Sanzou For This Website
In preparing the 3D photorealistic CG art for this website, I paid particular attention to the unspoken, unwritten messages which Minekura sent in the images of Genjyo Sanzou. These were from the manga series itself, syndicated clips in magazine compilations, magazine articles on the creative team and the series, and of course Minekura's artbooks. I also watched the series and the film version, but I am mindful that there are a whole crew of artists working on these, under the direction of several other professionals. I scoured the internet for fan art, some of which, although effectively counterfeit versions showing situations which officially would never be condoned as part of a Saiyuki production, were of remarkable similarity to the original drawn version.
I considered the original styling of the character, the poses, the accessories, the context of non-story occasional artwork, and of course, the context of the story and script.
The key impression one forms upon first time ever watching the series or reading the manga (i.e. hajimete situation), is that it is inclusive of audienceship from gay and bisexual communities. Also, the pure sexuality emanating from the depiction of Genjyo Sanzou cannot go unnoticed. Only the highest-ranking hermaphrodite goddess is allowed to kiss him, while at the same time transferring him some demon strength from his fellow Bishounen Sha Gojyo. No one else has come close to physical sexual intimacy with him, as far as we are given to know. There are graphical references to his early teenage days, when he was the utmost tease, allowing his fellow disciple Shi Han Dai at Kin Zan Ji (Golden Mountain Temple) to be seduced by his beauty. There is one illustration of the two together, with Koryu (the young Genjo Sanzo) holding a broomstick in a suggestive manner at a strategic position infront of the adult disciple. The more naive members of the audience will read sexual connotations into his dealings with young teenagers, such as Goku and Lirin. There is the one art montage where he is depicted with a strategically located left hand over a particular part of Goku's anatomy, but his hand merely grabs the wiremesh separating the two. I think while there is the intention to tease the audience, the overall intention is that he is not a paedophile. In the larger scheme of the series, one should take note of the intimate psychological and social relationship between Konzen (Genjyo Sanzou's god form) and Son Goku.
So I cannot depict him as depraved, although he does succumb to bouts of extreme rage when provoked. He is definitely not a sadist; he is on a mission he intends to complete alive; he has learnt to trust in his team-mates, but he holds himself above any affect which clouds his judgement of the situation - and this has proven critical to the whole team's survival in times of danger. He has an extra sense, which allows him to hear (unexpectedly) the voice of his mentor goddess, and he can discern the truth from falsehood in a situation.
Updated 29 May 2004
Now quite apart from the illustrations in the series, the occasional artwork out-of-series-context sometimes shows him in bondage situations. Some of this is merely to indicate the fateful links that bind him to the other characters of the story, while giving the audience a visual kick at the same time. I also note that his hands are sensuously designed and posed, and when shown with his black sleeves on, are extremely phallic in allusion. His posture and poses are always very seductively arranged; these convey catlike-ness, a certain slinky feline sensousness which certain real individuals possess. His hair is carefully depicted as if it has a life of its own, and its movement accentuates his sensuous figure and carriage. This is also the case for his flowing robes and veil, which he wears either in full Sanzo version, or with outer sleeves off to reveal his gorgeous sexy black Sanzo innerwear. If all the Sanzos in the story went around wearing their robes like that, the entire monastic world would be scandalized, not to mentioned utterly orgy-fied !
Added 29 May 2004
But what of our hero's own sexuality ? I think it needs to be mentioned that in the manga story, he shows very young in life that he has no disposition whatsoever to associate with effeminate individuals of the same gender. I am referring to the case of his childhood meeting with the younger child who later styled himself "Kami-Sama". There is no indication that our hero has any inclination for an intimate relationship with any individual, sexual or otherwise. By way of fate, destiny and an unawakened link from his existence as god-entity Konzen, he performs naturally the role of Keeper / Guardian / Minder of Son Goku on earth. His concern for Goku's well-being and protection, plus his reactions to Goku's childlike behaviour, are more that of a loving but strict parent. Goku's filial behaviour towards his Sanzo is more indicative of a child to a parent, than is permitted by any Kept Boy scenario.
Added 29 May 2004
Perhaps if Sha Gojyo were not so quick on the draw in chatting up the young women they encounter, our hero might have a chance to show some sort of dashing behaviour towards them. But the opportunities don't seem to materialise much, and our hero merely hits or kicks Gojyo into line whenever the latter starts to hit on the women. Some people may wonder if this is also an indication of either (a) his annoyance that Gojyo is always quicker on the draw at hitting on the women, or (b) his envy at Gojyo paying more attention to the women than to him, or (c) a combination of both (a) and (b). Plausible alternatives, but in the larger reading of the story - not likely. His relationship with Cho Hakkai is on a more mature level than his relationships with Gojyo and Goku respectively. They discuss the more serious and profound issues, and Hakkai's deeply preceptive nature adds strength to Genjyo Sanzou's sharp reading of situations. If there is any covert sexual undercurrent among the four mission operatives, it is likely to be between Hakkai and Gojyo, if it exists at all.
UPDATED 01 June 2004:
What conclusions did I draw to help me create the 3D photorealistic version ? Well, here is what I conclude about the character of Genjyo Sanzou in his original artistic incarnation. He is very sensual and sensuous, and extremely sexy. He is metrosexual, always well dressed in the latest coolest clothes for young men. His precision hairstyle is meticulously maintained, although where his hairstylist comes from on his travels west is a deep mystery to me. That's one high-maintenance haircut, boy. But the key point beyond the design of his physical appearance and development of his character background, is that he is supremely unattainable. That makes it all the more frustrating for other characters in the story, and for the audience themselves. And this psychologically-tuned phenomenon feeds into the creative needs of hundreds of thousands of fan fict writers around the world, dying to concretise their desire to have our beautiful hero bedded and/or gored, depending on the authors' sexual preferences.
If I just confine the examples to the hand-drawn manga series, which I assume is mostly the original work from Minekura and not mostly from studio artists, then I would say that Genjyo Sanzou is no more sexy-looking than Sha Gojyo. Both are classic examples of Bishounen. But Genjyo Sanzou has better sexy black underwear !! Also, I believe that the original hand-crafted character appeals to readers of all sexual orientations. So the challenge for me is to retain that essence in my version.
Minekura's favourite camera angle for him is from above. This means that he is usually drawn with a very small chin and a severely slanting jawline. This poses challenges for the photorealistic version, because he has to look more like a human and less like an anime character. Also, his eyes are exaggerated - lovely seductive sexy eyes, but still not of the human proportions a photorealistic version can carry, without looking weird. I have had such a bloody f**king hard time getting his trousers, scriptures and robe to fit, and I have no idea how that breast plate affixes to his robes in a practical sense. I don't even want to think about creating his Sanzo Houshi crown for now. His body is rather more slender in Minekura's original hand-drawn version, but a human version would look somewhat weak, not hero stuff. My "Genjyo Sanzou @ the Beach" is about as slender as he's going to get.
In the production of the 3D version, I relied on excellent expert guidance and component samples from these sources. My pictures of Genjyo Sanzou's sexy black underwear t-shirt, are more cut-in at the shoulders than Minekura's design. I also have the same version, but I did not use it until in my later Collections.
My intention is not to re-create Minekura's version as a 3D anime version like the type in XBox games and whatever. I wanted to see what a human equivalent of Genjyo Sanzou would look like, if this were ever possible. At the same time, I wanted my version to convey the same type of characteristics which Minekura's original art version has, which goes beyond the visual appearance. Hence, my attempts here in this website. I dedicate this website to Minekura Kazuya, who created the original hand-drawn version of Genjyo Sanzou.
Updated: Monday, 17 May 2004 4:33 PM KDT
Saiyuki Senri Kaiseki Book - brief review
"Loring Stone" (sorry, translating the author's name from Katakana, it's not a Japanese name), Saiyuki Senri Kaiseki Shio ("Extreme Games Psychological Profiles Book" - my rough translation, please excuse me), Publisher:"Futtwaaku" ( "Footwork???" Again rough translation from the Katakana), ISBN4-87689-365-9.
Quite an extensive investigation; one wonders what scholastic value such an exercise imparts to the knowledge community. The effort has been made, and the commercial gains extracted, no doubt. My personal view is that the creator (Minekura) of the graphic novel series (Saiyuki) developed it from a purely artistic perspective, and that subsequently the graphical hardcopy series was commercialised for audience consumption as an animation. This would make some of the character development the result of careful psychological tweaking from commerce-savvy production executives, eager to tap financial benefits, both direct and indirect . What I am saying is that the depth added to characters in the final animation version is likely very carefully calculated to appeal exactly to particular consumers. Which defeats the purpose of then re-analysing the characters in the way the book has done. No matter, daijoubu.
Some fans of the series may find the discussion at the end ot the book of particular interest. There is coverage of young girls' romantic notions of love, gay love, companionship versus sexual involvement, and the mores of society particularly in the transition from 20th to 21st centuries.
A brief book review by Juniper Chew.
