Saiyuki: Complete Collection, Seasons One & Two

The 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West has been very loosely adapted into this sometimes charming, but mostly meandering anime series, a strange mix of quasi-Buddhist pondering and old-fashioned buddy-flick horseplay. Set in an unspecified time when humans and demons supposedly lived in harmony, the series follows the misadventures of rogue monk Genjo Sanzo and his three wacky devil pals as they set across Asia to thwart the resurrection of a malevolent power who wants to make the world a truly unhappy place. Along the way, the foursome meet a variety of people in need of assistance and plenty of nasty supernatural beings ripe for thrashing. Saiyuki scores points for its brazen use of anachronistic humor: Genjo and company have a pet dragon that turns into a jeep, while the characters smoke cigarettes and use guns and ATM cards during their journeys. But while the interaction between the monk and his companions offer enough offbeat riffs to keep the viewer's attention, the series quickly becomes humdrum as the heroes encounter too many predictable situations. Presenting all 50 original episodes (the complete first and second seasons from 2000–01) on a dual-language ten-disc boxed set, rated TV-14, this is an optional purchase. Aud: P. (P. Hall)