I'm really excited to start the Reload series, especially because I can't stand the anime (If you're curious about the differences between the original anime and Reload, read my blog post http://bogomip.net/blog/2006/03/28/what-happened-to-saiyuki/).

Anyway, this series started out great. I haven't had much to complain about through the whole manga series, with page numbering being my biggest gripe. This story starts out with the Sanzo party coming to a new town where rumors of "Genjyo Sanzo and his three attendants" have arrived before them. The town's women are being slaughtered and the villagers are quick to blame youkai for the deeds. The Sanzo party arrives incognito (wrapped in cloaks) to avoid being asked to hunt down more youkai. Anyway, it turns out some seedy townspeople are responsible for the murders, but there's always a batch of youkai tracking down the Sanzo party, and they show up just as Sanzo, Gojyo, Goku, and Hakkai are about to leave. They fight off the youkai, rescue a captured girl that thought the Sanzo party was guilty of the murders, and continue their journey west. ( )