Episode Guide to Gensomaden Saiyuki

2. A Guide to the Netherworld/First Game

(manga Vol. 1, chapters 1-3)

The Sanzo-ikkou ("Sanzo Party" or "Sanzo Company"--hereinafter, the SI) eats at a restaurant whose head chef is pretty Houmei. Goku praises her cooking highly. A friend of hers was killed in a demon raid and she expresses her hate and fear of all demons, to the discomfort of the SI's three youkai. Meanwhile, we meet Prince Kougaiji, the only son of Gyuma'oh and Rasetsu-nyo, who was supposed to have also been sealed at the time of his father's defeat--seemingly not so. His subordinate Yaone tells him there's activity in the east and he replies that he's already sent an assassin. He reflects bitterly on the spell that binds his mother.
A supposed traveling theatre troupe arrives at the inn where the SI is staying; they're of course youkai, agents of the Dark Spider Clan led by a monstrous spider-woman, and a nighttime brawl ensues. Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku dispatch their individual assassins handily (Goku without even waking up!) but the spider-youkai sets her sights on Sanzo. She says she's heard that immortality and eternal youth come to one who eats such a high-ranking monk as Sanzo, while Gojyo cracks that he's much too tough to eat no matter how she might cook him. The spider queen asks why these youkai are siding with and defending humans; little Houmei is shocked to find that the friendly travelers are youkai and accuses them of intentionally deceiving her. But Goku says that his fighting for her has nothing to do with their differences in kind--she deserves saving just because she's such a great cook! Sanzo immobilizes the spider-youkai with the Maten Kyoumon and Goku delivers the coup-de-grace. ==As they leave the next day, Houmei delivers her apology in the form of a huge bento-box lunch, which Gojyo and Goku squabble over as the troupe drives off.

Updated notes on Gensomaden #2: Ah, the first G&G backseat squabble and Sanzo's first (of many) administration/s of fan justice. (But he actually smiles a little as he admits that this isn't that much different from a field trip. =) Meanwhile, in the Heavens, Jiroushin reports to Kanzeon that he's had a message from the Sanbutsushin, confirming that the Sanzo Party has set out. So it has finally begun, he says, but the Goddess says this had all been set in motion long before...at that moment five hundred years ago.

Sanzo asks about the state of the local youkai and is told the story they'll be hearing over and over; that they lived peacefully in this town for years, then one day all simply snapped, killed a dozen townspeople and abandoned the place en masse. Sanzo reflects grimly that the plague spreads and with it spreads stories of fear among the populace, further widening the gap between human and demon. A vicious cycle...
As Goku splits firewood for Houmei, she tells him of her human friend, Ekitoku, who was killed by the youkai. She emotionally says that it was impossible for human and demons to live together in the first place, to his dismay. She wants him to agree that the world would be better off with no youkai, and he doesn't know whether or how to reply; Hakkai whistles him in and says it would be better if they kept quiet to others about their identities.

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