Chinyuki: Taro and his Amusing Companions (1990) 珍遊記 ～太郎とゆかいな仲間たち～

Author: Taro Yamada / Man☆Gatarou

Publisher: Shueisha

Format: Paperback

Genre: Comedy / Fantasy

Date: Nov 6, 1990

Number of issues: 6

ISBN: 978-4-8003-0865-8

Language: Japanese

Also known as: Chinyuuki: Tarou to Yukai na Nakama-tachi

Adaptation: Inspiration

Summary:

Everyone remember that classic story of Journey to the West, where 3 travelers help a monk to right their misdeeds? This is not that story...

Chinyuki: Taro to Yukai na Nakama-tachi is a parody of Journey to the West, where an assassin by the name of Taro Yamada is trying to right his misdeeds by travelling with a monk. Taro's misdeeds were essentially assassinating tons of people and pooping on their graves. A monk saw him and cursed him into a baby-monkey-hybrid-thing. With the help of the Monk, Taro has to battle demons and other weird anomalies to help regain his human form. The series was eventually cancelled after disturbing Weekly Shonen Jump's demographic.

Eventually the series was revived with Chinyuki 2 in the Business Jump magazine, where the story was essentially the same but Taro Yamada's baby-esque form was replaced by E-Taro, who was essentially a business man/nerd stereotype.

Source: https://myanimelist.net/manga/69771/Chinyuuki__Tarou_to_Yukai_na_Nakama-tachi