Journey to the West (1993) 西遊記
Director: Seiji Izumi
Screenwriter: Eisaburo Chai
Starring: Rie Miyazawa / Masahiro Motoki / Sabu Kawara / Hisaku Shimada / Kaoru Yachikusa / more…
Genre: Comedy / Action / Adventure
Country/Region of Manufacture: Japan
Language: Japanese
Date: 1993-03-28 (Japan)
Duration: 140 minutes
Also known as: Saiyûki / 西游记
IMDb: tt0455194
Adaptation: Reimagining
Summary:
Nippon TV 40th anniversary drama broadcast on March 28, 1993. The production changed to Nippon TV and Shochiku, and the shooting changed from film to video. Because it was a one-shot drama of 2 hours and 30 minutes, the story ends without reaching the tenjiku, just like the previous work. The audience rating was 26.9%.
The young mage Xuanzang cast spells to drive away demons in Chang'an, and forged a grudge with the Golden Horn clan of monsters. He was also named Sanzang by Guanyin Bodhisattva, ordered to go to the West to worship Buddha and seek scriptures, and accepted Sun Wukong as his disciple in Wuxing Mountain. The Golden Horn family is determined to interfere with it and weaken Sanzang’s magic power. At the same time, they send the banshee Baili to try to confuse Wukong and divert the tiger away from the mountain. Thanks to Wukong not being fooled he come back in time to save Master. Sanzang is merciful by nature and strictly abides by the precepts, but Wukong is unruly, violent and aggressive. The two went from friction and disputes to finally being able to understand and rely on each other.
On the way, they also accepted Bajie and Wujing, who each had an unfortunate life experience. At this time, Wukong was misunderstood by Sanzang and expelled from the party because he killed the incarnation of the monster. He came to Chang'an to provoke troubles in order to relieve the anger in his heart. On the other hand, Sanzang managed to escape from the monster’s trap, and realized that what Wukong said was true. He regretted that he had driven him away, but he still stubbornly refused to ask him to come back. Both of them cared about each other in their hearts, but neither was willing to seek out the other first. A girl who looks very similar to Sanzang keeps appearing in front of Wukong, but Wukong still can’t remember who she is, so he is very concerned.
At this time, Sanzang and his party fell into life-and-death crisis again, and Wukong listened to Baili’s instigation, and simply entered the palace, intending to occupy the throne as king, because he saw the girl in the palace again, so he went up to ask what happened, but the girl disappeared again. They are all illusions arranged by Guanyin Bodhisattva, in order to enlighten Wukong and remind him of his original heart. The memory of Water Curtain Cave, which keeps flashing back, originally buried a front edge. The girl in the memory overlapped with the shadow of the master. Wukong, who came to his senses, resolutely took the golden hoop to save the master. However, when Wukong arrived, the tragedy had already passed. Happened, Sanzang’s lower body was already submerged in milky white liquid…
