#chaiko tsai monkey king

[sketching-shark]

I was curious to know, is there a specific adaptation of JTTW that you particularly enjoy? Whether its good or accurate isnt important but more like in your personal taste

AUGH going to be honest @seasonalsummers in that I don't feel like I can pick just one...there's so many excellent retellings! But I will take this opportunity to present some of my favorites.

So first up we have the 1986 Journey to the West tv series. It is in many ways very goofy and gaudy, but there's just as many reasons why it's considered one of the best retellings out there, from its genuine heart to the adherence to the og classic. And needless to say its Sun Wukong really set a standard for cheeky scheming monkey behavior. You can start watching it here:

Next up is 2016s The Monkey King 2. While this film is one of those retellings that gives the White Bone Demon a lot more prominence than she has in the og classic--and definitely has its own silly stupid moments--it also stands as one of the very few retellings that directly addresses the paradox of Tang Sanzang's mission: that he's trying to get the sutras to help mortals achieve a state of peace all while abhorring violence, and yet its only because of the violence of his disciples, especially Sun Wukong, that he's able to right a number of wrongs or simply go from day to day uneaten. You can watch it here:

And now it's time to give kudos to 2015's Monkey King: Hero Is Back. While this film is FAR from a faithful retelling and (usual refrain) has its own silliness, pretty simple plot, and gross-out humor, it also has so much heart and stands as a wonderful embodiment of the dad Wukong characterization. One also has to give it credit for its main child character, Jiang Liuer, being a genuinely charming kid who's wonder at the world and desire to do good drives the story forward in a sincerely lovely way. You can watch it here:

More recently--and in a work that is at best only loosely following the plot of Xiyouji--is 2022's Lighting Up the Stars. This film follows the story of a Li Nezha coded little orphan girl Wu Xiaowen and a Sun Wukong coded funeral director Mo Sanmei as they go from a very tense relationship to a genuinely loving father-daughter relationship. While there are moments of this film that feel kind of overwrought, it's an honestly wonderful exploration of what goes into dealing with death and the importance of love in all its many forms during life. I also have a soft spot for Mo Sanmei, who from what I've seen is the very peak of explicitly shitty cringefail loser who then genuinely works hard to become a better person Sun Wukong out there. It can be watched here:

Turning away from film and animation for a moment, I simply have to give proper kudos to Chaiko Tsai's comic The Monkey King. Between the gorgeous art, fun character designs, a good sense of how to translate many of the stories of Xiyouji into comic format, and a resolution to the Sun Wukong vs. Niu Mowang fight that I actually prefer above that in Journey to the West itself, this is definitely a comic worth going through! You can purchase it here for about $30.00

And last but certainly not least, one simply has to give due credit to 1964's Uproar in Heaven. It's an absolute gem of stylized Chinese animation, a work with the very rare allowance on the Monkey King getting to go full grandpa for tons upon tons of monkeys at Mt. Huaguoshan, and it's very faithful to the first half of the og classic with the difference that here Sun Wukong does his havoc in heaven and gets away with it. All around its a really fun work to watch and does have a lot of importance from both an animation and a historical perspective. You can watch it here:

So those are my favorite adaptations of Journey to the West! It's but a fraction of the adaptations out there, but I hope other people found these as fun as I do.

[crzyimp]

nobody told me that Chaiko Monkey King is a goldmine of facial expressions. Got my copy today and Im dying the looks Wukong giving.

[reginleif-valkyrie]

More, more baby monkeys!

The Monkey King by Chaiko Tsai

[onekipo]

I found Season 6's mcguffin! maybe

So I was reading "The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey" by Tsai Chaiko, which is an abridged graphic novel of JTTW. It was around the end of the book when something caught my eye. Wukong was talking to a Bodhisattva(I'm pretty sure its Lingqi, the same guy who helped the pilgrimage beat the demon who used strong wind to blind Wukong, but I could totally be mistaken).

The image is a bit crusty, but the gist of it was Wukong was hit by the Banana Leaf Fan and was sent flying to the home of the Bodhisattva. While there he learns, and I quote, "[the]Banana Leaf Fan is a marvelous treasure formed by the heavens and the earth during the separation of chaos behind the Kunlun Mountains."

And since Season 5, any mention of chaos has peaked my interested. And who owns the this super powerful weapon? Princess Iron Fan

What if Chaos and/or his followers are trying to find a new tool to break the barriers between the realms and chaos. Then what better choice then a weapon that was created by the earth(control) and chaos. Forcing DBK and PIF to fend them off, till PIF gives her fan to the one person who she trusts to keep it safe and believe is strong enough to wield it, her son. (And maybe add a little flashback scene to explain why DBK's family and Wukong went from "hey brother thanks saving my son too" to raging mortal enemies).

Even if that isn't the case, the fact that during the time chaos was separated from the earth(which in the show was because of Nuwa restoring the pillars), it left behind powerful creations that are a marvel to the realms. So what happens if this event didn't just create inanimate objects, but maybe living ones too. Like say a set of monkeys, both of which exist outside the norm, and one of them having a certain inclination to chaos magic.

Just food for thought, and please let me know if there are other objects mentioned in JTTW created similar to the fan.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Honestly a little sad to me how bull king and princess iron fan never made up and their son was happier with guanyin and dragon girl.

It is sad to see a family fall apart like this, esp since this is a family that Wukong is connected to as well. It started with trying to control their son who was a reflection of what Wukong was, a powerful demon with too much freedom that got too arrogant and started to take more than he could handle. At least with Red Boy, he didn't have to go through 500 years of imprisonment to calm down, rather being taken under Guanyin's wind right away. He gets to be a deity in his own right as the Child of Wealth, someone to be respected and honored but he loses being a king.

Bull Demon King got arrested so there was never a chance for him to make up with Iron Fan in a meaningful way. She was so happy to see him the first time he came home but it was just Wukong in disguise... Until the end, Iron Fan was worried about her husband but she consented that there was no escape from this battle and relented by Bull King did not. Bull King kept fighting until it was too late and all of heaven had to come down for him, leading him to be carried away to a known fate in the heavens. (thought in the Journey to the West Later he apparently becomes the Ghost King and works under the Jade Emporer). This is someone that Wukong sees as a brother, someone he sees as family and he was forced to fight due to his mission to the west. But there was no compassion or understanding from Bull King, he refused to help Wukong despite that Wukong never wanted to fight his son, and even tried to appeal to Red Boy saying how they were family. But it was like facing a brick wall, there was no talking their way around this, only a fight.

I think the Monkey King by Chaiko Tsai shows it best.

There is something about letting go of old friends, people that you thought would always be by your side. But people change and Wukong has as well. He isn't who he used to be 500 years ago and Bull Demon refuses to accept that. He refused to accept that his son was out of control and he refused to give up when the odds were against him. Wukong was able to mature and move on while Bull Demon continued his ways. And I like to that we see Iron Fan mature herself in the arc for how short it was.

Iron Fan got maybe the best and worst end of the lot. She was able to escape imprisonment altogether and went on to continue her cultivation and become an immortal in her own right. But she was to lose bother her son and husband when he was clear about how much they meant to her. Her son is safe in heaven and her husband was arrested and not killed, but she is separated from them nonetheless. She lost her family only leaving herself and trying to cultivate on her own to further how own enlightenment. Her son was able to be taken in by one of the most recognizable and respected Bodhisattvas in Western Heaven but now he can't just be her son.

This is a family that was split due to circumstances. What if Red Boy never tried to kidnap Sanzang, or what if he never transformed into Gaunyin which is what led to her being involved. And what if Iron Fan gave Wukong the fan at the start and they never escalated the battle? It's hard to say, but it shows how pride and greed can affect not only yourself but your loved one as well, and even how they will miss you if you have to face the consequences of your actions. I like to think that Iron Fan was able to find her son in heaven when she committed herself to learning… but I cannot say the same for Bull Demon King... though I do like the Ghost King sequel idea, like let him have a job.

[sketching-shark]

I just finished reading Chaiko's The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey and feel confident in calling this one of the best Journey to the West retellings in English out there! Chaiko--besides presenting his retelling through some really lovely art--also showed good sense in terms of what to cut and even what to change to both condense the mammoth og tale to a ~300 page comic book as well as to bring out some of the best parts of the original. I especially appreciated the time this comic spent on detailing Sun Wukong's complex character in both his simultaneous love of family and willingness to violence, as well as to how it's made clear both humans and yaoguai antagonists are often operating within understandable moral failings. I will also say without any spoilers that there are elements to how the Demon Bull King vs. Sun Wukong battle worked itself out in Chaiko's retelling that I think I prefer above the original! All in all, I would definitely recommend this comic for anyone who's looking for a good retelling of the original tale or simply a fun adventure.

[reginleif-valkyrie]

Okay, here it is. Get ready for cuteness. The last pic I’m posting from The Monkey King by Chaiko Tsai

You ready?

Here it comes!

[reginleif-valkyrie]

They were supposed to be looking for survivors.

Only one picture left and let me tell you, it’s a good one.

The Monkey King by Chaiko Tsai

[reginleif-valkyrie]

More Wukong with baby monkeys!

The Monkey King by Chaiko Tsai

[reginleif-valkyrie]

Here we can see the three sleeping. Bajie over by himself and Wukong and Sanzang over together.

and here’s the close up. Just freaking cuddle damn it! I’d cuddle Wukong.

The Monkey King by Chaiko Tsai

[sketching-shark]

Who are your favorite jttw artists? I've been looking for more content lately and you seem to be dependable on these kinds of things >.>

Hi there @thebeastandthehedgegrowth! Many thanks for your vote of confidence :)

So I would say that my current definite favorite JTTW artist would be Dongzi Liu, who's created some phenomenal Xiyouji-based pieces. Here's a small sampling that I yoinked off of his twitter:

The Pilgrims:

A close-up of Sun Wukong:

And just check out these kings of Lion-Camel Ridge!

Another artist I very much like is Chen Huiguan, who's created some really endearing presentations of the pilgrimage. Irwen Wong has a really good collection of them as part of his extremely helpful summary of Journey to the West. Here's a small sampling of the work:

The stone monkey leaving Mt. Huaguoshan in the quest for immortality:

Sun Wukong feeling the full effects of the headache spell for the first time:

Zhu Bajie trying to convince the Monkey King to return after his first banishment:

Cartoonist Chaiko Tsai has also recently come out with a lovely graphic novel version of Journey to the West, and while other people have posted some really adorable images from it I'll give some samplings of the art that I found online:

Zhu Bajie, Tang Sanzang, Bai Longma, and Sun Wukong looking apprehensive near a body of water:

A student Sun Wukong learning how to fly:

Those are the professional artists that come to mind, but if you're interested in something a little "closer to home" as it were (i.e. hobby artists on tumblr), then I'd say that the best JTTW artists would be @antidotefortheawkward-art, @archrui, @lavaflowe, @sixteenthchapel, @kaijufluffs, and @sunny-days-and-warm-mournings

These are the artists that first come to mind, and as you can see there's some really amazing styles present! I hope you enjoy all this art as much as I do, and it goes without saying that everyone should feel free to reblog with their own favorite JTTW-inspired artists.

[reginleif-valkyrie]

Yes, Bajie, this conversation is definitely appropriate while you are all eating. Especially the man with the yummy smelling flesh.

The Monkey King by Chaiko Tsai