The Adventures of Super Monkey (2007)
Director: Kensaku Sawada
Writer: Yuji Sakamoto
Cast: Shingo Katori, Teruyoshi Uchimura, Atsushi Ito, Eri Fukatsu
Journey to the West comes to the big screen like never before in the 2007 film Saiyuuki! Also known as Monkey Magic and
Adventures of the Super Monkey, this is the latest in a long line of adaptations of the Wu Cheng en tome. One of the four great Chinese classics, Journey to the West, or Saiyuuki in Japanese, is about the
adventures of Tang Dynasty monk Tripitaka and his mischievous magical disciples as they journey to India to retrieve the Buddhist sutras. This fantastical allegorical tale has been adapted countless times for the big and small screen, notably in classic Chinese films like Ho Meng Hua s The Monkey Goes West series and Stephen Chow s The Chinese Odyssey series. In Japan, Saiyuuki also inspired many adaptations including the anime series Dragonball and an immensely popular TV series in 1978.