Saiyuki questions

I just got Saiyuki dvd 7, beginning of the 2nd season. (I think I like the first season opening best, and the second season closing). Interesting plot complications.

I like the fact that Hakuryuu seems to have more personality in these eps than he usually had in season 1. Do we ever get an explanation of how he hooked up with Hakkai? (Come to think of it, do we ever see him eat?)

We saw Goku without his power limiter twice in the first season. Do we ever see Hakkai without his limiters other than the brief flash when he first became a demon? Do they ever explain where he acquired his power limiters between being gutted and turned into a demon by Chi Yisou and being found in the rain by Gojyo? (I suppose there were plenty of demon bodies to loot...)

Elyse Grasso

There are strong suspicions that Hakuryuu used to be the White Dragon Prince in the Saiyuki Gaiden. This also fits the original Journey to the West where the white horse Sanzo rides is the White Dragon Prince. How the White Dragon Prince became Hakuryuu is probably tied in with how the four guys originally died and how Nataku became cataconic.

They never explain how Hakkai gets his limiters. I guess it's just one of those plot loop holes. Later on in the 2nd season you get to see Hakkai (very very very briefly and only his back) without his limiters. In the beginning of the recent Reload manga you get to see a front shot.

I hope the Saiyuki dub got better in the recent volumes. At least I hope it actually remotely matches what they're actually saying in the Japanese versions now...

Even the subs are slightly skewed, but mostly just in ways that water down the cultural differences. I took two years of Japanese classes back around 1990 during my first anime addiction phase, so I mostly watch DVD subs... (they are SO much better than watching nth generation tapes of Saint Seiya with summarized transcripts in hand). I can't really follow the longer or more technical speeches without subs, but I know when the sub doesn't match what's being said.

The dub tracks of discs 2, 3, and 4 aren't skewed quite as raunchy as disc 1, but they definitely have a point of view that doesn't match the original. Haven't watched the dub of disc 7 yet, since I just bought it two days ago. Can't remember at the moment whether I've watched the dubbed 5 and 6 or not, so if I watched them, they probably aren't too horrible.

Rurouni Kenshin is probably the show that most needs to be watched raw or subbed if you know the language at all: so much of the characterization is done with speech levels. I'm impressed by how well the dub manages to handle things there.

I watched the dubs of dvds 5, 6 and 7 last night (I was doing the homework for a needlework class I'm taking, and it's easier to not make mistakes if I am not trying to read subtitles at the same time.)

The dubs for the later discs are way closer to the subs than on the earlier discs. The 2nd season sequence around the argument over the bed was played about the way it was in the original language, though Sanzo's line about Hakkai winning at cards was dropped and I think the line about the relative rank of the 2 Jokers was botched in the sub.

Elyse Grasso