Journey to the West ~ Lost in Adaptation

Nice mug 👀 -R

I read a translated collection of Journey to the West (which was actually from China) and the translation included a very clever way of keeping it true to the origin. You see, when Monkey starts his quest to learn magic and become immortal, his master asks what his surname is and Monkey (who doesn't have one) thinks he's being insulted - the joke is that the Chinese words for 'surname' and 'temper' are almost identical and he thinks the master is suggesting he lost his temper. But this translation did it like this: "What's your surname?" "I'm not surly!" Very clever translating there!

I mean, in all seriousness, the original Dragonball made a lot of references to Journey to the West. The first season's plot even lined up with the book, with Bulma (Tripitaka) searching for the Dragon Balls (Buddhist scriptures), and meeting Son Goku (Sun Wukong), Oolong (Pigsy), and Yamcha (Sandy) on the way. Sure, things got out of hand real fast after that, but it did begin as a fanciful adaptation.

Imagine if Lord of the Rings were written by Shakespeare, stared superheroes as the supporting cast, and included within their adventures nearly ever fairytale. Honestly such a great analogy tbh

My favourite adaptation is OverlySarcasticProductions version, mostly because of the illustrations and jokes, and being told by someone who knows their mythology.

Dom: “If I don’t reference it, some of you will go Super Saiyan on me. I am of course referring to Dragonball Evolution.” Me: “...you monster!”

Hear me out: Lego Monkie Kid. I know it's made by Lego and "for kids", but it actually stays quite faithful to the source material. It takes place after the journey and focuses on a new generation of the original cast, while referencing things that have happened in the book (Bull Demon King, the White Bone Spirit, the Gold and Silver Horned Demons,etc). The animation is also amazing 🤩 There's even an episode in the third season that follows the book's formula (Tripitaka gets kidnapped and has to be saved by Monkey king and others). Istg this show is so good-

Actually Sun Wukong is quintuply immortal: once though his Taoist training, twice by his name been crossed out of the ledgers of the underworld, thrice by eating a garden's worth of heavenly peaches, four times by eating all those immortality pills and a fifth due to being essentially smoked in an alchemical concoction that made him invulnerable and also turned his eyes red by Heaven's apothecary in that brazier you mentioned.

Seeing a bishonen with a gun then saying it's the pacifist character of the story was the funniest thing I've seen and heard all day

Wow, reading Journey to the West, even in mildly abridged form, is a project - once I tried and gave up partway through. Congrats on achieving it!

The people behind Gorillaz made a Chinese opera called, "Monkey: Journey to the West". All of the set and costume design were created by the same minds as all of the artwork for the band, and I was always so sad that the opera's tour ended so quickly. I really wanted to see it. The music is phenomenal, too.

I think a common trend is in how Sun Wukong's characterization has changed. Originally he's supposed to be like the douchier Deadpool of that story. He's prideful, arrogant, formerly human-eating, but also fun-loving, protective, and badass. He's a hero but he's also an undeniable asshole. That's what made him a compelling character and so awesome to a young me reading the books. More recent adaptations have really leaned into either making him a violent edgelord, or making him a noble paragon hero who's only slightly mischievous. Giving him a love interest is also very common nowadays and very weird imo, especially if we're loyal enough to the source material that he's still a freaking monkey.

I can’t believe The Dom, actually included Saiyuki, even for a few seconds. The only thing I think it has common with the original is how much they are derailed by those dang side quests so much that we forget the original goal. Though there was a funny episode where the protagonists ran into some identity thieves pretending to be them that actually matched the book description better than they did. 😆

When you're going on about how hard it is to express how difficult it is to equate the importance of Journey to the West to anything in English/American culture reminds me of something a Lithuanian friend told me once "American is too young to have culture" which was a joke ofc but ever since then it's made me appreciate how small the scope of time that composes the history of the country I live in is compared to like literally everywhere else. Idk it's something Americans have a hard time appreciating: that our country is a tiny baby and so are we

Here in Vietnam, the 1986 adaptation is very famous and it's regarded as the best version, .It's so well-known it has reached leagendary status and is still broascasted every summer, even to this day. In fact, I remember catching it on television three or four times. Also fun fact: Stephen Chow played Sun Wukong in a 1995 version called A Chinese Odyssey.

It's not out yet, but the game "Black Myth: Wukong" looks fascinating. It seems like it's going to be a sequel set after the book, a Wicked-style alternate take, or some combination.

As a huge Overly Saracstic Productions fan I must say it is amazing to see you reference them! I knew you had good taste! Watching this I was just thinking about them then immediately say that so well done!

Tripitaka being a woman is actually REALLY popular to do. Several games, stories, shows, etc, make them a woman. Very few even just have them played by a woman, like is normally done with, say, Peter Pan, and instead just straight say they're a chick now. Always worked for me. Story's a bit of a sausage fest, anyway..... That was NOT a joke about Pigsy, but fuck it, it works there, too.

As weird as it is to say, Lego Monkie Kid seems to have taken the most from the original while also creating a story that is its own. It takes place in a modern society but technically seems to exist in the same universe as the original JTTW, as many of the charecters, items, and events still exist or are referenced on a fairly regular basis.

I'm currently really enjoying the lego monkie kid series. It's more of a so-called "fan-continuation" than an adaption, but it's a fun take on the story and it's characters - not to mention it has some fantastic animation! I also like the 1996 chinese tv-series, it's very fun and simillar to the 86 version stays very loyal to the original story