This isn't quite how I remembered 西游记...

... or Journey to the West, for all you non-Chinese-reading foreign devils* out there. Anyhoo, this clip just came to my attention:



Fan Girl's kinda hawt, I think. But then again, I'm one of those shallow bastards who think Zhang Ziyi's irresistibly hawt when she's angry. Check out the Youtube channel for monkey fun. For the benefit of those who don't get what's going on, here's the short version of the lyrics, translated by yours truly:

Fan Girl: I have a big fan. You can't have it. Stupid monkey.

Monkey: I'm off to help the monk get scriptures! Can I borrow your fan?

Ghost Girl: Well done, monkey! Here's a pill that'll keep Fan Girl from blowing you away.

I know I'm really curious how they've managed to breathe some fresh air into 西游记. As I recall, it mostly consisted of that damn monk getting kidnapped by demons, after which he'd get rescued by the monkey and his buddies, again and again and again - a feature that lends itself very well indeed to the production of the more shallow breed of anime:



Any decent anime connoisseur would know the type - on and on for 26 episodes without actually seeming to go anywhere, heralding just another 20-something episodes of the same damn thing, eventually resulting in such aimless monstrousities as Naruto (>200 episodes, ongoing), Bleach (~200 episodes, ongoing), One Piece (375 episodes, ongoing!!!) or Slam Dunk (>100 episodes). *yawnz* Btw, Gensoumaden Saiyuki up there runs for a merciful 50 episodes. Doesn't mean I could be bothered to watch it, though.

But an opera? 西游记, MINUS the repetitive** crap? Gotta get me some of that...

* Fear not, it's nice being a foreign devil. I'd know, I'm a foreign devil wherever I am on this Earth.

**Story-wise, STORY-WISE...