Humanity versus demons is not a new concept in the anime world. As there have been many successful animes in this genre including Maoyu, Berserk, and I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job. The newest demon based anime is Kazuya Minekura’s Saiyuki Reload Blast, which premiered on July 5th 2017. The story focuses on 4 men who are traveling west to address what has caused demons to begin to act violently.
The Summary:
Prior to the start of the anime humans and demons have coexisted with each other peacefully. This all changed due to an event called the Calamity, which omitted a wave that caused demons to become violent. These demons have attacked, killed, and forced humans to hide themselves for protection. As a result Genjo Sanzo and his 3 campaigns have been traveling west for 2 years heading towards India. Their mission is to find and stop the effect that the Calamity has on the behavior of demons. With their journey going west they come across a combination of people and battles that help them develop tactics, fighting, and magic skills. These skills are used to combat the increasing intensity of the demons as Sanzo’s team slowly comes closer and closer to where the Calamity started.
What to Expect:
Saiyuki Reload Blast makes several expectations clear. The first is that with each step taken towards the Calamity the battles with the demons will only get tougher. As a result it is expected that Sanzo and his campaigns will go through a massive character development. This character development will be divided into 2 categories; the first being in combat and magic skills, as each battle with the demons will help prepare them physically for the next battle. The second element to character development focuses on the mental components of combat and how Sanzo will prepare his team prior to go into battle. Each battle provides them with more information on what and how the demons attack. When both of these elements are combined we are going to see how each character uses their combat and magic skills properly against the right demon, which will capture how they have grown as a character. Another expectation that the anime sets forth is the concept of sacrifice. This is done in a few ways starting with several of the people that Sanzo meets, as they have all sacrificed something in order to stay alive. At the same time we also witness Sanzo and his teammate have made sacrifice by traveling and fighting. Thus it is made clear that in order to restore the world to what it once was many people have to sacrifice on many different levels. The expectation for this anime is that there will be a final battle between Sanzo and his team and several demons’ who control the Calamity. In this final battle it will require combat, magic, and tactical skills along with a huge amount of sacrifice to determine who controls the world.
