Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

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nickzambuto
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Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by nickzambuto » Sat Jan 16, 2016 4:37 pm

By now it's pretty common knowledge that Dragon Ball was originally a loose parody of Journey to The West. I'm very interested in reading the story, but it seems there are so many different English language translations, some abridged, some revised, etc that I don't really know where to look.

Topics of discussion-


1) What would be the best way to read Journey to The West?
2) (To keep things Dragon Ball related) If you've read Journey to The West, how much influence do you think it actually had on Dragon Ball? I hear some people saying the rumor that Dragon Ball was a parody of it gets overblown, and in reality it was extremely loose.

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Kamiccolo9
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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by Kamiccolo9 » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:03 pm

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtop ... =7&t=31295

Mike and I discussed the best versions to check out here. Maybe this will help?
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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by Vijay » Sat Jan 16, 2016 6:48 pm

Not read, but watched many versions of it

I'm offended by the "parody" word. Toriyama may have used comedic approach. But his source of inspiration, Journey to West itself was a funny tale. At least for a good 30-40% chunk early parts of the show. In no way it waz a parody

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nickzambuto
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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by nickzambuto » Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:43 pm

Kamiccolo9 wrote:http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtop ... =7&t=31295

Mike and I discussed the best versions to check out here. Maybe this will help?
Wow, thanks a lot!

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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by RedRibbonSoldier#42 » Sun Jan 17, 2016 12:00 am

nickzambuto wrote: I hear some people saying the rumor that Dragon Ball was a parody of it gets overblown, and in reality it was extremely loose.
Wait, you mean to tell me Golden Freeza isn't in Journey to the West?!


In seriousness, I know the basic plot but haven't actually read it.

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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by ShaneisMC » Sun Jan 17, 2016 2:41 am

I haven't read Journey to the West, but I have been reading Derek Padula's Dragon Ball Culture books and they are certainly very insightful to say the least.

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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by DoomieDoomie911 » Sun Jan 17, 2016 12:26 pm

I've always wanted to, but I've never gotten around to it.
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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun Jan 17, 2016 1:28 pm

Not yet, but I plan to read it eventually.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by Deathbringer » Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:34 pm

Might be a bit off topic but has Toriyama ever read Journey to the West, or is the story just well known in Japan like how we have our own myths/legends/fairytales that we know the plot of without having read the original versions?

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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by MCDaveG » Sun Jan 17, 2016 5:37 pm

Well, not really. I did, but it was short edition in one book.
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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by Cipher » Sun Jan 17, 2016 7:24 pm

I haven't read a full translation, but:
nickzambuto wrote:I hear some people saying the rumor that Dragon Ball was a parody of it gets overblown, and in reality it was extremely loose.
It's definitely responsible for elements like Goku's monkey connection receiving less attention than they otherwise would. Also, the plot structure actually plays pretty close, and introduces all the Son Goku trappings the Journey to the West character has, though with obvious twists.

If you grew up in Japan and had enough pop culture knowledge to identify the story just based on all the times it's been adapted in media there, yeah; I have to imagine it'd be pretty obvious that it's Journey to the West through a Dr. Slump lens. It's "loose," I guess, but identifiable.
Deathbringer wrote:Might be a bit off topic but has Toriyama ever read Journey to the West, or is the story just well known in Japan like how we have our own myths/legends/fairytales that we know the plot of without having read the original versions?
I can't say for sure, but I'd bet on the latter, in the same way that you've probably never read a lot of Grimms' fairy tales but have likely seen adaptations and could easily play with their story elements on your own.

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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by eledoremassis02 » Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:00 pm

I could be wrong but I feel the first 13 episodes have more of a Journey to the west feel then the rest of Dragon Ball as once you hit Roshi it rolls more into Toriyamas groove

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Re: Has anyone here actually read Journey to The West?

Post by mecha3000 » Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:22 am

eledoremassis02 wrote:I could be wrong but I feel the first 13 episodes have more of a Journey to the west feel then the rest of Dragon Ball as once you hit Roshi it rolls more into Toriyamas groove
Nah, I don't think you're wrong. The first 13 episodes is almost like a straight up adaptation of Journey to the West, but after, Toriyama evolves the story to become its own thing essentially. Sure, there are still probably ties and nods to Wukong throughout (Derek Padula's Dragon Ball Culture series probably points them out), but I think the story is mostly an adaptation of JTTW at the very beginning, but in Toriyama's style. I posted a discussion (http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtop ... =7&t=33025) about how I believe you can equate this to how Disney adapts their stories (Aladdin for example) and they end up becoming the definitive (or at least most recognized version) of a tale. However, Dragon Ball is not a straight up adaptation of JTTW, but in my opinion, it's more of a spiritual adaptation and Son Goku is a spiritual Sun Wukong.

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