Thursday, April 29, 2004

MONKEY!

Monkey Heaven is a tribute to the cult classic live action Japanese TV series Monkey (sometimes known as Monkey Magic), made by NTV in the late 1970s, and starring Masaaki Sakai, Toshiyuki Nishida, Shiro Kishibe, Masako Natsume, Tonpei Hidari, Shunji Fujimura, Mieko Takamine.

It's based on one of the great quest stories, a 16th century Chinese epic called Hsi Yu Chi (= Journey to the West). The title Monkey is probably from Arthur Waley's English translation. The tales, set in 630 AD, describe the demons and monsters who try to stop the Tang Priest Hsüan Tsang (Tripitaka) from reaching a Buddhist monastery in India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures. The whole series recounts the exploits of the resourceful, brave, and humorous Monkey, the real hero of the fantasy, as he escorts Tripitaka, the pig monster Pigsy, and the water monster Sandy, on their perilous mission.

Hsüan Tsang (Tripitaka) actually lived and really did go to India in 629 A.D. to get Buddhist scriptures.

http://www.monkeyheaven.com/

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