Okay, so the Sanzo Party is traveling west towards India in order to stop the resurrection of the evil god, encountering numerous challenges along the way. As the proximity to the location increases, so does the strength of the various enemies they have to fight, making it clear that the trip is almost an exercise for them to learn to work as a team (which will be needed to give them any hope of fighting the ultimate goal of their journey). This is alluded to in small clips of the gods playing chess (a metaphor for the fate of the team) at times in the past, even stated as such openly in the dub, but at times wears thin since it comes off like the producers are simply milking the material pretty heavily to keep the money rolling in. Going strictly from the spotty number of volumes I've picked up to review in the past, I'd have to say that about 40% of them were in need of some serious work, even episodes I enjoyed, with the story taking a back seat to the diversions of the moment. It doesn't take long to figure out the dynamic of the team and where their heads are at, so unless there is something of particular interest in an episode that reveals new information (like the numerous flashbacks employed), I'd rather they start cutting to the chase (which was one of the reasons why I skipped the Reload series in the first place).

This volume had four episodes to kick off the fourth season, including 1) Temple of Demons/Nest, 2) Nightmare Unleashed/Rabbits, 3) Raging Torrent/Against the Stream, and 4) Encounter/Fake. The opener is the one needing to hook the audience in and give the show the appeal to keep you coming back. This time, it was a stand alone episode where the crew come across a popular temple that seems full of monks more interested in tribute than spiritual enlightenment. While our jaded cast knows something is wrong, they aren't exactly bent on a mission to save the world so they take the rest stop as a means to an end, until they get sucked in and attacked by the scheming leaders of the temple. It was clearly ill conceived and might've worked better as a mid-season filler episode but this is a running problem with the shows pacing. The following episode had a lot of laughs as the team hoofs it on foot through a dense forest. I didn't exactly understand the reasoning for it but they ended up the targets of a group of bears (as in grizzly bear types at that), which initially provided comic relief but soon got old. After all, they have incredibly powerful spells, guns, and abilities enough to smoke demons and gods yet a few bears stop them dead in their tracks?!? Okay, it sounded lame to me too but the real reason for the episode was to further the back plot of Kougaiji, an acquaintance of theirs that is sent on a mission to destroy them and take Sanzo's scripture. He's remade into a zombie style killing machine that can't be stopped and wrecks havoc on all he encounters. He continues into the following two episodes before encountering the members of the team but it could've been handled better. The third and fourth episodes have the group trying to find a way across a huge body of water (saving the months of hardcore trekking across mountains as the alternative). It's full of demons and they take a local boy with them (yeah, that makes sense), only to fight in the water and get split up. If you've watched the show up until now, you'll understand that whenever the team gets split up, each group ends up fighting some bad guys that puts each faction at their worst disadvantage. Well, the highlight of the arc was where a demon named Kakuru uses his mind altering hypnosis power to nearly kill the team, concentrating on their spiritual weaknesses. While this might've made a good opener, particularly since by now the team should have been on a higher plane in order to prepare for their upcoming battle, it was weakened by the exposition needed to further side plots (including the aforementioned Kougaiji). Still, I like the way that the pieces all combined on some level to show some character growth missing in earlier episodes from the previous series.

So, with four episodes and virtually no extras worth mentioning, what did I rate the volume? This is one of those times when as a fan I wanted to do better out of loyalty but the brutish way the characters and story were handled invoked less sympathy from me. I gave it a Rent It though fans will definitely want to check it out, and hope that the Japanese creative team led by director Tetsuya Endo are just trying to establish a pace that improves with time. I almost wish I had some volumes of the manga (or original comic strip from Zero Sum in which to compare to see if the limitations weren't built in by the story or just the result of the anime process used to bring the material to the small screen. Still, I hope to report some progress in the future given the past highlights.

Picture: Saiyuki Reload Gunlock V1 was presented in the original 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was produced in by director Tetsuya Endo. This being a fourth season, and also released by Geneon instead of ADV Films, I wanted to scrutinize it more thoroughly than previous volumes but it looked similar to the original run of the show. The colors looked identical and the animation style seemed just slightly different (I had to dig up one of my old copies to see if I could figure it out; the best I could come up with is there was less frames used and more of the "moving the anime cel" style than was used in the past). On the other hand, there was less of the video noise employed in these four episodes than before so that helped balance out any noticeable deficiencies. As I watched the show, it seemed like a lower budget version of the first couple of seasons, neither of which were all that advanced looking themselves.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice between a 2.0 Dolby Digital original Japanese track or an English dub. The voice actors on the dub sounded weird to me since I had grown accustomed to the ADV Films crew over the span of a number of reviews in Season One & Two, though they were not bad (and may also grow on me if given the chance). The audio effects on the dub were not as rich or spread out as the previous season but they fit the subject matter well enough and seemed to be a director port from the Japanese track with regard to the music and special effects. The Japanese track was, on the other hand, very similar to what took place before; from the voice actors to the audio mix. Both tracks had some measure of worth to them, so feel free to disregard the lame arguments found on web forums how terrible the dub was (or how mechanical the original track came across as being).

Extras: The only extras this time were a clean opening, the original Japanese version of the front credits, and some trailers for other shows by Geneon.

Final Thoughts: Saiyuki Reload Gunlock V1 was certainly not the strongest season opener of an anime series I've watched this year but it did lay the groundwork for some potentially solid action. This is definitely a series where you'll either love, or hate, the proceedings as the Sanzo Party continues to trek towards India to fight the evil god intent on turning the world into a living hell. Creatively, I wish the chess metaphor were used more accurately and the behind the scenes parties be thrust into the limelight more often but I understand that this is a story telling technique used in Japan in order to keep interest up. The show itself would've benefited by me seeing the entire third season but that didn't happen and to be frank about it, the way this series (in all of it's incarnations) meanders around, the premise I stated earlier is more than enough to keep you on track, even if the nuances would be better spelled out for those of you loyalists that saw it all.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Best of Anime 2005 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.