Episode 11: Tragic Revenge/The Laughing Grim Reaper:
Sanzo is revisited by an enemy of his past. Although he had killed the bad guy long ago, he's been revived and we get a lot of background information as to the past of this lead character. It also helped flesh out the team and how they interact when under stress.

Episode 12: Wandering Destiny/Battle Against The Darkness:
In what amounted to the second half of the last episode, the bad guy continues to defeat the team and it all boils down to how much they want to win, and what they're willing to sacrifice. To date, the team has been as willing to fight each other and this opponent will kill them all if they can't band together for their mutual protection. In the end, the past proves once again to be a powerful reminder of cause and effect.

Episode 13: Crude Counterfeit/Fruit That Summons Death:
Goku the Monkey King, the strongest of the team when his limiter is removed, and a young female counterpart, are (as always) hungry and smell some food at a local temple. They find the fruit tree doesn't bear food worth eating and the two young monks guarding the temple appear too willing to assist the quest. Sanzo is suspicious but the two youngsters eat what is offered. This leads to all sorts of problems.

Episode 14: Sweet Client/Their Promise:
Gojyo the water sprite, after displaying his ability to beat up a bully, goes in search of women. Unfortunately, he ends up accompanying a little girl who hires him to find her mother. The group, heading ever closer to the powerful demons, find yet another obstacle and Gojyo is trapped in a soul sucking beast when he saves the girl. The team wonder where he is and hear about the increasing number of disappearances in the area. Will they save their cohort in time?

The more I watch of this one, the more I like it. I'm still missing some pieces of the puzzle but it was pretty good in most ways. I think this isn't the best stand alone series, but that makes it worth checking out in order even more. Yes, there are a number of clichés here but they are put together in such a way that you really don't mind. Some of the anime styles is a bit limited too but I thought it had great replay value as I watched it a few times. The cultural notes sure helped with the mythology aspects of this one-keep in mind that the old age myths are updated with modern day technology. I'm going to keep the rating here as Recommended but it's edging higher with every viewing so don't be surprised if this quirky little comedy/fantasy moves up with the next volume.

Picture: The picture was presented in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. For the most part, it was well done and I didn't see any compression artifacts or other problems with the picture.

Sound: The sound was presented in either a 5.1 English language Dolby Digital track or the original 2.0 Japanese track with English subtitles. During the dialogue, the separation wasn't all that great but during the fight scenes it was better. In all, I liked the Japanese track better but the English dub was also enjoyable for me.

Extras: The best extra was the background notes that filled in a lot of the cultural information for the series. Considering how limited my knowledge of Chinese mythology is, this made a number of aspects much clearer than they would've been. The other extras were trailers, sketches, a clean open and closing sequence, and a pretty color poster as an insert.

Final Thoughts: Overall, it has a lot to offer, especially as a change to some of the other series on the market these days. Do the good guys always win their battles? No, not really and their actions having consequences (both in the past and the future) added a new dimension to the replay value. The fact that they aren't really "good" in the classic sense will appeal to a lot of younger viewers although I felt some of the language on the English dub was gratuitous and not really important to the show. It's worth checking out, just try to do so in the order the dvds are released so it'll make more sense for you.