Monkey (TV show)

Monkey (Saiyûki) is a live-action television show that tells the story of Tripitaka (Xuanzang Sanzang in Chinese) and his followers, including Monkey (Sun Wu-Kong), Pig (Zhu Ba-Jie), and (Friar) Sand (Sha Wu-Jing), as they travel from China to India to obtain holy scriptures to save the world. Saiyûki is based on the novel Journey to the West (or Monkey King) by Wu Ch'êng-ên, which is in turn based on Chinese legends about the origin of Buddhism.

Introduction

 * In the worlds before Monkey, primal chaos reigned. Heaven sought order, but the phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown. The four worlds formed again and yet again, as endless eons wheeled and passed. Time and the pure essences of Heaven, the moisture of the Earth, the powers of the sun and the moon all worked upon a certain rock, old as creation. And it became magically fertile. That first egg was named "Thought". Tathagata Buddha, the Father Buddha, said, "With our thoughts, we make the world." Elemental forces caused the egg to hatch. From it then came a stone monkey. The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!

[opening theme song]
Chorus: Born from an egg on a mountaintop / The funkiest monkey that ever rocked / He knew every magic trick under the sun / To tease the gods and everyone, and have some fun / Monkey magic, Monkey magic! Monkey magic, Monkey magic! Monkey magic, Monkey magic! Monkey magic, Monkey magic!

Narrator

 * The wicked go to hells, the good go to heavens and the pure neither live nor even die... but those hit on the head tend to fall unconscious.
 * When what is indestructible meets what is irresistible, the female all too often wins.

Monkey

 * Even a starving camel is still bigger than a horse.
 * It's better to travel alone than with a fool. But what may two fools do?
 * The monstrous is only a question of opinion. To some of us, opinions are so precious that we will die for them, again and again.
 * [after finding out that Buddha was female] I always thought Buddha was a fella!
 * What's it all for? What's the point of it all? And if it hasn't got a point, what's the point of that?