Saiyuki Reload Blast Anime Adds 2 More Returning Cast Members

The April issue of Ichijinsha's Monthly Comic Zero-Sum magazine revealed two new cast members for the television anime adaptation of Kazuya Minekura's Saiyuki Reload Blast manga on Tuesday. Rei Igarashi will voice Kanzeon Bosatsu, and Takeshi Kusao will voice Kougaiji. Both are reprising their roles from earlier installments in the franchise.

The anime's official website previously streamed a promotional video for the anime last month.

The anime will premiere in July.

The returning cast includes:
Toshihiko Seki as Genjo Sanzo
Souichiro Hoshi as Son Goku
Hiroaki Hirata as Sha Gojyo
Akira Ishida as Cho Hakkai

The anime will be the first Saiyuki anime that Pierrot will not be animating. Platinum Vision (Servamp) is animating the project. Hideaki Nakano is directing the anime, with Kenji Konuta (Library War, Ace of Diamond, Blood Lad) supervising the scripts. Both have worked together in the same positions on the Aoharu x Machinegun and Servamp anime. Youko Satou (Dog & Scissors) is handling the character designs.


Minekura serializes the manga irregularly in Ichijinsha's Monthly Comic Zero-Sum magazine. She slowed down her publication of the series and the Wild Adapter manga in 2013 due to her health.

Saiyuki Reload Blast is the sequel to Minekura's Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload manga series. She launched the series in Comic Zero Sum in 2009. Ichijinsha published the manga's second compiled book volume in 2014. The manga series has also spawned the Saiyuki Gaiden and Saiyuki Ibun manga spinoffs.

The original Saiyuki manga inspired a 1999 OVA and a 2000 television anime adaptation, as well as a sequel film and OVA. Saiyuki Reload inspired two anime adaptations and a prequel OVA. Most recently, the Saiyuki Gaiden prequel manga inspired an OVA adaptation in 2011. A stage musical adaptation of the manga ran in Tokyo in September 2015.

Tokyopop released the Saiyuki manga and most of Saiyuki Reload in English. ADV Films released the first television anime series and film in North America, and AEsir Holdings rereleased the series in 2015. Geneon Entertainment Inc. released the Saiyuki Reload television anime adaptations. Sentai Filmworks released the Saiyuki Gaiden OVA.​