[Review] Journey to the West (Hoshin Engi)

A masterpiece and Fujisaki Ryu's representative work. This work reinterprets the classic Chinese novel, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of China, for modern times. The protagonists are all charming, and especially Fujisaki-sensei, who is serious about costumes, makes the female characters' outfits incredibly gorgeous and not at all dated even by today's standards. Yuanshi Tianzun informs the protagonist Tai Gongwang about the Investiture of the Gods plan and orders him to carry it out. The Investiture of the Gods plan means creating a celestial realm between the immortal and human realms and imprisoning evil immortals there, a so-called culling operation. Tai Gongwang, having lost his entire clan to Daji in his childhood, accepts this plan. To confront Daji, he obtains the magical artifact Taishinpen and the divine beast Sibuxiang, and then embarks on a journey for the Investiture of the Gods plan. The side story, Celestial Book, deals with the story of Xi Mi's younger brother, Gong Xian, and also includes character settings. The Celestial Book is essentially a promotional tool for the remake anime, but I recommend not watching the remake. The pacing is too fast, and the final scene where Daji becomes a goddess is omitted.