To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Saiyuuki manga series by Kazuya Minekura, an official website was launched along with a 20th Anniversary commemoration PV announcing various news including an anime adaptation of the manga Saiyuuki Reload Blast.

The PV also revealed that there will be a "Saiyuki Festa 2017" event on January 7-8, 2017 to be held at Makuhari Messe convention center event hall in Mihama-ku ward of Chiba, Japan. The event performers will include Toshihiko Seki, Soichiro Hoshi, Hiroaki Hirata, and Akira Ishida.

Saiyuuki Reload Blast is the fourth Saiyuuki manga series that has been serialized under Ichijinsha's Monthly Comic ZERO-SUM josei magazine since December 2009. It is the sequel of the manga, Saiyuuki Reload, which ran from March 2002 to June 2009 in the same magazine.

The original manga series, Saiyuuki was serialized under Square Enix' Monthly GFantasy shounen manga magazine from February 1997 to January 2002 with nine compiled volumes. The manga was followed by a second series, Saiyuuki Gaiden, which served as its prequel set 500 years before. The series was serialized in the same magazine from May 1999 to May 2009 with four volumes. The fifth and final series, Saiyuuki Ibun, was serialized under Ichijinsha's Monthly Zero-Sum WARD magazine since September 2009. However, the fifth series went on hiatus in 2013, and the magazine has ceased publication since 2015.

The series has previously received multiple anime adaptations. The first was a two-episode OVA by Tokyo Kids. The episodes were released on April 23, 1999 and August 27, 1999. The OVA was followed by a 50-episode TV anime adaptation of the original manga series, titled Gensoumaden Saiyuuki, by Studio Pierrot which aired from April 2000 to March 2001. An anime film was also released on August 18, 2001, then a 46-minute OVA. The Saiyuuki Reload manga has spawned three anime adaptations by the same studio. The first anime, titled the same as the manga, had 25 episodes and aired from October 2003 to March 2004. It was succeeded by a 26-episode anime, Saiyuuki Reload Gunlock, which aired from April to September 2004, and then a three-episode OVA, Saiyuuki Reload: Burial, which was shipped from April 2007 to March 2008. Saiyuuki Gaiden also received an OVA produced by Anpro, spanning three episodes from March to November 2011, followed by another OVA, Saiyuuki Gaiden: Tokubetsu-hen - Kouga no Shou, which was released in April 2013. The series also received live-action musicals and video game adaptations.

Announcement PV


Official site: http://www.ichijinsha.co.jp/special/saiyuki20th/

Source: Nijimen

Saiyuuki Reload Blast on MAL