Japanese manga artist Kazuya Minekura's well-known manga series "The Most Traveled" will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series this year. At the end of June this year, the monthly Comic ZERO-SUM magazine of the Ichiseisha girls' manga magazine released a preview of the final chapter of the "Most Traveled" series, "Most Travelable RELOAD BLAST": the work is about to be announced. Now that the "big news" has been unveiled, Ichiseisha added a webpage for the 20th anniversary of the "Most Traveled" serial on its official website on July 25, announcing the news in the animation project of the manga "Most Traveled RELOAD BLAST". A video was posted on the website about other 20th anniversary commemorative projects. In addition, the author, Kazukazu Minekura, also painted a commemorative painting of the 20th anniversary of the "Most Traveling" series.
"The Most Traveled" (original title: "Fantasy Magic Tale Most Travelogue") is a manga work written by Japanese female manga artist Kazuya Minekura, which is a fantasy adventure story that is based on the character name of "Journey to the West", one of the four famous Chinese works, and the plot is slightly related to "Journey to the West". The manga began serialization in 1996 in the monthly gfantasy of the famous game industry ENIX, and from the 50th episode onwards (March 2002) it was serialized in the Ichishinsha "Monthly Comic ZERO-SUM", and the name became "Reload" and has been serialized ever since. At present, the comic has launched three main lines ("The Most Traveled", "The Most Travelable RELOAD", "The Most Travelable RELOAD BLAST (being serialized))") and two external chapters ("The Most Traveling Biography" and "The Most Traveling Anecdote"). "Most Traveled RELOAD BLAST" began to be serialized in December 2009, and the plot is a continuation of "Most Traveled RELOAD", which is also the final chapter of the "Most Traveled" series. Due to Kazuya Minekura's illness, it has been serialized irregularly since the May 2012 issue of the monthly magazine Comic ZERO-SUM, and has been serialized for almost 7 years, with only 2 volumes published and not yet officially completed.
"The Most Traveling" is a comic that tells a different story of "Journey to the West". The world of the work is a place called Taoyuan Township, where humans live in peace with youkai. However, one day, the Jade Princess caused the monster to suddenly riot because she wanted to resurrect the Bull Demon King, causing the monsters of Taoyuan Township to begin to run wild, causing the world to lose peace. In order to regain the self-consciousness of the yokai and restore Taoyuan Township to its original state, Guanyin Bodhisattva ordered Sanzang and his party to go to the Western Regions to find out the cause and stop the deterioration of the situation. Although the names and character relationships of the characters in "Journey to the West" are inherited, the specific character settings and appearance have undergone tremendous changes. In "The Most Traveled", the four Tang monks and apprentices are an adventure squad composed of four handsome men, who always spit on each other every day or even pretend to be stupid, but on the adventure journey, the four work together. The demons and ghosts in the original "Journey to the West" have also been reshaped in this comic to be more handsome than one, coupled with the beautiful drawing style of the comic, the far-reaching but laughable plot, "The Most Traveling" has attracted the pursuit of many female readers. Especially in the original work, the laziest pig eight precepts, in the protagonist foursome with the coolest literary and artistic handsome temperament, can be said to conquer the hearts of countless girls. The comic gives full play to the author's spirit of spoofing and rewriting the famous Chinese book "Journey to the West".
The Most Traveled manga has also been adapted into an animated version, produced by Studio Pierrot. There are four series of stories in the series: 50 episodes of "Fantasy Demon Legend", 25 episodes of "Most Traveling Reload", 26 episodes of "Most Traveling Reload Gunlock", 3 episodes of "Most Traveling Burial -" and 4 episodes of "Most Traveling Biography". In addition, the theatrical version of "Requiem for the Unsuccessful" has also been launched, and the musical stage play "The Most Traveling Opera Biography" adapted from the comic has also been repeatedly staged in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015, and has launched many works.
In addition to the animation plan announced by "Reload BLAST", there are also themed celebrations and related promotional activities. The official "Most Traveled Festival 2017" event will be held on January 7 and 8 next year in Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture. On January 7th, the exhibition of the most traveled manga original paintings will also be held, including "The Most Traveled", "The Most Travelable RELOAD", "The Most Travelable RELOAD BLAST", "The Most Traveling Biography", "The Most Traveling Tale of the Heavenly Ant", "The Most Traveling Tale", and stage activities will also be held. In the previous anime, Seki Shunhiko, who played Xuanzang Sanzo, Hoshi Soichiro who played Sun Wukong, Hirata Hirata Hirota, who played Sha Wujing, and Akira Ishida, who starred in the Eight Precepts of The Pig, will also attend, which is the reunion of the four voice actors who have played important roles in "The Most Traveled" after many years.
At present, the official has only announced the news of the animation of "The Most Traveling Reload BLAST", and it is unknown whether it will be made into a TV animation or an OVA animation. However, the animation of the "Most Traveled" series has slowed down due to the irregular serialization of the manga, and this animation has been more than three years since the last "Most Traveled" animation work "Most Traveling" has been a spin-off animation.