Genjo Sanzo

Genjo Sanzo, the 31st of China (玄奘三蔵, Genjō Sanzō) is one of the main characters of Saiyuki. A Buddhist priest/monk, he is the one who brought the four together to travel to the west under command of the Three Aspects and the Goddess of Mercy. From his leadership derives the group's common nickname of Sanzo-ikkou ("Sanzo's group").

Appearance
Genjo Sanzo is of relatively average height and athletically wiry, although he's usually enveloped in his very loose beige robe. He has bright golden blond hair kept vaguely short and violet eyes, and is considered to be strikingly attractive. Draped over the shoulders of the robe is a green-bordered scroll covered in Tibetan calligraphy, the Maten Sutra, one of the five Tenshi Kaigen or "Sutras of Heaven and Earth". The sacred sutra's powers protect it from accumulating any signs of damage or wear, despite its being worn in all sorts of weather every day for years. . It is has been mentioned more than once that he is fair looking, once a villager even tried to make a move on him, but was immediately greeted with a gun to his forehead before he could touch him.

Underneath the robes, he's usually wearing simple blue-jeans and a thin, tight-fitting sleeveless mock-turtleneck, with black fingerless gloves connecting to slave-rings on each hand. He's got a decent handful of scars, mostly not visible in his normal dress, all of which are fairly old. He originally (in the first manga and anime series) wore black tabi socks and straw sandals on his feet, but later switched to black boots. It was also hinted that Sanzo may be farsighted as he's always seen wearing reading glasses when he reads the newspaper or scriptures.

In both Saiyuki Reload and Saiyuki Reload Gunlock, Sanzo's primary attire has minor changes. His robes became white instead of beige and his jeans appears hipster and the color of his jeans was gray. In one occasion he shows his sleeveless turtleneck shirt beneath his white robe while the sleeves from his robe are hanging loose in each sides.

In some occasions throughout the anime series' run when both Sha Gojyo and Son Goku are always bickering and makes Sanzo became angrily annoyed from their constant bickering. He wields his infamous large harisen to slap both of their heads while he threatens them to get punished. It was unknown how he keeps both his paper fan along with his gun.

Personality
Sanzo is not very open to anyone, and sees even the most trifling thing as something annoying. He takes the guardian role after releasing Goku and has been responsible for his upbringing. He is not overly fond of children or animals, but seems to be fine around Goku and Hakuryuu. He even indulges Lirin either by giving her a treat or letting her hang on his shoulders without much complaint.

He is indifferent, short-tempered, and a rational thinker; most of the time he won't fight unless absolutely necessary, even if the others are. He is most easily annoyed by Gojyo and Goku's constant bickering. Most of the time, he solves this problem by threatening to punish them by hitting their heads with his paper fan or firing his gun at them to get them to shut up. When they're resting, he usually smokes, reads the newspaper and drinks a beer or tea. He refuses to admit that his companions are his friends, but he implicitly says that they are a place he can come back to. He typically announces his companions as his servants, and is never grateful no matter how many times they rescue him from death. In particular, he hates being pressed to defend his unusual position as a human traveling with youkai companions. Despite his gruff and impersonal attitude, he cares deeply for his companions - though he'd loath to acknowledge it - and is quick to defend others in need. He and Goku spend the most time together, owing to the fact that they've known each other for so long.

Though he never actually took Buddhist vows and seems to hold all divinities in contempt, he maintains a few monastic habits. He eats very sparingly and his favorite dish continues to be chazuke (茶漬け) which is basically rice steeped in green tea - a typical monk's meal. He refuses to lecture on religious teachings when asked, but often delivers philosophical points with blunt and direct insight when people need advice. The one teaching of his master's that he continues to hold in high regard is muichimotsu, [Mu (none, nothing), Ichi (one) Motsu (to hold); so "hold not one (thing)", "hold nothing"], a precept that forbids forming any attachments in the material world. He does become aware that he has used muichimotsu as a defense against forming friendships or emotional attachments, for fear of losing them as he did his master, but it is uncertain whether or not this awareness changes his opinion of the teaching.

Weapons/Abilities
Sanzo has two main weapons that he uses periodically; those being his Maten Sutra and the gun he's carried with him since he first became a Sanzo priest. He hardly ever fights without his gun and the Sutra on his shoulders, and is seen as a very formidable foe when forced to fight. In the manga, Sanzo seems to have an idea how to use a katana.

Banishing Gun

 *  Main article: S&W-M10

Maten Sutra
Translated as the 'scripture of darkness', it is the Sutra that Genjyo Sanzo carries. All Sanzo are required to protect one of the five Sutras. Most of the time, it sits on Sanzo's shoulders, and it is mentioned in passing. Kougaiji has tried many times to take the Sutra but has failed. It has been said that with the five Sutras collected, Gyumaoh can be resurrected.

In order to use the scripture he must recite a mantra, ending in the command Makai Tenjo, at which point, the scripture is activated. The only time Sanzo really uses the Sutra is when he can't use his gun or Goku's diadem has been broken/removed. He has also used this during an attack in one the villages that Sharak Sanzo has been protecting. They both realized that using two sutras at the same time causes it to resonate, creating incredible power.

He is the only non-divine character so far to be able to reconstruct Goku's diadem. He is also somewhat of a match to the Sage, as seen when he fights him in the anime. It is speculated this is due to him retaining some of his godlike power from his previous incarnation as Konzen Douji.

Though Sanzo prefers to use his guns, he is also good in hand-to-hand combats. It is both shown in the manga and novel that Sanzo is able to beat a bunch of people who look much taller and stronger into pulps.

Saiyuki Gaiden

 *  Main article: Konzen Douji

Background
According to Ukoku Sanzo his father was a government official named Rin Tokou. He was a political activist who was exiled to Oujyouin in Rishyu, the northern-most town of Togenkyo. He was 51 years old when he met Sanzo's mother, a woman named Kouran. She was 17 years of age and the daughter of a shop peddlar. After he was conceived, his father went missing and his mother went off into the wilderness to bear this child alone. She died shortly after.

Kouryu, the River Orphan
The infant was placed in a basket left floating in a river. Before he could drown he was saved by Koumyou Sanzo. Koumyou named the boy Kouryuu (江流 lit. Creek Flow), which means flow of the river, and took him to the Kinzan temple. From that time on he raised the boy like his own son and Kouryuu came to love and respect Koumyou. When Ukoku Sanzo (the second youngest Sanzo to ever achieve the rank of High Priest) visited, Koumyou remarked that Ukoku and Kouryuu "look the same".

For reasons still unknown at this point, Koumyou and Kouryuu's lives were put into danger. One night, around the time that Kouryuu was 13 years old, Koumyou called him in to speak with him. He ordained the boy as his successor and gave him a formal Buddhist name. His final words were "Be strong now, Genjo Sanzo." At that moment, a gang of youkai broke into the room demanding Koumyou's two sutras. In an effort to save the boy, Koumyou protected Kouryuu and gave his life. The Seiten Sutra, which he was wearing, was stolen by the killers. (In the present, Sanzo wonders if maybe Ukoku had something to do with Koumyou's death, but nothing so far has been uncovered and Koumyou's death has never been fully explained.) Kouryuu told the temple what he had witnessed and was unjustly accused of killing Koumyou himself, but the truth was proven when he showed the red shakra, a mark of divine approval, that had appeared on his brow. He announced his intention to leave the temple at once, find the murderers and retrieve the Seiten Sutra. He was formally appointed the newest Sanzo Priest - the "31st of China" - and given his priestly regalia; charge of the Maten Sutra, his master's second sacred scripture; and a weapon from the temple's armory, the demon-killing shoreijuu or "banishing gun".

Burial Arc
Little is known of his wanderings for approximately the next four years, except that he was forced to kill many times. Sanzo eventually came to Chang'an and visited The Temple of the Setting Sun, to ask the The Three Aspects for information on the whereabouts of the Seiten Sutra. He received orders to stay in Chang'an, despite wanting to look for the sutra, because his current eyes were "dead", and he was told that "If he saw the sutra with those eyes, he wouldn't even recognize". While in Chang'an, Sanzo, beset by horrible nightmares from his past, shut himself away in the temple and prayed. The other monks commented that he did not recite any sutras during this time. One night, restlessly prowling the halls, he met the head priest, Archbishop Jikaku, smoking. Sanzo—who did not approve of smoking at this time—talked with the older man, who jokingly referred to him as a 'demon', because of his golden hair and his habit of appearing only by moonlight. On their second meeting, Jikaku offered his box of cigarettes to the young Sanzo; they were grudgingly accepted.

A few nights after that, the temple was attacked by men intending to take Sanzo's life. In order to protect him, Jikaku claimed that he himself was Genjyo Sanzo. Needless to say, the priest died, smoking one of his cigarettes. His final words, almost an exact mirror of what Koumyo told him, enraged Sanzo, who attacked the men and spotted a youkai among them. With his gun in the demon's mouth, he asked whether or not he knew where the missing sutra was. He killed the youkai when he couldn't answer, saying "I'll live enough...for ALL you bastards." After that night, he assumes the position of head of the Keiun temple. His past nightmares disappear and in their place, he began to hear a strange 'voice' calling for him. He is seen smoking a cigarette and staring out at the moon, complaining that the 'old fart' Jikaku didn't leave him a lighter.

Some time after this, Sanzo sets out to find the mysterious voice that haunts him. He states that he wants to find the person responsible and silence them. He travels to Mount Gogyou, and learns from the villagers of a legend pertaining to the mountain, which says it's the abode of a dangerous monster. Pushing away their advice, he climbs the mountain anyway and finds a sort of prison formed out of the rocks. He sees Goku for the first time, and lets him out of the prison. Although he had no intention of looking after him, Sanzo takes the child back to the temple and becomes his caretaker.

A year later Sanzo receives the mission to "apprehend this felon... Cho Gonou... a young man who was once human." Goku tags along. Sanzo and Goku find Cho Gonou living with Sha Gojyo. When Gojyo resists handing over the fugitive, Cho Gonou makes himself known and tries to make a run for it so that Gojyo doesn't get dragged into it any more then he already has. Sanzo and Gojyo struggle and Sanzo loses hold of his banishing gun. Goku confronts Gonou and Gonou picks up Sanzo's gun, claims that he has one last thing to do and runs off taking the gun with him. Sanzo and Goku continues to track him down followed by Gojyo who isn't willing to let Gonou die so easily. After finding Gonou they make a side trip to the site of the remains of the demon lord Hyakugan Maoh's castle. Sanzo takes Cho Gonou back with him to Chang'an. Cho Gonou is assigned a penance for his crimes and takes up the new name Cho Hakkai. Cho Hakkai is evenutally hired as Goku's tutor.

Three years later Sanzo is sent on another mission to journey west and stop the Minus Wave—a mysterious signal that makes youkai lose their sanity—and to stop the experiments to revive the Demon Ox King Gyumaoh. He is ordered to take Son Goku, Sha Gojyo, and Cho Hakkai with him by the Merciful Goddess.

Go to the West
Priest Genjo Sanzo is given the mission to travel west and take with him the three demons that he has come to know over the past three years: Son Goku, Sha Gojyo and Cho Hakkai to discover what made the demons of Shangri La go berserk. The mission is given by The Three Aspects under the order of the Merciful Goddess. Sanzo questioned why he will be sent on a quest with three demons, the very creatures he is trying to stop. The Three Aspects answered that these three demons still possess a human soul and heart. Leaving the Keiun Temple with Goku, they set out to find Gojyo and Hakkai. Later on, they encountered a band of demons and during the fight, they run into the other two. After defeating the demons, Sanzo tells the three that they will be having a journey to the west.

Spider Demon Story
Ten days after they left the Temple of Chang ’An, Genjo Sanzo has started his journey sitting next to the driver's seat, with Hakkai as the driver. Upon their arrival, Gojyo and Goku interfere between men who are harassing a girl (Houmei) and ask for a hotel. These men react violently, leading to a fist fight. Sanzo shouts at Goku, reminding him not to draw too much attention.

The group was thanked by the host for saving his daughter, Houmei. As Houmei talks about a rumored group made of 4 youkais who ‘leaves thousands of youkai corpses along their way’, Sanzo asks about the situation regarding the youkai outside the town.

Sanzo is left pondering about their mission to stop Gyumaoh’s resurrection using the forbidden combination of Science and magic. This revival is also the origin of the minus wave that is spreading throughout Tougenkyou. Hakkai has noticed this but Sanzo suggests since they don’t know when or where the youkais might attack, it would be best if they stick together. But he eventually drops that, saying that he doesn’t want to see their sleeping faces, and dismisses them.

Sanzo gets attacked by a youkai but he forces the youkai to tell information about the minus wave. He discovers about Kougaji and his relationship with Gyumaoh. Suddenly he was attacked by a Jorogumo (‘spider lady’) who helds Houmei as hostage. Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku break in, defeat the other youkai and reclaim Houmei. The Jorogumo undergoes metamorphosis to defeat them while Houmei comes to her senses and realizes the presence of youkais. To end the scuffle, Sanzo executes ‘Makai Tenjou’. The next morning, they leave the town with the lunch Houmei has made for them.

Rikudou Arc
After coming across youkai corpses with talismans and a rainy night, Sanzo was haunted with a nightmare of the his early teen years back in Kinzan Temple. Kouryuu used to be friends with Shuuei, a master known for using charm / fudo / talisman. Shuuei often converse with Kouryuu and protected him from the scorn of other acolytes. On the night Kouryuu became a Sanzo priest, Kouryuu gave Shuei a bead necklace he wore when he was found by Koumyou, making Shuei the very first person Kouryuu gave an item to. Then, Kouryuu went to Koumyou Sanzo and received his title, right before Koumyou was killed by a group of youkai.

Sanzo woke up from the nightmare and suddenly there was a scream coming from downstairs. The ikkou went down and found a youkai in the kitchen, who was then killed by a monk with many talisman who wander around to kill youkais. The inn keeper recognized that it was Rikudou, but Sanzo recognized him as Shuuei. Rikudou could tell that there were three youkais in the room and tried to harm Goku, but Sanzo stepped in and called him Shuuei. RIkudou recognized Sanzo and told him what happened after Koumyou was killed, that he cursed himself with the curse of Araya, which gave him the power of Buddha to kill youkais. They went outside the inn to settle the match. Rikudou once again tried to kill Goku, but Sanzo barged in and got himself stabbed instead. He almost died when Goku went berserk, and it was only because the Goddess of Mercy came that he was alive and Seiten Taisei was tamed.

The next day, Sanzo woke up and immediately prepared himself to search for Rikudou. Gojyo sat outside Sanzo's door, keeping the blond monk inside the room, and when he heard the rustles he told Sanzo what happened, including the bead necklace that was assumed protected Rikudou from losing his sanity. The half youkai then said he wasn't responsible if Sanzo ran away other than through the door, so he left through the window. Sanzo went to the forest and meditate, calling the bead necklace he gave to Shuuei. Rikudou appeared and they gotten into a fight. When Rikudou cast a movement binding spell and almost killed the younger man, Sanzo spoke to Shuuei and pointed out his weakness. Rikudou was startled and the bead necklace broke. With his last strength, Rikudou/Shuui held Sanzo's gun to his own forehead, pleading the young monk to end his life. Sanzo pulled the trigger.

Chin Yisou Arc
It was in a busy city when the ikkou came across Chin Yisou, who introduced himself as a fortune teller. He bluntly said that he foresaw death coming to them, and he pointed Hakkai as a criminal and sinner. Soon, there was chaos in another part of the city. When Sanzo-ikkou shifted their focus on the source of it, Hakkai noticed that the fortune teller had gone. They began to fight the source of chaos which was a giant crab like monster. They immediately noticed that it was a shikigami. Lirin showed up from nowhere and beat the shikigami down. Then, Kougaiji group's showed up and they ended fighting as usual. In the middle of the fight, the shikigami rose up again, forcing Goku and Kougaiji to team up and beat it. Hakkai then found a chess tile in the debris, noting that it was the shikigami's medium.

The ikkou slept at Jeep in the middle of the forest that night. Sanzo was awake when Hakkai woke up. He then walked to the forest, followed by Gojyo. Later on, something had happened in the forest, and when Sanzo and Goku caught up with the other two, Gojyo was struggling on the ground as the seed shot by Chin Yisou's tsukaima started to spread through his body. Sanzo shot the doll and thought the only way to save Gojyo is to shoot the implanted seed, right beside Gojyo's heart, and healed him immediately. Then plan went smoothly, but Hakkai lost much of his energy and fainted. Sanzo told Goku to bring some water while he thought about Chin Yisou, the mastermind behind the chain of events.

When Goku didn't come back with water, Sanzo brought Hakkai and Gojyo to rest in a cave. The fog was thick when Hakkai woke up, and Gojyo's attempt to search for Goku didn't yield any results. After talking to Hakkai for a bit, Sanzo and Gojyo went outside the cave. Suddenly, Goku showed up with his cheerful self, but Sanzo recognized that it wasn't Goku in an instant. He shot the fake Goku and called for Chin Yisou. At last, the fortune teller came out. He called out centipedes to bind those three people, but Sanzo broke it by using his sutra. Gojyo had managed to chop Chin Yisou's arm as well, before the real Goku came to them, saying something about Chin Yisou not being human. Chin Yisou then succeeded in injuring Gojyo and Goku, so Sanzo told Hakkai to split up so they can take Chin Yisou down without hurting the other two.

When Sanzo and Hakkai met Chin Yisou again, Hakkai's body was controlled by the shikigami user, forcing the healer to choke Sanzo. Sanzo pretended to be choked and Hakkai pretended to gone insane, before he attacked Chin Yisou in a surprise attack and Sanzo shot him in the head. Chin Yisou still lived. And now they knew that the fortune teller was a shikigami himself, Hakkai retract a chess tile from the wound he had given Chin Yisou back in Hyakugan Maoh's castle. Once the chess tile was taken, Chin Yisou was defeated.

Desert Arc
The ikkou arrived at a city in the desert, hoping for a place to stay. However, when the local people saw Sanzo's attire, they rejected them immediately. A boy then told that a Sanzo priest came the previous year, attracting desert youkais to attack the village because the youkais wanted to eat the Sanzo priest. They lost, the Sanzo priest was kidnapped by the youkais, and the desert started spreading. Thus, the rejection from the people. Sanzo asked the boy where the desert youkais were because he thought that one of the Tenchi Kaigen Kyoumon (The Founding Scriptures of Heaven and Earth) might still be there. They went to search for the desert youkai and got sucked into the sand, leaving Jeep behind on the surface.

When Sanzo woke up, he was paralyzed in a bed. Then, a woman went inside the room, introducing herself as the master of the castle, Ren Lee. She admitted that she ate the previous Sanzo priest and she wanted to eat Sanzo too. Sanzo triggered her with words, causing the demon to slap and torture him, relieving him from the paralyzing poison. When Sanzo got his strength back, he fought back and started torturing the demon. Goku, Gojyo, and Hakkai went into his room, shocked at what Sanzo was doing. Goku brought senses back to the priest and Sanzo asked for the Sutra. The demon told him where the Sutra was, and when Sanzo turned around she attacked him with her poisonous nails.

To be updated...

Kami-sama Arc
To be updated...

Snow Drop
To be updated...

Death Match
To be updated...

Against the Stream
To be updated...

Even a Worm
To be updated...

Sky Burial
To be updated...

Kouten
To be updated...

Anime and Manga Difference
to be updated...

Other Appearance
To be updated...

Relationships
Son Goku - Before their first meeting, namely after his mind cleared up in the Burial arc, Sanzo starts hearing a strange 'voice' calling to him and vows to find this person and shut him up. Climbing Mount Gogyou, the newly-ordained priest Genjo Sanzo meets Goku for the first time, and lets him out of his prison. Although he has no intention originally of looking after the youkai, Sanzo takes him back to the temple and falls into the role of caretaker, knowing Goku's nature as Seiten Taisei Son Goku from the Sanbutsushin in the process. Sanzo is most easily annoyed by Goku's constant thoughts about food and his bickering with Gojyo, but Sanzo does indeed care for Goku. His feelings most evident when Goku is in serious danger. Once an attack against Goku stunned Sanzo that he became unresponsive, forcing Cho Hakkai actually to slap him to bring him around. Realizing what had happened - sooner even than Gojyo and Hakkai - he bolted away to find the perpetrator (later revealed to be Ukoku) and kill him. Sanzo also used to tapped Goku's head like he's sorry and he is also scared of losing him. In Saiyuki Requiem, Sanzo mentioned to Go Dougan that he always hear Goku's voice.

Sha Gojyo - Sanzo really doesn't get along with Gojyo as well as he gets along with the others, if their interactions can be so described. Ever since they first met on Gojyo's doorsteps when Sanzo was asking about the whereabouts of Cho Gonou (later Cho Hakkai), they have gotten on each others nerves. Throughout the years, Sanzo and Gojyo still haven't made peace with each other. When the group was attacked by Kinkaku and his "demon" brother, Gojyo and Sanzo were forced to work together to save Hakkai and Goku. They bickered and argued about how much they hated each other when they are ambushed by some human thugs that Gojyo had beat up earlier. Their arguments continued even through another scuffle with some demons later. Though the two of them fight like monkeys and dogs (Japanese metaphor="like cats and dogs"), they are still good as to bum lights off each other for cigarettes.

Cho Hakkai - Hakkai is the only member of the party that Sanzo sees as someone who he can talk to. Though Sanzo doesn't turn into a "chatty-Cathy" when he's with Hakkai, the two of them seem to be able to communicate with each other pretty well, and this has been the case since Sanzo claimed responsibility for supervising Hakkai and hire him to tutor Goku at Keiun temple. If they were to talk, they mostly discuss important things, for example their concerns about Gojyo when his mark gets bigger in Blast. Out of all the members of the Sanzo party, Hakkai is the only one Sanzo doesn't fire at or hit with his fan.

Koumyou Sanzo - Sanzo's master and probably the closest he had to a parent figure. Koumyou Sanzo rescued Sanzo from drowning in a river as new born infant and also the one that named and raised him as Kouryuu. He was probably the only real parental figure in Sanzo's young life. He later told Sanzo, who was at the time Kouryuu, that the reason he found him was because he heard Kouryuu's voice calling out it him. As he got older, Kouryuu started taking care of Koumyou; constantly nagging almost about how Koumyou 'shouldn't drink so much', 'shouldn't smoke so openly', and 'should go to bed'. Koumyou was Sanzo's teacher and master and the only Sanzo priest that he recognized at the time. When Koumyou died, after giving Sanzo his holy name and the Maten and Seiten scriptures, it had huge and dreadful impact on Sanzo's life. Sanzo adopted his masters way of life, muichimotsu, and vowed never to care for someone so much ever again. It's easy to see that Sanzo was unsuccessful at keeping that vow.

Quotes

 * "I'll live enough for all you bastards!" - Genjo Sanzo in Saiyuki Burial

Gallery

 *  Main article: Genjo Sanzo gallery

Trivia
In chapter 12 of Saiyuki Reload Blast, Sanzo admits to Hassan that aside from the mantras to use the Maten he can't use other Buddhist spells and mantras, ones meant for attacks. This is really regrettable given that his master, Koumyou Sanzo was such as genius with them.
 * Sanzo is based off his Journey to the West counterpart, Xuanzang, AKA Tang Sanzang.
 * His origin bares similarities to Xuanzang. Both have fathers with high government rankings, later killed.  For Xuanzang, this led to Guanyin warning his mother, Yin Wenqiao, to take care good care of him as a baby, for he would grow to be a great man, and was soon to be killed as soon as her husand's murderer and her current husband learnt of his birth.  In response, Yin abandoned him in a river, much like Sanzo's mother.
 * Further, Sanzo and Xuanzang shared a similar discovery by the temple's head. Both Komyou and  Jinshan Temple's abbot heard a voice calling for them (in the abbot's case, Xuanzang's infant cries), however Xuanzang was accompanied by a letter written in blood elaborating his circumstances.  Both characters were also named after the river they were discovered in.  Whilst growing up, both displayed stricter attitudes toward their conducts as monks, this mixed with their close relationships with the temple's head led to other monks ridiculing and alienating them.
 * Another major connection between the two characters is their contribution to freeing and taking in Sun Wukong, freeing him from his five-century imprisonment.
 * A running gag in the series is characters' reference to Sanzo as an old man due to his habit of going to bed early and wearing glasses whenever reading the newspaper. He is easily annoyed by this, especially when it is Gojyo who points this out.
 * So far, Sanzo is always second when it comes to card games. The first being Hakkai and third and fourth belonging to Gojyo and Goku respectively.
 * Sanzo has been referred to as "Droopy eyes" and "Baldy" (mostly by Gojyo and Lirin). "Baldy" is a common insult to monks, who typically shave their heads (another way in which Sanzo is far from being a typical monk). "Namagusa bouzo", or 'stinking monk', is another typical insult of Gojyo's; this specifically refers to a monk who breaks his vows, such as not eating meat, which makes one's breath smell bad.
 * A small number of characters in the series tend to take note of his droopy eyes being one of his most distinctive traits, humans and demons alike.
 * The story of his origin is quite similar to the original version (Chinese Novel - Journey to the West) where Ukoku (Saiyuki Reload) stated that his father holds a position in the government but was killed.
 * His preferred cigarette brand is filtered Marlboro Red, as seen in Saiyuki manga vol. 9. He buys disposable lighters, rather than owning a refillable one like Gojyo's, which is possibly an expression of muichimotsu.
 * Sanzo really likes mayonnaise, which is something common in Japanese culture. He even places it on ramen. He also is partial to red pickled ginger. In "Anniversary" chapter at the end of Reload volume 3, Sanzo also puts mayonnaise on his sashimi.
 * In Episode 07 of Saiyuki Reload it is revealed that Sanzo-sama is allergic to cats. Despite this Sanzo seems to have an crippling weakness for small animals like kittens, puppies, occasionally Hakuryuu, and as we are all very much aware: monkeys. In a Drama CD entitled "Cat Returns", it is also shown that Sanzo has a fear of cats. They scare him to the point where he'll cry, scream and run away from them.
 * As revealed in Saiyuki Reload Gunlock in Episode 11, Sanzo sleeps with earplugs. This is completely understandable given Goku's incessant snoring at night. In Gensoumaden Saiyuki it was also shown that Sanzo shout in his sleep.
 * Kazuya Minekura drew one of her original characters, Kubota Makoto cosplaying as Genjo Sanzo.
 * Sanzo's waist line is 22 inches. He is an ambidextrous person; he can shoot, eat or write with either his left or right hand.
 * In the original Japanese version, Sanzo and his master share the same voice actors of Aleister Crowley and Aiwass from Toaru Majutsu no Index series.
 * In the original Japanese version of Saiyuki, Kouryuu was voiced by Yūko Kobayashi, but later he was voiced by Kahoru Sasajima in Sai R. & Sai R Gun. Just the same, Kouryuu was voiced by Kevin Corn in the English version Saiyuki and Mela Lee in Sai R. & Sai R Gun.