Kibou no Zaika

Gensoumaden Saiyuki: Kibou no Zaika (幻想魔伝 最遊記 ―希望の罪過―) is a sequel OVA for the movie Requiem which actually consists of animation taken from an interactive game.

Synopsis
A mysterious light falls from the Heavens. It is an object called the Pearl Jade, that can grant any wish. Dr. Ni tells Gyokumen Koushu about it. Lirin overhears and tells Kougaiji. Then Kanzeon Bosatsu requests (it's really more of an order) the Sanzo Party to go and find and seal it before it falls into the wrong hands.

Plot
It all starts when Hakkai and Sanzo see a light fall from the sky. Hakkai remarks that it couldn't have been a shooting star because of the peculiar manner in which it fell. Meanwhile, Dr. Ni informs Gyokumen Koushu about this mysterious light that has dropped from the heavens. He explains that it's called the Pearl Jade and that it grants any wish you desire. When Lirin overhears this, she immediately tells Kougaiji. Kougaiji, along with his team, decided to look for it, as they do not want it to fall into Gyokumen Koushu's hands.

On the road, the SI is getting bored since they haven't had any sort of excitement for the past two days. During their hotel stay, Kanzeon Bosatsu appears and orders them to retrieve the Pearl Jade, a request to which Sanzo immediately refuses. However, they don't have much of a choice because the 'Oh so Merciful Goddess'  threatens to cancel their credit card. So the SI takes a break from the usual path and heads South to retrieve the tools necessary for finding and sealing the Pearl Jade.

When they reache a new town, Sanzo asks one of the villagers about a 'treasure box'  that contains the necessary items. At the mention of the treasure box, the villager start to bow to them and call Sanzo the "God of War". The villagers claim that the first one to retrieve the box is the "God of War" and that they will defeat the demons that are polluting their watering hole. The SI go and do what they do best, destroying the demons so they can retrieve the box.

Later on, we find the Sanzo party on the road again. Goku opens the box, seeing a small ornate knife and a polished, spherical stone. When he picks up the latter, a beam of light appears and directs them toward the Pearl Jade.

While walking through the town the stone lead them to, they come across a girl who is performing miracles by healing injuries & sickness. Her name is Kasane and the stone's beam of light is drawn to her. Sanzo confronts her about the Pearl Jade and she claims she doesn't know of it. As she turns to leave, she trips and drops none other, than the Pearl Jade. Sanzo demands that she hand it over, but she yells as him and runs away.

Goku and Gojyo are sent to get groceries when they find an old lady who's chest is in pain. Goku, being the kind soul that he is, carries the old lady back to her home. Once home, he lays the old lady on her bed. She then begins the tell the two of them the young girl, Kasane's, story. Apparently her father was abusive and her mother left him while abandoning Kasane, leaving her at his mercy. He would beat her and the villagers, not wanting to get involved, ignored it as best they could. But then one day, her father lost it and went on a killing spree, slaughtering several villagers before he was stopped. He was trialed and put to death, leaving Kasane with no one. The villagers tried to help, but she was still very much alone until she developed the ability to heal the wounded.

Goku and Gojyo bring the old lady to Kasane's small home in the slums of town and she allows the woman to enter. Kasane lays the woman on her bed and starts to perform the healing. Suddenly, Kasane questions whether or not the old woman really was ill. Upon hearing this, the old lady springs to her feet, grabbing the Pearl Jade on the floor and makes a run for it. The SI witnesses this as they had decided to stay at an inn that overlooks Kasane's home. Goku and Gojyo jump out the window and run after her. AS they apprehend her, the old woman begs for forgiveness, claiming that she only did it because she wanted a power like Kasane and she was already old and very lonely. Suddenly, Lirin appears and picks up the the Pearl Jade dropped by the old woman. However, the Pearl Jade returns itself to Kasane as it has chosen its owner.

The next day, Hakkai seems convinced that the Pearl Jade is in the right hands, but the whole party is shocked when Kasane revives a dead man. There seems to be new unrest among her fellow villagers, so Sanzo and Goku confront her and ask her if she knows what she's done. According to her, she's just saved a person's life. Reviving the dead is not normal at all. Goku tells her to stop using the Pearl Jade's power but she refuses and runs into her home, locking the door. While Kasane sits, remembering her past, the Pearl Jade float up and lodges itself inside her chest.

The following day, Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku are watching Kasane from the window witnessing as she attempts to revive another person and fails. Kasane stops and looks at her hands. Three people approach Kasane, complaining and demand to know why she couldn't revive their Sensei. Then another man shouted that she was a monster and to prove it, he sliced his arm open. Blood trickled out for only a moment before it started to heal itself. He attacked Kasane, but was stopped by a wandering monk, who to the normal eyes seemed like a good and honest monk, unlike some other ones we know. But unbeknownst to everyone, he was Lady Gyokumen's henchman. The people stayed back, but it was easy to hear their words as they turned to leave. The man that had attempted the assault made the point that it would have been better if her father had killed her as well. Other towns people called her a demon, a youkai, and a monster or a witch. They spoke of forcing her to leave the town and others shouted to kill her instead. Goku and the others watched as the townspeople started to throw stone at her. Then the young monk stopped everyone. According to Kougaiji, the monk wanted the girl trust on him.

In the safety of her home, the young monk approached her and asked if she regretted having the power of the Pearl Jade. Her answer was that she didn't know. The monk went on to say that he would help her, take her to a place where people that really needed her help would be happy and want her.

That night, Kasane met the monk on the outskirts of the town, prepared to leave. But the Sanzo party got to her trying to tell her it was a trap. They wouldn't allow the "monk" to have her. The monk, infuriated with this interference, took his true demonic form and transformed into a huge prey mantis. He snatched up the girl and fought with Goku and Gojyo. Sanzo shot the mantis demon in the eye and he temporarily released Kasane.

Dokugakuji caught her, about to leave, when Kougaiji's group was captured in some strange tentacle like appendages and tied by next to the mantis's body. The mantis youkai gathers up the knife from the treasure box earlier and cut the Pearl Jade out of Kasane's chest. At the death of the girl, things get serious. The Sanzo party finally take the demon down and the poisoned and wounded are healed. But nothing can be done about Kasane.

Goku, who felt like he had failed completely, stood in front of her grave made on a hill over looking the town. He asked Sanzo a favor, to pray for her. And for some strange reason, he complies, even though he told Gojyo that he didn't pray for the dead several episodes ago. The townspeople with flowers and wish to give respect to her and everyone bows their heads in respect. The End.

Reviews

 * Admin Astral Writer's Review of "Kibou no Zaika"
 * The Land of Obssusion's Review

Trivia

 * Kibou no zaika was originally an interactive game. The company that released DVD, extracted only anime scenes to the DVD which caused little pause between every scene change. That also explains why, in a minor fight scene, targets appear over the enemies, as if its possible to select them yourself.