To the dismay of the elder gods living on a magical mountain, an adolescent ascends to godhood, declares himself the king of youth, and begins abusing his elders. Unaware that any of this is happening, Monkey, Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy wander into the new king’s realm; the arrival of a priest – Tripitaka to be precise – gets the king’s attention. He uses magic to send his warriors to bring Tripitaka to him, though Sandy cautions the others not to worry…until Tripitaka is abducted out from under their noses. When Monkey and Pigsy go to save Tripitaka, Monkey tries to maintain some civility, mentioning his friendship with the young king’s father. But since this means that Monkey is an older elemental force, their first rescue attempt becomes a chaotic battle. Monkey sends Pigsy to enlist the help of the other old gods before his next confrontation with the king of youth. When that battle goes badly, Pigsy is captured and Monkey goes into hiding…until he learns that the king of youth plans to torture Tripitaka to draw Monkey out for a final battle…and Monkey can only hope to maintain a stalemate long enough for the king of youth to enrage the elder gods enough to rise against him.
written by Motoo Nagai
based on the story by Wu Ch’Eng-En
adapted by David Weir
directed by Daisuke Yamazaki
English dub directed by Michael Bakewell
music by Micky Yoshino / theme performed by Godiego
Cast: Masaaki Sakai (Monkey), Masako Natsume (Tripitaka), Shirô Kishibe (Sandy), Toshiyuki Nishida (Pigsy), Masaaki Daimon (King of Youth), Taeko Hattori (King’s Servant), Shohei Yamomoto (King of Dragons), Takashi Toyama (King of Ox), David Collings (Monkey’s voice – English dub), Maria Warburg (Tripitaka’s voice – English dub), Gareth Armstrong (Sandy’s voice – English dub), Peter Woodthorpe (Pigsy’s voice – English dub), Frank Duncan (Narrator – English dub), Cecile Chevreau (Buddha’s voice – English dub), Miriam Margolyes (Voices – English dub), Peter Marinker (Voices – English dub)
LogBook entry by Earl Green