The Influence of Journey to the West on Dragonball: Exploring the Story of the Monkey King

Journey to the West and the story of the Monkey King

Today the manga dragonball is undoubtedly an important work of Japanese and even world literature. It still makes the beautiful days of the Shueisha with Dragon Ball Super or even Toei since many adaptations are emerging. Recently, for example, we can cite Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero which hit theaters last year while a new Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi episode was unveiled several months ago. dragonball therefore has, without a doubt, a crazy popularity. But Akira Toriyama’s work would undoubtedly not have existed without the Chinese novel Journey to the West.

Signed Wu Cheng En, it recounts the journey of the monk Xuá Zàng: the latter must go to India from China to translate Buddhist texts into his language. During his journey, he must repel fantastic creatures attracted by his flesh (which would give 10,000 years more to whoever eats it) but also several disciples. One of them is Sun Wukong, a monkey born from a stone who became the king of the monkeys.. We find in Son Goku several attributes taken from Sun Wukong. First of all, Son Goku is the Japanese translation of Sun Wukong. We also find in the main character of Dragon Ball the monkey tail but also the extendable stick and its magic cloud: enough to leave no doubt about the inspiration of Akira Toriyama.

The Monkey King is coming to Netflix

But the author of dragonball is not the only one to have been inspired by it. Evidenced by the manga The Legend of Son Gokudirected by Osamu Tezuka (nicknamed the god of manga and is best known for Astro Boy) in the 1950s. We can also mention the hero Wukong from League of Legends or the upcoming game Black Myth: Wukong. In addition to these video game productions, it is also an animated film that will adapt this cult work of Chinese literature. Appointed The Monkey King, it arrives exclusively on Netflix on August 18th. The SVOD platform even shared a first trailer yesterday:

A film certainly not to be missed for anyone wishing to learn about what inspired dragonball and more generally a monument of Chinese literature. The Peregrination to the West is part of the “Four extraordinary books“, a quartet of fiction novels considered to be the most influential. Among them we also find The Dream in the Red Pavilion. To give an idea, this one is sometimes compared to the saga In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.

Comprehensive Coverage:

The article explores the influence of the Chinese novel Journey to the West on the creation of the popular manga dragonball. It discusses the story of the monk Xuá Zàng and his encounters with fantastic creatures, including the monkey disciple Sun Wukong. It also mentions other works and adaptations that have drawn inspiration from Journey to the West, such as the manga The Legend of Son Goku, the video game League of Legends, and the upcoming animated film The Monkey King, which will be released exclusively on Netflix.

Encourage User Engagement:

What are your thoughts on the influence of Journey to the West on dragonball? Have you read the Chinese novel or watched any of the adaptations mentioned in the article? Share your opinions and experiences in the comments below!

Article Headings:

Journey to the West and the story of the Monkey King

The Monkey King is coming to Netflix

Comprehensive Coverage:

Encourage User Engagement:

:

Related Stories

Leave a Reply