The illustrator of One-Punch Man has a new anime project up his sleeve.
Yusuke Murata, the manga illustrator for One-Punch Man, released a short, audio-less teaser of his first anime project, Zaiyuki. Based on the Chinese folktale Journey to the West, which has inspired numerous other stories, including Dragon Ball and The God of High School, Zaiyuki will have Village Studio helming the animation. The coming-of-age tale follows a weak kappa boy who finds himself on a number of adventures after encountering a treasure hunter. Murata teases the story will focus on themes of “wealth,” “guilty” and “courage. Additionally, Murata released character designs of the four main characters.
The protagonist, the kappa boy, slouches slightly, wearing a white T-shirt, blue cargo shorts and white sneakers with matching purple-rimmed socks. The Buddhist monk, Xuanzang, has received a modern upgrade and now wears a slick black suit with multiple piercings on his ear and eyebrow. Two shaved lines are at the side of his head, giving him a suave appearance. Instead of a golden staff, in Murata’s version, the staff is now pitch black, and he wields a short claw-like weapon.
How Zaiyuki Deviates From the Series That Inspired It
In Journey to the West, described as a monster, Zhu Bajie is a humanoid pig and a rather unsavory character. After Murata genderswapped the character, the humanoid pig now sports a pink bikini top with low-rise black leather shorts. Pink ribbons wrap around her long legs, and gold and silver bangles encircle her wrists. The Monkey King, Sun Wukong, is decidedly smaller in Zaiyuki but is recognizable with his ferocious gaze and golden headband with red staff. Despite his small stature, his power and strength are evident through his muscular appearance.
Before One-Punch Man, Murata worked on the one-shot Partner and Eyeshield 21. Murata reached out to ONE after his webcomic One-Punch Man went on hiatus in February 2010, wanting to partner with the One-Punch Man creator as he had been a fan of the series. The series remake launched on Tonari no Young Jump’s website in June 2012 and has over 30 million copies sold as of April 2020. Murata has shared various practice drawings on his social media over the past years, rendering fans speechless with his ultra-realistic illustrations. Due to his diligent work ethic of continuously practicing, Murata is notable for his incredible drawing speed, stating in an interview that one page usually takes him less than two hours.
There have yet to be any details about the release date or duration of Zaiyuki at the time of this article’s writing.
Source: Twitter
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