Adventures of the Super Monkey -Journey to the West-

Fuji TV made an unusual decision to air this on 9pm every Monday, a primetime slot usually reserved for romantic dramas, hoping to capture both the young and the old by making this choice. While the series started off with viewership nearly reaching 30%, its rating gradually sank, barely making it at 20% at one point; the last episode finished off with 24.7%.

Rather than producing a second season, Fuji TV and Toho produced a feature film version of Saiyūki, that was released in Japan on 14 July 2007. The film was a box office success, becoming the 8th highest-grossing film of 2007 in Japan. The whole plot of the film is loosely based on chapters 32-35 of Journey to the West, Son Gokū trying to save a kingdom (with the help of a young princess) usurped by King Gold Horn and Silver Horn. The DVD was released on 1 January 2008, in two formats: a single disc version with audio commentary and trailers, and a 2-Disc limited collector's edition with documentaries and making-of featurettes; it has also been released to both DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the United Kingdom, under the title Monkey Magic: The Movie.