Saiyuki

The Man Who Came From The West ~open your eyes~ (3x13)

Air date: Jun 24, 2004

In a church: organ music plays as people pray and mourn a dead child who lies on the altar, blank blue eyes staring into nothingness. Such a sweet little girl, so young, they say... Behind her, a young clergyman stands up and opens his arms wide; lights spiral around the gold pendant he wears, his hands glow, and he touches the girl and quietly tells her, "open your eyes." [Um...they were open...yet now they aren't.] The girl's eyes obediently open--they've turned golden--and she sits up and walks away from the altar. A miracle! cry the people. The Bishop--a slight, handsome fellow with clear blue eyes, prematurely silver hair, and a satisfied smile--stands back and basks in the praise and acclaim of the congregation. [He won't be introduced for awhile yet, but I'll tell you now that his name is Hazel Grosse.] He glances back and smiles at a tall, American-Indian looking man who stands farther back from the altar, but the man doesn't return the smile. His eyes are golden-amber. [Digression: this awkward business of the open/shut/open eyes was apparently invented just to make the point of the color-change. In the manga, which are in black-and-white, the girl's eyes are closed the entire time, and Hazel simply says "Now, child...rise." (--presumably "Talitha cumi".) [Digression II: Hazel's pendant in the manga is a six-pointed star--a Star of David--but I guess they didn't want any accusations of Jewish references, as the pendant in the anime has been redesigned to a four-pointed floral design.] --and here's the SI, driving along. Goku complains that he's hungry, Gojyo scolds him, Hakkai says they'll reach a town soon and Sanzo is silent and thoughtful. A typical morning in the Jeep...and then the road is blocked by a gang of implement-wielding, grim-looking townspeople. Do we look suspicious? asks Gojyo--but the lead villager says "Kill the youkai!" and, charging the jeep, tries to throttle Goku! He's shoved back, but the zombie-like humans, all droning "Kill