A
TV series shown on
BBC2 in the
UK in the early
1980's.
Also shown as
Monkey Magic.
The original version
Saiyuki produced by Japan's
NTV in 1979 and was wildly popular. 39 of these episodes where translated into
English.
Monkey was immortal, flew around on a magic cloud and fought with a magic rod that could change size.
Each episode included the wisdom of Confucius, Lao Tzu, some outrageously good dubbing and a big fight.
Whilst Monkey has been shown in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and apparently Canada, I have been told it was never broadcast in the US due to copyright problems.
The original Japanese version did have a complete run on a Californian Japanese channel in the late 1980's.
I used to find the boy priest strangely attractive and it was only much later that I learned he was played by actress Masako Natsume.