The story of "The Monkey King" is very well known in China as well as much of the rest of Asia. It's from the 500 year-old novel "Journey to the West" and Japanese audiences likely would have been familiar with the tale. If you want to see the short film with English captions, it's available at the website for Japanese Animated Film Classics.
The animation style of "Kirigami Zaiku Saiyuki" is most unusual. It looks like the original style cutout animation like "South Park" used in its earlier seasons (later it was polished and done with computers). While the story is a classic, much of this is missing from this cartoon and it mostly consists of the Monkey King bonking folks and spinning about in a very simplistic sort of plot. I was not impressed with the lack of story and an over-emphasis on action.
The animation style of "Kirigami Zaiku Saiyuki" is most unusual. It looks like the original style cutout animation like "South Park" used in its earlier seasons (later it was polished and done with computers). While the story is a classic, much of this is missing from this cartoon and it mostly consists of the Monkey King bonking folks and spinning about in a very simplistic sort of plot. I was not impressed with the lack of story and an over-emphasis on action.
