Created: 14/06/2026 - Last updated: 02/08/2026
I fell in love with Journey to the West - a Chinese novel from the 16th century - and its main protagonist Sun Wukong, so I've been reading the book and watching a lot of adaptations of it. This is the page where I keep track of the adaptations I've watched, read and played.
They are organized in a chronological order (most recently published first), and I will add my personal ratings (❤️ > ✨ > 👍 > 😕 > 🤢) to highlight my favorites.
Although fanfictions are technically adaptations, I grouped them in a separate, dedicated page.
directed by Yu Shui | China watched 08.2026
Four yaoguai decide to seek immortality by impersonating the Monk Tang group, which is currently travelling nearby. Off to a rough start - everybody sees through their disguises, and the "Sun Wukong" ape is cowardly and shy - they gradually get better, and soon are off to save people, receiving food and thanks in return. Although they started the journey for selfish reasons, they can't help but be changed by it... but when time comes to make difficult choices, will their new-found savior attitudes or their yaoguai natures win? Oh this was so good!! Such an amazing Journey to the West adaptation, and yet almost none of the main characters ever appear! I love this movie because I rooted for the characters not because they were powerful beings on an important mission, but because they were underdogs trying to better their conditions with silly schemes, and eventually started to believe in their own power to do good. I really grew attached to them, and wish I could have seen more of their story... Also there were quite a few nice references to previous Journey to the West adaptations, which is always a nice bonus!
directed by Anthony Stacchi | United States watched 03.2026
After stealing a sentient disco staff from the Dragon King to protect his tribe, an unrully monkey befriends a girl and goes on a quest for immortality which will take them from the Underworld to the Heavens. This movie was fun and emotional, and I liked the animation style! The fact that Stick - the staff - had a whole personality and disco lightning was a fun addition which worked well. The humour was on point, and the take on Monkey's adventures was entertaining, and beginner-friendly because it didn't feel like you needed to know the story and characters to enjoy it (unlike some adaptations). Yeah, I liked this one a lot!
directed by Tian Xiaopeng | China watched 03.2026
After 500 years of imprisonment, Sun Wukong is accidentally freed by a child trying to run away from mountain trolls. Despite himself, he starts an adventure to defeat the leader of the trolls and free kidnapped children. This was the very first Journey to the West adaptation I've ever watched, back when I didn't know any of the characters. That plus the fact that the animation is quite outdated made me have a pretty neutral opinion about it, but I'd like to rewatch it someday to see if I would change my mind now that I know the story and characters better.
directed by Wan Laiming | China watched 07.2026
As he's training his armies, Sun Wukong looks for a proper weapon, which he gets from the Dragon King. The sea monarch, unhappy about the monkey having taken his staff, goes to complain to the Jade Emperor in Heaven. Thus starts a long battle between Heaven and the Monkey King, as the Emperor tries to pacify Sun Wukong via different means, while the monkey keeps escaping and rebelling. This old hand-drawn animated movie is incredibly beautiful and mesmerizing, thanks to its bright colors, smooth movements, and Beijing opera-influenced music. The plot follows the beginning of Journey to the West pretty closely - but interrestingly skips the ultimate defeat and imprisonment of Sun Wukong. My guess is that this due to Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party at the time, openly identifying with Sun Wukong - meaning that depicting the monkey's downfall would have been considered treason...
5 seasons - 50 episodes + 4 specials | Australia (S1-4) + Canada (S5) watched 05.2026
In a modern world, a teenager named MK inherits the powers of Monkey King and starts fighting the demons attacking his city. As the story progresses, he and his friends also travel to the Tang Dynasty to meet the original Journey to the West group. I love this show so much! I wasn't expecting a Lego cartoon to have such a good level of animation, character development and story-telling, but here we are. There's a few moments where I'm not sure they get the original message right, but overall it's very entertaining and I really love their take on the characters. This is the show which made me fall in love with Six Ear Macaque!
2 seasons - 20 episodes | Australia + New Zealand watched 05.2026
A young woman takes on the identity of Tripitaka after his death, and decides to go wake up the Monkey King from his mountain prison. Together with the help of Pigsy and Sandy, they will start a journey to collect the Heavenly scrolls that Monkey stole and scattered before his emprisonment. I did like the twist that Tripitaka and Sandy are women - although I'm personally heavily leaning in the trans Tripitaka vibes for this one - but I'm not sure how to feel about Monkey and Pigsy being human... I did quite like the actors and their portrayal though! It's good to note that this show is very low budget (which has a certain charm to it) and was heavily criticized for its whitewashing (which... has no charm to it), having not a single Chinese actor in its cast - and it did feel pretty weird to see this story clearly set up in a fictional China, but then all the NPCs and many main characters are white...
1 volume | written & drawn by Gene Luen Yang | United States read 08.2026
This comic tells three stories at once. Firstly, we follow the Monkey King as he tries to enter Heaven but is rejected due to his monkey nature - he then attempts to become human at any cost. Secondly, we see a child born in the United States from Chinese parents, who struggles to fit in his new neighborhood once they leave Chinatown. Finally, the third story follows a white teenager, embarassed by his cousin, an extremely negative caricature of a Chinese man. The three stories will converge in unexpected ways at the end, as the various characters will try to accept their own identities. This was an interesting comic, centered around the difficulties of growing up Chinese American, and wishing to be someone else to have an easier life. I liked that the legend of Monkey King was used here, as the story itself focused on young teenagers, and that he's used in a way which could make him and his struggles relatable. Some parts, and especially the ones with the Chinese cousin caricature, were quite uncomfortable and hard emotionally, but of course that's the point. I think overall it's an important work, both as a reflection of the author's personal struggle, and as a societal critique.
1 volume | written by Silverio Pisu | drawn by Milo Manara | France read 07.2026
This communist, hippy and hyper sexualized adaptation sure was a wild ride! In this comic which strongly feels like a product of its time, the Monkey King wears a red star hat and defeats monsters bearing the flag of the United States, as well as oil barons, speculators and supermarket investors. We love to see it! On the plus side, there are some queer characters represented quite neutrally. On the minus side, every page features several naked women (and there are quite a few sex scenes as well) in an extreme exemple of male gaze which didn't age well. Oh, and did I mention the racist caricatures? Yeah. Makes me wish for a radical leftist & incluside adaptation to balance out the scales. In the meantime, this comic was quite painful to read and I'm glad I'm done with it...
PC - PS5 - Xbox X/S | Game Science | China watched 07.2026
Set after Journey to the West, this game starts with the death of Sun Wukong when he fights Erlang once more and loses. Years later, a mute lookalike monkey goes on a quest to find all of Sun Wukong's discarted "senses", and we get flashbacks about the original JTTW journey as the main character goes through all the old challenges anew. This game is absolutely incredible! Gaming wise, the graphics are great, the fights are satisfying (I loved to use the various staff movements!) and the bosses challenging... but without the great story behind it, I would have quickly gotten bored of the small enemies - big boss - small enemies rythm. Indeed, what makes this game a true masterpiece are the beautifully animated flashback sections which pull us into the world of Journey to the West through a rarely explored angle, asking the question: "what if Sun Wukong realized that all his effort and his attonement led not to freedom but to enslavement?". [Spoilers ahead] Indeed, we slowly come to realize that the premise of this game is that, after the Journey to the West, Sun Wukong thought he would finally be free to go back in peace to Flower Fruit Mountain, only to realize that he was now destined to be just another of Heaven's weapon, still controlled by the headache circlet. Desperate, he chooses to let himself die, hoping that his descendant / reincarnation can one day bring him back to himself without the circlet, thus achieving true freedom. I'm personally always quite uncomfortable with the idea of Sun Wukong submitting to the Heavens in the end, finding attonement and boom! happy ending - so I really liked this take, which in my opinion felt very true to the character.