Seiran is so ridiculously pretty! I'm convinced if you gave him blond hair, he'd be Sanzo's twin. *g*

Agree. And Jioan reminds me of Hazel. Hah!

Seiran is surely one of the most beautiful monks, here! *__*

And...what a wonderful icon! XD

Oh, lovely drawings! It would be awesome to learn more about each one.

I too hope her health problems aren't serious!

Yeah, on Minekura's blog there is a little profile about all of them.
I'm curious about that!

Ooh, thanks for the heads up! Is that a female sanzo wannabe? (6th sketch). Probably not - although he looks far more girly than Sanzo ever has! (And a touch evil, I think).

*giggles* his/her eyes reminded me of Sanzo!

:D The snotty expression is what reminded me of Sanzo! (Also the lovely hair).

I was thinking in the likes of Hazel though... ;)

Yeah, I can see that his has Hazel's very feminine look - also Hazel's obsession with appearance. (It's interesting that he appears to be called Mr Butterfly - makes me think of caterpillars, chrysalises and metamorphosis. Which, naturally, makes me think of Hazel's transformation).

The monk in the 6th sketch, although looks girly as you said, is a guy.
We can see that in the last Ibun chapter.

ahh! thank you for that! they all seem like interesting characters
and I hope sensei's ok<3

I agree! I'm curious to know more about them!

Thanks for posting these! I always love her character sketches :)

Me too!!

This look awesome~ (loves group drawing you can do all the comparisons and such ='D)

The on e with the cloth in his heads looks dorky and shounen retarded

Hope Minekura senseir doesn't have anything too troublesome ;;

I'm very curious to these guys!
They seems interesting. I'd like knowing the resons because they've decided to aim at Sanzo rank.

As usual, thanks so much for sharing. ^_^

I hope sensei is okay. I dun think I can bear another hiatus. (though I fully understand that health comes first) :(

You're welcome!!!

To Minekura-sensei: Take care of you!

hmmmmmmmmm.... the sanzo wannabees, at least two of them (Goudai and Tenkai) are gonna be Sanzo, but I also think one of them will be the Sanzo eaten by the Dessert Youkai (the scorpion, so i think that Sanzo is just acting tough, or just pure luck on how he become a Sanzo...), so there is 4 Sanzo now, how about the fifth ( a lot of people guess including me that its a girl, but my other guess is that its jikaku)...

a lot of questions come out on my mind, you think Jikaku is a former Sanzo, coz how come he is the main examiner???

well for the six sketch he acts gayish in the 3rd chapter, and i dont think he's a girl coz the 3rd chapter shows that all of them are half naked, remember the 2nd chapter all they wear is that thing to keep their d*** sensored...

and about sensei's health, i hope she's ok....
or am I sensing another HIATUS, maybe not...

So do you think that the Sanzo devoured by the Desert Youkai is among them? That's interesting! Surely should be one among the younger guys since Lenri, the Scorpion Queen, said that he was pretty old. An old monk at Ibun probably should be dead in the time in which Sanzo Ikkou arrive at the the Desert.

I don't think that Jikaku was a Sanzo.
He hasn't any chackra in his forehead and no one calls him "Sanzo".

I agree with you. The guy in the 6th sketch is surely a man although he looks like a girl.

Wow, she's definitely developing a new Saiyuki track.

But.... perhaps no great wonder that Koumyou's oddness has influenced the young Kouryu's personality and character.

I'm really interested to this Ibun series!
I wonder if Minekura-sensei will draw a whole volume dedicated to Koumyou's past...

well this is i think what minekura post in her blog, but maybe some of them are in correct (it does not include the notes on the pic)....

first sketch todai aka momochan
2nd genkai - the youkai who has the ability to see the future.
3rd Doutaku alias agotaku? - the person with manly spirit.
4th Seiren - the post said he is calm and has composure...the honor student type...
5th ganpoku/ganpuku (not really sure) - more on calculations???/ the kanji also said luck but im not really sure...
6th Jyouan/Jyouu - method and technique user.../ the text also said sarcastic...
7th Ryuzen - im not sure but the post said he is like a walking encyclopedia...
and Shuun - i'm not really sure but of he is a temple successor, also a thug...
8th Soujin alias otsuusan- knowledgeable and has good nature...
and Gichou -has wife and children...

Thank you!
They are really interesting!!! *__*

and another thought that 7th guy with the glasses, do you think he is the same monk we saw on Burial???
look at the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzjJhwFoG4I&feature=related#

I thought the same thing too!
And he could really be him *_*
*Even more curious...*

Oooh. <3 Very cool. Ibun is so much fun. I need to find more places to read it. >> Thank you so much for sharing the scans. <3

Actually, I have decided, according with saiyuki_manga, to buy WARD magazines and give to the community the chapters of Koumyou's past. Unfortunately WARD 012 took ages to arrive to me 'cause the Christmas holidays that blocked some packages at the Italian post office ç_ç
So the seller from which I buy WARD, received it only yesterday and shipped it to me. I'm waiting for the copy in these days.
And I've just ordered WARD 013 and I hope, this time, to receive it soon!

O_O Really?? That's so crazy. I've been looking for a place to get WARD and I can't find it anywhere. It's really rather frustrating. I'm excited for you though.

And that's so kind of you to intend to share them. Now I have something to look forward too. Haha. <33

Yeah, it's not easy finding WARD. And it's a pity because, sometimes, there are some interesting items attached on it.

In the community of saiyuki_manga you can find the first Saiyuki Ibun chapter!

Oooh. I'll have to go check that out then. :D I should probably subscribe to that community too. <3