Saiyuki is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuya Minekura. It was originally serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy between February 1997 and November 2001, with its chapters collected in nine tankōbon volumes; and later republished by Ichijinsha, released the nine volumes with new covers from October 2002 to June 2003; and published a new edition in 2015. The story, which is loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, follows a monk named Genjo Sanzo who receives a mission to travel to the west with a group of three yokai (demons) to stop anyone reviving the evil god Gyumao.

Gangan is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese market. Its anthologies are home to some popular Square Enix manga series which were adapted into anime series, like Fullmetal Alchemist, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Nabari no Ou, Inu x Boku SS, The Case Study of Vanitas and Soul Eater. The comics are later collected in paperback volumes under brand names such as Gangan Comics , Gangan Comics Joker and Young Gangan Comics , which identify the anthology of serialisation. These paperback brand names are formed by omitting any gekkan or shōnen in the magazine name and inserting Comics directly after the word Gangan.