From an artistic and epic story-telling perspective, Saiyuki doesn’t really have any redeeming qualities. It’s a story about a bunch of hot guys riding around in a jeep (which can turn into a dragon when it feels like it) who are going into the west, maybe to save the world, mostly because they have nothing better to do. I absolutely adore it. When someone describes something as being “character driven”, they should use Saiyuki as the primary example.