Sun Wukong's arrogance gets him five centuries under a mountain, then he spends the next 52 episodes learning that power without purpose is just destruction with better aim. The animation transforms fight scenes into visual poetry, every spell cast and staff swing rebuilt frame by frame so you notice it differently on rewatch. This is mythology that doesn't ask you to already know mythology, it hands you the Monkey King at his worst and lets you watch him actually become someone worth following.

Born from a magic stone, Sun Wukong has spent five hundred years trapped beneath a mountain as punishment for causing trouble in the heavens. The deity Guanyin tells him that a monk, Xuanzang, will free him, and that he must then accompany the monk on a pilgrimage from China to India. Soon after, Xuanzang arrives and releases him, and the pair set out west. On the road they are joined by Zhu Bajie and the hermit Sha Wujing. Together the four confront many perils, from evil creatures to sorcerers, and gradually learn to get along in this fantasy adventure.