Saint Seiya (TV series)

Saint Seiya (聖闘士星矢) is a Japanese anime television series based on Masami Kurumada's manga series Saint Seiya and produced by Toei Animation. Covering the first two arcs of the manga series, the series follows five mystical warriors known as the Saints who fight using sacred armor known as "Cloths" to defend the reincarnation of the Olympian goddess Athena in her battle against other gods that want to take over the world.

The series was broadcast on TV Asahi and its affiliates from October 1986 to April 1989. It spawned four animated feature films, multiple video games and merchandise. The series was later exported and broadcast in over 75 countries worldwide.

Toei would adapt the Hades Arc of the manga as an original video animation (OVA) series, subtitled The Hades Chapter, released from 2002 to 2008. The studio would be responsible for Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter – Overture in 2004, serving as the final continuation of the Hades Arc.

Nearly 14 years after the show ended, it was licensed for North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Two separate English dubs were produced: one that premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States and on YTV in Canada in 2003, released under the title Knights of the Zodiac, covering 40 episodes, and a later dub that covered all 60 licensed episodes and was released on DVD from 2003 to 2005.

In 2019, Netflix acquired the North American streaming rights and Toei Animation Inc. commissioned Sentai Studios, a division of Sentai Filmworks to produce another English dub, covering the entire run and utilizing the same cast as the ONA series, Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya. Netflix's rights expired in December 2021.

Plot

After training in Greece to master cosmic energy, Seiya becomes the Pegasus Bronze Saint, one of eighty-eight warriors sworn to protect the goddess Athena. Returning to Japan, he seeks his missing sister, Seika, but learns from foundation head Saori Kido that her whereabouts will be revealed only if he participates in her Galaxy Wars tournament. The event is disrupted by the vengeful Phoenix Ikki, whom Seiya and his allies—Cygnus Hyoga, Andromeda Shun, and Dragon Shiryū—defeat.

This victory attracts the attention of the Sanctuary in Greece. Its Pope sends assassins for the Sagittarius Gold Cloth in Saori's possession, and she is revealed to be Athena's reincarnation. They travel to the Sanctuary to confront the Pope, who mortally wounds Saori. To save her, the Bronze Saints battle through the twelve Zodiac temples guarded by Gold Saints. Seiya secures the Athena Shield to heal her, and she confronts the Pope, exposed as the imposter Gemini Saga, who then commits suicide.

Peace is broken when Hilda of Polaris, controlled by Poseidon, attacks. The Bronze Saints defeat her warriors in Asgard, breaking the god's influence. Poseidon's vessel, Julian Solo, kidnaps Athena. In his undersea temple, the Saints discover the plot is led by Gemini Kanon. Aided by the Gold Cloths of Sagittarius Aiolos and Aquarius Camus, and the weapons of the Libra Cloth, they overwhelm Poseidon. Athena seals the god away and vows to eternally protect the world.

Cast

Production and release

An anime adaptation of Saint Seiya was first proposed in June 1986, three months before the first manga volume was published.[4] After Toei Animation started a partnership with TV Asahi, they looked for sponsors.[5] Bandai got interested in selling the Saint Cloths as merchandise so it began development.[4] TV Asahi producer Masayoshi Kawata thought that Saint Seiya was the perfect fit for the "hero show" they were looking for. By July of that same year, screenwriter Takao Koyama had written the first episode scheduled to be broadcast in October.[5] Since an episode adapts several chapters the anime goes faster than the manga, which led the TV series staff to create some original stories to fill the gap.[4][5] The animation staff deliberately designed protagonist Seiya as a more simplistic character compared to other leads. His signature techniques were animated by depicting the Pegasus constellation across the background while Seiya executed a minimal, almost static preparatory movement. This created a striking contrast between the surprising speed of the attack and Seiya's own perceived stillness. Significant effort was also devoted to animating the Cloths, employing multiple shading techniques to achieve a realistic appearance.[6] Kurumada expressed mixed feelings with the adaptation: while pleased with its expanded reach, he likened the process to "giving [his] daughter away in marriage."[7] He praised the sound design, noting its superiority over written onomatopoeia.[8]

The series was broadcast on TV Asahi and its affiliates from October 11, 1986, to April 1, 1989.[9] It was directed first by Kōzō Morishita (episodes 1–73) and then by Kazuhito Kikuchi (episodes 74–114). The character designers and aestheticists were Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno, and Seiji Yokoyama composed the series' music. Following Kurumada's storylines from the manga closely, series composition was done by Koyama from episodes 1–73 and Yoshiyuki Suga from episodes 74–114. The series has three main parts: Sanctuary (episodes 1–73), Asgard—an anime original story arc (episodes 74–99), and Poseidon (episodes 100–114). The series was cancelled and left unfinished, with the final story arc of the manga not animated until it was adapted into an original video animation series in 2002.[10] The entire series was later released on two Blu-ray box sets on June 20 and September 24, 2014.[11] It was re-broadcast on TV Asahi in 2015.[12]

Music

The series uses four different musical pieces, two opening themes and two ending themes respectively. For episodes 1–73, the opening theme is "Pegasus Fantasy" (ペガサス幻想), while the ending theme is "Blue Forever" (永遠ブルー), both performed by Make-Up. For the remainder of the series, the opening theme is "Soldier Dream", while the ending theme is "Blue Dream", both performed by Hironobu Kageyama and Broadway.[45][46]

Seiji Yokoyama was the main composer for the series. Some of the albums in the discography include the following:

• Saint Seiya Original Soundtrack I–VIII (1987–1989)[47][48]
• Saint Seiya – Piano Fantasia (1989)[49]
• Saint Seiya – Hades (1990)[50]
• Saint Seiya – 1996 Song Collection (1996)[51]
• Saint Seiya – 1997 Shonenki (1997)[52]
• Saint Seiya – Gold Collection: Best Songs & Symphonic Suites (spanning 5 CDs) (1997)[53]
• Saint Seiya – Memorial Box (spanning 5 CDs) (2002)[54]
• Saint Seiya – Song Selection (2016)[55]

Reception

Saint Seiya won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1987.[56] The series ranked 53rd in Animage's 2001 "Top-100 Anime" list,[57] and placed 25th in a 2006 TV Asahi nationwide poll of the most popular animated television series.[58] In an NHK online poll celebrating a century of Japanese animation, it ranked 123rd.[59]

The series was regarded as a major cultural phenomenon of the 1980s and inspired numerous subsequent works. These included several Gundam series such as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Mobile Fighter G Gundam,[60] as well as Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato, Ronin Warriors, Wild Knights Gulkeeva, and Masami Kurumada's later manga B't X.[61] In The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy commended the series' intricate plot and described the animation by Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno as "magic." They also praised the soundtrack and director Shigeyasu Yamauchi's skillful pacing and use of cliffhangers. However, they noted a disturbing aspect in the series' emotional core, which they felt derived from depictions of older males battling and defeating courageous but naive teenagers to acquire better weaponry.[62]

DVDVisionJapan's Devin Pratt highlighted the brutality of Hyoga's first fight, noting how the Hydra Saint's repeated punches to his face sent blood flying out of the arena and onto Seiya. The review also praised Hirotaka Suzuoki's performance for giving Shiryu the voice of a "wise fighter."[63] Similarly, AnimeOnDVD's Chris Beveridge found Hyoga's clash with his former master, Camus, to be a particularly interesting and fun fight. Beveridge also highlighted the Shiryu vs. Death Mask showdown as a standout, enjoying the high stakes of Shiryu nearly falling into the Underworld.[64] DVD Talk's Todd Douglass Jr. praised the series for its high drama and epic storylines, though he observed that the English dub was of lower quality than the original Japanese audio.[65]

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