Saint Seiya was my formative anime. It is the show that felt like mine. I didn’t read much of the manga but the original anime Saint Seiya Sanctuary from ’86 (Knights of the Zodiac in the US, early 90’s) is a masterpiece. It weaves an amazing narrative around impossible odds, deception, religion, and most importantly friendship. Specifically, the show focuses on male friendship in a way a lot of shows don’t. As somebody who values my friends dearly, Saint Seiya is a perfect outlet for me. It was also beautifully animated and violent enough that the stakes always felt high. Important characters can and did die and that made every episode feel important.
The quick overview of the Saint Seiya story arc is there is a prophecy is told that things will get dark surrounding humanity due to Athena. Knights are lurking in the shadows of humanity to protect Athena and keep humanity safe. Once the prophecy is told that Athena may lead to the end of humanity, the Knights are split into 2 factions, those that still support Athena and those who want her dead. The Bronze Knights are sworn to guard Athena no matter what and Seiya is a bronze knight. There are 5 who fight to protect her. They end up fighting other Knights and enemies in an attempt to protect Athena and find out what is really threatening the world. The 80’s anime told this story over 73 episode, with almost 120 total that delve into a couple different storylines as well. The Netflix show is at 6, I didn’t expect it to get too far past origin stories and setting the stakes.
The 3 biggest things that seem to come up with the Netflix Saint Seiya are the animation, the update and localization, and revised story. The animation looks cheap. I hate to use that word, because I don’t want to insult the artist behind the show. The character models and armor stay true to the source material and look good. The show has a consistent artistic look and feel. The issue is once things start moving you realize how jilted and stiff things feel. The best comparison I can make is watching the Korean animated show Tobots. It looks fine, but in motion it never feels smooth. The fight scenes really suffer in Saint Seiya because of the animations. I think the show avoids fights and it leads to this weird thing where the main characters just talk and blast out a special move to end the fight. Saint Seiya has always relied heavily on big special moves in fights but usually there is a lot of hand to hand combat as well because using the big moves had a lot of risk associated with them (once a Saint see’s your special move, they can avoid it) because you have only 1 or 2 chances to hit with the move. This show is basically people talking and doing a big move. The only long form action is when the cast is fighting the military tanks and air craft. The Saints vs. Saints fights have been underwhelming thus far. My biggest disappointment is that the PS4/PC fighting game from a few years ago was better animated.
The localization isn’t bad per se, the voice acting is good but names were changed and Shun (an effeminate guy) was transformed into Shaun, a woman. I don’t mind Shun being a woman now, but they don’t utilize the gender change to add anything meaningful to the character. It was more impactful having Shun undermining traditional male stereotypes and masculine tropes on the show instead. I do hate the name changes. They changed all the main character names and then dropped the names of the special moves. Meteor fist (Seiya’s big attack) is now the Japanese name of the move. It makes it harder to remember the moves and it feels out of place when these English speaking characters use Japanese for their special moves. Phoenix Ikki is one of the coolest characters in the series and he still seems awesome in the Netflix show but his name is now Phoenix Nero. That name just means nothing to me, and because he looks like Ikki, it’s hard to connect with as a long time fan.
The story made a lot of changes to Seiya’s origin. Seiya finds out about his cosmo in the show during a fight with some bullies in an ally. They record him glowing and put it on Youtube and that’s how Athena finds out about Seiya. I don’t mind that origin, it shows that the world is really clueless about the Knights and Athena and the youtube moment gives Seiya a cool moment of discovery like a superhero discovering their mutant power. They also change how he met Athena and how the 5 saints became bonded in brotherhood/friendship. I don’t love the characterization of Hyoga. He is an assassin that turns to the correct side of history after a conversation with Athena. Hyoga was always confident but this show tends to feign confidence by making them act mean (or murderous). They haven’t strongly established the Pope as a threat yet and really focus on this military conflict between the Saints and the government forces.
The timing and pacing of the show feels off, like the characters make references to being a Saint like they have been in the fold for years but then other moments act like it’s the first time they are hearing about Athena and the cloths. It’s jarring when it happens and it happens a lot. They neutered the galaxian war battles to find out who was going to be one of Athena’s knights. It became a warehouse brawl with 0 fanfare. This is odd because Athena’s earthly reincarnation is wealthy beyond comprehension. One of the best parts of the original anime was the galaxian war tournament. It was like the super bowl where all the Saints fight each other to figure out who was the strongest and who would protect Athena. It was also a great character building segment that felt organic. The warehouse uses this moment to introduce characters but it feels forced. The Saints engage in some forced discourse and then in one hit they win or lose. What felt like a wrestling pay-per-view in the original anime feels like a knock off fight club scene in the new show.
The world building feels off. The show opens seemingly taking place in a 2019ish real world with real rules. Youtube videos, phones, and even military equipment is all present. The galaxian wars felt more realistic, as they are taking place in a warehouse. Killing the realism is a weird talking man hole cover for security that feels way more technologically advanced than anything happening in the world. Then they will immediately jump to a fire island or ethereal area. It doesn’t flow well and it’s hard to tell what the rules of the universe are. The original anime felt real and consistent with it’s rules and physics. People also bled in that show and only like 1 hit makes a person bleed in this series, yet they reference death and killing each other a lot. I would have been more intrigued if they were in the real world like heroes with secret identities and navigating this war like that. It’s almost too early to tell how this will play out.
In regards to how they discuss cosmo, what I find odd is as soon as they introduce the concept of cosmo, they start discussing it like we didn’t get the abridged notes but instead read the entire novel. They immediately start talking about how they “feel” each others cosmo and other references that feel out of place in episode 5. Cosmo usually feels more like a power level from Dragon Ball and is a very tangible force. The show makes it feel more flimsy, like the force from Star Wars.
My biggest grievance with this release is why did Netflix only choose to show 6 episodes? The show starts getting good in episode 6 and then the series is done. They do all this character and world building, at the expense of pacing only to finally have a banger of an episode and the series halts. I forced my way to episode 6 but now I want more after that episode.
While it may sound like my experience with this series is all negative so far, that’s not the case. I actually enjoy the show. There is something so cool about seeing a new Saint Seiya on Netflix. The armor looks great and the characters I know and love are present. The best part is my 10 year old son, loves the show and he doesn’t have any of my previous baggage. I think if the show appeals to a 10 year old, then it’s a success. I fear the pace and look of the early episodes will kill this show before it has a chance to shine.
What is the best episode? Phoenix Rising (Ep. 6). I’ve referenced it a few times but the action is incredible and the character development is strong. Visually, I think it makes the fights feel the best. Phoenix hits hard and it’s conveyed well. The dialogue and flashbacks are great and there are some very compelling moments that harken back to the importance of friendship and self determination. Phoenix Nero looks amazing. He is the coolest saint and has the best cloth in the series (in my opinion). He looks amazing in this CG and seems to be the character most benefitting from the shift in design. They kept Phoenix’ back story the same as the show and it resonates really well. It’s gut wrenching and violent in meaningful ways and makes Phoenix a sympathetic figure.
Will I finish the series once it’s released in it’s entirety? Yes. Out of both obligation and pleasure. This is a show worth checking out but the first couple of episodes won’t grab you. Watch episode 6 and marinate in what the series promises to be. Thanks for reading, Peace!
J3Blackgamer 