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Saint Seiya (聖闘士星矢（セイントセイヤ）Seinto Seiya), also known as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac or simply Knights of the Zodiac, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1986 to 1990, with the chapters collected into 28 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha.

The story follows five mystical warriors called the 'Saints' (聖闘士（セイント）Seinto, or 'Knights' in some adaptations) who fight wearing sacred sacred sets of armor named 'Cloths' (聖衣（クロス）Kurosu), the designs of which derive from the various constellations the characters have adopted as their destined guardian symbols, and empowered by a mystical energy called 'Cosmo' (小宇宙（コスモ）Kosumo). The Saints have sworn to defend the reincarnation of the Greek goddess Athena in her battle against other Olympian gods who want to dominate Earth.

The manga was adapted into an anime television series by Toei Animation that ran from 1986 to 1989, before being continued in the form of three original video animation series between 2002 and 2008. Four animated feature films were shown in Japanese theaters from 1987 to 1989, with a fifth in 2004 and a sixth in 2014. Since 2006, creator Kurumada has been publishing a sequel manga titled Saint Seiya: Next Dimension. Several spin-off manga by different authors have also been created, as well as a standalone anime and original net animation.

Saint Seiya has been successful, with over 35 million copies sold as of 2017. The series began to be known in the West after it became popular in France in 1988, where it was given the name of Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque; this was also the first foreign release of the series. Both the original manga and the anime adaptation were also successful in other Asian, European and American countries,^[4][5][6] however, none of them were translated into English until 2003.^[5] In North America the manga is licensed by Viz Media, the anime has been released by both DIC Entertainment (as Knights Of The Zodiac) and ADV Films, and the first four films were released by Discotek Media.

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Plot[edit]

The story focuses on an orphan named Seiya who was forced to go to the Sanctuary in Greece to obtain the Bronze Cloth of the Pegasus constellation, a protective armor worn by the Greek goddess Athena's 88 warriors known as Saints. Upon awakening his Cosmos, the power of the Saints which is an inner spiritual essence originated in the Big Bang, Seiya quickly becomes the Pegasus Saint and returns to Japan to find his older sister.

Because his sister disappeared the same day Seiya went to the Sanctuary, Saori Kido, the granddaughter of Mitsumasa Kido (the person who sent all the orphans to train) makes a deal with him to go to fight in a tournament called the Galaxian Wars. In this tournament, all the orphans who survived and became Bronze Saints must fight to win the most powerful Cloth: The Sagittarius Gold Cloth. If Seiya goes to compete there and wins, Saori would start a search to find Seiya's sister. The tournament is interrupted by the revengeful Phoenix Bronze Saint, Ikki, who wishes to eliminate track from the people who forced him undergo his training. He steals parts from the Sagittarius Cloth and eventually fights against the remaining Bronze Saints: Seiya, Shun (Ikki's brother), Shiryū, and Hyōga, to complete it.

Upon Ikki's defeat, the Bronze Saints are attacked by the Silver Saints sent by the Sanctuary's Pope to eliminate them. When they remain victorious, the Bronze Saints learn that Saori is Athena's reincarnation and that the Pope once tried to kill her as a baby. The Sagittarius Gold Saint Aiolos saved Saori but was killed shortly afterwards and gave Saori to her adopted grandfather, Mitsumasa Kido. Deciding to join forces with Saori, the Bronze Saints go to the Sanctuary to defeat the Pope, but upon their arrival, Saori is severely wounded by a gold arrow from a Silver Saint. Believing the Pope may be able to heal her, the Bronze Saints go to find him. To do so, they have to go through 12 temples, each one guarded by one Gold Saint (the most powerful Saints of Athena). Following several battles, Seiya gets to the Pope's temple and learns that he is the Gold Saint Gemini Saga, who in his madness killed the real Pope to obtain more power. With help from his friends' Cosmos, Seiya is able to knock out Saga and use the shield from Athena's statue to heal Saori. Shortly afterwards, Saga, having come to his senses, commits suicide as a self-punishment.

In the second story arc, the Greek god Poseidon reincarnates within the body of Julian Solo, the heir to a rich and powerful family, who follows his will of flooding the Earth. Saori goes to his Temple, where Julian offers her to reduce the flooding by absorbing the water inside the Oceans' Central Pillar. Following Saori, Seiya, Hyōga, Shun and Shiryū go to Poseidon's underwater Temple and are confronted by his underlings, the Marines. As Seiya, Hyōga, and Shiryū make their way to Julian, Ikki learns that the mastermind behind this war is Saga's twin, Gemini Kanon, who is manipulating Poseidon. During the final battle, Poseidon's spirit awakes within Julian and manages to defeat his opponents. Saved by the Saints from the Pillar, Saori seals Poseidon's soul within her amphora.

The third and last arc follows how Hades, the Underworld god, is freed from his seal and revives the deceased Gold Saints and the Pope Aries Shion, and alongside some of his 108 Specters, sends them to the Sanctuary to kill Athena. The remaining Gold Saints serving Athena are able to subdue the enemies, but Saori then commits suicide. This act is instead meant to directly send her to the Underworld to face Hades, and the Bronze Saints follow her. Shion reveals that the revived Gold Saints' true intentions were of giving Saori her own Cloth, and gives it to Seiya's group before dying once again. In the Underworld, as the Saints fight Hades' Specters, Shun is possessed by Hades. Saori reaches Hades and expels his soul from Shun's body. Hades then takes Saori to Elysium, and the five Bronze Saints follow them. In the final fight against Hades and his two followers, Hypnos and Thanatos, the Saints gain the strongest God Cloths and use them to aid Saori in defeating Hades. However, Seiya also sacrifices himself by receiving one of Hades' attacks, and the Saints return to Earth with his body.

Production[edit]

When Masami Kurumada was in the process of creating Saint Seiya, he gave Seiya the name Rin at first, since Kurumada was going to title his manga 'Ginga no Rin' (Rin of the Galaxy). However, as Kurumada continued developing his manga, he decided to change the name to Seiya, which was more fitting. First he spelled the name with the kanji that meant 'Holy Arrow', to relate it to Seiya's condition as a Saint, but later decided to use the kanji that meant 'Star Arrow', to emphasize the constellation and mythological motif. Finally, he changed his manga title as well, to Saint Seiya, once he fully developed the concept of the Saints. Also, Kurumada stated that one of the first ideas he conceived for Saint Seiya was the Pegasus Meteor Fist. Since his manga was going to use the constellations as a very important and ever-present theme, he wanted his protagonist to have a special move that would be like a shower of meteors.^[7]

When Kurumada designed Seiya's likeness, he was inspired by his character Ryūji Takane, the protagonist of his hit manga Ring ni Kakero, which he created 9 years before Seiya. Most protagonists of Kurumada's works bear a resemblance to Ryūji, as Kurumada subscribes to the revered Osamu Tezuka's Star System (a stable cast of characters) technique. The same process is done with almost all the other characters from the series.^[7]

Media[edit]

Manga[edit]

Written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada, Saint Seiya was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from January 1, 1986^[8] to November 19, 1990.^[9] The individual chapters were collected and published into 28 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha.^[10].^[11] The series has three main parts or acts: Sanctuary Act (volumes 1 to 13), Poseidon Act (volumes 14 to 18), and Hades Act (volumes 19 to 28). Volume 13 also contains a separate short story called 'The Chapter of Nastassja from the Land of Ice' (氷の国のナターシャ編Kōri no Kuni no Natāsha Hen).

In addition to the original 28 tankōbon volumes, the series has been reissued several times. The first as 15 aizōban volumes in 1995, the 'Collector's Version.' The second reissue was 2001 bunkoban, the 'Library Version.' The series was released again in 2003 in 19 volumes with art design images from the anime adaptation, and called the 'Remix Version.' The fourth reissue, in 22 volumes and called the 'Complete Version', contains additional colored pages as well as colored armor schematics. Another 'Remix Version' was published at the end of 2007 to coincide with the broadcast of Chapter Elysion of the anime.^[12] Another 'Remix Version' was published at the end of 2012.

The series is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media under the title Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac. Viz released the first collected volume of the series on January 21, 2004,^[13] and as of February 2, 2010 all twenty-eight volumes have been released.^[14]

To celebrate 30 years of the original classic manga of Saint Seiya, in Akihabara (Tokyo) in June 2016 there will be a convention commemorating the historic series, with numerous commemorative gadgets on sale.^[15]

For the 30 years of the classic manga Saint Seiya, has also opened a website official called seiya30th^[16]

A second exhibition commemorating the 30th anniversary of the manga by Masami Kurumada, will be held in China (Hong Kong)in September 2016.^[17]

Saint Seiya 30 Shunen Keny Gashu, Seiiki - Sanctuary: Illustration artwork of 130 pg by Masami Kurumada for the 30th anniversary of the Saint Seiya Manga Original classic (1986-1990), launched on October 21, 2016 by Takarajimash in Japan.^[18]

A third exhibition commemorating the 30th anniversary of the manga by Masami Kurumada, will be held in China (Hong Kong)in April 2018.^[19]

Other series[edit]

During 2002, a new manga called Saint Seiya Episode.G started being serialized. The story is situated 7 years before the events at the beginning of the original Saint Seiya manga, and 6 years after the death of the Gold Saint Sagittarius Aiolos, making Leo Aiolia the main character. During the series, Titans are brought back to life with the mission of recovering their realm, and the Gold Saints are assigned to stop them to protect the humans. This new series is written and illustrated by Megumu Okada, under the authorization of Masami Kurumada. The individual chapters were published in Akita Shoten's Champion Red magazine and they have been compiled into a total of 20 tankōbon.

In the summer of 2006, Kurumada resumed the story of Saint Seiya in Saint Seiya: Next Dimension. The official and canonical^[20]sequel of the original manga, the story continues with the previous Holy War between the deities in the Saint Seiya universe. Heroes from the present journey back in time to save Pegasus Seiya from his imminent death. The manga tells about the events of two different periods, alternating between the twentieth century and the eighteenth century. The full color series is being published in Akita Shoten's Shōnen Champion magazine at irregular dates, with 12 compiled tankōbon volumes released so far.^[21]

Also, during the fall of 2006, another new manga series called Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas started being published. This series tells an alternate not canonical^{[citation needed]} interpretation of the previous Holy War that took place in the 18th century, 250 years before the original series in the Saint Seiya universe. The story centers on the relations between Tenma, the Pegasus Saint, and his beloved friend, Alone, who would eventually become his greatest enemy, Hades. Along with Saint Seiya: Next Dimension, it was published in Akita Shoten's Shōnen Champion magazine. Written and illustrated by Shiori Teshirogi under the authorization of Kurumada, the chapters have been compiled into 25 tankōbon. Free full album downloads zip.

In June 2013, a third Saint Seiya spin-off manga series was announced. Titled Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō, it began serialization in the September 2013 issue of Champion Red magazine. The series features a female Saint named Shō as the protagonist and is authored by Chimaki Kuori, under commission by Masami Kurumada.^[22]

Anime[edit]

An anime adaptation based on the Saint Seiya manga was created by Toei Animation and broadcast on TV Asahi from October 11, 1986 to 1989.^[23] 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 soundtracks. Following Kurumada's storylines from the manga closely, the chief scriptwriters were Takao Koyama (1-73) and Yoshiyuki Suga (74-114). The series has three main parts: Sanctuary (episodes 1–73), Asgard, which exists only in the anime adaptation (episodes 74–99), and Poseidon (episodes 100–114). The anime was cancelled and left unfinished in 1989, leaving one arc of the manga not animated.^[24]

There are two English dubs of the anime series, one of which was heavily edited, and the other of which was uncensored. Both dubs are incomplete. In North America, the edited dub premiered on Cartoon Network on August 30, 2003, with only the first 32 episodes airing before the show was cancelled.^[5] This dub, re-titled Knights of the Zodiac, was licensed by DIC Entertainment.^[25] The edits made to this dub included cutting overly violent scenes, adding in previously non-existent digital scene transitions, coloring all instances of blood blue and renaming it 'magical energies,' rewriting the scripts, renaming several characters, and replacing the opening theme, ending theme, background music, and sound effects.

ADV Films licensed the home video rights to the series and released the DIC-dubbed episodes. In addition to this, ADV also released a separate DVD series featuring the original, uncut Japanese version of the show with English subtitles, which also included a new, uncut dub (with a different voice cast than the one used by DIC). ADV's dub, in addition to being uncut, also kept all of the original music and featured dub scripts that were much closer to the original Japanese dialogue. The first 60 episodes were released in this way. In early 2009, the uncut version was reissued in two box sets, and ADV had expressed an interest in releasing the rest of the series uncut and completing their uncut dub. However, ADV shut down and ceased operations later that year.

A DVD set entitled 'Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Classic Complete Collection' was released to DVD in the US on April 15, 2014 by New Video, containing the first 73 episodes in Japanese with English subtitles.^[26][27] On June 20, 2014 and September 2, 2014 two Blu-ray boxsets were released in Japan, containing all 114 episodes of the classic series, restored in high definition video and audio along with extra materials.^[28] Additionally, on April 1 of 2015, TV Asahi in Japan began re-airing the original anime series to commemorate its 30th anniversary, as well as the 30th anniversary of the manga upon which it is based.^[29]

A new anime series was announced by Toei Animation, under the name Saint Seiya Omega, which began airing on April 1, 2012 with a grand total of 97 episodes. As an 'anime original story', it does not take place in the continuity of Kurumada's manga.^[30] In most English-speaking countries, Saint Seiya Omega is available in English-subtitled format through Crunchyroll.^[31]

A new CG project for the series was revealed to be in the works at in December 2016, at CCXP in Brazil.^[32] The website Cinematoday.jp published an article on August 2, 2017 which revealed that the project was a collaboration with Netflix to make a new adaptation of the manga and anime series. Yoshiharu Ashino was announced as the director, and Eugene Son among others as the writers. The first season would follow the Galaxian Wars arc to the Silver Saint arc with twelve episodes.^[33] The series will be released on Netflix in the summer of 2019.^[34]

Novels[edit]

On November 9, 1988, Weekly Shōnen Jump released a Jump Gold Selection Anime Special 2, written by Takao Koyama, with illustrations by the series' animation character designers Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno. This special is just a detailed flashback to Gemini Saga's assassination attempt on the newborn Athena.

There is also a series of two novels written by Kurumada and Tatsuya Hamazaki with the name of Saint Seiya – Gigantomachia, which were published by Jump J Books. The first novel was released in Japan on August 23, 2002,^[35] while the second was released on December 16, 2002.^[36]

Films[edit]

Four animated feature films were shown in Japanese theaters from 1987 to 1989. A fifth animated film came out in Japanese theaters in 2004, Heaven Chapter - Overture (天界編 序奏Tenkai Hen Josō), which was supposed to follow the regular chronology right after the end of the manga (which finished being adapted on August 1, 2008) as a prologue to a new chapter.^[37] Toei Animation first announced that this new chapter would be a new animated series, but later Kurumada stated that he wanted the film to be part of a trilogy. Tōru Furuya revealed Kurumada's wishes for the series during a press conference. After Pegasus Seiya eventually defeats Zeus, he is to go on and face Chronos, the God of Time. Toru was not allowed to say anything more.^[38] With the serialization of Saint Seiya: Next Dimension, Kurumada removed Overture from the canon of the Saint Seiya universe, although some elements that appeared in it remain in the continuity.

A new Saint Seiya movie (Legend of Sanctuary), made in CGI, was produced by Toei to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise. It was released on June 21, 2014.^[39]

Despite the first movie being released in 1987, none of the movies received an official English release in North America until it was announced by Discotek in 2012 that they had acquired the home video rights to the first four movies and intended to release them across two DVDs, each containing two movies. The DVDs contain Japanese audio with English subtitles.^[40]

In 2003, the French magazine AnimeLand published an interview with Masami Kurumada where the author revealed that a company in Hollywood had approached him some years prior with a fifteen-minute pilot of a live-action movie of Saint Seiya. The project was abandoned as Kurumada did not feel the essence of the series had been preserved. In a later interview published in 2005 the reporter was allowed to see the video and commented on how the names of the main characters were changed and noted that one of them, Andromeda Shun had been changed from male to female.^[41][42]

In 2017, a collaboration between TOEI Animation and Hong Kong based production company A Really Good Film Company was announced. In the press conference, plans for a live action Saint Seiya movie were detailed, and Polish director Tomasz Bagiński was announced as being in charge of filming, which is supposed to take place in Summer 2019. The official title for the movie is Saint Seiya: Knights Of The Zodiac.

Original video animations[edit]

These are a series of original video animations (OVAs) that cover the last arc of the manga, which was not previously adapted into anime. The first 13 episodes were broadcast on Animax (a Japanese pay-per-view channel) from November 9, 2002 to April 12, 2003,^[43] and then released on DVD during the year 2003. These 13 episodes were named Hades — Chapter Sanctuary (冥王ハーデス十二宮編Meiō Hādesu Jyūnikyū Hen) and adapt volumes 19 to 22 of the manga. This OVA series was directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, still with animation character designs by Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno, while the scripts were adapted from the manga this time by Michiko Yokote, and the soundtrack was entirely taken from Yokoyama's work on the previous TV series.^[44]

Two years after the first part of the Hades saga, Chapter Sanctuary, a second part was produced in 2005. This second chapter was named Hades — Chapter Inferno (冥王ハーデス冥界編 前章Meiō Hādesu Meikai Hen - Zenshō) and consists of six episodes, adapting volumes 23 to 25 of the manga. However, most of the original voice actors did not reprise their roles, aside from Hideyuki Tanaka as the narrator. Hirotaka Suzuoki, the original voice actor of Dragon Shiryū, died on August 6, 2006 due to lung cancer.^[45]

On the same Animax channel, Toei Animation released the first two OVAs on December 17, 2005, followed by the next two on January 21, 2006. The last pair were released on February 18, 2006. Shortly after their TV broadcasting, which lasted for 2 months, the episodes were released on DVD in 2006. This short OVA series was directed by Tomoharu Katsumata, but the other staff remained the same. Toei Animation officially announced the news on its website on July 18, 2006. Then, Hades — Chapter Inferno - Part 2 (冥王ハーデス冥界編 後章Meiō Hādesu Meikai Hen - Kōshō), which contains 6 episodes in total, was released, adapting volumes 25 to 26 of the manga.

On June 28, Masami Kurumada announced on his personal blog that production on the Hades — Chapter Elysion (冥王ハーデス エリシオン編Meiō Hādesu Erishion Hen) OVAs had begun. It was thought that the release was to be in mid-December 2007, as of the last two years with the performance of the two Inferno chapters (Zenshō and Kōshō), but no preview or released images were available as of the end of October.^[46] In November 2007, Toei Animation announced that the official release of the Elysion Chapter would be in March 2008 and not December 2007 as originally planned^[47] The Elysion OVAs were released in March (episodes #26 and #27), May (#28 and #29), and August (#30 and #31), and adapted the final two volumes of the manga, 27 and 28.^[48]

An original net animation series titled Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold began streaming in 2015.^[49]

Musicals[edit]

In August 1991, a musical, sponsored by Bandai, was performed at the Aoyama theater in Tokyo, Japan. The story retells the Sanctuary and Poseidon chapters. The cast included members of SMAP as the five Bronze Saints and Poseidon. The characters Aries Mu, Leo Aiolia, and Scorpio Milo were portrayed by members of another band, Tokio.

As of May 2011, Masami Kurumada announced in his website that a new Saint Seiya musical was in the works.^[50] Debuting in late 2011, the stage play was titled Saint Seiya Super Musical, and presented a live-action adaptation of the first Saint Seiya film, Evil Goddess Eris.

Video games[edit]

Several video games have been released based on the series. Most video games refer mainly to the classic series from 1986.

Discography[edit]

Seiji Yokoyama was the main composer for the Saint Seiya original anime series 1986/90. A selection is listed below:

• Saint Seiya Original Soundtrack I–VIII (spanning 8 CDs)
• Saint Seiya – 1996 Song Collection
• Saint Seiya – 1997 Shonenki
• Saint Seiya – Best Collection
• Saint Seiya – Chikyūgi (Single Album)
• Saint Seiya – Galaxian Wars
• Saint Seiya – Memorial Box (spanning 5 CDs)
• Saint Seiya – Gold Collection (spanning 5 CDs)
• Saint Seiya – Hits (spanning 3 CDs)
• Saint Seiya – King of the Underworld
• Saint Seiya – Piano Fantasia
• Saint Seiya – Tenkai Hen Josō Overture
• Saint Seiya – Song Selection (commemorative CD for the 30th anniversary of the original series of Saint Seiya eighties) ^[51]

Merchandise[edit]

Saint Seiya began to be known in the West as Knights of the Zodiac after it became successful in France at the end of the 1980s, where it was given the name of Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque. This was also the very first release of the series outside Asia, in 1988.

The series was also broadcast starting from 1989 in Italy, under the title of 'I Cavalieri dello Zodiaco' (following the French renaming). This edition is known to differ substantially from other foreign editions of Saint Seiya, not only because many names of characters, places, and fighting techniques were changed, but especially because the whole tone of the dialogues was modified to become more aulic and ceremonious, in step with the tone of the ancient epic Greek drama, and with occasional quotations from various pieces of poetry and classical literature; the main characters were also given adult voices in the dubbing, instead of teenage voices.

The series was also released in Spanish-speaking countries, under the title of 'Los Caballeros del Zodiaco' (again, following the French renaming), enjoying great success in both Spain and Latin America. In 2003, the three acts of the original anime (Sanctuary, Asgard and Poseidon arcs) were aired again on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block. Starting in 2006, the Hades arc was also aired, with new dubbing.

In the mid-1980s a line of Saint Seiya action figures, called Saint Cloth Series, were produced by Bandai, featuring most of the series characters. The toy line was a huge success inside of Japan, but also in other countries such as Hong-Kong, Taiwan, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Mexico.^{[citation needed]} The figures have now acquired collector status and the Japanese originals are highly sought after. Some, like Odin's God Robe or Kraken Isaac, have a very high value.^{[citation needed]}

Starting in 2002, for their popular gashapon high-quality PVC figurines line, Bandai released several Saint Seiya themed sets, each one containing an average of 5 figurines. Seven sets were released, the sixth of which was a Special release that included the 12 Gold Saints.^[52] The seventh set was released in 2004 to commemorate the release of the Tenkai Hen Josō Overture movie, raising the number of figurines released to date to 34.

In 2003, Bandai created a new line of figures called Saint Seiya Cloth Myth (聖闘士聖衣神話Seinto Seiya Kurosu Maisu). Originally, only the five main Bronze Saints wearing their Cloths from the Poseidon Arc would be released, in commemoration of the Hades arc of the manga being animated, but were so well received that they decided to continue the line and it continues to sell very well internationally.^{[citation needed]} As of July 2010, there are over 100 figures available, and Bandai continues to release new figures regularly. The line seems to be nowhere near its end.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Bandai created a separate gashapon line named Saint Seiya - Cloth-up Saint (聖闘士星矢　クロスアップセイントSeinto Seiya Kurosu-appu Seinto). It differed from the original gashapon line in that the figurines were poseable and their armor could be removed. Five sets, each containing five figurines, were released.^[53]

In 2008, Bandai released a line of PVC figurines Saint Seiya - Saint Statue (聖闘士星矢 聖闘士彫像Seinto Seiya - Seinto Agaruma). Each set includes an average of five figures, and four sets have been released to date.^[54]

More recently, the Japanese hobby figurine and collectible manufacturer Megahouse released in 2007 a line of very high-quality, non-poseable resin figures named Saint Seiya Excellent Model, which are part of the line Excellent Model, composed of various well-known characters from manga and anime. Three figures have been released so far, Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryū and Athena.^[55]

Starting in 2008, the Japanese collectible manufacturer Medicos Entertainment, is releasing the Saint Seiya - Cloth Collection (聖闘士星矢 聖衣コレクシオンSeinto Seiya Kurosu Korekushion), a line that consists in various resin figurines of the Cloths worn by the Saints. Three volumes have been released so far, each one containing 6 figures.^[56]

Continuing with its Saint Seiya themed lines, Medicos Entertainment also released a line of non-poseable resin figures named Saint Seiya - Zodiac Temples Chapter (聖闘士星矢 黄金十二宮編Seinto Seiya Ōgon Jūnikyū Hen), composed of various figures of Saint Seiya characters. Nine figures have been released so far.^[57] Medicos also released a very high-quality resin figure of Aiolos and Seiya, wearing the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, as part of their Art Collection line.^[58] All three sub-lines form part of their Chōzō (Super Figures) line.

Recently, Megahouse has announced the release of two sets of chibi PVC figures portraying the Gold Saints, titled Saint Seiya - The arc of the Zodiac Temples (聖闘士星矢 十二宮編Seinto Seiya - Jūnikyū Hen). Both sets include seven figures, set 1 is slated for release in July 2012 ^[59] and set 2 is slated for release in September 2012.^[60]

D.D.Panoramation, new line (2016) of action figures about 17 characters of the original series(years 80s)(1986/1990), 12 Gold Saints and 5 Bronze Saints.^[61]

A new line of action figures called Saint Seiya Daizenshuu on 12 characters of the original series (years 80s)(19861990) Saint Seiya in 'Superdeformer' version will start to come out in Japan in November 2016.^[62]

A new line of action figures called Saint Seiya Revival on characters of the original series (years 80s)(1986/1990)

Reception[edit]

The original manga of twenty-eight volumes by Masami Kurumada have sold over 25 million copies in Japan as of 2007.^[63] The manga had sold over 35 million copies in Japan as of 2017.^[64] When^[when?]TV Asahi, a television network in Japan, conducted a nationwide survey for the one hundred most popular animated television series, Saint Seiya anime came in twenty-fifth place.^[65]Animage also ranked^[when?] the anime series within 'Top 100' anime productions.^[66] The anime series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1987.^[67]

It was considered one of the biggest anime phenomenons of the 1980s. It would become the inspiration for future series, including several Gundam series such as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Mobile Fighter G Gundam,^[68]Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato, Ronin Warriors, Wild Knights Gulkeeva, and Kurumada's later work B't X.^[69] In The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy praises the series' complex plot and felt that animation designers' Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno had worked 'magic' with both the anime series and the films. They also praised the grand soundtrack and director Shigeyasu Yamauchi's ability to stretch out the tension and chose the perfect places to stop an episode to keep audiences waiting for the next one. Clements and McCarthy did, however, find the series disturbing in that its main emotional impact comes from the audience seeing 'older boys and men fighting brave but naive teenagers' and through victories earning more weapons.^[70]Jason Thompson describes the series as being 'almost pure battle'.^[71]

Yaoidōjinshi based on Saint Seiya popularized the term 'yaoi' in 1987.^[72]Saint Seiya was particularly popular as a subject in yaoi as it had a large cast which was predominantly male. This allowed 'an incredible number' of pairings, although Andromeda Shun was one of the more popular characters to create yaoi for.^[73]

Tite Kubo, the author of the manga series Bleach, considers Saint Seiya to be one of his biggest inspirations for the designs of the different types of weapons that his characters use in the story as well as the battle scenes.^[74]

In the NHK ranking: 'Best Anime 100', celebrating a century of Japanese Animation, the Japanese voted the 'Classic Anime Saint Seiya (1986-1990)', making it the 123rd place among the more than 5,000 Japanese animations produced in the first century, resulting the 123rd Anime of all time preferred by Japanese fans, also 'Anime Classic of Saint Seiya' is the animated product of Saint Seiya preferred by fans of the Japan.^[75]

References[edit]

1. ^'Clash of the Titans Posters by Saint Seiya's Kurumada Posted'. Anime News Network. April 12, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
2. ^'The Official Website for Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya)'. Viz Media. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
3. ^'Masami Kurumada Hints at New Ring ni Kakero Work'. Anime News Network. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
4. ^'Introduction to Saint Seiya'. Viz Media. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
5. ^ ^abc'Knights of the Zodiac on Cartoon Network'. Anime News Network. 2003-08-02. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
6. ^Bandai.comArchived May 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ ^abKappa Magazine, number 80 (in Japanese). 1999.
8. ^'週刊少年ジャンプ　1986/01/01　表示号数1・2'. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
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Further reading[edit]

• Piatti-Farnell, Lorna (December 2013). 'Blood, Biceps, and Beautiful Eyes: Cultural Representations of Masculinity in Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya'. The Journal of Popular Culture. 46 (6): 1133–1155. doi:10.1111/jpcu.12081.

External links[edit]

• Official website(in Japanese)
• Saint Seiya (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Saint Seiya on IMDb

Season 1