Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya

The series was first revealed to be in the works in December 2016 at CCXP in Brazil.[3] On August 2, 2017, Cinematoday.jp published an article which revealed that the project was a collaboration with Netflix to make a new adaptation of the manga and anime classic series. Yoshiharu Ashino was announced as the director, and Eugene Son among others as the writers. The first six episodes were released on Netflix on July 19, 2019, and loosely adapts the "Galaxian Wars" and the "Black Knights" arcs from the manga.[4][5] Another six episodes that loosely adapt the "Silver Saints" arc were released on January 23, 2020.[6][7]

Seiya, a young teen, is recruited by Alman Kiddo to become a fabled Bronze Knight (青銅聖闘士, Buronzu Seinto). The series follows the Bronze Knights as they fight prolific warriors in the quest of becoming Goddess Athena warriors, while Seiya at the same time is looking for his missing sister.[8][9]

The Review Geek rated the series 3.5 out of 10;[12] Ready Steady Cut gave a 2.5 out of 5 rating and called the show "dull and uninspiring".[13] Initial backlash to the series began before it aired, when it was revealed that Shun, a male in the original manga and series, was changed into a female character. The writer of the series, Eugene Son, justified this change after thinking the Knights needed more female representation. He explained that while the original show had some excellent core concepts, the one thing that bothered him about it was that “the Bronze Knights with Pegasus Seiya are all dudes”. However, this decision received backlash from fans of the original series, as the existence of female Saints is in stark contradiction with the canonical lore. One example includes the complete erasure of explanation for Marin's mask. The gender swap of Shun, who was the only main male character of the original series who did not fit in the stereotype of the male hero - slightly effeminate, sensitive and opposed to fighting - was seen as special interest pandering by some and a heteronormative move by others.[14]

• Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya on Netflix
• Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya (ONA) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia