Saint Seiya

The cover of Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac volume 1, as published by Viz Media.

Written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada, Saint Seiya was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from January 1, 1986 to November 19, 1990.[12][13] The individual chapters were collected and published into 28 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha.[14][15] 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 Japan, the manga of Saint Seiya has been published since 1986 in various nations of the world and then translated into various languages including: Chinese (Taiwan), Filipino, Korean, Thai, Portuguese, English, Italian, French, Spanish, German.

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.[16] 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,[17] and as of February 2, 2010, all twenty-eight volumes have been released.[18]

Many different events took place to celebrate the manga's 30th anniversary. In June 2016, there was a convention in Akihabara (Tokyo) commemorating the historic series, with numerous commemorative gadgets on sale.[19] An official website called seiya30th was launched.[20] A second exhibition was held in Hong Kong in September 2016.[21] Saint Seiya 30 Shunen Keny Gashu, Seiiki - Sanctuary, an art book consisting of 130 pages illustrated by Masami Kurumada, was launched in Japan on October 21, 2016, by Takarajimash.[22] A third exhibition was held in China (Hong Kong) in April 2018.[23]

Between 2018 and 2019, the original author Masami Kurumada published in the Champion Red magazine a series of special in-depth chapters of events from the original Saint Seiya manga called "Episode 0 and Saint Seiya Origin".[24]

In 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[25] 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-colour series is being published in Akita Shoten's Shōnen Champion magazine at irregular dates, with 12 compiled tankōbon volumes released so far.[26]

Also, during the fall of 2006, another new manga series called Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas started being published. This series tells an alternate non-canonical 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.

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.[27]

An anime adaptation of Saint Seiya was first proposed in June 1986 three months before the first manga volume was published.[10] After Toei Animation started a partnership with TV Asahi, they looked for sponsors.[28] Bandai got interested in selling the Saint Cloths as merchandise so it began development.[10] Masayoshi Kawata, producer of TV Asahi, thought Saint Seiya was the perfect fit for the "hero show" they were looking for. By July, scriptwriter Takao Koyama had written the first episode scheduled to be broadcast in October.[28] 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.[10][28] The anime adaptation was broadcast on TV Asahi from October 11, 1986, to 1989.[29] 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, until finally being adapted into a series of OVAs in 2002.[30]

One of the other series in the franchise, Saint Seiya Ω. The show began airing on TV Asahi during Spring 2012.

There are three English dubs of the anime series, one of which is heavily edited, and the other two of which are uncensored. The first two dubs to be produced are incomplete. In North America, the edited dub premiered on Cartoon Network on August 30, 2003, with only the first 32 episodes airing on Cartoon Network and 40 on YTV before the series was cancelled.[6] This dub, re-titled Knights of the Zodiac, was licensed by DIC Entertainment.[31] 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.[32][33] 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.[34] Additionally, on April 1, 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.[35]

A third English dub, also uncensored, was released on Netflix on October 15, 2019. This dub utilizes the same voice cast as that of Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya. As of October 18, 2019, 41 episodes have been dubbed.[36] Episodes 42 to 73 were added in January 2020.[37] Episodes 74 to 114 were added in April 2020, in effect making the Netflix dub the only complete English dub of the entire original series.[38]

On April 1, 2012, Saint Seiya Omega aired with a total of 97 episodes, ending its run on March 30, 2014. As an anime original story, it does not take place in the continuity of Kurumada's manga.[39] In most English-speaking countries, Saint Seiya Omega is available in English-subtitled format through Crunchyroll.[40]

A new CG project for the series was revealed to be in the works as of December 2016, at CCXP in Brazil.[41] Titled Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya, 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 classic 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 Saints arc with twelve episodes.[42] The series was released on Netflix on July 19, 2019.[43][44]

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,[45] while the second was released on December 16, 2002.[46]

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.[47] 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.[48] 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.

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.[49]

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.[50][51]

On June 21, 2014, Legend of Sanctuary was released. Animated in CGI, Legend of Sanctuary is based on the classic 1986 series. It was produced by Toei to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise.[52]

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,[53] and Polish director Tomasz Bagiński was announced as being in charge of filming, based on the classic 1986 series, which was supposed to take place in Summer 2019.[54] The official title for the movie is Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac.

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,[55] 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.[56]

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.[57]

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.[58] 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[59] 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.[60]

An original net animation series titled Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold began streaming in 2015.[61]

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.[62] 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.

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

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)[63]

Of the characters of the manga and anime classic of 'Saint Seiya 1986/1990' very many action figures have been made over the years, in various versions and models:

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, was 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. 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.

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.[64] 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. 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.

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.[65]

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.[66]

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.[67]

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.[68]

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.[69] 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.[70] 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 was released in July 2012,[71] and set 2 was released in September 2012.[72]

In 2016, D.D.Panoramation, a new line of action figures, was released, consisting of 17 characters of the original series (years 80s)(1986/1990)(12 Gold Saints and 5 Bronze Saints).[73]

In November 2016, a new line of action figures called Saint Seiya Daizenshuu, consisting of 12 characters of the original series (years 80s)(1986\1990) Saint Seiya, in "Superdeformer" version, was released.[74]

In 2019, a new line of action figures called Saint Seiya Revival, consisting of characters of the original series (years 80s)(1986/1990)(5 Bronze Saints and 12 Gold Saints).[75]

The Funko Pop action figures of the 5 protagonists of the classic animated series Saint Seiya (1986/1990) were made in 2020.[76]

High-quality statues of the main characters of the classic animated series Saint Seiya (1986/1990) were produced by Bampresto.[77]

In Brazil in 2020, action figures were produced of the 5 Bronze Saints protagonists and 12 Gold Saints of the classic animated series Saint Seiya (1986/1990).[78]