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Season 2 |
Episode Guide
SEIYA
Burn Your Cosmo
Enter The Dragon
Nebula Chain
The Black Knights
Phoenix Rising
Acting as a remake of the beloved anime franchise of the same name, Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac takes the original idea for the series, adds some glossy CGI into a fleeting 6 episode series with mixed results. The story does reasonably well to adapt the characters and ideas but the animation feels jarring and lacking heart compared to the original 2D counterparts.
The story begins with a brief prologue before skipping forward in time to follow a young teen called Seiya. Courageous and determined to find his sister Patricia, Seiya is recruited by Alman Kido to fulfill his destiny and become a fabled Bronze Knight. The first half of the series sees the Black Knights and forces of darkness gather while Seiya harnesses his power and learns to fight for the Goddess Athena after fighting through several prolific warriors. The second half sees the fighting begin which culminates in a final showdown between Nero and Seiya before ending things with the possibility of a second season to follow.
For those familiar with the story, Netflix do have another 6 episodes they’re scheduled to release at some point, with the full first season covering the story from the Galaxian Wars arc through to the Silver Saint arc. I’d imagine the streaming giants will gauge the audience reaction to this one first before releasing the second part. If I’m honest, a lot of this is going to rely heavily on how people react to the aesthetic and CG style. Ultimately, how well you take to the visuals will make or break your enjoyment with this.
Personally, I’m not a fan of 3D CGI and having watched numerous CGI animations with my children, Saint Seiya feels very similar in style and movement. Character models feel reminisce of the most recent Dragon Quest game too whilst attempting to retain the same tropes and ideas from the original anime in the process. The result is something that actually feels like it should be geared toward kids but the nods toward the original anime and light bites of blood and breaking joints suggest otherwise.
With any remake, it’s always difficult to capture the heart and essence of the original. While this 2019 CGI remake of the beloved Japanese franchise does okay to bring back the characters and ideas, the show lacks the same depth and heart. I can’t help but feel if the show tweaked a few unnecessary elements this would be a really nice introduction for kids to get into the lore but given Netflix have the 2009 adaptation up with all 26 episodes included, it’s hard to recommend this fleeting experience over that.
Saint Seiya: Knights Of The Zodiac is a series that can’t quite decide who it wants to appeal to which ironically may lead to it appealing to no one. Visually, the 3D CGI doesn’t quite hit the same heights the 2D counterparts achieve and the fleeting 6 episodes fail to really dive deeply into the lore and ideas the show presents. In a way, Knights Of The Zodiac feels like an experiment to test the waters and see how fans will react to this style but whether people will catch on and specifically want more of this anime adaptation remains to be seen. Saint Seiya isn’t the worst anime of the year but it’s certainly a far cry from being labelled the best either.
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Verdict - 3.5/10
3.5/10
Absolute bull***t ! Where is the ever epic and deep music ?????
1/10 is the maximum i would give
The original is a piece of art. This feels like a phoney or fake make over. Truely disappointed
I am a fan of the original anime, and when I saw that Netflix remade it I got really excited. When I watched it couldn’t stop seeing all the errors to the original anime. Like how all female saints are supposed to wear a mask, and how the changed shun, andromeda saint, to a female, and as well as they changed some of the history of seiya and changed most of the names. I mean seriously if you are going to make a remake at least follow the lore, but there are still some good things about it. The one that really stood out to me is that the animation is amazing it looks the same as the dragon quest movie the Netflix also made.
I personally really enjoyed! I am a huge fan and was impressed with the CGI. The shiny armours were just beautiful.
I also don’t mind the changes, maybe the only change that bothered at the beginning just a bit was andromeda becoming female, but to be honest I didn’t mind at the end.
I really hope there is a second season, it deserves a continuation. In my humble opinion It can’t be compared to the first anime series, this is a different art and pleasure and deserves appreciation.
Alright, I watched it since it came out on TV in my country in 1989, have watched the episodes of every saga several times, including the crap that was Omega, also read the original manga, next dimension and Saintia Sho, so I get why people are furious about the changes, but come on:
-first of all, Shun was never gay, not even an icon to it, only to those who forget he had a small romance with June, the Chameleon Silver Saint, the problem is that people can’t handle a man with a gentle soul. So there was found the need to have more women on the series… Apart from Athena, June, Marin, Shaina, Miho, Hilda, Freya, not to mention Saintia Sho, a only-women team, there was the need, and, not so hard to say it, Shaun is well written and interpreted.
– Second, they shouldn’t have made the mess with female saints masks, that tradition was part of the story, so either leave it alone or explain why Marin is wearing it but Shaun and Shaina aren’t.
– Third, they are kids, they’ve always been kids, Seiya is 13 y.o. when he fights Cassius for the Pegasus Cloth. The oldest is Ikki, 15 y.o. It’s just that CGI accentuated that.
– Forth and most irritating for me – WTF is that about changing the names? Weren’t the old ones good enough, was there any freaking issue regarding the names that they couldn’t keep it? That was really shitty… The names were sacred, huge disappointment that they changed it.
But, overall, appart from these 4 points, I enjoyed watching it, but probably because I’m a fan and wanted to have a good time with my favorite anime TV show, being it awesome or just average good.
Also, the choices they made on what to keep and what to lose is very odd. They have named the ‘Saints’ ‘Knights’, and charged ‘Saori’ into ‘Sienna’, yet Seiyas punch technique is still called ‘Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken’..
This could have been very good and welcome, the visuals and the music and even the voice acting isn’t that bad. But there was no logical reason to make the changes to the story and character names. It’s very difficult to watch this knowing how they squandered the opportunity like this
Have been waited for long long time. When it’s released a bit disappointed that it’s only has 6 episodes made in 2-3 years? and I watched them all at once. Personally I prefer it didn’t amend the original story. That version is not so terrible. I like the picture is quite good. I will keep on watching the next season. I hope they will release more and make the story running faster.
This is my number one favorite anime, My parents watched this when they were little They showed it to me when I was 8 or 9 years old I am now 21 about to be 22 in a few months. It was my first anime, the best and my favorite, my parent’s childhood is ruined, my childhood ruined my future is ruined. what I have seen I can’t unsee. If I could sue them I would, if I knew how too I would. T^T
I don’t even know where to start, I watched only the first 3 episodes and I notice most of the scenes don’t match the anime. Another thing Shaina suppose to be wearing a mask all women that fight in the sanctuary suppose to wear a mask. Later on in the anime, one of the episodes in the explains why Shaina wen after Seiya and it was because Seiya saw her without her mask and the rules are if a men were to see the women of the sanctuary without their mask they must either love them or kill them. And one big mistake, I know it’s hard to believe but Shun is not a girl his a guy that also has a love interest back where he was trained. And Marine is not actually Seiyas sister which I believe it’s later revealed in Hades Saga. And again SHUN is not a girl. How does Netflix get all the rights for this??
The first episode does a fair job of pulling you in, and making you care about the Hero. Good start. But the episodes that follow seem choppy and incomplete. There are many events implied that we are not shown. All we see in detail are a series of fights, as a backdrop to which some of the character backstories are explained. But these scenes of exposition lack the same sense of emotional investment in the main hero, as was seen in the first episode.
Couple that with an overarching “threat” to the entire world that is kept oddly at arm’s length, rather than building a sense of urgency or realism, and you have a difficult time feeling the energy and emotional investment that you should be building up as the series progresses.
I’m 3 episodes in out of 6 in the first (Half?) Season, and I can’t really say I care as much for characters I’ve never “met” (save one) fighting over some armor or other.
If there is a real danger, and all these different people have these powers, give them their armor and let them go fight the battle they must fight to save Humanity, and let us discover who these heroes are both outside the “arena” and while they are fighting together to save Mankind. The question of their individual “fitness” to wear their matching armor doesn’t seem so all-fired important if the overarching problem is so huge and imminent.
The characters discover enough about one another to beat the creme cheese out of each other in the arena, but they don’t seem to have any cohesion as a group that should care for and learn from each other in order to overcome their problems. So far I’ve seen half the characters just leave after being defeated, and some of the other picked up after fights and taken away (to a hospital, I assume), so the group is getting smaller. Once somebody gets the Grand Prize of the “Battle Royale” does that make the *Group* any better ar fighting *as a Team?*
I don’t really have a palpable sense of danger, excitement, or urgency in a lot of this, so the style and the characters have to keep me coming back, now that the story has gone “walkies.” I’ll finish “season 1” (all six episodes of it) and see if it gets any better, but I can sense and see the formula that goes into each of the episodes I’ve seen after the first show. If the last three continue in the same way, six episodes are all I will watch. Then, I’ll go looking (again) for a better story.
Apart from raise awareness of the manga I love. There is no positive thing I can say about this version. Storyline and script seem to be done by amateurs aim for 6 years old. Avoid !!!
Andromeda for a girl is ok they need females but think that inhate the most the names dont get the reason to change the name specially IKKI the Phoenix, thats my son name thats why i give him the name
more episodes please.. yes this series have a lot of changes but still it was well made. new generation of kids need this animes. respect and concentrating to elevate your Cosmo , come on this is good stuff.
All the changes made this remake ridiculous
As a Fan of Saint Seiya for 20 years this is very shame to remake the saint seiya without understanding its soul
Opening song – way too far of the original
When Character put the cloth and Shout their strike very weak
Maybe you are right they make this for new audience and maybe opportunity for selling the toy
They will get a lot more audience if they just simply make another anime sequel like souls of gold. And the world will be a better place. Little kids don’t watch little kids Shows these days, the target audience is so limited.
What the hell did they do to Saint Seiya? This looks like an animated fan fiction from a fanboy. No offense, but the changes made are ridiculous. SHUN is a girl in this series. Shaun? Mylock (Tatsumi)? Sienna (Saori)? Patricia (Marin)? Really? Hyoga and Shun’s hair is way too short, and the knights look really young. Like just hitting puberty. If you want a better representation of the series, check out the original manga or the “Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary” movie. Or even the English dub of the original series.
Despite my complaining, I am a little curious about this series. If I look at it as sort of an alternate universe fan fiction, then it would be easier to watch.
I’m enjoying it this is actually fun to watch and the pink one always felt like it should have been a women to be honest
Excellent first 6 episodes! Watch it and ask for more! To whoever has seen the actual original series, can agree that the beginning of the story was never the best. It is simply character building and requires patience. They did an amazing job to update and appeal to young audiences. I saw the original and bindged this one with my kids and we all are wanting more. The story gets better, the twists are awesome and the pace is even better. I just hope people give it a chance and Netflix produces at least the sanctuary saga. And leave everybody asking for more.
I thought it was alright, I definitely think there trying to go for a younger audience. If I was younger then this would definitely catch my attention. Also compared to alot of CGI from most animes I seen, it looks great compared to them. I honestly wish this was the standard CGI animation for most of the Japanese animes that want to use it
This was really, really bad. Instead of martial artists capable of superhuman feats through insane training, they’re basically superheroes born with special abilities who can fly and shoot down planes after training for a few years.
They changed the names of several characters for no reason, and Shun is now a girl. And the Silver Knight (Saint) Ophiuchus Shaina doesn’t even wear a freaking mask, but Eagle Marin does for some reason.
The Galaxian War tournament was a clandestine fight club in an underground bunker with only Sienna (Saori) and her bodyguard Mylock (Tatsumi) watching, and they have an awful comic-relief talking manhole cover. Oh, and the bad guys for the most part are a private para-military group run by Athena’s adoptive father’s old partner and friend, who was with him when they found the dying Sagittarius Gold Knight and the baby Athena.
I’ve nothing against they updating the story and remaking it, but this was just terrible.
worst remake ever i hope netflix stop try remake golden age animes