Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya

Knight of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya
Promotional poster
聖闘士星矢: ナイツオブザゾディアック (Seinto Seiya: Naitsu obu za Zodiakku)
Created by	Masami Kurumada
Original net animation
Directed by	Yoshiharu Ashino
Produced by	Joseph Chou Yoshi Ikezawa
Written by	Eugene Son
Music by	Yoshihiro Ike
Studio	Toei Animation
Licensed by	Netflix
Released	July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19) – January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)
Runtime	23 minutes
Episodes	12

Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya is a Japanese-American original net animation series based on the 1980s Japanese manga series Saint Seiya by Masami Kurumada.

Production

The series was first revealed to be in the works in December 2016 at CCXP in Brazil. 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. Another six episodes that loosely adapt the "Silver Saints" arc were released on January 23, 2020.

Plot

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.

Voice cast

Character (Japanese name)	Cast
	English	Japanese
Sienna Kiddo / Athena Saori Kido / Athena	Emily Neves	Fumiko Orikasa
Pegasus Seiya	Bryson Baugus (Original) Crocket Groves (Child)	Masakazu Morita (Original) Yukiko Morishito (Child)
Cygnus Magnus Cygnus Hyōga	Patrick Poole	Hiroaki Miura
Dragon Long Dragon Shiryū	Blake Shepard	Takahiro Sakurai
Andromeda Shaun Andromeda Shun	Luci Christian	Satomi Satō
Phoenix Nero Phoenix Ikki	Adam Gibbs	Katsuyuki Konishi
Unicorn Jab Unicorn Jabu	Leraldo Anzaldua	Hideo Ishikawa
Bear Geki	Adam Noble	Kohei Fukuhara
Hydra Ichi	Justin Doran	Masaya Onosaka
Eagle Marin	Maggie Flecknoe	Fumiko Inoue
Ophiucus Shaina	Katelyn Barr	Yuka Komatsu
Lizard Misty	Corey Hartzog	Hisafumi Oda
Whale Morris Whale Mozes	Courtland Johnson	Tetsu Inada
Hound Asterion	Nathan Wilson	Ryohei Arai
Crow Jamian	Justin Doran	Junji Kitajima
Kerberos Dante	Joe Daniels	Eiji Hanawa
Perseus Argol Perseus Algol	Austin Tindle	Ryosuke Kanemoto
Aries Mu	John Gremillion	Takumi Yamazaki
Leo Aioria Leo Aiolia	Greg Cote	Hideyuki Tanaka
Sagittarius Aiolos		Yusaku Yara
Virgo Shaka	Scott Gibbs	Yūji Mitsuya
Scorpio Milo	Alejandro Saab	Toshihiko Seki
Dohko	John Swasey	Hiroshi Iwasaki
The Grandmaster The Pope	David Matranga	Ryotaro Okiayu
Cassios	Andrew Love	Toshitsugu Takashina
Guilty	David Harbold	Masafumi Kimura
Esmeralda	Juliet Simmons	Shino Shimoji
Kiki	Kira Vincent-Davis	Umeka Shoji
Shunrei	Hilary Haag	Haruka Terui
Patricia Seika	Lillian Jones	Yukiko Motoyoshi
Mylock Tatsumi	Ty Mahany	Hisao Egawa
Alman Kiddo Mitsumasa Kido	Axel Lutter	Katsuhisa Hōki
Vander Guraad Vander Graad	James Belcher	Hideaki Tezuka
Narrator	Marty Fleck	Hideyuki Tanaka

Episodes

Series overview

Season		Episodes		Originally released
	Part 1	6		July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)
	Part 2	6		January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
Part 1
1	1	"Seiya"	Yasuhiro Tanabe	Shannon Eric Denton	July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)
After exhibiting special powers, Seiya is approached by the enigmatic Alman Kido, who urges him to fulfill his destiny and become a Bronze Knight.
2	2	"Burn Your Cosmo"	Yasuhiro Tanabe	Thomas F. Zahler	July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)
Seiya obtains the Pegasus Armor with ease, but to be a true Knight of Athena, he must first prove himself in the Galaxian Wars tournament.
3	3	"Enter The Dragon"	Yasuhiro Tanabe	Benjamin Townsend	July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)
Believing in the dark prophecy, Magnus confronts Lady Sienna. Seiya faces his toughest opponent yet: Dragon Long.
4	4	"Nebula Chain"	Hiroshi Kimura	Joelle Sellner	July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)
Reluctant to fight, Andromeda Shaun takes a defensive approach against Unicorn Jab using her Nebula Chain. Meanwhile, Vander's army attacks.
5	5	"The Black Knights"	Hiroshi Kimura	Travis Donnelly	July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)
Seiya takes down a helicopter to retrieve the stolen Gold Armor from Phoenix Nero, only to be confronted by Vander's Black Knights.
6	6	"Phoenix Rising"	Hiroshi Kimura	Benjamin Townsend	July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)
Phoenix Nero has built up his overwhelming power with hate. To stop him, the Bronze Knights must combine their strength to reclaim the Gold Armor.
Part 2
7	1	"The Silver Knights"	Yasuhiro Tanabe	Thomas Pugsley	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)
Seiya awakens, having survived the collapsing volcano. He quickly learns Sanctuary has sent Silver Knight Misty and his old master Marin to kill him.
8	2	"The Rising Tide"	Yasuhiro Tanabe	Saundra Hall	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)
Fearing for Sienna's safety, Marin orders Seiya to protect her. Alone, Marin faces the Silver Knights Hound Asterion and Whale Morris.
9	3	"To Fight For Athena"	Hiroshi Kimura	Shaene Siders	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)
Reunited with the Bronze Knights, Seiya and the others search for Sienna. Silver Knight Jamian the Crow appears, determined to stop them.
10	4	"The Challenge"	Hiroshi Kimura	Patrick Rieger	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)
Perseus Argol's Medusa Shield turns its opponents into stone. One of the Bronze Knights makes a life-altering decision to protect Sienna.
11	5	"The Prophecy"	Yoshiharu Ashino	Eugene Son	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)
Guraad assembles his own Black Knights to protect mankind from the gods. When his forces abduct Sienna, the Bronze Knights set out to rescue her.
12	6	"One War Ends, Another Begins"	Yoshiharu Ashino	Eugene Son	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)
The Bronze Knights face Guraad's upgraded Black Knights. Though Seiya and the others gain the upper hand, Guraad proves to be a formidable foe.

Reception

The Review Geek rated the series 3.5 out of 10; Ready Steady Cut gave a 2.5 out of 5 rating and called the show "dull and uninspiring". 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.

External links

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