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Remake of Saint Seiya (Knight of the Zodiac) serie on NETFLIX announced!

I can only speak for Brazil, but Saint Seiya was essentially our first contact with anime
I know for a fact Mexico had anime on tv before Saint Seiya. They were sporadic shows like Astro Boy, Candy Candy, Heidi, and Voltron. But it wasn't until the 90s that anime exploded over here and Saint Seiya led the charge thanks to a new TV Network (TV Azteca) that was born in the early 90s and was building a reputation and programming and Caballeros del Zodiaco was one of those shows that helped to put them in the map.

It's probably Mexico's most popular and recognizable anime second only to Dragon Ball.
 
Fuck yeah it is! An important network tv channel is airing the original series all over again in prime time (7:30-8:30pm) since June.

Why did this show get so big in Europe and Latin America but never in the US?

Difference of context, and how it was done. Saint Seiya came out in the US as Knights of the Zodiac in the mid 1990s IIRC - after DBZ had made anime big in general, which was set in contrast to domestic animation. So, the series had a harder time standing out from the crowd as is, but that was made worse when DIC, the localisers, tried to position it as being Sailor Moon for boys. The series was sanitised in an attempt to make it more appropriate for younger American audiences, and it basically tanked. Similar situation to what 4kids would do for One Piece.
 

Kuhn

Member
I can only speak for Brazil, but Saint Seiya was essentially our first contact with anime. There was pretty much nothing quite like it, we also got some other minor series afterwards but no anime was this big until DBZ came along.

Nope, there was others before that. Brazil got many contact with japanese for decades, SS just was one of the biggest boom of the 90's then we got the same with Sailor Moon, Samurai Warriors, Shurato, Yuyu Hakusho and finally DBZ (For some reason DB was not that loved in Brazil).

EDIT:
I don't know why this 3dcg hate, I mean this movie was visually gorgeous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR3caZ9hQ5Y

Aside from the mess with Gemini Saga at the end of course. If the Netflix adaption look as close as the look in the poster then I'm in.

EDIT2: In the 90's we grew up with this opening
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLXHuZ-1C_4
I believe it's the spanish adaptation of the French or Italian version.

But was thanks to US release in the early 00's that we got a re release in Latam with the original openings and endings.
BTW US opening was dope:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpxrsEAIMT4
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
I know for a fact Mexico had anime on tv before Saint Seiya. They were sporadic shows like Astro Boy, Candy Candy, Heidi, and Voltron. But it wasn't until the 90s that anime exploded over here and Saint Seiya led the charge thanks to a new TV Network (TV Azteca) that was born in the early 90s and was building a reputation and programming and Caballeros del Zodiaco was one of those shows that helped to put them in the map.

It's probably Mexico's most popular and recognizable anime second only to Dragon Ball.
It was the same for Brazil, there were other anime before, but they were watched and treated as "normal cartoons". Saint Seiya was wildly different from anything we've watched before and it had a big marketing push as way to put anime on the map. It opened the floodgates for several other shows that were localized after it.
 

jett

D-Member
Speaking of good Saint Seiya moments, the first episode made me a fan for life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc6hVB4aRAQ

11 year-old me had never seen something like this before. And this animation is solid, I don't care what anyone says.

Except Shingo Araki elevated this to amazeballs levels thanks to his designs, I am convinced that if they would have kept Kurumada's designs this shonen would have tanked right away. Bless Araki, he will be dearly missed.
ob_ac9254_0001019310-octet-stream.jpg

Yass.

Manga looks awful. All of the characters look the same.
 
Nope, there was others before that. Brazil got many contact with japanese for decades, SS just was one of the biggest boom of the 90's then we got the same with Sailor Moon, Shurato, Yuyu Hakusho and finally DBZ (For some reason DB was not that loved in Brazil).
I mean, yeah, obviously there were other series, but none of them really aired during children's afterschool hours on a consistent schedule and with proper episode sequence. It was sort of our first "proper" anime instead of random OG Dragonball episodes airing in random days at random timeslots, other series were treated like that stupid Megaman cartoon.
 
Speaking of good Saint Seiya moments, the first episode made me a fan for life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc6hVB4aRAQ

11 year-old me had never seen something like this before. And this animation is solid, I don't care what anyone says.



Yass.

Manga looks awful. All of the characters look the same.

Man, it's so weird to watch this series sometimes and recall it's technically supposed to take place in (what was then) the modern day.
 
Why did this show get so big in Europe and Latin America but never in the US?

Ahhhh this is one of the most common question regarding Saint Seiya
To all American friends reading this thread, let it be known Saint Seiya is as big (and bigger for many) as Dragon Ball in South America and Latin-American countries, France, Spain and China.
Action figures are still being made and they are sold out in hours or days depending of the character, they are pretty expensive too.
As to why it never made it big in USA? well that's a combination of many fuck-ups, first it came way too late to the states, more than 10 or 15 years after the rest of the world, by that time it looked dated and many of its tricks had been done already, second and probably the worst offender, USA got a bastardized, heavy edited and chopped version of it, that shit was atrocious. I am not even sure somebody can start watching original Saint Seiya from zero in this day and age and become a fan the series, it starts really bad and it is only by the time the Sanctuary arc starts that we get to the meat and potatoes, Saint Seiya is part of our collective childhood zeitgeist, you had to be there growing up and watching it on TV to become a fan, that's why we can't let it go, the nostalgia factor is too big.
I do hope one day we get a proper continuation and not this CG crap or spin-offs they produce, maybe if Kurumada finishes Next-Dimension one day, maybe...
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
Yass.

Manga looks awful. All of the characters look the same.
Plus Kurumada can only draw like 3 different poses and almost always from the same bottom up angle. It's kind of remarkable how his style never evolved.
 

jstripes

Banned
Won't be the same without all the '80s-ness, but it's a suitable pick for a remake. Good material and good action.

I hope they keep the tournament.
 
Plus Kurumada can only draw like 3 different poses and almost always from the same bottom up angle. It's kind of remarkable how his style never evolved.

I like to think he make some kind of bet with Araki - how far could they go with his artstyle while Kurumada endeavoured to remain the same.
 

Nephtis

Member
As I said in the other thread,

without Furuya Toru and Jesus Barrero, my heart is gonna break if I watch this. They were both integral, especially Jesus. I grew up listening to that man. I am so glad I was able to buy the game on my PS4 and it has all his lines plus a lot of new stuff that he recorded. He died shortly after, cancer took him.
 

Nephtis

Member
It's worth noting to any Saint Seiya fans, that the prequel and sequel series aired in Japan only a few years ago, like 2011 and 2012. You can find both on Crunchyroll.

I refuse to acknowledge Omega as official. It's just a bad fanfic that somehow got the greenlight for production :(

Canvas was awesome, though. Omega....Ugh.
 

Unai

Member
I refuse to acknowledge Omega as official. It's just a bad fanfic that somehow got the greenlight for production :(

Canvas was awesome, though. Omega....Ugh.

Lost Canvas is really good, but it's also not canon since it contradicts the Next Dimension manga.
 

Platy

Member
I refuse to acknowledge Omega as official. It's just a bad fanfic that somehow got the greenlight for production :(

Canvas was awesome, though. Omega....Ugh.

Omega got much better on later seasons with the gold saints and the classic bronze crew appearing back
 
Omega got much better on later seasons with the gold saints and the classic bronze crew appearing back

For me it works for the first season or so - checking the episode list, up to ep 51 - but slowly goes downhill once it hits its second major storyline. The cloths became an overdesigned mess - to the point I think they actually slowed down the reworked stock animation of all things - while stuff like Eden's return to the series just looked terrible, even by the fairly low standards of the show. There was also clearer arcs and development for the characters through the first half - mostly through a common use of a theme of family - that for an admitted first time franchise viewer like me, worked well.

Plus, that ending fight was fucking incredible. Punching a primordial babylonian god in the face with some of the best Toei can deliver.
 

Principate

Saint Titanfall
It's worth noting to any Saint Seiya fans, that the prequel and sequel series aired in Japan only a few years ago, like 2011 and 2012. You can find both on Crunchyroll.


Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas - 26 Episodes, Quality all the way through.


Saint Seiya Omega - 97 Episodes, Definitely made for TV, kinda of basic and predictable, but fun.

That's a non canon sequel. The Actual sequel is Next dimension which I think is ongoing but doesn't have an anime I don't think.
 
That's a non canon sequel. The Actual sequel is Next dimension which I think is ongoing but doesn't have an anime I don't think.

Which in turns retcons Lost Canvas a touch making the previous depiction non-canonical.

I am slowly beginning to understand why Saint Seiya continuity can be a bit hard to follow.
 

Trickster

Member
Not a show I am particularly excited for personally. But hey, any anime that Netflix want to moneyroll is fine by me.
 
Let's all pile up on CG animation while pretending the original Saint Seiya animation was anything but a dumpster fire!
For its time it was probably the best looking and most conisitent show in terms of animation. It had some uniquely and fluid fight scenes compared to most shows from the 80s.

Far from a dumpster fire.
 

Unai

Member
Which in turns retcons Lost Canvas a touch making the previous depiction non-canonical.

I am slowly beginning to understand why Saint Seiya continuity can be a bit hard to follow.

You just have to think about it as if it were western comic book stuff.

- The classic series, Hades and Next Dimension are on Earth 1.
- Lost Canvas is Earth 2.
- Episode G is Earth 3, etc.
 

Tagyhag

Member
Oh my god that's awesome. I hope it turns out to be good.

Too many people don't know about Saint Seiya. It always amazed me that it wasn't brought over to the USA as a Toonami series or something.
 
Ahhhh this is one of the most common question regarding Saint Seiya
To all American friends reading this thread, let it be known Saint Seiya is as big (and bigger for many) as Dragon Ball in South America and Latin-American countries, France, Spain and China.
Action figures are still being made and they are sold out in hours or days depending of the character, they are pretty expensive too.
As to why it never made it big in USA? well that's a combination of many fuck-ups, first it came way too late to the states, more than 10 or 15 years after the rest of the world, by that time it looked dated and many of its tricks had been done already, second and probably the worst offender, USA got a bastardized, heavy edited and chopped version of it, that shit was atrocious. I am not even sure somebody can start watching original Saint Seiya from zero in this day and age and become a fan the series, it starts really bad and it is only by the time the Sanctuary arc starts that we get to the meat and potatoes, Saint Seiya is part of our collective childhood zeitgeist, you had to be there growing up and watching it on TV to become a fan, that's why we can't let it go, the nostalgia factor is too big.
I do hope one day we get a proper continuation and not this CG crap or spin-offs they produce, maybe if Kurumada finishes Next-Dimension one day, maybe...

If I remember correctly, Saint Seiya and Sailor Moon came to Latin America a few years before Dragon Ball. We joked that one was for boys and Sailor Moon for girls, but in reality everyone watched both. In Mexico they were introduced in a show called Nubeluz and then by the Carisaurio. Those shows were our first exposition to anime and the reason why my whole generation are such dweebs!
 
Oh my god that's awesome. I hope it turns out to be good.

Too many people don't know about Saint Seiya. It always amazed me that it wasn't brought over to the USA as a Toonami series or something.

Again, kinda crashed and burned due to the DIC dub. Didn't have a resilient fanbase like One Piece did either.
 

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
12 episodes and it will cover Galaxian Wars and Silver Saints arcs?

Seems a lot will be cut, maybe no Black Saints at all?
 

jett

D-Member
Man, it's so weird to watch this series sometimes and recall it's technically supposed to take place in (what was then) the modern day.

What are you talking about? I'm sure that's just an average day in Greece.

Plus Kurumada can only draw like 3 different poses and almost always from the same bottom up angle. It's kind of remarkable how his style never evolved.

He strikes me as someone that literally couldn't care less.

For its time it was probably the best looking and most conisitent show in terms of animation. It had some uniquely and fluid fight scenes compared to most shows from the 80s.

Far from a dumpster fire.

It's pure 80s awesomeness.

LeYZuim.gif


xGtwWKg.gif


WhBAWrI.gif


(I actually haven't seen this show in decades so I have no idea if it holds up well at all :p)
 

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
I wonder if they will include that non-sense plot twist from the manga

All Bronze Saints are sons of Mitsumasa Kido
 

Unai

Member
12 episodes and it will cover Galaxian Wars and Silver Saints arcs?

Seems a lot will be cut, maybe no Black Saints at all?

Remember that the original episodes were 20 minutes only, so there's that.

I wonder if they will include that non-sense plot twist from the manga

All Bronze Saints are sons of Mitsumasa Kido

Well, that at least gave Ikki's rage more depth, instead of his motivation being "they were man to me at island!!!".
 

7Th

Member
I'm pretty sure this is will be a partially rewritten remake focused on the west; they have a lot of American writers working on this:

Story Editor & Head Writer: Eugene Son(Avengers: Secret Wars)
Screenplay: Benjamin Townsend (Thunderbirds are Go)
Shannon Eric Denton (Avengers: Secret Wars)
Thomas F. Zahler (Ultimate Spider-Man)
Joelle Sellner (Ben 10:Omniverse)
Travis Donnelly (Bull)
Thomas Pugsley (Ben 10)
Saundra Hall (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Shaene Siders (Avengers: Secret Wars)
Patrick Rieger (Justice League Action) ほか

http://corp.toei-anim.co.jp/press/detail.php?id=579
 
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