This is a review for the manga, if you’re looking for the anime review, that will be a later post.
Let me just say:
WOW
Saintia Sho was everything Saint Seiya needed to bring it back into the mainstream. After The Lost Canvas was cancelled in favor of the disaster that was Omega, I really thought that Saint Seiya was finished for good.
Saintia Sho is beautifully drawn, taking advantage of its powerful cast without relying solely on veteran characters, and adopts a proud new pseudo-feminist stand with the advent of Saintias.
Saint Seiya has had a lot of bumps in its career since its introduction in the 80’s. Most of its problems stem from a lack of accessibility. Saint Seiya spin-offs assume that you have already seen the original series, so they never explain key points of the universe. Ergo, Saint Seiya has inadvertently pigeon-holed itself as a cult-only series.
Saintia Sho took a new approach by taking the traditional shounen series and making it into a shojo. Since you can now read a Saint Seiya manga without having to reference the original show it’s opened a new doorway for fans to discover the classic series.
Hooray!
That said, it can be REALLY boring for veteran SS fans.
Saintia Sho follows a storyline that runs parallel to the original Saint Seiya arcs, so it’s very predictable to anyone who’s seen/read it already. (Eg. I know who lives and dies in the classic, so I KNOW that this badly injured character is going to make it)
As far as the characters themselves go, our protagonist (Sho) is a fusion of past SS protagonists, but she is mostly a gender-bent version of Seiya. Lots of the Saintias are female versions of pre-existing characters within the franchise, but since this is Saint Seiya’s first trip into female leads, I’ll cut them a little slack.
To back up the ladies, the classic bronze saints come back in the side-lines to keep things in perspective with the original plot-line. And keeping Sho alive in her first battles is none other than the infamous Scorpio Milo, usually backed up by Leo Aiolia.
For fans of the original series, it’s a big nostalgia trip to see those two again (alive). For new readers, they’re pretty bishies with over-powered armor.
Either way, it’s a win-win.
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