The Saint Seiya anime series combines Greek mythology themes with jaw-dropping cosmic battles and unforgettable characters! This classic anime has been winning over fans globally since it first hit Japanese TV in 1986. Here in this Saint Seiya anime review, we take a look at ADV Films’ awesome English dub version of the iconic series and explore its action-packed storytelling.
These legendary warriors, clad in their mystical armor, fight to protect the goddess Athena and all of humanity. With epic showdowns, ancient wisdom, and Eastern philosophy woven into the narrative, “SAINT SEIYA” delivers all the excitement you could desire.
Saint Seiya a highly popular anime series, evidenced by the emergence of the live-action film Knights of the Zodiac (2023), which brings the beloved anime to life in an exciting new way.
Grab some popcorn and get ready for an exhilarating journey through the stars as we explore what makes the incredible anime Saint Seiya a must-watch! If you loved Dragon Ball Z, you won’t want to miss this series, which combines thrilling action with a captivating twist of Greek mythology that will delight any fan.
Volume 1 from ADV Films features five episodes, providing a solid introduction to the epic story. However, it’s important to note that ADV Films has dubbed a total of 60 episodes, which means this is just a glimpse into the larger Saint Seiya anime saga!
SAINT SEIYA Anime: Review of Volume 1
At the beginning of the Saint Seiya anime series we are told that in times of evil, heroes emerge. Among them is a courageous brotherhood of young men who have sworn to protect Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. They are known as the Saints of Athena, celebrated for their extraordinary combat skills.
Legends whisper that their punches can rip the sky apart and their kicks can shatter the earth beneath their feet. Now, a new generation of Saints has emerged, ready to forge their own destinies. It is the dawn of a new age of heroic legend!
“Saint Seiya,” released by ADV Films, boasts an excellent English dub of this iconic Japanese anime series, making it a fantastic choice for fans who want a version that stays true to the original Japanese material. While there are other adaptations, such as ‘Knights of the Zodiac,’ which feature the song ‘I Ran’ in their introductions, I found the ADV Films version to be far superior, especially with its amazing theme song.
One standout feature is that the Saint Seiya (ADV Films) release is uncut! As a result, it showcases more realistic blood and gore scenes that resonate more powerfully with audiences. From the very first episode, viewers are greeted with intense scenes, including a dramatic moment where an ear is severed, complete with vivid red blood gushing away that adds to the series’ raw intensity.
The “Saint Seiya” anime storyline is based on the manga by Masami Kurumada, first published in 1985. It unfolds beautifully across 60 episodes released by ADV Films, but it still only represents a fraction of the entire Saint Seiya anime series.
With its compelling story and faithful English adaptation, “Saint Seiya” by ADV Films is a must-watch for any anime enthusiast. Here’s a glimpse into the first five episodes that set the stage for Seiya’s unforgettable journey.
SAINT SEIYA Anime Review: Episode 1
The showdown for the golden armor is finally on! A mysterious beautiful woman mutters to herself, “Seiya, what is taking you so long? Please come back from Greece with the armor of Pegasus!”
Meanwhile, Seiya is locked in an epic battle at an ancient temple site in Greece.
As Seiya and the huge Greek warrior named Cassios fight it out, the wicked Shina chimes in, “Good job, Marin! You’ve taught Seiya well.” Cassios then sneers, ‘The sacred armor belongs in Greece, and some punk from Japan doesn’t deserve to wear it.
Flashback time! Picture Seiya as a kid, deep in training. He’s working hard, but there’s this rock he’s been struggling to break for three years. He totally fails again, so his trainer, an awesome woman named Marin, steps in and effortlessly crushes the rock with her bare hands.
Then she drops some galactic knowledge: that rock is just a bunch of atoms, like everything else — his body, her body, even the sky above them. When you break something, you’re really just busting up its atoms!
She even dives into the science of it all, explaining how the universe kicked off with a big bang around 15 billion years ago. And to top it off, she reminds him that his guiding stars are in the Pegasus constellation. Sounds extremely cool, doesn’t it?
The scene shifts back to the intense showdown with Cassios. Seiya shapes his fists into the Pegasus constellation and feels himself becoming one with the cosmos. With a powerful strike, he delivers an epic Pegasus blow that floors Cassios.
When Seiya defeats Cassios, Athena recognizes Seiya as one of her Saints and gifts him the sacred bronze armor of Pegasus. But things take a dark turn when the nefarious Shina, who has it out for Seiya, sees her warrior go down and instantly starts plotting her revenge.
Shina’s determined to stop Seiya from leaving Greece with the Pegasus armor, so she chases him down with her crew in tow.
When she catches up with him, she unleashes her thunder cobra powers on Seiya, and boy does he take a beating! But just when it seems like all hope is lost, Seiya manages to activate the sacred armor of Pegasus, unlocking incredible abilities.
Even so, Shina is convinced he won’t be able to wield it effectively. So, she goes all out again with her thunder cobra moves, trying to finish him off for good.
Things get messy as her henchmen jump into the fray, but Seiya doesn’t give up. He finds a way to recover and in the heat of battle, breaks her face mask in two, turning the tide of the fight.
Now after six arduous years of battling in Greece, Seiya has finally triumphed over the nefarious Shina. With this hard-fought victory, he is now free to return to Japan at last.
SAINT SEIYA Anime Review: Episode 2
In episode 2, there’s this epic showdown going on between a unicorn — yep, a unicorn named Jabu — and a lion powered warrior.
Seiya is seen with Miss Saori, who tells him that today marks the start of a galactic war and the biggest fighting tournament among the bronze saints. His first match will be against Geki the bear.
But Seiya’s like, “No way! You can’t make me do this.” He’s way more interested in speaking with her grandfather who sent him to Greece, but he passed away five years ago. Seiya and his sister were orphans, and they got separated. Saori’s grandfather had promised he’d reunite them if he made it back with the sacred armor of Pegasus.
Jabu, the unicorn, then strides into the room, making his presence known. He wants to get Seiya to apologize for the disrespect shown toward Saori.
But Saori chimes in, saying she doesn’t know anything about his sister. Apparently she vanished from the orphanage, Saint Starlet, on the day her grandfather sent Seiya off to Greece.
Seiya is determined to find her, no matter what. Saori Kido then makes a promise: she’ll use her connections within her grandfather’s foundation to help him find her, but there’s a catch — Seiya has to enter and win the galactic war tournament first.
After that encounter, Seiya heads back to the orphanage to dig for any clues about his sister. There, a young girl tells him that if he competes in the tournament, she might just find him as the tournament is super popular and shown around the world.
Seiya agrees to fight! In the stadium, there’s a huge board showing all the contenders for the coveted gold cloth. It won’t be easy to win since he’s got some fierce competitors in the mix, including Phoenix, Wolf, Unicorn, Andromeda, Dragon, Bear, Pegasus, Hydra, and Cygnus.
In this tournament there are no fouls or taboos, so anything goes. The ultimate prize? The legendary golden armor!
Now, Seiya’s kicking things off with his first battle against Geki, the Bear.
As things get tough, he has a flashback to his training, where he was once told, “If his opponent is stronger than him, crush his strongest weapon.” To defeat Geki the bear, he’ll have to make use of this wise advice.
SAINT SEIYA Anime Review: Episode 3
Cygnus Hyoga, the guy known as the warrior of the ice fields, has gone totally missing in action. Saori Kido is calling for all ten saints to come together, and she means ASAP — otherwise, people might lose interest in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Hyoga’s got the sacred armor of Cygnus locked away in this frozen mountain and decides it’s time to break it out. The tournament is all set to go down in the Colosseum and everyone’s tuning in from all over the world to catch the action!
Saori Kido, the esteemed sponsor of this remarkable event reminds everyone that each saint is accompanied by his own guardian constellation and its sacred armor. This signifies that there are as many saints as there are stars in the constellations — 29 residing in the northern sky and 47 in the southern sky.
Additionally, there are the 12 prominent stars located on the ecliptic, which serve as a dividing line between the northern and southern realms.
These twelve ecliptic stars are the most prestigious of all 88 stars and are exclusively granted to just 12 saints, who are honored to wear the sacred golden armor. All the saints arrive equipped with their own bronze armor for battle, ready to defend their honor.
Episode 3 shines the spotlight on the fierce showdown between Cygnus and Hydra.
From the icy desolation of Siberia, Hyoga of Cygnus boldly confronts Hydra, proclaiming that the true Hydra resides in a murky swamp in Greece, an immortal creature that regrows its heads as swiftly as they are severed.
Remarkably, it seems the horns of Hydra share this savage resilience. As Hydra sinks his claws into Cygnus’ armor, he confidently believes he has delivered a fatal poison. However, and to his surprise, Cygnus has encased the claws in an impenetrable frost, rendering Hydra’s venom utterly ineffective.
SAINT SEIYA Anime Review: Episode 4
In episode 4, it’s all about the epic showdown between Pegasus Seiya and Shiryu, the Dragon!
We get a glimpse into Dragon Shiryu’s past with a flashback after he receives some sad news about his old mentor. During his training, he once had to take on the insane challenge of reversing the direction of a waterfall! That’s how he masters the rising dragon technique, and when he nails it, he gets his awesome dragon armor. It’s a wild ride!
Dragon lands a powerful Rising Dragon Punch on Seiya, sending him reeling, but Seiya refuses to back down — he can’t afford to lose this fight.
In response, Seiya unleashes his Meteor of Pegasus, launching a flurry of super-fast punches at Dragon. To Seiya’s shock, none of them seem to faze him. Dragon explains that his incredible defense comes from his legendary shield, forged and hardened by the training he endured in the Five Ancient Peaks in the Rozan Mountains of China, where the dragon armor lay dormant at the bottom of a massive waterfall, becoming as tough as diamond over time when galactic water washed over it.
For Seiya to stand a chance to defeat Dragon Shiryu, he first has to break through that shield. Things get tense when Dragon counters with a strike that causes Seiya’s armor on his arm to literally disintegrate right before his eyes.
But with some skill, Seiya manages to trick Dragon into smashing his own shield. WTF! It was a totally brilliant move. Soon after they both decide to remove their armor completely, as Seiya wants to keep it a fight fairer.
But now the stakes have never been higher — without their armor, one misstep could lead to their demise.
SAINT SEIYA Anime Review: Episode 5
One solid punch from Dragon could totally take Seiya out for good. The same applies to Dragon Shiryu.
As the fight rages on, we discover Dragon Shiryu has a single weak spot that shows up when he unleashes his rising Dragon move. It’s an epic galactic showdown!
Both fighters end up being really battered. When things get dire, Saori tells her butler Tatsumi to rush them to the hospital! Everyone waits anxiously to hear the diagnosis.
The doctor at the stadium announces that Seiya’s in urgent need of a blood transfusion and brain surgery — like, right now. And to make matters worse, Dragon’s heart has stopped beating. So it looks like he’s bitten the dust!
But just as Seiya is being stretchered out to the hospital, somehow he is still able to hear the grim news, while also learning that he has the power to bring Dragon back to life. But he’s got only four minutes to do it! The tension is unreal…
Best Saint Seiya Anime: English Dub Versions
ADV Films really opened the door for English-speaking fans to dive into the awesome world of “Saint Seiya” by bringing us the uncut version of the anime series. It’s a total gem!
Now, sure, there’s also the “Knights of the Zodiac” anime, but let’s be real — it’s a more kid-friendly version with a “G” rating, but it just doesn’t pack the same punch. Plus, they only dropped 28 episodes on seven DVDs for the American release. But get this, for the Australian release, they only had 26 episodes on eight DVDs. That’s two episodes short of the American release, even though the Australian release had one more DVD. Whatever, both “Knights of the Zodiac” will get you going in the Saint Seiya universe!
So, if you like what you’ve seen in this Saint Seiya anime review, stick with the original uncut version of ‘Saint Seiya’ for the full epic experience. Honestly, the ADV Films version of “Saint Seiya,” which has 60 awesome episodes in total, is a fantastic version to watch! Start with volume 1 and go from there. The 60 episodes are conveniently packaged in two box sets, each containing five DVDs, so ten DVDs in total to enjoy all 60 episodes. You’ll most likely only be able to purchase these Saint Seiya DVDs by ADV Films second-hand on platforms like eBay.
There is also an English dub of the Saint Seiya anime on Crunchyroll, which is considered another top option for viewing. The bonus is that you can watch 114 episodes with an English dub that is supposed to be extremely good. This series reportedly left Netflix in December 2021 and subsequently became available on Crunchyroll, an anime streaming service. If you can, I’d probably advise watching this version, so you can continue on to the end with this anime series covering 114 episodes.
The “Saint Seiya” anime is divided into different sections called arcs, just like Kurumada’s original manga. The first arc is the “Sanctuary arc,” which has four sub-arcs and runs from episode 1 to 73. Next is the “Asgard arc,” spanning episodes 74 to 99; this story was created specifically for the anime and doesn’t appear in the manga. The final arc is the “Poseidon arc,” covering episodes 100 to 114. The anime ends here, so the last part of the manga was never animated.
But the epic saga did continue later…
There is even a spin-off of the manga series Saint Seiya by Masami Kurumada, called Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho. This Japanese manga series is written and illustrated by Chimaki Kuori. It seems that the legend will continue to inspire and entertain audiences for a long time to come.
If you’re a fan of the goddess Athena and want to learn more about her, be sure to check out the Athena graphic novel by George O’Connor. It’s an exceptional book that you won’t want to miss!
If you’re thinking about watching the Saint Seiya anime series, be sure to check out the 33 Best Anime, Cartoons and Graphic Novels inspired by Greek Mythology. You might uncover another gem of an anime in this incredible list!
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