Saint Seiya Faq request
Ng Chi Ieong
Sea Wasp
>Hi,
> Can anyone Mail me or repost the Faq of Saint Seiya.
Your wish is my command. This one even has minor corrections
in it from the first posting...
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
SAINT SEIYA: FAQ and Summary
This file attempts to rectify the lack of information on Saint
Seiya on the Net. It includes answers to the more frequent questions,
descriptions of the major characters on both sides, and a summary of
the plotlines.
QUESTION 1: What *IS* Saint Seiya, anyway?
Saint Seiya is an anime show which ran in Japan in the late '80s.
It is in the same general classification as Yoroiden Samurai Troopers,
Shurato, and to a lesser extent Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon. In American
terms, it would be called a "Superhero" show; in a more specific sense,
it's a "God Warrior" show. It deals with a group of young people with very
special powers who are chosen/designed to fight against specific adversaries
and to perform specific tasks.
These warriors are called "Saints"; this is the older meaning of
the word "Saint", rather than its Christian meaning of a very holy man.
Seiya is the central character, though the other members of his group
get a great deal of attention as well.
The television series ran for 114 episodes, and there were 4 short
movies. The series had three major plotlines; the movies, like many anime
series movies, don't really fit anywhere in the chronology established
by the series and are, sad to say, inferior in almost every respect to even
the worst parts of the main series.
The basic concept of Saint Seiya is as follows:
Millenia ago, in the pre-Hellenic era of Greece or even before
(up to 3500 years ago) the Gods had a falling out. The details I've
been able to gather on it are somewhat fuzzy as to just who did what to
who and why; my theory, presently, is that the gods were withdrawing
from the realms of Man, and Hades -- god of the Underworld, brother to
Zeus -- refused to go. In essence he said something to the effect of
"You and Poseidon took the good parts of the world for yourselves before;
well, now I'm going to have MY turn." *Note, however, that this is MY
THEORY, and may be completely wrong.*
In any case, Hades became the Enemy, and Zeus appointed his
favorite daughter, Athena (goddess of Wisdom and War) to stop him. Wars
directly between the Gods being something to be avoided, most of the
combat would take place between chosen champions -- the Saints. Zeus
chose five special spirits to be the Champions of Athena, taking them
from the constellations which he himself had placed in the heavens.
These five were Pegasus, Cygnus, Andromeda, Draco(the Dragon), and
Phoenix.
The battle, however, was not *conclusively* decided in the ancient
era. It developed into a CYCLE -- a recurring sequence of battle, death,
reincarnation, and another battle, the interval being something on the order
of one to two centuries.
Saint Seiya, the series, takes place in a variant of the modern
world. In the Saint Seiya universe, a small nuclear war took place, possibly
because of terrorism. This and other forces has led to the development
of "throwback" areas which have much more primitive living conditions and
beliefs; some of these appear to also be perhaps dimensionally separated
from the "real world".
QUESTION 2: Besides this file, where else can I get information
on Saint Seiya?
The best full write-up on Saint Seiya available is the two-book
series summary by Patricia Munson-Siter. While it contains some factual
errors, nothing else available comes close to providing even half of
the information. (This is even more true for her Yoroiden Samurai
Troopers summary).
You can of course ask other people on the Net about it.
QUESTION 3: What exactly ARE the Saints? Where does their power
come from?
Saints are specially trained human beings who have learned to
tap the very stuff of life, and later tap into the very universe, for
powers that manifest as representations of their souls. This power is
called "Cosmo" (probably short for "Cosmic energy"), and it exists
in two distinct "flavors": the Microcosm, which is power from within,
and the Macrocosm, which is the power of the universe.
QUESTION 4: Okay, what about these different colors of Saints
they mention -- Bronze, Silver, and Gold? What's the difference?
Each one is a higher step on the ladder of cosmic power. Even
a Bronze Saint is far, far beyond anything which any mortal agency would
want to mess with. They can move at up to Mach 1 (the speed of sound),
and have strength, reaction time, and other powers to match.
Silver Saints are much more powerful than this, being about
two to five times more powerful in all ways -- speed, strength, and so on.
Gold Saints are very nearly Gods in and of themselves. Gold
Saints are forbidden, by ancient tradition, from fighting each other
directly; it is said that such a clash would release "the power of a
thousand wars". According to Kurumada, the creator of Saint Seiya,
Gold Saints move at the speed of light. (since I prefer, even in
superhero universes, to avoid violating more laws o' physics than
necessary, I'd prefer to interpret this as a figure of speech, or
even as just a SLIGHT exaggeration. But that's what the man says.)
QUESTION 5: Why do these guys almost ALWAYS take on their
opponents one at a time (other than for dramatic effect, of course)?
Partially it's honor, but it also has to do with the way that
the Cosmos power works. Once you've become a Bronze, almost the ONLY
way for you to increase your power and learn more is to defeat another
Saint in single combat -- preferably a more POWERFUL Saint. In general
this rule is only set aside when the adversary is so titanically powerful
that even En Masse you're all outclassed, or when the opposition invites
such combat. An example of the former situation is the Bronze Saints
against Ares, and of the latter is Dragon, Cygnus, and Andromeda against
Taurus.
QUESTION 6: What is this "Cloth" they always talk about?
"Cloth" is what they call the ceremonial/symbolic armor that the
Saints wear. I believe there is an old use of the word "cloth" which
justifies this use, but in any case the word "cloth" (or, as it sounds
in the show, "Closka") means "special armor".
While the armor often appears to be symbolic and decorative,
according to Matt Clark even the Bronze Cloths have excellent protective
value, radiating a sort of defensive field around the Saint in question.
Higher-level Cloths, of course, have far greater defenses. I've been
told that the Saints are supposed to be essentially HUMAN without their
Cloths, but the evidence of the action in the show (where the Bronze
Boys often exhibit superhuman ability without their Cloths) says
otherwise.
CHARACTERS: The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Wierd
This section gives a thumbnail description of all the major
characters seen in the series, and some of the minor ones as well.
GOOD GUYS:
Pegasus Saint Seiya: The title character, Seiya has dark brown
scruffy hair and is shorter and slightly stockier than the others of
his group. He's independent, determined, a bit of a wiseass, and incredibly
tough. No amount of damage will stop him completely unless it actually
kills him. The brown-eyed Saint's major attacks are the Ryu Sei Ken (meteor
fist), Sui Sei Ken (Comet Fist), and Rolling Crush (a sort of high-speed
flying body-slam). The most common, the Ryu Sei Ken, is projected kinetic
Cosmo energy which parallels the movement of his hands or feet; in essence,
he is actually hitting or kicking you, about 500+ times per second. Initially
Seiya does not want to be involved in the affairs of the other Saints,
and only consents to work for Soari Athena (see later entry) because she
in essence blackmails him. Later, however, it becomes clear that he's got
the true soul of a Hero and that he's in love with Soari. Poor schmuck...
Cygnus Saint Hyoga: Blond of hair and steel-blue of eye, Hyoga
is a Russian-born Saint, trained in the wilds of Siberia. As one might
expect, his powers all center on cold: Diamond Dust, Aurora Thunder Attack,
and Aurora Execution (the latter two are sometimes written as "aura thunder"
or "aura execution", but the visual effects that accompany them tend to
support the first interpretation). All are essentially bolts of pure
freezing energy, progressively more powerful and with slightly different
effects. The second-tallest of the Saints, Hyoga has one major psychological
weakness: an Oedipus complex the size of a planet. Hyoga can't let go (in
a psychological sense) of anyone who was important to him, and he's really
kinda quirked over his mom. Hyoga is a Russian Orthodox churchmember, and
is very sincere in his faith. Note that Aurora/Aura Execution is a Gold
Saint power -- from the Aquarius cloth -- and is extremely exhausting
to use for Hyoga; he doesn't acquire this attack until the end of the
first season, and it is always a great strain for him to use.
Dragon Saint Shiryu: Handsome oriental boy with straight black hair
that flows all the way to his ankles, Shiryu seems sometimes to be more
than just an ordinary Saint; he appears to be an avatar of nature itself.
While his major attack, the "Shou Ryuu Ha" or "Ascending Dragon Wave",
is usually very effective, he exhibits an amazing array of talents and powers
at various points in the series, ranging from healing to controlling the forces
of nature. It seems quite possible that he's actually the Dragon itself,
and not human at all. Certainly his demeanor, calm and collected at all
times (even as a very small child) is somewhat otherworldly. Shiryu has
two slight weaknesses: a heart condition which can kill him if he's struck
in JUST the wrong spot, and a tendency to push himself beyond his limits.
Andromeda Saint Shun: Shun is a delicate, almost feminine-looking
boy with waves of green hair who wears pink armor. In the first season,
the Andromeda Cloth's chestplate often appeared to have literal "breast
plates" designed in, contributing to the confusion in American fandom;
many people believed that Shun was female. Shun has two major attack
forms: the Nebula Chains, a set of dimensionally-transcendent chains
which move and attack as Shun wills, and the Nebula Storm, a channeling
of pure stellar energy. (It can also be directed in a focused beam
as the Nebula Stream). Shun is softhearted, hates fighting, and is very
gentle. He should NOT be mistaken for a wimp, however; it just takes a
LOT to get him going. Potentially he may be the most powerful of the entire
group. When in trouble, Shun often calls for, and is saved by, his big
brother ("Niisan"), Phoenix Ikki.
There are some STRONG indications that Shun feels more than just
friendship for Hyoga; put bluntly, there's one scene where it seems
completely certain that Shun's going to kiss the Cygnus Saint. Vague
homosexual implications are rampant in the series.
Phoenix Saint Ikki: Tall (6'4" or so), massive, dark blue of
hair, and grim-faced, Ikki is the Terminator of the Saints. He's by
far the most powerful of them in day-to-day operations. At first he
appears as a villain, having been brainwashed by Ares (see his Bad
Guy entry), but later becomes the "save the day" Saint. Ikki is
not much of a socializer, is rarely seen unless he's needed, and is
almost utterly unstoppable once he appears. Killing him does you
little good, since he comes back from death stronger than he
was before. He also often makes people THINK he's dead just to play
mindgames with them. Ikki can be extremely nasty. His only real
weakness is his little brother Shun.
Ikki's two major attacks are the "Houkyou TEN-SHO" or
Flaming Wing, and the "Phoenix -- Genma Ken", or Demon's Fist.
The first is an all-out tsunami of flaming energy. The second
is a truly hideous mental assault which seems to have one of two
effects; either it creates an illusion of tremendous power which
can kill you or drive you insane, or else it acts somewhat like
the Sword of Shannara; confronts you with the Truth about yourself.
This, too, can be really nasty, especially if you've managed to
lie to yourself a lot.
All of the Bronze Boys have an affinity for one of the Gold
Cloths, and presumably will inherit those cloths in time (they actually
DO acquire the cloths in the Manga). Seiya -- Saggitarius, Hyoga --
Aquarius, Shiryu -- Libra [he's also GIVEN Capricorn. Talk about
an embarassment of riches!], Shun -- Virgo, and Ikki -- Leo. Not that
Ikki really NEEDS a Gold Cloth...
Soari Kido, vessel of Athena: A beautiful young lady of
16, Soari appears at first as a spoiled rich brat who cares only
for her beloved (deceased) grandfather's project. It comes as
a surprise to her, as well as to the Saints, when she begins to
manifest the power of Athena. As she manifests more of this power,
her personality begins to change; partly this may have been due to
the influence of the original spirit of the goddess, but it also
seems to have something to do with her witnessing the great pain
that the Bronze Boys (her five personal guardian Saints, above)
go through. Note that her age is NOT unusual in the series; Saints
begin their training at EXTREMELY early ages. None of the Bronze
boys is over 18, and Seiya and Shun are between 11-13, depending
on what point in the series you are and which source you use. (Note
that even Kurumada has been known to change his mind at times...)
Soari manifests the Power of Athena far earlier in the Series than
in the Manga.
Tatsumi: Butler, "handler", and bodyguard to Soari, he was
also the right-hand man to Old Kido, the man who set up the whole
thing (and who may have been the living incarnation of Zeus as well).
As such, Tatsumi is privy to many secrets which no one else knows
squat about. He was in charge of the Saint's early training and
punished transgressions extremely violently; accordingly, none
of the Saints likes him at all, though they gain some respect for
him after a while. Tatsumi is a master martial artist, but he's no
Saint. Later in the series he's played more for laughs than taken
seriously, which is rather sad; he's worthy of more respect than
that [in the first season, he even has a rather impressive battle
of his own against a LARGE number of Sanctuary Guards, against
which he does quite well for a while]
Kiki: Short, elfin-looking little boy with dots for eyebrows
and purplish hair, Kiki is a young member of a mystical race of beings
called Jamilons. Kiki is a very powerful telekinetic and can also teleport
once per day (either teleport himself somewhere or teleport something
else to him). He sort of attaches himself to Dragon Shiryu and is something
close to the Saint's mascot.
Aquila Saint Marin: The Eagle Saint is a dynamite redheaded girl
of about 16. She trained Seiya for most of his years on Sanctuary Island,
and is a very skillful and powerful adversary. (later in the series she
is kinda wimped out; a sad sight indeed). Like all female Saints, the
Silver Eagle wears a mask. Marin was supposed to be Seiya's sister,
for whom Seiya was searching for years. Kurumada originally had that be
the case, then he changed his mind, then he changed his mind back,
then he changed his mind again. Take your pick. She sure LOOKS (when we
get to see her with the mask off) like she could be Seiya's sister. Marin
seems able to use an attack similar to the Ryo Sei Ken, and has her own
called, I believe, Eagle Claw.
Ophiucius Saint Shaina: Olive-haired Shaina is even shorter
than Seiya, but that doesn't detract from either her beauty or her
power. She is quite probably the NASTIEST of the Silver Saints, and
begins as a very formidable adversary. Eventually, however, she
joins the Bronze Boys in protecting Athena. Her major attack is the
"Thunder Claw", which appears as a striking cobra and hits with the
force of a wrecking ball.
Shaina is the toughest little bitch in the entire series. She is
almost as stubborn as Seiya, and once she starts fighting is UTTERLY without
mercy. She is the most popular of the Silvers, and reappears in every sequence.
OTHER SAINTS (first series)
SILVER SAINTS
Canis Major (the great Dog): I don't know his real name; has a blue
and gray color scheme. Canis' major power was to multiply himself into hundreds
of images, all of which could attack with power blasts, but in order to
hit HIM you had to be able to find the original; sort of a Mirror Image
spell to the Nth power. He also had an aura attack which looked like a
charging attack dog (Marin/Aquila cleaned his clock for him).
Cetus (the Whale): A huge man in black and silver, Cetus' major attack
was a combined mental/physical bolt that disoriented the victim (accompanied
by images of a great white whale spouting blood) and hurled him high into the
air, to land head-first on Cetus' upcoming fist. As with many Silvers, it's
Seiya who made him bite the big one.
Misty/Lacerta (the Lizard): Misty is a very tall man who looks
completely feminine, with a lovely face, long blond hair, wearing a sort
of peach and silver armor. In fact, it is only because we got to see a
bathing scene of Misty that we can be SURE he is indeed a HE.
*NOTE: This confusion is common in Anime, and never more so than in
Saint Seiya. Misty is just one example. Pisces/Aphrodite (later) is an
extreme example. He makes SOARI look like a dog. Similar situations obtain
with regards to other Saints. A lot of them are prettyboys.*
Misty is a sicko. He likes little boys; he flirts with Seiya
while he's arranging for Marin to be drowned.
Misty's major attack is an energy blast that throws people back
while also draining their life-force.
All of the male Silver Saints focus on attacking Seiya after he
kills Misty, and they all speak the line "You killed Misty!". Given Misty's
predisposition for his own sex and notable good looks (and the incredible
ugliness of most of the Silvers), most fans have come to the conclusion
that Misty was ... er... very friendly with all the other Silver Saints
and that they couldn't "get any" from anyone else! Thus they are all very
pissed at Seiya!
Corvus (the Crow): Corvus, like most of the male silvers, is very
very ugly, and has the most annoyingly screechy voice (akin to his Crows).
He seems to be somewhat crazed as well, sort of like a superpowered Igor.
He can control flocks of ravens/crows, and can drain lifeforce as well.
He's trashed by Seiya (as are most of the Silvers). However, it isn't
Seiya who kills him but, indirectly, Andromeda Shun; Corvus is stunned
and falls off a cliff (the same fate that Soari had just avoided with
Seiya's help).
Perseus: The only really good-looking male Silver (aside from Misty),
Perseus' good looks only covers up the evil that's within him. He is
actually EXCEEDINGLY nasty, and his major attack is with the Medusa Shield,
a shield which has the imprinted Head of Medusa on it and which can
open its eyes and turn you to stone. Shiryu finally kills him... after
protecting himself in the only effective way: Shiryu pokes his own eyes
out (the power penetrates blindfolds). This only happens after Perseus has
taken out Hyoga, Seiya, and Shun, as well as knocking out the three
Steel Saints who made the mistake of getting in the way.
Tarantula: Fairly ugly, and HUGE, Tarantula has one of the neater
armor designs and is frightening as hell. Besides one HECK of a punch, he
has a major attack which is an energy-draining spiderweb. Once caught in
it, it starts sucking out every bit of your energy. He almost kills Seiya,
gets distracted by Steel Saint Sho, and then Seiya blows him away (the
scene immediately after is one of the funniest in the show...)
Albeiro: Shun's Sensei on Andromeda Island, Albeiro is a tall,
muscular, very handsome blond man. A Silver Saint, we don't really get
to see him fight, and he's killed by a combination attack of Pisces
and Scorpio.
The Crystal Saint: Another Toei creation, the Crystal Saint
was made up to be Hyoga's sensei because, at the time, Kurumada
hadn't told anyone who Hyoga's sensei WAS and refused to talk about
it to Toei. So, as filler, they made the Crystal Saint.
The Crystal Saint, despite his inherently redundant nature with
respect to the series, is nonetheless the best of the Toei additions.
He has a personality of his own which is very well developed, and
in fact seems more "real" to me than the Saint Kurumada eventually
decided was Hyoga's real trainer: Camius Aquarius. A kind and gentle
man of white hair, dressed in blue-crystal armor, the Crystal Saint
was temporarily turned against his best pupil by mind control, but
at the end managed to die as himself rather than as a puppet.
There are other Silvers but I can't remember them well enough.
There were four of them that I recall who were elemental related.
BRONZE SAINTS:
Unicorn/Jabu: Jabu was Seiya's cheif rival. He wears purple and
silver armor, and his major attack was the Unicorn Horn, which was a
disorienting mental assault that set you up for his charge. Jabu was
devoted to Soari/Athena just like Seiya, but he didn't even try to
pretend. He'd do anything for her, including allowing her to make a fool of
him in public, and enjoy it as long as she was paying attention to him.
Jabu beats Leo Minor (the little Lion) in the Galaxian Wars, but gets his
ass handed to him when he fights Andromeda Shun. Jabu recovers in time
to get decked by an evil Ikki at the end of that fight.
Ursus (the Great Bear): Hulking man who wore a bulky silver and black
cloth, Ursus seemed to have strength as his prime requisite. He trained by
strangling giant grizzly bears with his bare hands, and almost KOs Seiya
that way in the Galaxian Wars before Pegasus decides he's had enough and
blows him away.
June/Chameleon (pronounced Joon-ay by those in the series...):
Like ALL female Saints, June wears a mask at all times (unless someone
knocks it off). Silver and blue and pink for armor colors, her major weapon
is a metallic bullwhip. She has something going with Shun at one point, but
there is no followup on this. She knew him on Andromeda Island, and was
apparently his only friend there; she and Albeiro were the only ones
present when Shun won his cloth.
Hydra: Probably the ugliest of the Bronzes, and also a little loopy,
Hydra has a complexion like flour, eyes that are pure black with little white
dots for eyes, and a sort of greenish and silver armor studded with white
circles. His armor can extrude large claws from the gauntlets that will
loop OVER his hand and into anything he has grabbed/punched; I believe
they are also poisoned. Hyoga kicks his butt off in the Galaxian Wars.
THE STEEL SAINTS
Toei did a lot of things to change the original manga. Most of the
time they were not too bad. The Steel Saints are probably the worst. Most of
the fans grind their teeth violently at the thought of them. The only thing
I can say in their defense is that, if you accept that the Steel Saints ARE
there, they are used fairly well.
The Steel Saints are technological creations, using cosmo only because
Old Kido (actually Zeus in a mortal form) was able to point his researchers
along the right path. Each one represents some particular animal (fox, hawk,
and a water creature -- possibly a sailfish, if I recall correctly -- but
don't quote me on it). They are supposed to be backup Saints, in case something
goes wrong with the others. The only one who shows up and uses his power more
than once (that I can recall) has a gadget which takes in any Cosmo blast
directed at him and can then take that power and redirect it in a blast at the
Steel's whim. His name is Sho (accent over the O), and he is the tallest and
oldest of the Steels. He is quite good looking, though very young, slender,
with black hair that falls a bit over his forehead, and a face/build that
somehow reminds me of Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher... and the reaction to the
Steels is very similar to fandom's reaction to Wesley.)
The Steel Saints only showed up for four (relatively minor)
battles and then disappeared, though they were featured in the show
advertisments for the entire season. Given that they DID exist, they did
perform about as you would expect: their first battle they kicked some
butt due to sheer surprise. The second time they did okay but needed
help. The third time they got blown away by Perseus. The last time,
Sho was the only one present and was smart enough to just act as a
distraction to allow Seiya to get out.
The Steel Saints are all much less powerful than even bronzes, and
despite a fair amount of martial arts training are never likely to be
much competition for ANYONE.
GOLD SAINTS: THE ZODIAC
Gold Saints are just goddamn powerful things from hell. They
ALL have protections that will take any single shot of the base-level
saints above without even MOVING. They ALL can move like greased lightning
and all have some degree of telepathy, telekinesis, and have unlimited
power (in other words, they NEVER get tired, just battered IF, and ONLY
IF, you manage to do them damage).
TAURUS: A gigantic man, perhaps ten feet tall, Taurus has a face
of a good natured boxer, a somewhat broken nose but otherwise handsome
enough. His major attack was the Great Horn, a charge which projected gold
cosmo energy and was focussed through his horns. Taurus *IS* a good natured
man, and when Pegasus/Seiya basically took his best shots and survived... and
LEARNED enough from those shots to be able to nail Taurus a good one, Taurus
just laughed and let him go on by without continuing the fight. Taurus is a
very likable character.
ARIES/Mu: Feminine of face but not of body, Mu/Aries is the only
Saint capable of REPAIRING cloths. (Later on it appeared that Toei/Kurumada
changed their minds on this, since it appears that after the Zodiac battle
five different Golds fix the Bronze Boys' cloths...) He is also the only Gold
Saint to NOT fight the Bronze Boys on their way up the mountain (except just
enough to demonstrate that they need serious help). He understands the
philosophy and operation of Cosmo better than any of them (save possibly for
Doshi, see later). Like Kiki, Mu is not human but Jamilon.
AQUARIUS/Camius: In the manga, Camius was Hyoga's sensei; in the
anime, it's a bit more confusing; apparently he was the Crystal Saint's
sensei and thus something of a godlike figure to Hyoga. No matter what
the actual relationship between them, the blue-haired Aquarius Saint
has all of Hyoga's powers, just more so. He uses Aurora Execution rather
easily, while Hyoga is wiped out by using it. He fights Hyoga twice, trying
to make him grow up and let go of his mental crutches. In the final battle,
Hyoga manages to defeat him, but only at the cost of his own life.
LIBRA/Doshi: Sensei to Shiryu, Doshi chooses to appear as a little
wizened purple Yoda-like martial arts master; in actuality he is nothing
of the sort. He is the most ancient of the Golds by far, being several hundred
years old. He can PROBABLY do anything Shiryu can do, as well as use the
multiple weapons that make up the Libra Cloth (it appears as a set of
scales which are made of several different weapons (Sword, Nunchakas,
three-piece-rod, shield and chain). Doshi is never, in the series, seen as
doing ANYTHING as a Gold, but the implications are such that we might do well
to assume that Doshi Libra is possibly THE most powerful of the Golds.
He IS powerful enough to show absolutely no worry about the presence and
possible attack of Deathmask Cancer behind him. Doshi doesn't even bother
to turn around.
VIRGO/Shaka: Shaka is the living incarnation of Vishnu as well as
Virgo. He is another possibility for the title of "most powerful of the
Gold Saints of the Zodiac" (with Libra his major competitor). He has several
attacks which affect both the mind and body, and his ultimate attack tries
to erase you from existence, make you as though you had never been at all.
Shaka will not even open his eyes while fighting unless he thinks you are
worthy, and it takes a LOT to prove worthy. (Ikki got him to open his eyes
when the Phoenix resurrected himself). Shaka is totally neutral in the
beginning with respect to the Saints; he has sworn an oath and appears
unconcerned with whether or not the people his oath requires him to fight
are really the good guys or not. Later, he becomes a bit more involved,
but we don't get to see him much after that...
LEO/Aioria: Blond haired, handsome, Aioria is normally a very
good guy, but in the Ares sequence his mind is controlled. He controls
lightning and his major attack is "Lightning Bolt!".
SAGGITARIUS/Aioros: Looking like a taller, lighter-haired, and
more "manly" version of Seiya in some ways, we only see Aioros himself
as a ghost and in flashback sequences. Aioros saved Athena from being
killed by Ares, and dies of the injuries inflicted on him in his
flight by Capricorn Shura. Aioros was Aioria's younger brother.
GEMINI/Saga: In the series, Saga is possessed by Ares, so he gets
a considerable turbo-boost from whatever Ares really was; Gemini's major
power is dimensional control. He can warp dimensions to his will and likes
to get rid of opponents by dropping them into dimensional gateways.
PISCES/Aphrodite: Contrary to appearances again, Aphrodite is
a man, though you couldn't prove that by me. He is also a real sicko
like Misty; I suspect that the two would get along great.
Pisces' major attacks are with magical roses; white ones impale
you and drain your blood out through them (turning red in the process),
red ones exude a knockout and kill poison, and black ones drain your
lifeforce. Either black or white CANNOT be pulled out by the victim, no
matter how strong and powerful they are.
CANCER/Deathmask: Deathmask and Aphrodite are the most evil of
the Golds, most of whom are basically decent folks. Deathmask destroys
souls. His power comes straight from Hades, and he has a major attack
which creates a sort of black hole which sucks in your soul and drops
it into Hades, where he can then confront you on his home plane. Deathmask
has no redeeming qualities and is immensely powerful, capable of doing
a telepathic scan ACROSS DIMENSIONS, and then after locating someone in
this manner can telekinetically attack that person even in another dimension.
SCORPIO/Miro: Blue haired like several others, Scorpio is powerful
enough to take out three of the Boys. Hyoga takes him on for Shun's sake
(Shun saved Hyoga's life, and Scorpio killed Shun's Sensei Albireo). Besides
a basic powerblast, Scorpio had a sort of constellation attack: he punched
holes in you which corresponded to the stars of the Scorpio constellation,
and when the last star was added, you died. Hyoga refused to die...
CAPRICORN/Shura: Capricorn wields Excalibur, an incarnation of the
actual blade from the Arthurian legend. Excalibur cuts ANYTHING and can rip
gouges the size of canyons in the ground. Shiryu finally beats him by using
a one-shot power (that will also kill the Dragon Saint) and blasting them both
straight into orbit.
This is all taken from the first season, which is usually called
the Zodiac sequence by fans. There are two other seasons, both inferior
to the first, though all three seasons are better than any of the movies.
BAD GUYS:
ARES: Ares is the prime mover throughout the first sequence.
DESPITE THE NAME, ARES IS NOT THE GOD OF THAT NAME. This is an assumption
which I, and virtually every other American fan, made. Perhaps it is
precisely to cause this kind of confusion that this being chose such
a name. In any case, Ares is actually an "incarnation of Evil", a
spirit deriving its power from the evil in the world. (In many ways,
the being appears similar to Arago from Yoroiden Samurai Troopers).
Ares has possessed the body and mind of Saga Gemini, and thus has
the powers of the Gold Saint as well as the god-level powers of its
own.
Ares has taken the position of "Pope" of Sanctuary Island,
which is the island where the Gold Temples are and happens to be
the place where Seiya is trained. To take that position, Ares killed
the prior Pope in secret and then, using its powers along with the
powers of Gemini, was able to carry out the masquerade. Ares attempted
to kill the infant Soari, but Aioros -- the Saggitarius Saint --
intervened. To prevent Soari from being able to effectively oppose him,
the false Pope obtained the Oaths of Service from the Gold Saints (as
Pope, he had the authority to require such things so long as Athena
did not overrule him; since Athena was presently helpless in the body
of a baby, she could do nothing), and later spread the word that
Soari was a FALSE Athena, trying to obtain control of Sanctuary for
her own evil purposes. He could get away with this because he had
managed to have Saggitarius killed and had convinced everyone else
that Aioros had been the assassin who KILLED Athena.
His greatest obstacle, ironically, was Saga Gemini himself.
Saga's mind had NOT been destroyed, and periodically Saga would manifest
his will and control the body, or at least interfere in Ares' normally
smooth operations. In the end, it was Saga who was responsible for Ares'
defeat.
Kronos: Right-hand man and lackey of Ares, Kronos boasted
considerable mind-control powers. He was a rather ugly, squat man who
wore a thick monocle.
Geist: Blood-sister to Shaina Ophiucius, Geist and her
three assistant Saints (based around a water-snake, jellyfish, and
dolphin motif) was a Toei creation. While she claimed to be some
kind of lizard-representative Saint, it's undoubtedly true that
her entire stylistic motif was much more in line with her being
a Bat-saint with vampiric leanings. Her major skills were in
illusions, though she also had use of the Thunder Claw. Without
her mask, she looked quite amazingly like Yuri of the Dirty Pair.
Lotus and Peacock Saints: Devotees of Virgo who worshipped him
as a god, these two were sent after the Phoenix when he interfered in
Shaka's plans. They were pretty powerful... as long as Shaka kept
Ikki from being able to access his own power. After Soari Athena managed
to break the jamming barrier around Ikki, all that was left for
these two Toei-saints to do was pick out burial plots.
Season 1: The ZODIAC Sequence
This season was not only the best, but the longest. It begins
with the "Galaxian Wars", a sort of All-Star-Wrestling/Tenkai Ichi
Budokai one-on-one combat whose prize is supposed to be the Gold
Saggitarius cloth. Most of the spectators probably think that there's
some trick to the stunts they see; in actuality, of course, they're
all real.
The precise purpose behind the Galaxian Wars isn't clear;
a Gold Cloth can't just be "won"; it has to accept you. My best
guess is that Soari was trying to draw her enemies out into the open.
If that was the purpose, it succeeds. It also serves as the medium
in which the other Bronze Boys get to meet each other for the first time
since they were (rather nastily abused) children in the unloving care
of Graude. At first they're all enemies, but they learn respect for each
other as they progress through the ranks. By the time that the last of
the five -- Phoenix -- appears, the other four have begun to form some
personal ties.
Phoenix, unfortunately, has been gripped in the control of Ares
for some time. He's a real baddie, and he shows up to *steal* the Gold
Cloth. He tries to put it on a short time later, but at that point it
becomes obvious that it takes more than putting on a piece of armor
to make one into a Gold Saint. In this first part of the sequence leading
into the eventual Zodiac, Phoenix demonstrates a wide number of powers
and strategies, including the ability to create or summon "Ankoku", or
"Black" saints. He creates opposites to each of the Bronze Boys at one
point (Black Dragon, Black Pegasus, etc). These "Ankoku" saints are not,
with the lone exception of Black Dragon, in any way the equal of
their opposites. It is also interesting that the Black Dragon is also the
only one of the Ankoku Bronzes to appear to possess real free will;
Shiryu earns his respect and the Black Dragon then sacrifices his own
life to let Shiryu live.
The Saints retrieve some pieces of the Gold Cloth, but this
isn't sufficient. Eventually some of those pieces are stolen. There are
a number of subplots which deal with the various characters -- Seiya's
search for his sister and relationship with Miho, a young girl at
the nearby orphanage; Shiryu's development, especially after blinding himself
to defeat Perseus; and so on.
The grand finale of the season comes when, after tracing all
their enemies, they travel at last to Sanctuary. There, Soari/Athena
is shot with a mystical arrow which will kill her in 12 hours; the Saints
have that long to get through all 12 Gold Saint Temples and then through
Ares himself, or their Lady dies.
Some info on the other seasons:
Season 2: the Nibelungen sequence.
This takes place a relatively short time after the Zodiac.
The Saints are challenged by an emissary from Asgard, home of the Norse
gods. To make a long story short, Hilde (presumably a shortened form of
Brynhilde), the present minister of Asgard in the absence of Lord Odin
(the deities themselves are apparently asleep/inert) has been taken
over by the evil power of the Nibelungen Ring. This Ring was forged of
the gold of a cursed hoard and corrupts the wearer to evil, while granting
them immense power. Hilde uses this power to bring down (from the stars
of the Big Dipper constellation) the Odin Sapphires, seven stones which
if all united could give one the power of Odin; singly they awaken ancient
"God Robes", or symbolic armor like the Saints' Cloths, which she gives
to her chosen champions who are like Saints themselves. Unfortunately for
the good guys, the use of the Nibelungen power to activate the God
Robes also makes them corruptive to their wearers, so that even the
good-intentioned amoung the God Warriors will eventually turn to
evil.
Hilde then uses her power to start trying to melt all the ice
in the world, to drown the entire Earth with the water that would result.
This effectively takes Soari Athena out of combat, since she has to
devote the entire power of Athena to keeping the icecaps of the world frozen
while her Bronze Boys try to collect the Odin Sapphires and bring them
to the statue of Odin to awaken the ancient Norse god from his slumber.
A list of the main opponents in this season, followed by
comments on the season, pro and con:
The God Warriors of Asgard:
Merak Hagen (Sleipnir): His robe was derived from the image of
Odin's 8-legged steed; his major power is fire. Hyoga's main opponent.
Phecda Tor (Jormungandr): The Midgard Serpent, the snake that
encircles the world, is his Robe origin, and he's big enough, almost
20 feet, to do the robe justice. Since he's the largest of the God
Warriors, it's inevitable that he fight the smallest Saint, Seiya.
Megrez Alberich (Unknown): The crystal and skull motif of
Alberich's armor is one I don't know. It may be a representative of
the cold and icy death the Norse feared. Alberich is TREMENDOUSLY
powerful, and beats THREE Saints (Marin Aquila, Pegasus Seiya, and
Cygnus Hyoga) before Shiryu finally beats him. He uses crystal
encasement and nature control as his major weapons, as well as a
flaming crystal sword. Alberich is also the only God Warrior who
is in and of himself purely evil. He is as thoroughly nasty as
Deathmask Cancer and wants to steal the Odin Sapphires, kill Hilde,
and after taking control of Asgard use the power of the Home of
the Norse gods to conquer all of Midgard (our earth).
Mizar Shido and Alcor Bado: Mizar and Alcor are an actual
visible double star. These identical twin brothers both have similar
Robes, though only Shido has an Odin Sapphire; they were raised
separately and Shido was the pampered brother. Both armors are based
on the Saber-Toothed Tiger, and their attacks are sort of slicing/
shredding bolts called "Viking Tiger Claw". Shun beats Shido, but it
requires both brothers to beat Bado.
Dubhe Siegfried (Fafnir): The great Dragon, Fafnir, is the
basis for Siegfried's armor. He's THE most powerful of the God
Warriors, invulnerable except in a very small area over his heart.
Alkaid Mimir (Lyra): The only Warrior with a Robe that seems
related to the Constellations, Mimir's armor is based on a harp motif.
Since Mimir was the wisest and most knowledgeable being in Norse
myth, this is appropriate -- wisdom and tales were kept and told by
"skalds", or wandering bards. Andromeda Shun first fights him and
has to be rescued by his brother, Ikki.
Alioth Fenrir (Fenris Wolf): The Fenris Wolf was the third of
Loki's three evil children, and Alioth almost kills Shiryu with his
empowered version of the attack of a wolf...
Second Season impressions:
The artwork changed rather drastically, making all the people
somewhat more attenuated and slender. This is okay for Shun and for
Lyra, both of whom are "pretty" anyway and whose appearance is enhanced
by the emphasized slenderness, but it makes the more heavily built
characters look much less impressive.
The ATMOSPHERE for this season was superior to that of the
first season. The second season, unlike the first and third seasons,
was completely designed by Toei, rather than being a Toei adaptation
of Kurumada's original Saint Seiya manga (Japanese comic). The season
was, in fact, designed as "filler" to allow Kurumada to write more
of his Seiya work, since Toei had already filmed all of the Saint
Seiya manga done to that point.
Thus since Toei was no longer relying on Kurumada to produce
and then trying to adapt his material, they did have the one advantage
of choosing all aspects of the show themselves. In choosing the Norse
background, they introduced an interesting variant of Kurumada's universe
and drew upon the traditional depiction of the Norse mythos: the Wagnerian
opera, Das Nibelungen. Toei consistently maintains a dark and Gothic
atmosphere, with solemn and almost Wagnerian music emphasizing this.
Where this season fails is in characters. The VILLAINS get more
character development than the heroes, but since all the villains get
KILLED immediately afterward, the only point of this development is to
give the viewer a short period of empathy with the opposition before the
Saints bash them. The only one of the main characters to get any real
development is Ikki, and to a lesser extent Shun. Because of this,
many episodes tend to drag on, especially since in this season Toei
began to really overuse its "flashback" technique. The same scene is
shown over and over again in many different episodes.
Third Season: POSEIDON.
Here Toei once more adapated part of Kurumada's actual Seiya
storyline, transferring our heroes immediately from Asgard to Marina,
the undersea city of Poseidon. Poseidon's mortal incarnation, Julian
Solo, was jilted by Soari, whom he was in love with. When he gained
the power of Poseidon, this became an obsession. Poseidon kidnaps Soari
and locks her in a tower in the center of his kingdom. Several other
mystic pylons surrond the city, each one representing one of the
oceans or seas of the world, and each one causing the level of water to
rise; Poseidon wishes to cleanse the earth and make it all ocean. (it
is made apparent that it was Poseidon who made sure that Hilde was
trapped by the Nibelungen ring, thus explaining why flooding plays a
part in both sequences).
The Saints, obviously, have to destroy each of the pylons and
then rescue Athena, who is the only one with the power to return Poseidon's
essence to the soul-jar from which it came. A list of their opponents
and comments on this final season follows:
Poseidon's Marine Shoguns
Siren Sorento: Since his main weapon is the music of his flute,
he's destined to be an opponent of Shun Andromeda, who always gets the
musical opponents in the series OR in the movies. Like all of the
Shoguns, he's named for a monster or creature associated with the
water.
Mermaid Tethys: Not truly one of the first-line Shoguns, she's
more the right hand of Poseidon and, from my observation, in love with
Julian Solo/Poseidon. She's kept busy by Shaina Ophucius.
Hippocampus (Seahorse) Baian: Seiya's major opponent, Baian
uses a sort of water-cyclone attack to batter and hurl you around.
Scylla Io: Scylla was one of two great monsters in Greek
mythology, the other being Charybdis. One was a great rock, the other
a whirlpool, though of course in myth they were represented by more
animate forms. Since they were located near each other, the expression
"between Scylla and Charybdis" was born -- meaning between two equally
nasty alternatives. Scylla is a very nasty Shogun; since in myth the
Scylla was created by the witch Circe, known for shapechanging people
into other beasts, Scylla has a multitude of attacks, each drawn from
different creatures: bats, wolves, bees, bears, and snakes. Andromeda
Shun is his opponent.
Chrysaeor Krishna: The first of his names is his Shogun armor,
that of the Greek monster who was born of the blood of Medusa and
who wielded a golden spear. It's implied that he actually IS, in addition,
the living incarnation of Krishna. Shiryu, the Dragon Saint, is his
opponent.
Lymnades Kaysa: Like the mythical creature whose name he
uses, Lymnades uses illusion to trick his opponents, usually appearing
as someone they trust to get their guard down. His illusory powers are
awesome, able to affect you even if you KNOW that this is illusion.
He faces FOUR of the boys -- Seiya, Hyoga, Shun, and Ikki.
Kraken Isaac: Isaac was trained with Hyoga, but Hyoga's obsession
with his mother led to a tragic incident wherein Isaac was lost, and
presumed dead, saving Hyoga from his own stupidity. Isaac was taken by
the power of the Kraken and Poseidon (note that Isaac, who came from
the icy northern wastes, is the only Marine Shogun whose armor is not
Grecian, but Norse, in origin; perhaps another connection to the
Nibelungen saga), and came to hate Hyoga and desire revenge. Guess
who his opponent is...?
Sea Dragon Canon: Canon is twin brother to Saga/Ares, the
Gemini Saint, and has his dimensional powers. This time it is the
Phoenix who confronts the power of the dimensions.
Comments:
Drawing style didn't change between seasons this time. Atmosphere
was much more uneven.
On the plus side, there were some very interesting sequences.
Notably, Andromeda Shun has finally gotten over the "wimp factor" that
seemed to plague him. Despite the fact that he still DOES NOT like
to hurt people, Shun kicks the butt off of TWO Shoguns, who are equal
to Gold Saints, and almost blows Lymnades Kaysa away before finally
succumbing to Lymnades' illusions.
Phoenix, also, has grown up. He's lost the psychotic edge
that he had and has become calmer and almost philosophical. He
doesn't even FIGHT Canon, simply taking everything that the Sea
Dragon can throw and hitting him, ONCE, with his Genma Ken.
The major flaws, though, are that it's just more of
the same thing. Once more they're racing the clock, once more
they each have specific opponents, once more the last opponent
is a god or demon incarnate, etc. I suspect the show would have
been a LOT more durable if the writers had come up with some
new and exciting plots.
SAINT SEIYA MOVIES
There were four Saint Seiya Movies: Saint Seiya (called "Eris"
or "The Ghost Saints" by some), When Gods Battle, Legend of Crimson
Youth ("The Crimson Boys"), and Legend of the Final Saint Battle.
All four are inferior to the series, although the second movie
comes closest. "When Gods Battle" has three things going for it;
1) Original plot elements, including betrayal of the Saints by
one of their own.
2) NO STAIRS TO RUN UP!
3) The music and background of the second season; When Gods
Battle was a sort of tryout for the second season.
ALL of the other movies have the saints running up stairs
to confront opponents; none of them include any real originality.
In general, I rank them in the order 2,3,1,4.
One flaw in ALL of them is that Andromeda Shun is consistently
portrayed as a sniveling wimp. Shun has NO victories in any of the
movies, is being constantly saved by his big brother, and is shown
to have the intellectual capacity of a doughnut. In the SERIES, Shun
is far from being either a wimp or stupid. His only flaw seems
to be soft-heartedness. Nonetheless, in the series Shun always
has AT LEAST one victory per season, and in the THIRD season he
kicks much ass.
Another major flaw in ALL of them is that the same Deus-Ex-Machina
is used in all movies: that is, Seiya gets temporary use of the
Saggitarius Gold Cloth and uses the Golden Arrow to shoot the
bad guy.
All of the movies are very short by our standards.
I do NOT recommend showing these as introductions to the
series; they'd give a bad impression. First Season episodes are
highly recommended.
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Sea Wasp
OOPS. That was SUPPOSED to be a reply. Oh, well, there you
go, all. Anyone who missed it now has the slightly updated version.
1.001, I suppose.
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Steve Chow
: Hi,
If sending by email, please send one to me as well. Many Thanks.
Steve
Matthew Clark
Wasp) writes:
|> Saints are specially trained human beings who have learned to
|> tap the very stuff of life, and later tap into the very universe, for
|> powers that manifest as representations of their souls. This power is
|> called "Cosmo" (probably short for "Cosmic energy"), and it exists
|> in two distinct "flavors": the Microcosm, which is power from within,
|> and the Macrocosm, which is the power of the universe.
|> According to Kurumada, the creator of Saint Seiya,
|> Gold Saints move at the speed of light. (since I prefer, even in
|> superhero universes, to avoid violating more laws o' physics than
|> necessary, I'd prefer to interpret this as a figure of speech, or
|> even as just a SLIGHT exaggeration. But that's what the man says.)
Say...the kanji for Microcosm means "little universe"...known
to Trekkers as "subspace" You don't suppose a Gold Saint hits
light speed by...nah...(it could explain it. If light
speed requires the sum total of a universe and a Saint's "Microcosm"
is in effect a pocket universe (subspace field), a Gold Saint's
use of the Macrocosm (which would contain vast amounts more power
than his personal Microcosm), would allow him to satisfy Einstein's
relativity equation.) Basically, Gold Saints have Warp Drive,
though I wouldn't want to insult Kurumada-sensei by calling it
that.
...just a thought...^_^
|> Partially it's honor, but it also has to do with the way that
|> the Cosmos power works. Once you've become a Bronze, almost the ONLY
|> way for you to increase your power and learn more is to defeat another
|> Saint in single combat -- preferably a more POWERFUL Saint.
That doesn't happen with typical Saints, Bronze Boys excluded. Once
a Saint realizes his Cosmo (whether he be Bronze, Silver, or Gold)
that's it - he ain't getting more powerful. If you're a Bronze
Saint, you're never ascending to Silver or Gold. This is what
drove the various Silver Saints crazy about Seiya and co. The Bronze
Boys were constantly increasing in Cosmo level (beyond Bronze and
pretty much past Silver) Before Seiya had killed Misty, a Bronze
Saint had NEVER defeated a Silver Saint.
|> While the armor often appears to be symbolic and decorative,
|> according to Matt Clark even the Bronze Cloths have excellent protective
|> value, radiating a sort of defensive field around the Saint in question.
|> Higher-level Cloths, of course, have far greater defenses. I've been
|> told that the Saints are supposed to be essentially HUMAN without their
|> Cloths, but the evidence of the action in the show (where the Bronze
|> Boys often exhibit superhuman ability without their Cloths) says
|> otherwise.
Not only without their Cloths, but without their Cosmo too. IF
(and it's a big if) you could sneak up on a Seiya from behind
while he wasn't wearing his Cloth and wasn't burning ANY Cosmo,
and you stuck a 45 to the back of his head and pulled the trigger,
Seiya's head would react like a ripe melon (boom!) If Seiya
felt the danger and had time to start burning Cosmo, then he
could deflect the bullet. Cloths are simply an added layer of
defense. (A good example of this is when Saga murdered the
prior Kyoukou. The prior Kyoukou had no cloth on and was
completely taken by surprise by Saga's attack. As a result,
the old Kyoukou was kill almost instantly) BTW, it's not
according to me, but the "Shonen Jump Saint Seiya Gold Special #1"
for the definition of "Cloth"
|> Note that Aurora/Aura Execution is a Gold
|> Saint power -- from the Aquarius cloth -- and is extremely exhausting
|> to use for Hyoga; he doesn't acquire this attack until the end of the
|> first season, and it is always a great strain for him to use.
Well, Aurora/Aura Execution is a technique ("hissatsuwaza") Hyouga learned
from watching Camus. I imagine Hyouga "knew" the technique, but couldn't
utilize it until he realized his Seventh Sense and could tap sufficient
power. Until then, he used Aura Thuner Attack (I call it "Aura Execution
Lite") It was originally very exhausting for Hyouga since he was very
inexperienced in channeling so much energy from the Macrocosm.
|> Dragon Saint Shiryu: Handsome oriental boy with straight black hair
|> that flows all the way to his ankles, Shiryu seems sometimes to be more
|> than just an ordinary Saint; he appears to be an avatar of nature itself.
|> While his major attack, the "Shou Ryuu Ha" or "Ascending Dragon Wave",
|> is usually very effective, he exhibits an amazing array of talents
|> and powers
|> at various points in the series, ranging from healing to controlling
|> the forces
|> of nature.
Shiryu was also the only of the Bronze Boys to have been trained by
a survivor from the prior Crusade against Hades. I imagine Roshi
("master") had a lot to teach his pupil. 243 years of sitting around
will do that...^_^ There's also some speculation (on my part) that Mu
had the benefit of some special tutoring from his predecessor Shion
(who became Kyoukou - the same one Saga murdered). Mu at various
times seemed to be clued in on certain machinations, including
the legend of the "Vaguards of Athena" (It would seem that the
Gold Saints aren't Athena's personal guard, either in anime/manga
or in Saint legend. When the Spectres of Hades first arrive,
and I'll have to verify the quote, I seem to recall Scorpio Milo
stating something about the Gold Saints fufilling the reason
they were there - to take on the Spectres) Of course, Mu couldn't
act openly and risk being nuked by Kyoukou before Seiya and
the others had reached their potential.
|> All of the male Silver Saints focus on attacking Seiya after he
|> kills Misty, and they all speak the line "You killed Misty!". Given Misty's
|> predisposition for his own sex and notable good looks (and the incredible
|> ugliness of most of the Silvers), most fans have come to the conclusion
|> that Misty was ... er... very friendly with all the other Silver Saints
|> and that they couldn't "get any" from anyone else! Thus they are all very
|> pissed at Seiya!
It's becuase Seiya was a Bronze Saint who had killed a Silver Saint.
Some were defending the "honor" of Silver Saints, others wanted to
be the one who killed the Saint who had defeated Misty. (I imagine
Misty had one or two friends...bleah!)
|> Toei did a lot of things to change the original manga. Most of the
|> time they were not too bad. The Steel Saints are probably the worst. Most of
|> the fans grind their teeth violently at the thought of them. The only thing
|> I can say in their defense is that, if you accept that the Steel Saints ARE
|> there, they are used fairly well.
The worst thing Toei did was change the final episode of the Poseidon
Saga. In the manga, it was Sea Dragon Canon who took Poseidon's trident,
not Seiya. Without that act, Canon could not have receive forgiveness
from Athena (he HAD committed high treason...), and Canon played an
utterly crucial role in the war against Hades.
|> ARIES/Mu: Feminine of face but not of body, Mu/Aries is the only
|> Saint capable of REPAIRING cloths. (Later on it appeared that Toei/Kurumada
|> changed their minds on this, since it appears that after the Zodiac battle
|> five different Golds fix the Bronze Boys' cloths...)
Well, Mu was very concerned about being discovered as being a Gold
Saint (for the reason that if the Kyoukou (Saga) had discovered
that a Gold Saint was actively helping the "Imposters", Mu would've
been in loads of trouble - look what happened to Leo Aiolia when
he challenged Kyoukou) Mu preferred to help "behind the scenes"
|> SAGGITARIUS/Aioros: Looking like a taller, lighter-haired, and
|> more "manly" version of Seiya in some ways, we only see Aioros himself
|> as a ghost and in flashback sequences. Aioros saved Athena from being
|> killed by Ares, and dies of the injuries inflicted on him in his
|> flight by Capricorn Shura. Aioros was Aioria's younger brother.
Aiolius is the elder brother. Leo Aiola was constantly being
taunted about becoming a traitor like his older brother.
|> SCORPIO/Miro: Blue haired like several others, Scorpio is powerful
|> enough to take out three of the Boys. Hyoga takes him on for Shun's sake
|> (Shun saved Hyoga's life, and Scorpio killed Shun's Sensei Albireo).
|> Besides
|> a basic powerblast, Scorpio had a sort of constellation attack: he
|> punched
|> holes in you which corresponded to the stars of the Scorpio
|> constellation,
|> and when the last star was added, you died. Hyoga refused to die...
Well, Hyouga "died", but his Cosmo kept burning. This totally floored
Milo, who was convinced Hyouga was a fraud. But Hyouga's Cosmo, plus
Athena's presence within Hyouga, made Milo realize Hyouga was a true
Saint of Athena. Milo then saved Hyouga's life.
_____ __ __ __ _ ___ _ ___ ___ ___ _ _ _ _____ ________
|_ _| \/ | \| |O| _| | | | __| __| | \/ | |_ _|_ _|
| | | | |\ | | |_| |_| A |__ |__ | |> < _| |_&_| [] |_
|_| |_|\/|_|_| \_|O|___|___|/ \|___|___|_|_/\_| |_____|________|
cl...@daffy.csee.usf.edu cl...@thinker.csee.usf.edu