It’s been a few years since it was announced back in August 2017, but now the new Saint Seiya series (with the Knights of the Zodiac name being used in various territories for reasons) done in the 3DCG style has arrived on Netflix. The six-episode season comes in its English language form but also includes German, Spanish, French, and Italian dubs. The subtitles include English Closed-Captions, Spanish, French, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese options.
It’s definitely going to be somewhat controversial with fans, since CG anime like this is hit or miss with most fans depending on what you’re into, but you can see this being a potentially huge show for a lot of younger kids that will get exposed to the property for the first time. Here’s hoping it becomes a gateway show to the older material and more anime.
Directed by Yoshiharu Ashino with Eugene Son serving as the main editor and head writer for a team that includes Benjamin Townsend, Shannon Eric Denton, Thomas F. Zahler, Joelle Sellner, Travis Donnelly, Thomas Pugsley, Saundra Hall, Shaene Siders, Patrick Rieger, and more, Terumi Nishii is on board with the character designs and Toei Animation will be producing the animation.
The Japanese cast includes:
- Masakazu Morita as Pegasus Seiya
- Takahiro Sakurai as Dragon Shiryū
- Hiroaki Miura as Cygnus Hyōga
- Satomi Satou as Andromeda Shun
- Katsuyuki Konishi as Pheonix Ikki
- Fumiko Orikasa as Saori Kido
Saint Seiya is a big property for the studio with over 250 TV episodes and six animated films that has generated over a billion in revenue since it kicked off back in 1986. The manga from Masami Kurumada has over 35 million copies sold to date.
The original Saint Seiya manga from Masami Kurumada that ran from 1986 to 1990 and Viz Media has all twenty-eight volumes released in North America in print and digital form. With a lot of anime adaptations and related works over the years, this is the core property to get into and savor.
Check out the official site and Twitter as well as the Netflix site.
Plot concept: Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya follows modern day adventures of young warriors called “Knights”, who are sworn protectors of the reincarnated Greek goddess Athena. Each Knights wears a powerful armor based on their chosen zodiac constellation, and are called Knights of the Zodiac. They aid Athena in her battle against powerful Olympian gods who are bent on destroying the humankind.
