Throw-Back Thursday Review: Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac V.01

Title: Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac
Volume: 1 (of 28)
Creator: Masami Kurumada
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: SHUEISHA Inc.
US Publisher: Viz
Release Date: 1/12/03
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1591162254
MSRP: $7.95
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (For Teens)

Description: This series follows the adventures of five handsome, heroic boys: Seiya the Pegasus Saint, Shiryuu the Dragon Saint, Hyouga the Cygnus Swan Saint, Shun the Andromeda Saint, and Ikki the Phoenix Saint. It begins when they first earn their armor and slowly learn the secrets and responsibilities of being Bronze Saints.



Contains Chapters 1-4:

• Chapter One: The Knights of Athena
• Chapter Two: The Pegasus Cloth
• Chapter Three: The Golden Cloth
• Chapter Four: The Galaxy Wars

Review:

Cover: Having not been familiarized with the original Japanese covers of Saint Seiya, I can only judge them based on VIZ’s release. The front cover has a very nice design. We have somewhat of a tie-dye effect background, with a burst of white in the center. Seiya also appears in “silver” armor, which is rather surprising since he has “bronze” armor in the series. Behind Seiya is his Zodiac character, the Pegasus. For the title we have Saint Seiya (small text), followed by Knights of the Zodiac (Big Text). This kind of surprised me since the material they are basing the manga on is more Saint Seiya and less Knights of the Zodiac (all names are kept original and nothing is really edited). The bottom of the cover has the volume number.

The spine from top to bottom is like most of the Shonen Jump titles so far. We have the Shonen Jump logo, the series title (Knights of the Zodiac), the volume number, the Mangaka’s name, and a picture of Seiya.

The back is neither too colorful nor too bland. We have a light blue strip at the top of the page with the Shonen Jump logo in it. After that we have a darker blue strip with the series title that overlaps the two blues (same series title like the front). In the center we have a nice description of the manga volume on the left, and a picture of the Pegasus Cloth on the right. Under that is the volume number.

As the cover as a whole goes, I like it. The only problem I have is with the spine, which lists Knights of the Zodiac only. Because of this little title, I can not keep it on my shelf with the “S” Mangas. Yes, I am weird, but if a manga has a name change, or uses both names, it should be consistent and leave it with every series title on the manga. The series is called Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac, not just Knights of the Zodiac.

Artwork: The Artwork of Saint Seiya is a little old . . . who am I kidding, it was made in the early to mid 80s. The artwork of Saint Seiya IS old, but it does not suffer that much damage as it still looks fairly new. The detail of the characters however is not all that interesting. They are done rather dully, however, the battle scenes make up for this.

Translation: The translation so far is fairly accurate. Most, if not all of the names have been kept the same. Also something to note, the plot is kept truer to Saint Seiya then Knights of the Zodiac. I find the translation one of the best aspects of this release.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): Saint Seiya is just your average typical shounen manga. In the first volume, it starts out with a boy named Seiya, as he is competing in a small tournament in Greece for the Pegasus Cloth. Seiya’s last opponent (we don’t see the other matches) Cassios. Seiya easily wins this match and gains the Cloth. He then must return to Japan before the Galactic Wars begin (another tournament whose winner receives the Gold Cloth). Currently all that Seiya has is a Bronze Cloth.

As Seiya tries to go back to Japan, he is confronted and attacked by a female warrior, Shina. If it wasn’t for the help of the Bronze Cloth, Seiya would not have been able to get past Shina.

Seiya finally makes it back to Greece and the Galactic Wars begin. His first match is against Geki who has the Bear Bronze Cloth. Geki has the upper hand because his Cloth gives him super strength, but Seiya uses his Meteor attack on Geki when Geki has him in a headlock. The attack destroys the armor on Geki’s Arms, removing his super strength. Geki gives up, and Seiya wins the first match.

As far as this Volume goes, it is not really all that exciting. Besides the fight scenes that were entertaining, the main plot of the first ARC did not really begin. Buy this volume only if you are a true Saint Seiya fan. If you are not that big of a Saint Seiya fan and still want to try the series out, don’t hate it cause of one volume; read on to the next.

Objectionable Content:
Language: No
Violence: Yes
Nudity: No
Sexual Situations: No

Overall Rating: 2/5

Where Purchased: Frank and Sons (Collectible Show)