Saint Seiya: Saintia Shou

If you're a Saint Seiya fan I recommend watching this. Saintia Sho revolves around female saints known as Saintias. What's the difference between these female saints and the female saints that wear masks? well these Saintias are Athena's personal body guards who work in the shadows. It perfectly fits with the timeline of the original series. Its gives you a new story revolving the Saintias while giving you iconic and nostalgic scenes from the original series. Believe me, keep watching and you'll enjoy it.

This is my first review because the creator of the manga needs help. The manga did not sell as much as ... she intended it to do and therefore the animators are working with very little and under extreme conditions to bring us new episodes. Even though this is the case they're doing an awesome job. Many people do not know this and are complaining about how fast paced each episode is. I am trying to do my part and write a review in order to increase its popularity because I truly enjoy this series. Anyway's, be sure to give it a shot.

Saint Seiya fans who understands what that series was trying to teach/show us will understand this new adaptation! And no, it's not a complete remake with girl Saints and a girl replacing Pegasus Seiya... This is not an anime like Sailor Moon either. This one is much better and full of emotions. You can't help but root for the main characters and hope for the best... The story is actually happening during the original series of Saint Seiya that aired in the 80s. There may be some slight plot holes here and there, but overall, it ties in perfectly ... with the original series. I must admit I was skeptical even before watching this new anime, but I am so glad that I started watching it because I would have missed out on an amazing story full of emotions...

The art does not follow the same style as the manga but that was on purpose. This anime tried to keep the same style as the original Saint Seiya series with a modern twist to it. I find that is perfectly fine as they have sequences where the animators drew masterpieces.

The soundtrack of this anime is also topnotch! I give that a solid "Godlike" 10. ;D Many tracks takes cue from the original serie's soundtrack and add its own twist to it. There are many new tracks in this anime that has the Saint Seiya uplifting theme and those are also amazing songs!!! Some tracks are of course, very sad/tragic... but nevertheless, amazingly done tracks!

I guarantee you are missing out in a real gem if you have not watched it yet. It's only 12 episodes and I wish there was more and pray this does not mean what I think it means... ;O

***NO SPOILER REVIEW****
When I first came across Saintia Shou and skimmed over the reviews, it gave me the impression of a half-baked show which people hated. However, as has unfortunately regularly been the case for many of the Saint Seiya shows after the original, the negative general trend of nostalgic reviewers have nothing to do with the actual quality of the show when seen with fresh eyes.

Saintia Shou is full bore Saint Seiya, with strong saints, key Saint Seiya elements and over-the-top melodrama wrapped in a classic feel. Sure, it has several shoujo elements such as petals flying around sometimes and magical girl elements but ... that's just a stylistic choice for this genre, the actual story is great and feels like Saint Seiya, only with a focus on female protagonists while much of the original show is happening in parallel.

Saint Seiya exists in a multiverse and this show's story is an alternate universe where much of the original show's events happen in parallel to the adventures of the Saintias however the new elements are where the main attraction lies. The show brings back Eris, a character from the first anime movie, expands her mythology and creates several interesting relations to follow as well as interesting world developments. The Gold Saints have a key role to play as well with the Bronze and Silver Saints crossing paths with the Saintias occasionally. Surprisingly, the Saint Seiya feel is preserved while working well with these characters as the female warriors are imbued with several of the characteristics usually associated with their male counterparts without taking away from their uniqueness.

Technically, the show is competently animated, the music is classic and great and the visuals are solid. Apparently the manga is much better (some of the negative reviews point that out) but without that baggage the anime is enjoyable and definitely got me interested in checking out the manga. The story also wraps up well and considering the manga is still ongoing changes to the scenario to achieve that are understandable (again, didn't read the manga when watching and enjoyed the anime).

TL;DR: This is a great and underrated show, watch it with an open mind and you'll have a lot of fun seeing what new things this story brings to the mythos while having strong female characters. It's a Saint Seiya show deserving of the name.