Saint Seiya: Episode Zero

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Japanese: 聖闘士星矢 EPISODE ZERO

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: 3

Status: Finished

Published: Dec 19, 2017 to Feb 19, 2018

Genres: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural

Theme: Martial Arts

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Champion RED

Authors: Kurumada, Masami (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 6.40¹ (scored by 488 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #16720²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #14310

Members: 1,061

Favorites: 4

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6.40

Ranked #16720Popularity #14310Members 1,061

MangaChampion REDKurumada, Masami (Story & Art)

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Chapters: /3

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Sequel:

Saint Seiya

More characters
Characters

Sagittarius, Aiolos

Main

Gemini, Saga

Supporting

Kido, Saori

Supporting

Pisces, Aphrodite

Supporting

Capricorn, Shura

Supporting

Cancer, Death Mask

Supporting

Reviews

Sep 14, 2021

ChouEritto

Mixed Feelings

Episode Zero is overall an okay short prequel to the Saint Seiya manga. Unfortunately, there's only one review on here currently and it's honestly a pretty terrible one that is lacking in some key areas, so this will be one part review and one part rebuttal for a more accurate analysis of it.

Obviously, spoilers ahead as there's no need to hold back when it merely fleshes out some of the established plot points of the original manga such as the circumstances surrounding Aiolos' escape and highlighting the conflict between Saga's two personalities. The latter is probably the highlight of the spinoff with it showing the ... guilt his true, good self feels very well. Perhaps the most surprising reveal of the story is that of Aiolos' Shadow Arrow technique, a unique restrictive move with specific conditions that's far more interesting than the typical rapid fire punch that was the Atomic Thunderbolt in his anime appearance or just him firing an arrow as is typical of a Sagittarius Saint (though not quite as impressive as something like his Infinite Break in Episode G).
Perhaps the two most controversial parts to casual fans of the series would be Aiolos not donning his cloth and Shura attempting to kill Athena, neither of which are issues for those who paid attention to the original manga. With the exception of those that have strong psychokinesis, cloths were put on manually in the manga rather than automatically and it was established depleted stamina and Cosmo could cause one to be unable to use their cloth efficiently, so it may have only hindered Aiolos. Those who complain about Shura's characterisation forget that his manga self and anime self are two completely different characters. Manga Shura made it evident he followed the same might makes right policy as Deathmask and Aphrodite rather than being a loyal follower of Athena (Aphrodite even citing him as being one amongst the three to have betrayed Athena and sided with Saga), so this is just Kurumada sticking true to what he showcased in the original manga rather than retconning Shura's character in the manner Episode G did. One piece of characterisation that is questionable though is that of Aphrodite being struck by Aiolos' kindness and sense of duty only for it to never come up again and him wholeheartedly betraying Athena. Sure, 13 years can change someone a lot, but the manga never really does anything to smooth over this development.
If there is one thing that stands out as a genuine flaw in the manga though, it's the portrayal of Aphrodite and Deathmask's age. They should be 9 and 10 respectively and were drawn with a childlike appearance during the events of Volume 13 detailing Saga and Aiolos' situation at the time, yet here they're drawn to look no younger than their mid teens. This is a pretty obvious inconsistency, though at least not one that affects the plot in a meaningful way.

As for the art, it's fine. Many people complain about Kurumada's style and its lack of change, but if it's not broke don't fix it. It may not have the detail in faces as Shingo Araki's take on the anime, but its unique nature makes it still far more worthwhile than the majority of modern works. I will say, however, that Kurumada's art here is less consistent than that of the original manga with some faces look very off (particularly Athena's in the epilogue) such as Deathmask's overly comedic portrayal during his confrontation with Aiolos.

Overall, Saint Seiya Episode Zero isn't anything worthy of praise, but is not bad as some may claim. It presents enough interesting aspects to boost it slightly above average and what flaws it has ultimately amount to nitpicks. A decent read for fans of the Saint Seiya manga wanting a little more detail on some events.

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Sep 13, 2018

PentagramShogoki

Not Recommended

Spoiler

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THIS AWFUL MANGA.

Who, in the name of Jesus Christ, can like THIS aberration against the Saint Seiya franchise? Look, I've seen and read ALL about Saint Seiya, it is my childhood's iconic series. Masami Kurumada made, in 1986, one of the most famous Shonen series of all time. He created the Gold Saints, characters everybody love. He made epic fights, taking advantage of the Greek mythology. Of course, in the manga, he left plotholes he couldn't fill or he forgot to. One of the most iconic plotholes in Saint Seiya, is when Sagittarius Aiolos saved Athena from Gemini Saga. Episode ... Zero covers that part of the story.

The story is atrociously bad. All the Gold Saints have recently received their armor, so they need to train in order to be stronger. Gemini Saga kills Aries Shion and tries to kill Athena too, but Aiolos saves her. Well, we all know this part of the story. Aiolos arrives to the Pisces temple. There, he fights Pisces Aphrodite. Here, is revealed that the sacred Sagittarius technique is an arrow that don't allow movement. Of course, in the original Saint Seiya anime, Shura and Aiolos had a fight where he showed his terrifying Atomic Thunderbolt, an amazing technique. Here, we have..., an arrow, and a shadow. He leaves Aphrodite alive and he gets to fight Shura in the Capricorn temple. And then, Deathmask, blablabla.

Kurumada's art is always the same. We saw 1986's Saint Seiya, and we saw 2006's Next Dimension. Well, of course, Episode Zero looks like it was drawn in 1972. All pages are colored, but, who cares?

The characters are the DUMBEST IN HISTORY. First, we have Pisces Aphrodite and Cancer Deathmask. They are selfish and quite stupid too. At least, Deathmask has some type of personality, but Aphrodite is like a blank sheet of paper, totally different to the 1986's version. We have, of course, legendary hero Sagittarius Aiolos. He bravely fights his companions and get to the Sagittarius temple to take his armor. But he does not use it even when he is close to die! No excuses. He could have used the cloth to easily defeat Deathmask and protect himself in the end, but he prefered to carry it in his back. Finally, we have Capricorn FUCKING STUPID Shura. Shura was always represented as the most loyal defender of Athena. Well, at first he looks like that, but in the end he prefers to kill Athena in order to kill Aiolos! WTF?!?!?!?! You were supposed to protect your goddess, you dumbass!

I am so severe with Episode Zero because the main story was really good to tell a great story. Some people has been waiting for years to see Aiolos in a real fight, with great techniques and fights. Instead, Kurumada prefered to draw some random shit with a mediocre story and stupid characters.

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Poll: Saint Seiya: Episode Zero Chapter 3 Discussion Rei_III - Apr 26, 2018	5 replies	by Adnash »» Jun 10, 2019 12:48 PM
Poll: Saint Seiya: Episode Zero Chapter 2 Discussion Rei_III - Apr 26, 2018	1 replies	by Adnash »» Jun 10, 2019 11:41 AM
Poll: Saint Seiya: Episode Zero Chapter 1 Discussion Rei_III - Apr 26, 2018	1 replies	by Adnash »» Jun 10, 2019 9:02 AM

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