I'm going to stop pretending I like Dragonball Z more than Saint Seiya. It's been about five years since I watched the series, but this movie made it clear to me why I love it so much. It combines two of my favourite pop culture things: Brightly coloured suits (aka unique identities) with over-the-top combat (imaginative violence). Almost like power rangers meets dbz.
I feel like this gets unfairly overshadowed by dbz despite doing a few things like power auras and gold colour to visualize power evolution first. I also noticed how Ikki's punch serves as an early example of this sort of psychological mind prison attack. I love the early examples of anime like this. Even the combat is so refreshing.
This movie, specifically, is probably not universally palatable, but if you enjoy any of the big named anime, Saint Seiya in general deserves a much closer look. It has a very successful formula that enjoys the pleasures of vintage anime. Tropes on tropes but here, they're some of the first examples. They also don't shy away from the violence, which really amplifies the whole conceit of it all. It's not Fist of the North Star level, but enough to emphasize the mortality of characters.
There is a favourite character of mine here, Andromeda, and boy does he get shafted here. Not a good look. Hopefully he gets more time to shine in future movies.
I'm going to stop pretending I like Dragonball Z more than Saint Seiya. It's been about five years since I watched the series, but this movie made it clear to me why I love it so much. It combines two of my favourite pop culture things: Brightly coloured suits (aka unique identities) with over-the-top combat (imaginative violence). Almost like power rangers meets dbz.
I feel like this gets unfairly overshadowed by dbz despite doing a few things like power auras and gold colour to visualize power evolution first. I also noticed how Ikki's punch serves as an early example of this sort of psychological mind prison attack. I love the early examples of anime like this. Even the combat is so refreshing.
This movie, specifically, is probably not universally palatable, but if you enjoy any of the big named anime, Saint Seiya in general deserves a much closer look. It has a very successful formula that enjoys the pleasures of vintage anime. Tropes on tropes but here, they're some of the first examples. They also don't shy away from the violence, which really amplifies the whole conceit of it all. It's not Fist of the North Star level, but enough to emphasize the mortality of characters.
There is a favourite character of mine here, Andromeda, and boy does he get shafted here. Not a good look. Hopefully he gets more time to shine in future movies.
