Knights of the Zodiac (1986–1989)
"Saint Seiya" (original title)

A group a young warriors known as 'Saints', each in possession of a 'cloth' guarded by a different constellation, must protect the reincarnation of the goddess Athena as she attempts to keep the Earth from being destroyed by evil forces.

Stars:

Hideyuki Tanaka, Tôru Furuya, Ryô Horikawa

Cast

Series cast summary:
Hideyuki Tanaka	...	Narration (100 episodes, 1986-1988)
Tôru Furuya	...	Seiya (97 episodes, 1986-1989)
Ryô Horikawa	...	Shun (83 episodes, 1986-1988)
Kôichi Hashimoto	...	Hyôga (73 episodes, 1986-1988)
Hirotaka Suzuoki	...	Shiryû (70 episodes, 1986-1988)
Keiko Han	...	Saori (69 episodes, 1986-1988)
Andy McAvin	...	Narrator (60 episodes, 1986-1987)
Illich Guardiola	...	Seiya (59 episodes, 1986-1987)
Hideyuki Hori	...	Ikki (47 episodes, 1986-1989)
Jason Douglas	...	Hyoga (42 episodes, 1986-1987)
Hiroko Emori	...	Kiki (41 episodes, 1986-1988)

Storyline

Seiya is an orphan child that was sent to the Sanctuary of Athena in Greece, where he underwent training to become one of the Saints of Athena. Years later, after gaining possession of the Pegasus Cloth, a mythical armor protected by said constellation, he returns to Japan and meets up with Saori Kido. Kido is the granddaughter of the late Mitsumasa Kido, the man that sent Seiya to Greece, separating him from his sister Seika. Seiya intends to find his sister who disappeared the day he left, but Saori makes a deal with him: if he competes in the Galaxian Wars and wins, she'll help him find Seika. The Galaxian Wars is a tournament organized by the Kido Fundation, in which the Bronze Saints, all of them orphans like Seiya that were sent to different parts of the world to train and earn their cloths, must fight each other, the prize being the Sagittarius Gold Cloth. Seiya agrees to participate just to be able to find his sister. However, the tournament is interrupted and the Sagittarius ...

---

Plot Keywords:

sanctuary | armor | cult tv | astrology | based on manga | 

---

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy

---

Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Brazilian Website [Portuguese] DiC Entertainment

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

30 August 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Knights of the Zodiac

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Animation Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min 24 min (114 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Masami Kurumada said that he doesn't like the anime, but agreed to transfer the manga to anime because of a tradition of make an anime from every manga.

---

Connections

Spin-off Saint Seiya: Kamigami no atsuki tatakai (1988)

---

Soundtracks

"BLUE DREAM"
Performed By Hironobu Kageyama & BROADWAY

User Reviews

One of the greatest shounen/action anime ever created.

Saint Seiya (also known as Los Caballeros del Zodiaco in Spanish, Knights of Zodiac in English and Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque in French) is one of the best series ever created. First aired in 1986, the series was not as outstandingly popular as your DBZ's or your Sailor Moon's in Japan but strangely it contains/contained an almost religious following in Hispanic (Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, etc) and Europ(France and Spain). Based around the idea that our modern world coexists with warriors wearing cloth/armors which are associated with constellations, the series dwells with the adventures of the saints/knights of the goddess Athena. Swearing to protect her, the Bronze saints (the main characters of the story) go to any length and fight anyone who threatens Athena or the well-being of mankind.

The series aired in Adult Swim for a while in a crappy time slot and has never really developed an American audience, which is a shame.I can not stress enough how good the series is.