Saint Seiya, also known as ‘Knights of the Zodiac’, is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada and was adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation. The original anime spanned 114 episodes and ran from 1986 to 1990, but has been granted many spin-offs and retellings by different authors since that time. This, of course, includes the live-action film adaptation that premiered in April 2023. I just recently saw the film myself and it left me with many, many thoughts that I wanted to share.
Now, I don’t do reviews often. I’m usually too busy or just don’t feel strongly enough about the media that I’m consuming to actually share my thoughts and opinions. However, when it comes to things that I am very passionate about, or am just genuinely a huge fan of, I make an exception. Saint Seiya is one of those things. For anyone who doesn’t already know, I happen to be a massive Saint Seiya fan. I’ve been introducing it to people for years and even cosplayed from it. Saint Seiya/Knights of the Zodiac was one of my “gateway” anime and it holds an extremely special place in my heart.
Despite the fact that the original Saint Seiya anime, and also those animated spin-offs that followed, didn’t perform very well in North America, myself and a few other immensely devoted fans have remained loyal to the franchise from childhood to adulthood. So, naturally, there was no way I was going to miss out on seeing the live-action adaptation. Even though it was receiving negative criticism online, I ‘needed’ to see it for myself.
In all honesty, I didn’t go into this film expecting to be impressed, given Hollywood’s long list of failures when it comes to adapting anime to live-action. I braced myself for disappointment, and it’s a good thing I did. This movie, in my opinion, did not do a good job representing Saint Seiya. Still, before I get into the things I didn’t like (which were MANY), allow me to touch on the few things I did like.
[SPOILERS AHEAD!]
The fight scenes were entertaining to watch, first of all. The “flighty” martial arts choreography was nicely done and felt authentic enough without seeming overly embellished. Seeing the Saints/Knights use their Cosmos with the defining colors, as well as getting a glimpse at the glowing silhouettes of the creatures they represent appearing in battle behind them were great call-backs to the anime.
I also liked that the three original Saint Armors that we got to see (Pegasus, Eagle, and Phoenix) in the film felt “real” and not like rushed cosplay props. The Phoenix Armor in particular really stood out and looked the coolest, in my opinion.
Additionally, Nick Stahl’s portrayal of Cassios was easily my favorite out of all the characters, and that was genuinely surprising. In the anime, Cassios is a supporting antagonist who didn’t get much development until later in the series. In the live-action adaptation, Cassios’ “development” was limited to him simply seeking revenge on Seiya for a perceived humiliation during their fight at the beginning of the movie, which admittedly, isn’t much. However, Stahl’s snarky delivery of his lines and general villainous charisma made Cassios an extremely enjoyable character to watch in this fan’s humble opinion.
The character Mylock, played by Mark Dacascos, was another unexpected favorite of mine. Mylock takes on the role of Mr. Tatsumi from the original anime, but gives him a new awesomeness that only Mark Dacascos could pull off. Mylock is one of the best ride or die ‘combat butlers’ that I’ve seen in a long time.
That pretty much covers the things I liked about the film. Now… let’s dive into its issues. Buckle up.
[AGAIN, SPOILERS AHEAD!]
Right off the bat, the movie comes off as almost a copy and paste of 2021’s Mortal Kombat film starring Lewis Tan. On top of that, the introduction of the characters feels rushed and messy and you don’t really have time to connect with any of them.
Docrates, who acts as another retainer for Kiddo and is portrayed by actor T. J. Storm, doesn’t even get a proper introduction before he is instantly defeated and captured. I didn’t even know what character Storm was for the entirety of the film, which sucks seeing as Docrates was such a prominent sub-villain, himself, in the anime. Here in the live-action adaptation, he’s a lackluster subordinate who we don’t even get to see fight.
Sean Bean does a fair job at portraying Alman Kiddo, but like practically every character in this movie (outside the ones I highlighted) his presence is underwhelming and forgettable. This description also applies to Sienna/Athena, played by Madison Iseman. Sienna is shallow and generic and does little to endear the viewer.
I had the highest hopes in the world for Mackenyu, who portrays Seiya. If you’ve ever watched the original Saint Seiya anime, you’ll know that Seiya has some personality, but still pales a bit in comparison to his comrades. I really wanted Mackenyu to bring something unique to Seiya’s character and help him better stand out as a leader, but unfortunately, Mackenyu does the bare minimum, in my opinion, when it comes to portraying Seiya. His personality isn’t flat, but he’s just not interesting, either, and that was ‘SO’ disappointing. Even more so when you take a look at some of Mackenyu’s past roles. He’s actually a decent actor when given the right character to work with.
There was next to no chemistry between Seiya and Sienna and by the end of the movie, it had become a chore to watch them interact. This movie simply wasn’t long enough to build the type of connection Seiya and Sienna needed to have. We went from Seiya more or less resenting Sienna for her privileged upbringing, to him being willing to die to protect her, and it was just too sudden and unbelievable.
This is why I think it was such an extremely poor decision to make this movie revolve so heavily around Sienna/Athena. Originally, her relationship to Seiya and the other Knights/Saints had to ‘grow’ and it took literal weeks and back-to-back disasters for this to happen. Saori/Sienna made a heartfelt declaration to Seiya and his comrades by dropping millions of dollars worth of her jewelry into the ocean in a show of her gratitude and trust for their team, and it was such an impactful moment in the OG anime.
There was no such impact between Seiya and Sienna in the live-action version. Seiya’s loyalty to Sienna descends out of the blue after just a few conversations and it has no real feeling of sincerity behind it.
Speaking of Seiya’s comrades… They are totally absent from this film. The only other Saint/Knight from the original team that we get to see on screen is the Phoenix, formerly Ikki, now known as Nero, played by Diego Tinoco. In case the name change wasn’t bad enough, Nero’s motivations for helping the main antagonist, Guraad, is shrouded in details that the movie couldn’t be bothered to explain. Why is he there? Why is helping her? What does he gain? Why does he seem extremely intent on killing Sienna/Athena? Why is he so against sparing her life? Is it simply because he thinks killing her will save the world, or is it something else? Was he only there for a chance to steal the gold Armor from Guraad? We don’t get to find out, unfortunately.
Ah, yes, and then there’s Vander Guraad, played by Femke Janssen. This character is brand new and exclusive only to this film. She is Sienna’s former mother-figure turned relentless hunter. Guraad seeks to capture and execute Sienna/Athena before the Goddess’ dormant power fully awakens and, as Guraad believes, destroys the world. This plot point literally made me go, ‘Are they serious?’
Since when has the Athena of the Saint Seiya universe been a threat to humanity on her own? Of course, there have been those in other adaptations who sought to use Athena’s power as a weapon, but when it comes to her own free will and clarity of mind, Athena has never posed any sort of threat to Earth or those who inhabit it. I really didn’t like this plot point; it’s just dumb and over-used, in my opinion.
Shifting back to Guraad, there’s nothing I hate more than a villain with no follow-through. Guraad has been hunting Sienna for years, relentless and ruthless, killing and capturing as she goes, but no sooner than she finally has Sienna in her clutches and the execution begins at the hands of some stupid-looking doomsday machine… Guraad suddenly can’t stand to see her daughter in pain and tries to call it off. I was furious. How anticlimactic can you get?
To be honest, I had my doubts about Guraad being the “final boss” when Phoenix was right there ‘and’ Athena’s power hadn’t fully awakened yet, but regardless, I still don’t like when a ruthless and unyielding villain suddenly has a change of heart or develops a moral compass at the eleventh hour just because the writers made them grow a conscience out of thin air. That’s not a good villain.
From this point in the film, Seiya goes on to face Phoenix ‘Nero’ in a one on one battle, pitting their armors against one another. I can’t tell you how tired I got of Seiya having to stop and meditate (eyes closed, slowed breathing) for thirty seconds just to get his attacks to work. You could argue it’s because Seiya is a “new Saint” and he’s still learning to control his power, but I’m not buying it, fam. Him doing it once would have been enough to get that point across. Seiya’s constant need to use “Knight breathing” slowed down the momentum of an otherwise cool-looking fight sequence.
After Nero’s defeat, the final act of the film comes with Athena’s power finally getting unleashed. Sienna, now in full “Goddess” form, literally starts dissolving everything in her path. Not even the Pegasus and Phoenix Armor can stand up to her might. It appears that Sienna’s consciousness, because plot, simply cannot stand up to Athena’s apparent need to destroy. You know what can stand up to the power of a literal Goddess, though? A good speech.
Yep, Seiya employs a little “talk no jutsu” at Athena/Sienna and his moving words are able to magically bring Sienna back to her senses and even grants her the ability to suddenly be able to control Athena’s power. How about that? *sigh*
The movie ends with Sienna, who’s hair is now permanently purple because of Goddess reasons, I guess, reconciling with her mother-figure and Seiya pledging his undying loyalty to Sienna, while Nero makes off with the Gold Armor he confiscated from Guraad. Sienna and Seiya vow to search the globe for the other Bronze ranked Saints/Knights… but that’s an adventure for the next movie… and my goodness do I hope there won’t be one.
I’m going to be real with you, this movie was all over the place and not in a good way. It was trying to do something fresh and new with an “old idea”, and I get that, but as the saying goes… if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
This film was way, WAY too short for the amount of ground it was attempting to cover. I think that making Sienna the focus so early was a mistake, because there was simply not enough character growth to make the audience empathize with her, or even care that much about her. She gives us nothing to root for, and even Seiya’s devotion to her towards the end feels so forced it’s laughable.
I think a better way to go about this movie would have been to adapt the actual first arc of the anime, where the Saints/Knights have already been established and trained and are returning from their respective training locations to compete for the chance to win the Golden Armor. It would have been so cool to see a freshly Knighted Seiya reconnect with the other boys he hasn’t seen since childhood. That route would have been an easy way to build early character bonds and also introduce the audience to the rest of the Saints/Knights sooner.
Sienna could have been a present, but supporting figure like in the original. It wouldn’t mean that she takes a backseat necessarily, but rather that the comradery between Seiya and his future team-mates would have a chance to blossom before the audience’s eyes and actually make them ‘care’ about the people who are the main characters.
As in the original, we could see Seiya meet, greet, and defeat various other Saint/Knights and forge friendships along the way, until the tournament is interrupted by the Phoenix, who has come to steal the Golden Armor for himself. This even sets up a sequel! The focus of the second film could be Seiya and company tracking down Phoenix and his cohorts to retrieve the Armor. This “old idea” could have been kept fresh and interesting by a creative team of writers, I’m convinced of it. They wouldn’t need to sacrifice quality for the sake of… whatever this movie was trying to accomplish. I know I’ve harped on the original story a lot, but that’s truly where the charm of Saint Seiya/Knights of the Zodiac shines its brightest.
Despite all I’ve said, I’ll remind you that I don’t ‘hate’ this movie, but I don’t like it very much either. I’m just hurt that its potential was squandered when it could have been great, or at the very least, decent. I don’t want Hollywood to stop trying to get live-action anime adaptations right, but I do wish they’d be more considerate in their approach. American anime fans want authentic and thoughtful representations of their favorite shows and mangas. I’m confident that if the MCU can make well-written and pleasing live-action versions of long-cherished comics, the same amount of effort and consideration can go into anime-inspired films, as well.
