St. Seia: The Knights of the Zodiac are back on DNA and this is an event!

Many viewers will return to their childhood again this week, due to the arrival of St. Seia anime on a specialized DNA platform! Much more than just a successful series, Masami Kurumada’s manga adaptation is considered to be the founding son of the 80s, whose influence still affects many series today.

The series was discovered by the French public in April 1988, with a French title: Knights of the Zodiac. The anime, which quickly became one of Club Dorothée’s flagship series, fascinated millions of young viewers, fascinated by the bronze knights who were willing to do anything to protect Saori, the reincarnation of the goddess Athena, from the dangers that threaten her.

Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque has been one of the most popular series on TF1 for over a decade of AB Production’s flagship program, and the importance and diversity of the goodies that come to us testify to this vitality and this undoubted love of Kurumada’s license. in our country” Highlight for us Japanese animation expert Ludovik Gotin, author of two issues dedicated to the franchise by the specialized magazine Otomo. St. Seia.

How do we explain such success? The reasons are obviously many. First of all, the series was born at a time when Japanese productions were beginning to generate unprecedented enthusiasm among French viewers. It is noteworthy that they portrayed heroes of the Holy Spirit, fighting relentless battles at the risk of their own lives in triumph over the forces of evil. Then Shonen’s soul was finally to be instilled in the collective imagination of the then young spectator.

Before the anime series saw the light of day, manga St. Seia It has already had great success with Japanese readers (published in 1986 in his country of origin, the manga was not published in France until 1997 by the publisher Kana). It must be said that the mangaka Masami Kurumada, which was celebrated with several failures in a row, designed St. Seia for only one purpose: to become a success with its readers. As Ludovic Gottin explains, he lost the winning bet:

The animated adaptation was a huge success, as it stemmed directly from Kurumada’s attack plan, which saw the license as the ultimate realization of the Mediamix theory (transposing a license onto a media of different natures with equal success). The popularity of anime produced very quickly after the launch of the manga, combined with the placement of many mass-produced and especially well-sold manufactured products, created a virtuous circle of positive results for St. Saya in a broad sense that went so far as to allow the manga original to last longer.

Fantasy Pegasus

The enthusiasm for the animated adaptation of St. Seia can also be explained by the joint efforts of the real dream team of Japanese animation talent: producer Yoshifumi Hatano, director Kozo Morishita, Chara-designer Michi Himeno or composer Sage. Yokohama is, of course, the main reason for this success.

The music clearly played a crucial role in the popularity of the work. In addition to the soundtrack, credits Fantasy Pegasus (Performed by Japanese metal band Make-Up) strongly fascinated the audience of that time and is still considered one of the best anime themed songs of all time! The French Cretans performed by Bernard Mine in France were also a great success! ““It seemed to us that the soundtrack could be the key, because the music still works very well today.” Specifies this topic by Julien Lemoine, Administrator of the DNA Platform.

Remained in the memories of every club Dorothée loyal, license St. Seia However over the years it has had difficulty updating itself, unlike the Dragon Ball which has remained very popular, especially thanks to its new Dragon Ball Super series. “Saint Seiya Omega, who was supposed to be rejuvenated in the franchise, did not succeed. On the contrary, Lost Canvas worked well. (…) So we can say that he is somewhat cursed, but in no way transgender. him! Analyzed by Julien Lemoine.

Observation shared, albeit somewhat nuanced, by Ludovic Gotin: “Although St. Seia is somewhat forgotten in Japan today, with the exception of early fans, its influence is virtually ubiquitous and its historical significance is undeniable. France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Mexico or Brazil have a large international community of amateurs. Continues to maintain fire, is committed to the ideals and values ​​of their hearts series.

The anime first landed on the French streaming platform St. Seia Launches a dual mission. Reach early fans who grew up with the series during Club Dorothée’s heyday, but also reach out to a new generation of anime fans and meet the competition with recent hits like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer.

Pre-difficult bet, but by no means impossible, especially for the characters, for whom the word “surrender” does not appear in the vocabulary! The first part of the animated series St. Seia (Episodes 1 through 73) is now available exclusively on DNA; The second part (74 to 114 episodes) will be online from May 11!