Saint Seiya Omega

Let your cosmo burn beyond the limit! Like “Ozma”, this new show based on the venerable “Saint Seiya” franchise evokes a lot of nostalgic feelings considering the original was one of first anime I saw decades ago. Must admit I was quite apprehensive when “Saint Seiya Omega” was advertised for the spring season because the original show looks very dated.

Can the creators of “Saint Seiya Omega” overcome the challenge of bringing this franchise in a new, refreshing and modern way? If the first episode is a trendsetter, then they absolutely can and with lots of panache!

This first episode near blew me away in how it successfully merged all elements that made the original series so appealing with a modern animation visual style that enables it to convey a powerful story full of energy.

In simple terms, “Saint Seiya Omega” feels like the perfect mix of the original “Saint Seiya” with the visuals and endless energy of “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” or “Star Driver”. Looks like studio Toei got some inspiration from what Gainax and Bones respectively did for those two other shows.

Perhaps purists or unconditional fans of Kurumada Masami’s work may object, but this new spin off that is set in over 20 years into the future of the original story time line does depart from the original “Saint Seiya” in several key areas.

Elements such as the cloth design, how the cloths appear, the whole visual styling of the battles is different. Fans will still recognize plenty of things like the signature eye design and hair styles. Personally quite appreciated that the original opening track ‘Pegasus Fantasy’ is used for this show as well.

Overall the animation style may look simplistic in a sense, but the cloths, battles and action are all highly stylized, with the emphasis on the emotions, energy and flow, which makes it more enjoyable to watch and really pulls the viewer in.

There’s still plenty of characters left to be introduced and the opening animation sequence holds lots of hints towards interesting plot possibilities, but at an advertised series length of thirteen episodes wonder if that will be enough to properly develop the characters and story.

Though with that projected episode count overdrawn battles spanning multiple episodes may not be something we’ll be seeing in this show, a definite plus.

“Saint Seiya Omega” is off to a great start, now to remain on this course and see how the characters and plot will be developed, but I have high hopes for this show.