Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold - Reviews

"Saint Seiya:Soul of Gold"is another spin-off series from Toei that is based on the classic"Saint Seiya"series.The story takes place right after the Gold Saints gave their lives in order to open the way for the Bronze Saints to enter Elysium by breaking the the Wailing Wall in"Hades Chapter:Inferno".

Plot

The plot focuses on the 12 Gold Saints who instead of disappearing have actually come back to life again on Earth and soon they find out that there is a dangerous enemy that they have to defeat.

What makes"Soul of Gold"different from the other"Saint Seiya"spin-off series' is that it actually has the same feeling as the 80's anime.However even though it does closely follow the original formula it still managed to put some new twists on it.

 The first episodes of the series are focused on the mystery concerning the resurrection of the Gold Saints.Who was the one who resurrected the Gold Saints?Why and for what purpose?Afterwards the story is focused on the battles against the God Warriors,destroying the tree of Yggdrasil and having to defeat the major anatagonist Loki.

When it comes to"Soul of Gold"Toei wanted to keep the story in a familiar setting which why it takes place in the land of Asgard which is a location that appeared in"Asgard"filler arc(which was based on Norse mythology) of the 80's"Saint Seiya"anime,the concept of the God Warriors(one of them being the brother of a God Warriro from the 80's anime)was reused,The Odin Robe was reused and we have cameos appearances of Queen Polaris Hilda and her sister Freya.In fact"Soul of Gold"is so connected to  the"Asgard"arc that it could be considered as an unofficial sequel to this arc.However"Soul of Gold"still managed to include original elements in the story that make it different from the"Asgard"arc.

Despite the fact that it isn't canon"Soul of Gold"actually included some interesting stories concerning the Gold Saints like:Cancer Deathmask gets his own story arc which helped a lot to develop his character and made him much more likeable,the reconciliation between Gemini Saga & Saggitarius Aiolos and Leo Aiolia & Capricorn Shura,Leo Aiolia and his brother Saggitarius Aiolos being reunited and the subplot about Aquarius Camus and his former friend the God Warrior Surt(although it was more added for dramatic effects).

After the Gold Saints defeat Loki and wish that they could do something to help the Bronze Saints in their battle against Hades,Poseidon arrives and offers his help for the war against Hades by using his powers to sent the 12 Gold Cloths to Elysium in order to aid the Bronze Saints(which is something that actually did happen in the original manga but was never explained how it happened).The series ends with a bittersweet ending.

Characters

Considering that this series is only 13 epsidoes long Toei actually managed to handle the characters of the Gold Saints well enough.

Leo Aiolia(who was also the protaginist of the"Saint Seiya:Episode G"spin off manga)worked well as the protagonist  however the relationship between him and Lyfia did feel a bit unnecessary to the story.

The female main character Lyfia however serves more as a plot device so her character wasn't really impressive.

Like I mentioned before Deathmask's character develops a lot and he is much more likeable as a character.

There are many fans who complain that Camus acts out of character however since"Soul of Gold"isn't canon I didn't mind it at all because it was interesting to see different aspects of his personality.

When it comes to the other Gold Saints they are the same characters as they were in the original however they still have their interesting moments.

When it comes to the God Warriors they aren't as interesting as the original God Warriros from the"Asgard"arc of the 80's anime however some of them such as Sigmund,Surt,Baldr and Frodi are good characters with interesting background stories.

Loki(the trickster God of Norse mythology)was an entertaining and powerful antagonist which made the final battle against him interesting because he was very hard to defeat.

Art & Animation

The art is quite good.The new character design while being different and not quite as good as the character design from the 80's still worked very well for the characters,the backgrounds look beautiful,the Gold Cloths(and later the God Clothes)look stunning and the designs for the God Robes were also quite good.

When it comes to the animation its not really good at all because since this is an ONA series Toei obviously didn't use a high budget for it.

Music

The opening is a remastered version of the second opening of the 80's anime"Soldier Dream"and it sounds really good.The ending song"Yakusoku no Ashita e"is truly beautiful and when it comes to the instrumental themes they are really good as well.

Simplemente, recordar es vivir!, tengo 33 años, y ver esta serie aunque no sea parte de la historia principal y pensar en cuando eramos niños que queríamos ser los caballeros dorados y ser los mejores, definitivamente adoro estos tipos ...a tooodos! los 12 siempre estarán en nuestro corazón, son parte de nuestra vida y de todas las generaciones que aun recuerdan toda la serie cuando se veía en la televisión y  gritábamos ,nos enojábamos y llorábamos, definitivamente un tributo  espectacular. SAInT SEIYA SOUL OF GOLD. <3

If you are a true Saint Seiya fan and have watched the original, then you will understand the scores I have given.

No blood. Whenever someones gets knocked away, they fly off like a stiff stick-man. No details to the drawings and cloths. This spinoff is only slightly better than Omega.