The All-Women Saints have Arrived! Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho Volume 1 Review

Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac is a manga and anime franchise from the mid-1980s about a special group of warriors dedicated to the protection of the goddess Athena. Saints in the original series were all men, with any women who wanted to vow their lives to Athena forced to give up their womanhood to do so. Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho prides itself as having the franchise's first all-woman team, and volume one manages to mix the fantasy of the original series with the appeal of magical girl series such as Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura in a well-drawn and interesting package.

Mild spoilers below

Volume 1 is a quick primer more than anything about the world the story takes place in, and introduces a few of the main characters. It is set in the immediacy of the end of the original series, and focuses on a young girl named Shoko, her sister Kyoko, the current incarnation of Athena on earth Saori, and an impending war against Eris and her Dryads. The first volume takes little time to establish these roles, the coming of Eris, the importance of Shoko, and why Kyoko was gone so long in secrecy. This volume opens with Shoko wishing for her sister's return from her overseas school life, while on a distant comet headed for earth, trouble is brewing. Shoko finds out about a wealthy heiress, Saori, will be at her school and demands knowledge about her sister's whereabouts. Danger strikes the school, and Shoko gets her answer. It also touches on why these saints are allowed to be women, Athena's current protectors, and why Kyoko really left Japan. Unfortunately the volume feels short and a bit shallow at times, and ends in a rather "I could see that coming" way to spur on Shoko's impending training.

You don't need much knowledge of the original Saint Seiya to get into Saintia Sho. This opening volume does a solid job of explaining enough about the universe to get you by, and so far doesn't have huge ties to the original series beyond a few frames here and there alluding to it. Granted, there's a few things that may leave new readers a bit lost, but I imagine future volumes will help with that. This volume is a bit slow, but every manga series needs some chapters to set up the story's world, so I feel this does that job in a more concise way than other manga. The art is gorgeous and very reminiscent of other magical girl manga, so if you enjoy those you'll probably enjoy this. The volume is just long enough and ends at a good cliffhanger to give the reader a reason to want to see where the story goes.

Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho volume 1 is a great entry into the Saint Seiya franchise for modern anime fans, as well as a great start to a newer magical girl series. With a suggested "Teen" rating, the volume isn't too violent or graphic, on par with series like Sailor Moon. I look forward to seeing where the series goes, and with an anime adaptation slated for 2019, now seems like a great time to hop in. I do worry the anime has the potential to be a shallow and long running "monster of the week show", but at least the manga will be solid. It's good to see a new take on a classic franchise instead of a full reboot, especially when they're as well done (so far) as this.

- Janette G

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OVERALL: B+

Pros:
+Good stylized art
+Great and interesting start to story
+More magical girl stories are a good thing

Cons:
-Seems almost too short
-Volume ends in a rather trope-y way
-Some story elements shallowly introduced

Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho Volume 1 is available now! Volume 2 is due out late May, 2018.

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Note: This item was provided to us by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This fact does not affect the outcome of the review in any way.