Saint Seiya: Episode.G

The story of Saint Seiya Episode.G is set seven years before the events of Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya, in the same fictional world in which the Greek gods cyclically reincarnate to dispute dominion of Earth. The story revolves around the Saints of Athena, humans with superhuman powers who are devoted to the Goddess of War Athena, and whose duty is to protect the world from evil. The protagonist is the Leo Gold Saint Aiolia, who is mistrusted by the rest of the Saints because of the seemingly traitorous actions of his brother Aiolos in the past.[1] In turn, he holds a grudge against the Saints as a whole,[2] and against the elite order of the Gold Saints in particular.[3]

While the Pope, the leader of the Saints, sends Aiolia on mission after mission to prove his loyalty, evil forces manifest that threaten to destroy Sanctuary, the home of the Saints. A modern-day Titanomachy begins as the Titans, ancient gods with a desire for revenge on the Olympian gods, attack Sanctuary to retrieve the "Megas Drepanon", the weapon into which Zeus had sealed their King, Kronos, in the age of mythology.[4] Their first assault is thwarted by Aiolia, who subsequently gains the attention of the Titans as the "man of the evil omen" who is destined to free their King.

With the Titans once again roaming the Earth, ancient monsters are also resurrected worldwide and the Saints have to contain them. Meanwhile, the Titans gather their forces to strike at Sanctuary a second time. In the course of their next assault, Kronos is inadvertently released from Zeus's lightning seal by Aiolia's own lightning-based technique, but the god appears to be amnesiac. The Titans determine that it was Aiolia's attack that was responsible for this condition and that the Leo Saint might hold the means to fix it as well. They retreat to their base at the Time Labyrinth and kidnap Aiolia's servant Lithos to lure him there. Aiolia does not hesitate to go to Lithos's aid and, together with five other Gold Saints, initiates a series of battles in which the Titans fall one by one.

Throughout these battles, the primordial god Pontos, who first released the Titans from their imprisonment in Tartarus and initially claimed that he wished to help Kronos,[5] reveals his true intentions, stating that he only revived the Titans as part of a larger plan and has been playing them in order to awaken his true mistress, Gaia. He means to help her take control of the Earth, destroying gods and humans alike in the process.[6] Pontos's plan ultimately fails, as after fighting Aiolia Kronos comes to appreciate the worth of humans. The Titan King robs Gaia of his power, offering it to Hades instead so that the Saints of Athena and his followers will be spared from death.[7]

In the author commentary page published with the first volume, Megumu Okada explained that he had concerns about taking on the project because he had never written anything that was related to a pre-existing original work and because Saint Seiya was such a renowned piece.[8] Original author Masami Kurumada left him free to write the story that would act as a prequel to the original manga.[9][10] This resulted in a manga that is, visually, substantially different from its predecessor: character designs are slim and androgynous[11] and details are enhanced to an extreme.[12]

The manga was well received in France, where volumes 7, 8 and 9 sold thirty-one thousand copies each in 2006.[47] Sales in Italy were equally successful, having been featured on multiple occasions in Planet Manga's Top 10 sales charts between June 2005 and February 2010.[48]

French critic Thomas Berthelon, writing for Actua BD, makes a note on the unoriginality of the plot. While the manga is full of references to Saint Seiya, the story is based on the same known schemes and the characters are too similar to the protagonists of the original series.[49] The critic writing for Manga-News also notes that the exchanges between Saints and Titans can become repetitive.[50] Meanwhile, for Brazilian critic Pedro Hunter of Omelete, Episode.G sets itself apart from the usual shōnen manga by not featuring only endless battles and undeveloped storylines. He finds the way Okada depicts his characters as an integrating part of the real world particularly interesting and highlights the inclusion of real life events like the Three Mile Island accident into the plot.[51]

The critic writing for Manga-News regrets that the manga focuses on the youth of the known Gold Saints from Kurumada's work. This reviewer says that it takes away all suspense from the story, since the fates of the main characters are known from the start to any who have read Saint Seiya beforehand, and that the magnitude of the accomplishments of these characters in Episode.G is inconsistent with what was seen in the original series.[52] In a later review, however, it is also noted that Episode.G retains the spirit of the original series, successfully portraying the emotions present in battles between warriors who can respect their opponents and admire their willingness to give their lives for what they believe is right.[53]

Generally praised as "impressive" is Okada's graphical skill, his use of composition and textures which enhance the divine aspects of the characters, although critics also note that the heavy amount of detail in a black and white manga often interferes with readability. Berthelon considers such difficulty reminiscent of passages from Kaori Yuki's manga Angel Sanctuary and recommends the manga for its "astonishing" artwork.[49]

• Akita Shoten official website (in Japanese)
• Saint Seiya Episode.G: Assassin official website at Manga Cross (in Japanese)
• Saint Seiya Episode.G: Requiem official website at Manga Cross (in Japanese)
• Saint Seiya: Episode.G (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia