Top 10 Saint Seiya Vocal Songs

Just wanted to mention what I think are the best vocal songs in my opinion of this great series, although before that I think I should mention "Corona Temple's March", song that was used in the Legend of Crimson Youth movie when all the wounded Bronze Saints were on their way to the Corona Temple to fight Abel but were received by Atlas, who kicked their asses.

Now, let's proceed to the list:

10.- "Chikyuugi": The OP song of the first 13 OVAS of the Hades Chapter. Aside having one of the best scenes ever (the 12 Gold Saints reunited under the sakura petals) keep in mind that this song marked the revival of Saint Seiya almost a decade after we saw episode 114 in which Poseidon was defeated. A extremely beautiful song that nevertheless, wasn't really fit to be a OP for the series.

9.- "Diamond Dust": Cygnus Hyoga theme song. Enough said one of the coolest character songs I've ever heard.

8.- "Blue Forever": the first ED of the series = NOSTALGIA BOMB although I gotta say I lke the Latin dub of this song more than the original... anyways, that scene of Seiya wearing his V1 Cloth in the middle of some ancient Greek ruins is priceless.

7.- "Blue Dream": the second ED of the series. Performed by Hironobu Kageyama is one of my most favorite songs ever. The guitar solo is awesome.

6.- "Love is Forever": very catchy melody although I can't shake off the "80's" impression it has. Still, very enjoyable.

5.- "You're Phoenix": the most BADASS theme ever for the most BADASS character ever. Period.

4.- "Pegasus Fantasy": a true classic. The very first OP of the series and the one that would start the legend of the Saints. Really awesome.

3.- "Dead or Dead": this one was supposed to be the OP for the Hades chapter, but production problems kept Saint Seiya from continuing right after the Poseidon chapter ended. Also performed by Hironobu Kageyama I still think this one fits much better for the last arc of the series instead of Chikyuugi and Pegasus Forever.

2.- "Wake You Alone": also by Kageyama, the calm, heroic feeling this song transmits almost makes me put it in the first place. Almost... but it is another song of Kageyama the one that is the true embodiment of the series.

1.- "Soldier Dream": I guess it was no surprise here. My most favorite song not only of the series, but also ever. Kageyama did an awesome job for this song which was the second OP of the series and most probably, the most emblematic piece of Saint Seiya.

Anyways... this list is only according to my thoughts, although there are still a ton left of other great Saint Seiya vocal songs you should check out. I guess it is impossible not to compare all the discography with the one that is used for the recently released Lost Canvas OVAS. Truth is that I don't like that much the new OP, "The Realm of Athena", although the ED, "Chain of Flowers" has quickly become a favorite of mine. I can only hope Lost Canvas will get at least the manga fully animated so a comparison between the 2 series can even hope to be fair.

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Bennu Kagaho Myth Cloth

JESUS CHRIST I CAME BUCKETS!

Celestial Violent Star!

You know I rarely make comments about future releases of either Myth Cloths or gunplas, but this is just too awesome it deserves a post.
With the recent release of Pegasus Tenma a few days ago, there was an announcement that stated that the Specter Bennu Kagaho would see the light in the Myth Cloth line up. The first photos of the prototype just came out and wow, they blew me away, seriously, just look at those wings! The Surplice is on par with the God Cloths!

Expected to come out in November of this year for about 6500 yen, these guys are starting to get more and more expensive, not to mention that they put me in the dilemma of finally choosing either between them or the Gundams. Sorry MG Exia, but I canceled your preorder in favor of two of the most awesome Myth Cloths that have been released so far as Saint Seiya will always be my priority. Who could they be? In about one more week I will let you know... Meanwhile, I already made up my mind: Kagaho goes straight to my preorder as soon as HLJ has him up. I'm sure the final version of this Myth will be simply amazing.

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The Lost Canvas 139

Things just are getting more and more interesting lately in this history, starting with this incredible illustration.

ATHENA EXCLAMATION!

Holy shit, Shion, Regulus and Sisyphus performing the forbidden attack? DO WANT. Could this be foretelling the actual usage of said technique in future chapters in order to allow Athena and the Saints to keep advancing through Hades' temples in the Lost Canvas that is in the sky? I really hope so.
On other things, the previous chapter revealed that Wyvern Rhadamanthys is still alive after getting his ass fried by Scorpio Kardia in Atlantis but I think it is more important what was hinted in this chapter: Garuda Aiacos buries the body of Violet after his defeat against the Sagittarius Gold Saint and Kagaho finally appears after 100 chapters of absence lol. It is hinted they are actually brothers but more importantly, Kagaho destroys what remains from the Garuda Surplice and says to the former Judge that Aiacos is now just a mere human and calls him by his true name, Suikyô.
Why is this so important? In other Saint Seiya manga, Next Dimension, Suikyô is the name of a former Silver Saint comrade of Shion, Dhoko and Tenma, who much to the shock of the Saints returned as Garuda Suikyô, one of the three Judges from Hell. It seems Teshiorogi decided to use that spinoff as mere fanservice although in a reversal, so I wouldn't be surprised if Suikyô reappears in future chapters of Lost Canvas as Crateris Suikyô, the Silver Saint whose Cloth represents the silver cup from which Athena herself drinks to quench her thirst and engages a fight against Kagaho. That would be awesome.
In the end, it seems that Lost Canvas still has quite a way to go before it finishes.

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Saint Seiya The Lost Canvas 2

Tenma has begun to train in the Sanctuary in order to become a Saint. As the newcomer he gets mocked by Yato, another candidate to become a Saint who wants to test him. The 2 soon begin to fight but Yato proves to be better and kicks Tenma's ass.
Enraged by his failure, Tenma wonders why he can't summon the power he used back then when he smashed the rock that blocked the river. Dohko appears and explains him the basics of the Cosmo: everything is made of atoms, and therefore, anything can be destroyed by recreating with them the Big Bang phenomena, something that a Saint is able to do by using and focusing his Cosmo.

After the explanation, Tenma spots a girl using a chain of flowers around her wrist much like his own so he decides to salute her. He is surprised to see Sasha, the sister of his old friend Alone. After the happy reunion, Tenma asks her why she is here, as Sasha was supposed to be adopted, so the Sanctuary is quite a rare place for her to be.

Before she can answer, they get attacked by Worm Raimi, who is seeking Athena in order to kill her. Tenma tries to fight him and is able to summon his brutal Cosmo yet again, but the Specter avoids him and using his technique, "Worm's Bind" defeats Tenma. When he focuses on Sasha, he notices her powerful Cosmo but before he can do anything else, he gets killed by Aries Shion and his "Stardust Revolution". Shion kneels before Sasha and gives her his apologies for being late, calling her Athena, much to Tenma's surprise.

Time skip 2 years later, where Tenma is battling in a tournament in order to acquire his Cloth. After winning the fight, the Pope recognizes him as a Saint and gives him the Pegasus Bronze Cloth. Tenma is happy to finally achieve what he aimed for and wonders how Alone is doing...

Alone is not doing so well, as everything he paints, dies. Driven by despair, Pandora appears and tells him not to feel bad, as death is true salvation. In order for him to understand better, she takes Alone to the church in the middle of the forest in order to show him a painting. When they arrive, Hypnos is waiting for them and asks Alone to enter. Alone rushes in and discovers a giant painting of himself atop a mountain of corpses. He is further horrified when he discovers that the other orphan kids he painted also died, but Hypnos asks him to look to the painting again. This time, Alone sees himself with the children that no longer are suffering and are finally happy. Understanding that death is the true salvation, he finally awakens as Hades, the king of the Underworld. Meanwhile, Sasha announces that the Holy War against Hades has finally started.

This introductory part of the series was really good and makes me think we will get to see more awesome Lost Canvas episodes but sadly, that will not be until 2 more months lol. Meanwhile, the manga is getting more interesting on its latest chapter (138) but I'll talk about that later.

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Lights On!

There, I finally did it. It was a royal pain in the ass to make this thing work but I did it.

Gonna add some more pics to the Alteisen review. Meanwhile, you are now listening to Hiroshi Tetsu no Ko Okami and can't do anything about it.

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Alteisen Tune Up

While I was dusting off some of my Gundam models I contemplated a long time my 1/100 Alteisen on the shelf. I remember that back then when I completed it I deeply regretted that I accidentally broke the LED for lightning up the eyes, rendering the circuit useless and thus, depriving myself from the feature I wanted to see the most on this beast.
Decided to try to fix the mistake and surprisingly, I managed to make the thing work again! This was because I successfully completed the step where you have to place the little metal plates that go down from the LED inside the head to the torso by replacing the electrical cable with a thicker one, as the original was so thin I cut it off before I could even realize it.

Now I'm only missing the pair of batteries that go inside the backpack which complete the circuit. I'm still annoyed that all the model kits that have similar features don't include the damn batteries but hey, they will cost me less that one dollar each in a nearby store. Hopefully tomorrow this beauty will finally activate.

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Revenge of the Fallen

So, I just came back from watching the movie. Was really entertaining and quite intense during the action sequences with lots of FUCK YEAH moments.

Frankly I don't get why it has gotten so many bad reviews. I mean, yes, most of the jokes are really lame, but you were not really expecting some award-deserving-characterizations, were you? The whole point of the movie is to see giant robots transform, kick their asses and fucktons of explosions. If you were expecting something else, then you're a moron.
All hail the leader Prime!

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Saint Seiya The Lost Canvas

Finally, the long waiting is over. Saint Seiya is back!

Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken!

The episode starts giving us a short introduction related to the legend of Athena's Saints, their Cloths and how they will surely appear whenever Evil threatens the Earth. Next we get the sequence of the OP, "The Realm of Athena", which had been released some days ago.

The episode is completely faithful to the manga almost frame by frame: Alone spots 2 thugs throwing rocks to a puppy, which ate their lunch. Alone tries to protect the little dog and offers them a bottle of paint in order for them to sell it for some food. Before they can leave, Tenma arrives and kicks their asses, making the 2 thugs wonder how 2 completely opposite people can be friends.

Later, Alone is working in a church doing a very impressive painting, which earns him the praise of one blond priest that visited him (who is none other than Hypnos). Alone just says that the paint is still not complete as he has not been able to find the red tone he is searching for. Enigmatically, the priest suggests him to go to the summit of a nearby mountain, assuring him he will find there what he is looking for. Despite Alone's doubts, he decides to go.

When he arrives, he is mesmerized by the sight, as the place looks like Elysium, the forbidden spot where only the ones chosen by the Gods can arrive. Even though he didn't find the red color he was looking for, he decides to do some sketching of the surroundings, but suddenly, all the animals in the place flee.

The arrival of a strange girl, who introduces herself as Pandora surprises Alone, even more so when she kills the little dog. Pandora just smiles at how Alone appears to not know the emotion of hate and proceeds to kiss him, sealing his fate, as the pendant with the inscription of "Your Ever" appears on his neck. She then kneels before him, announcing that Hades has finally returned.

Nearby, Dohko is passing by when he gets attacked by 3 Specters but none of them are match for the Gold Saint, who interrogates them, asking where Hades is. Cyclops Giganto just smiles and tells him that the Saint will never find their lord, much less now that the 108 Specters have resurrected.

Alone awakes later back at home, where the other kids tell him that Tenma somehow felt his presence in the path of the mountain and went the search for him. Tenma states that sometimes, he can vaguely feel some kind of inner power, as if the universe itself was growing inside in him. Alone tries to stand up but his new acquired pendant falls to the floor and aggressively prevents Tenma from touching it, asking if he can now feel something different inside him. Before anyone can say anything, another kid announces that the river got out of course due to the intense rain and the flood is most likely to destroy the place. Tenma decides to go to the river and see if he can do something.

There, a bunch of massive rocks are blocking the course of the river but nevertheless, he tries to destroy them, breaking his hands in the process. Feeling the support of Alone and his friends, his Cosmo fires up and in one uppercut he destroys all the rocks, shocking a passing Dohko, who saves him from the imminent flood. When Tenma awakens, Dohoko gives him the proposal of becoming a Saint.

Later, Alone is trying to make a portrait of Tenma but ends up crying now that his friend will go away. Tenma just smiles and tells him to cheer up, as he will surely return. Meanwhile, Pandora and Hypnos are waiting outside the cathedral deep in the forest, expecting Alone's coming...

The ED "Chain of Flowers" is really beautiful.

That's it for the first episode. Impressive to say at least, and way superior to the complete turd that were the Inferno and Elysium chapters from the Hades saga of the classic series. The quality on all aspects is superb and while I think it will not be able to surpass the masterpiece that the original Saint Seiya series was, I'm pretty sure that as a new air it will be very popular if they keep up such quality and impressive job.

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The Vision of Escaflowne

Make room for the only anime so far that has reached the pinnacle of creating a true fantasy world, a titanic task in which many other titles have completely failed and should be ashamed of ever been conceived when compared to the perfect masterpiece that is The Vision of Escaflowne.

The series focuses on the heroine, Hitomi Kanzaki, and her adventures after she is transported to the world of Gaea, a mysterious planet from where she can see the Earth and its Moon in the sky. In Gaea, she is caught in the middle of a war as the Zaibach Empire attempts to take over Gaea. Van, king of the fallen kingdom of Fanelia, with the aid from Allen, a knight from the kingdom of Asturia, struggles to stop Zaibach using his mystical mech Escaflowne. Hitomi, whose fortune telling powers blossom in Gaea, discovers she is the key to awakening Escaflowne and to stopping Zaibach's plans...
There are many things that can be said about this series, I remember when it aired here in Mexico back then in 1998 and after so many years I still regard it as perfect given how it smoothly blended so many elements, characters and such a elaborated plot, making it one of the most memorable titles ever.
If you still have not watched it, do yourself a favor and do it. I guarantee you'll love it. Heck, it is worth checking it out just for the awesome OST Yoko Kanno orchestrated.
Further proof of why the 90's were the golden age for the anime series, while recent years have only revealed a shameful decline on all aspects...

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20,000 Hits!

Wow, I have barely checked that halfassed counter I put on the site and it currently reads a little above 20,000 hits! Many thanks to whoever bothers spending his/her time around this site that is a little bit more than 1 year old.

Seiya & co. will keep going through this collecting journey, even to the depths of Hell!

Makes me happy to know that there are more people out there interested in either gunplas or Myth Cloth figures. Let's see how far this blog can get regarding entries for both types of figures.

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