Recovering from a Bad Beginning: Knights of the Zodiac: Battle for Sanctuary (Season 2) First Impressions.
Knights of the Zodiac: Battle for Sanctuary is the second season of the original net animation series produced by Netflix based on a 1980s Japanese shonen manga of the same name. The story is a classic battle of good versus evil that fuses together elements of fantasy, adventure, martial arts, and Greek mythology.
The anime adapts the last set of battles of the manga’s first arc. Deciding to join forces with Saori, the Bronze Saints go to the Sanctuary to defeat the Pope, but upon their arrival, a gold arrow from a Silver Saint wounds Saori. Believing the Pope may be able to heal her, the Bronze Saints go to find him. To do so, they have to go through 12 temples, each one guarded by one Gold Saint (the most powerful Saints of Athena).
After watching some episodes, I wanted to share my thoughts on THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE MEH aspects of this retelling of the most iconic moment that most fans remember Saint Seiya for.
THE GOOD: It fixes the most significant issues from the first season and provides additional content while keeping the essence of the plot.
*Sonota saint.- an anime-exclusive character created to let the manga progress and prevent the anime from catching up.
THE BAD: It removes some key details from the story, such as flashbacks that provide context or insight behind the actions and motivations of the characters. In addition, sometimes music and special effects are not used to their full potential to build tension in crucial moments.
THE MEH: The armor does not change in either season of the new ONA, the pace of the series is faster than the classic anime, and the opening is the same as the first season.
Overall, Season 2 is slowly but surely redeeming the CGI adaptation by maintaining a delicate balance between adding original content that provides different perspectives about the conflict of the plot and respecting the core aspects of the concept from the manga. Crunchyroll has a mixed reputation as a streaming service, but still, it is better than Netflix. I highly suggest you check the classic anime and give it a chance this new season. This statement comes from a fan who came in with very low expectations for this new adaptation.
Title: Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya (聖闘士星矢: ナイツオブザゾディアック)
Based on: A manga series by Masami Kurumada.
Produced by: Toei.
Streaming on: Crunchyroll.
Anime Episodes Watched: 3
