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[PiscesCaballero]

Finished Episode 4 and damn there's so much to talk about!

For one Shiryu VS Seiya. It goes onto Episode 5 which I will watch shortly after posting this but I would say it is without doubt the BEST and MOST BRUTAL fight of the Galaxian Wars. Everything in this fight is so intense and well choregraphied;I would dare say it beats many of the filler fights later in the series. There's far more exaggerated amounts of blood shed in this fight alone than all of the Galaxian War. This fight alone is a foreshadowing of the infamous "get beaten bad but I keep getting up to keep fighting until I overwhelm them with sheer willpower and repeated failed attacks" that Seiya is so infamous and hated for.

However I got to give it to in this fight;it is one of the few where he actually FUCKING uses his head! The way he caused Shiryu's dragon fist and shield to get shattered was an ingenious example of take some to dish out more. He charges at Shiryu, making him think he's repeating his failed strategy of Pegasus Ryu Sui Ken spamming, but instead Seiya bumps his head into Shiryu's shield. In the moment of the fight out of mistake, Shiryu does a right hook to hit Seiya but Seiya is already falling from the impact of banging his head on the Dragon Shield, and Shiryu instead hits his shield. The end result is the Dragon Fist and Dragon Shield gets shattered into pieces. Ingenious move !

Episode 4 ends with both combatants taking of their cloths so they can fight fairly and continues in Episode 5. I can't help but think Kuru is intentionally creating fanservice when they did this in the fight.


Also I liked the way they started the Episode with those naughty little kids arguing as they go into the Coliseum as well as Saori's explanation of the Cloths and how they represent the Constellations (her speech foreshadows the Gold Cloths that represent the 12 Zodiac Signs).

I can't help but notice somethings I never thought of in my first watching of the series as well as the Rewatch last December.

Did Saint Seiya influence on Street Fighter?

For one, among Ryu's special move was "Shiryuken!!!". Shiryu=Shiryuken? I mean Shiryu's signature attack Rozan Shou Ryuu Ha is an powerful uppercut that causes opponents to fly feet away in Bronzie level. Shiryuken to is an uppercut that knocks enemies in the air away in considerable distance.

So I think Saint Seiya may have influenced Street Fighter.

Another thing is the training scene at the waterfall. FREAKING BADASS and a Prime Example of Shonen Spirit.

I understood why Shiryu was like when Dohko told him to force the waterfall's current to reverse. Against the laws of nature Shiryu responds.Not wishing to disappoint his master, Shiryu goes one for hours and hours repeatedly attempting to do this insane, throwing punches after punches and kicks after kicks nonstop. Finally one powerful kick and Shiryu finally does it-the entire waterfall suddenly stops in its flow literally. Then it starts reversing upward, resulting in a large water dragon flying out of the water. BADASS TRAINING REGIMENT

And the way the fight ended was a foreshadowing of just how brilliant the TV series is at picking the right spot and time to conclude an Episode despite the fight still going on. Even wikipedia praises the Classic TV Series for ending a multiple-episode fight at the right moment that makes you want to watch more and more until the fight finally concludes several episodes later. The way Shiryu VS Seiya ended in this episode was at the perfect timing (just right after they threw their cloths off) and ended with a badass scene (Seiya and Shiryu in fighting stance with the animals representing their own constellations moving as though they were preparing to strike their prey). Seriously the Saint Seiya TV Series is a textbook example of how to conclude an episode despite being in the middle of a fight that continues on in the next few episodes!

Just another thought of mine-the waterfall scene in Ep. 4 makes me call Omega's "Elements" BullShit! I mean Shiryu didn't even have his cloth at the time and he can already manipulate elements!Not even a Bronzie yet! Do they really have to add this "Elements"?I'm calling BullShit here 

Off to Episode 5 to conclude what is easily the MOST EPIC and Bloodiest fight in the Galaxian War and which is easily among the best battles in the entire Saint Seiya anime/manga!

[Cadraire]

It is a great and satisfying fight... all that blood and finding a way to break that unbreakable shield... XD

I've decided to re-watch too...

[PiscesCaballero]

Finished Episode 5 yesterday but was sleepy before I could post. I was also too busy today so I'll post my input now.

Again just like Episode 4, the choreography and setup of the "half-naked" part of Shiryu VS Seiya was brilliant. I was also impressed with how they ended parts of a fight-not only did Episode 4 perfectly end the fight at the right moment to make such intension and excited anticipation to make you want to watch Episode 5 to see how it concludes, but damn Episode 5 chose the right spot for the eyecatch. It was just as Seiya and Shiryu finally decided to throw their final special attacks midair to conclude the match. Just as they hit each other, eyecatches comes. Seriously I'm not surprise if Japanese kids literally watched through the commercial waiting for the show to resume rather than use the restroom just to fucking see the rest of the fight. Perfect timing to make you want to stay put during commercial as you anticipate for the resuming of the fight!

Episode 5 was another example where Seiya not only used his head, but for one of the few times in the series they showed the opponent planning and calculating. Sure Seiya made a wrong assumption when he assumed that Shiryu would block his blow (sure to us audience it seems very stupid and basic common sense, but when you're in a fight-especially just after you took heavy blow and bleeding hard-calculating and planning is VERY HARD and you'd make basic mistakes you normally wouldn't if you were in full condition before a fight), but Seiya constantly processed in his minds for various ways to beat Shiryu and find opening. Shiryu too was doing it. An excellent calculating fight where both opponents were truly planning carefully and anxious about every move made in the fight.

Also this fight is a foreshadowing of Seiya's infamous "Pegasus Ryu Sui Ken the enemy!Enemy appears to have blocked or dodged every punch!Then as he boasts how much weaker and slower Seiya's blows are, suddenly he coughs out blood and it turns out the punch did hit him afterall as there's a mark on his body!" strategy that appears later in much of Seiya's fights that so many fans hate. However in this fight he didn't merely spam his attacks, but instead he took calculated risks as he threw them.

Toei obviously was targetting a female audience. After Seiya won, Miho-Chan was holding and looking at a pic of Seiya so happy he won and was safe. This is further made more obvious when after Seiya collapsed, Miho-Chan went into a Taxi and rushed to the stadium out of concern for Seiya's welfare.

One thing that VERY PISSED ME OFF in this episode was how Seiya was made a Gary Stu in this episode. Seriously just as he was fading out from unconcsious as he was aiming at Shiryu's back to save him with a punch, the whole crowd started rooting for him out loud in an attempt to wake him up and encourage me. Seriously that DID NOT HAPPEN in the Manga and it made Seiya feel like a big Gary Stu.Seiya simply went straight to the point and hit Shiryu in the manga.

However one amusing thing that happened just as the crowd was cheering on was that Seiya still had a difficult time regaining conscious and aiming at Shiryu's dragon head tatoo. Suddenly Miho enters the stadium and roots on Seiya and Seiya revitalizes all his energy and with pin-perfect accuracy,hits Shiryu's dragon head. I'm not lying I believe Toei was really aiming to get the female market with an extension of Miho's role in the story through an implied romance between Miho-Chan and Seiya.

Also I can't help but think how brutal it was when Shiryu got hit by Seiya to get his heart beating again. He's already fucking exhausted from battle and near-dead and he gets revived by a hard punch?  Furthermore right after Seiya hit Shiryu, both Shun and him were thrown over ten feet away in distance towards a wall? And when they hit the wall they literally crushed a crack into it? This is cement wall we're talking about !!!!! Shiryu is fucking exhausted and near dying! Must have been a fucking brutal revival!

Also funny was the peaceful happy music that came immediately after Seiya won the fight thats an instrumental of "Color Blue" that was the first ending of the TV Series. It was hilarious because Shiryu is lying there near dead as the music played and all of a sudden Seiya collapsed too .

Also this Episode was very amusing in that Saori actually showed concern for both Saints after they collapsed when the fight ended. I really can see emotions in her eyes that she does CARE afterall.  Looking back as I watch this, its a foreshadowing of the role Saori will play in the story and of her change in character.

[leorio]

The audience's reaction is probably intended to make the atmosphere more dramatic. What's a tournament if the audience just sits and stares? 

However, if Toei is giving nods to the female audience as you say, I find their methods to be off-target, since the episode only underlines that women are there just to support and worry over the men. Girls among the audience may be rightly pissed that that's all the female characters do, rather than join in the fight and be shown as fighters.

[GVmanX]

Does anyone know why Toei removed that?

[Cadraire]

Removed what?

I found the method to fix Shiryu rather hilarious... XD

[GVmanX]

The whole Hyoga-is-an-assassin-for-Sanctuary thing that was in the manga.

Too bad you can't heal someone in real life by punching their heart from the other side...

[AriesMu188]

Well didn't really heal, just re jump start the thing. I guess they've never heard of a defibrillator... 

[AriesMu188]

Just watched the Mu explain 7th senses again and re-confirmed what I remembered. The Cloth Myth and a lot of merchandise have the wrong eye color! In the manga Mu has green eyes but in the actual episodes, he has purple eyes! I want my money back!

[Cadraire]

The Hyoga-is-an-assassin bit would have added a nice tension to the scene in the woods with Shun at Ikki's old punching tree. The snow starts falling and you might wonder if Hyoga might really follow orders and is getting ready to pick off one of them while they're isolated...

Even tho Shun was doing great against Jabu, that Black Swan kicked Shun's ass right away and he didn't even get to do anything against him at all... XD

[Kuriboh]

I've marathoned the entire series within the last 8 months and all 28 volumes of manga in the span of a week.
 

The manga is considerably less HURRR DURRR. The end.



ALSO Mu's eyes are green/teal in Hades. The colour artists for the TV show can take a very long hike.

[Cadraire]

What is the meaning of HURRR DURRR?

[Thrudgelmir2333]

When it comes to eye color, adaptations do tend to swap it a lot. Bleach's Gin Ichimaru, anyone?

[Kuriboh]

What is the meaning of HURRR DURRR?

General stupidity.

Also the Manga throws seiya at the audience a LOT less. And Ikki's characterization is (gasp!) CONSISTENT.

[Die_Flux]

General stupidity.

Also the Manga throws seiya at the audience a LOT less. And Ikki's characterization is (gasp!) CONSISTENT.

That's the reason I reread the manga at least 2 times a year (this year just one time yet)... I've learnt to like anime Seiya, but TOEI had make so bad things in the animation that I really apreciate more reading the manga.

By the way, seems a long time since I've seen all the anime in sequence. I'll consider rewatch too.