With that general introduction out of the way let's tackle the first subject for a new "segment" I am calling Diagnosis: Filler; sorry, no Dick Van Dyke to be found here.
I've mentioned this before, but when Masami Kurumada started conceiving of Saint Seiya in the mid-80s, following the (initial) harsh failure of Otoko Zaka, his goal was to aim precisely at a mainstream audience. The end result of this focus was that Saint Seiya was licensed out pretty much instantly (possibly even before the manga itself actually debuted, considering the speed), with Toei Animation getting the rights to produce an anime adaptation & Bandai getting the rights to produce toys. Because of this the Saint Seiya TV anime debuted in Japan on October 11, 1986, only about 10 months after the manga had debuted; still not quite as fast as Tottemo! Luckyman getting its TV anime only eight months after debuting, though. Because of this speed the anime had to rely on a decent amount of "filler" early on, including seeing Seiya & his friends take on a variety of anime-original foes that only appeared for an episode or two, as well as the introduction of the infamous Steel Saints, anime-original allies that were shoehorned into manga-adapted plot; however, all of this also meant that Bandai had more toys to sell! Still, once the story moved over to the battles with the Gold Saints after 40 episodes there really wasn't much that could be done in regards to "filler", outside of a couple of episodes here & there.
By the time the Sanctuary Chapter ended with Episode 73 on April 16, 1988 the Seiya manga was still in the midst of its second story arc, the Poseidon Chapter. Also, the climax of the Sanctuary Chapter resulted in a massive ratings boost for the Seiya anime, with Episode 73 achieving a series high of 20.6, after the battles with the Gold Saints started with a 7.1 for Episode 41; to clarify, most TV anime nowadays wish they could hit the 7s, which only Sazae-san ever surpasses. Therefore, with the next manga story arc still in production & an anime that was super hot, plus Bandai still wanted to sell more toys, it only made sense that Toei would embark on a large-scale filler arc for Saint Seiya. The end result was that Episodes 74 to 99 would tell the story of the Asgard Chapter, something that would only ever be experienced via the anime (though there was later a Chinese doujin manga adaptation) & the end of which would even tie into the start of the anime's eventual adaptation of the Poseidon Chapter, which began with Episode 100 on November 19, 1988. While the Asgard Chapter naturally wouldn't be able to maintain the ratings high that it was starting with, dropping all the way down to the high 4s before returning back to the 6s (the anime itself would end after 114 episodes in the 7s), this filler arc is actually generally well regarded by hardcore Seiya fans & used to often be cited as an example of a "filler arc done right". It would eventually be included in some Saint Seiya video games, alongside the actual manga arcs, & in 2015 would even get a sequel-of-sorts with Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold, a spin-off anime where the Gold Saints fought a new battle in Asgard during the tail end of the Hades Chapter. Due to Saint Seiya's notoriously poor track record in "North of Mexico" the Asgard Chapter (as well as the anime's version of the Poseidon Chapter) wouldn't get an official English translation until April of 2020, when Netflix added both arcs to its stream of the Seiya anime, continuing the brand new English dub produced by Toei & Sentai Studios; Netflix would eventually remove all of Seiya TV, but it'd later get added to Crunchyroll.
As this isn't a "traditional" review I won't be covering the Sentai Studios dub, though I've generally only heard good things about it, but I think it's time that I finally watch the Asgard Chapter myself & see if it still holds up as a seemingly shining example of how filler arcs should be done.
The conflict in Sanctuary has finally come to an end with Gemini Saga (now free of the evil within his soul) atoning for the sins he committed against Athena by taking his own life. Saori Kido, the human reincarnation of Athena, is back at the Kido Mansion in Japan to get used to her new responsibilities as Athena when she's suddenly attacked by Syd, a God Warrior of the land of Asgard in Northern Europe. Syd is stopped by Pegasus Seiya, Andromeda Shun, Phoenix Ikki, Dragon Shiryu, & Cygnus Hyoga before revealing that he was sent to assassinate Saori by order of Polaris Hilda, the human representative of the Norse god Odin. Saori is confused by this revelation, as Hilda has always been a peaceful woman, and decides to head to Asgard herself to find out the truth. Said truth, though, is that Hilda is currently wearing the evil Nibelungen Ring & it has made her want to to melt the polar ice caps in order to destroy the world. Saori uses all her power to keep the ice caps frozen, but can only do so for 12 hours until she freezes from the sheer cold of Asgard, so it's up to the Bronze Saints to make their way to Valhalla Castle & remove the Nibelungen Ring from Hilda's finger in order to save the world. However, in their way are the eight God Warriors themselves: Alpha Dubhe Siegfried, Beta Merak Hagen, Gamma Phecda Thor, Delta Megrez Alberich, Epsilon Alioth Fenrir, Zeta Mizar Syd, Zeta Alcor Bud, & Eta Benetnasch Mime. Among the God Warriors are the seven Odin Sapphires, gems that together can summon the Balmung Sword, the only thing that can remove the Nibelungen Ring from Hilda's finger.
The Asgard Chapter is an interesting part of Saint Seiya for one simple reason: This isn't the first time this concept was done. As I reviewed back in 2011, the first time the Seiya anime technically did a story based around Asgard was actually the second theatrical film, Heated Battle of the Gods, though the story & characters in that movie are completely different from what the TV anime would get... just a month later. Now, to be fair, the four Seiya movies from the 80s were all part of the Toei Manga Matsuri film festival that Toei ran yearly at the time, so they were likely limited availability screenings & I imagine Heated Battle of the Gods was no longer in theaters by the time the Asgard Chapter debuted on TV. Still, outside of the basic idea of both taking place in Asgard (& both featuring a supporting character named Freya), these are two entirely different stories from a conceptual level. Still, it has generally been stated that the movie was so successful that it made Toei expand on it for the TV anime, and while one month feels like too little time for it to really make sense, I guess maybe the movie was created as a way to test viewers' interest & if it bombed then it's possible that a back up filler concept was there for the staff to go with, just in case. Regardless, what we do get definitely has some neat references, namely to Wagner's Ring cycle, the Nibelungenlied it's based on, the stars that make up the Big Dipper in Ursa Major (which in turn can be used to guide one to the location of Polaris, i.e. the North Star), & naturally Norse mythology; I guess the writers went with Benetnasch instead of Alkaid simply because it sounds cooler. Admittedly, you'd think that having an entire group of foes based around a part of Ursa Major would maybe allow Bear Geki to be given some time to shine, since he's the literal Ursa Major Saint... but, nope, he's defeated in one blow alongside his fellow "Secondary Bronzes" by Syd in Episode 74; can't have anyone else upstaging Seiya & his friends, after all.
On the surface, the Asgard Chapter is very much like your standard Saint Seiya story arc. Seiya & his friends have to make their way through enemy territory, taking out the opposition's strongest warriors before reaching the apex & taking on the leader, all while Athena finds herself in some form of lethal peril that leaves our heroes with a limited amount of time to get it all done. There are even plenty of beats & sequences throughout this filler arc that really do showcase the formula that Seiya utilizes, arguably too much at points. For example, during Shiryu's fight with Fenrir his sight is mostly gone due to bleeding getting into his eyes, similar to how Shiryu was blinded during the Sanctuary Chapter & then would get blinded again during the Poseidon Chapter. Not just that, but there are small elements that I wouldn't be surprised were purposefully taken from Ring ni Kakero, like Asgard itself kind of being like the Shadow Clan, i.e. a group of people who essentially live in secret from the rest of the world & now wish to show themselves to it, only instead of "living in the shadows & wanting to finally be seen by the sunlit world" it's "wanting to experience the real warmth of the sun... and rule over the land". And then there's Benetnasch Mime... who is seriously just Lyra Orpheus from the first Seiya movie, 1987's Evil Goddess Eris. Sure, they aren't literally the same exact character, but they are both armored warriors who fight using lyres/mini-harps, and they even both have a special attack called Stringer Requiem; hell, they're even voiced by the same man, Yuji Mitsuya! Masami Kurumada himself had designed Orpheus for the movie, & Mime's design would seemingly inspire Kurumada a bit more when he eventually introduced a manga-canon take on this style of character, Lyra Orphée, in the Hades Chapter. Finally, just to dog-pile onto Mime some more, he can also make his opponent (Shun, in this case) confused & think that he's in a different location to avoid attacks, similar to Team Greece's Orpheus in Ring ni Kakero. However, while there's plenty of the familiar to be found in this filler arc, it does offer some unique elements.
With two episodes to establish the story arc & 24 episodes to cover the fights against the God Warriors & Hilda herself (nine opponents, so 2-4 episodes per fight, give or take), one notable advantage the Asgard Chapter has over a lot of Saint Seiya's actual canon story arcs is that there's time for the writers to give the characters unique to this filler their own backstories & some minor development. One thing about Saint Seiya, in general, is that characters are defined more by their convictions, attitudes, & behaviors than their backstories (of which only Seiya & his fellow "main" Bronzes really ever got), and that's especially true of most of the supporting cast & foes; there were some exceptions who got some extra development, but it wasn't a regular thing. However, since there are only so many Asgard characters that means that each of them actually get something extra to chew on, primarily during their fights. Thor initially hated Hilda as he felt that the upper echelon of Asgard didn't care about the lower end that had to find any means to live, but her inherent warmth & selflessness towards him made him loyal, so much so that he's willing to overlook her change in attitude after donning the Ring. Fenrir has hated humanity ever since he was a child, after he & his parents were left for dead against a giant bear, with Fenrir only surviving after being saved by wolves, which wind up being the only creatures he trusts in until Hilda (post-Ring) manages to sway him over to her side by instantly taming the wolves. Hagen is part of Asgard's Imperial Guard & deeply cares for Freya, Hilda's younger sister, but his immense pride as an Asgardian makes him not want to believe that Freya sided against her own sister by her own choice, even when Freya says it right to his face.
Mime is the son of Volkel, Asgard's greatest hero... and the man Mime killed in cold blood due to the harsh upbringing Mime had from his father (plus some other revelations), but the truth behind Mime's past is more complicated than even he wants to remember. Alberich is an intellectual prodigy, but his immense ego & selfishness actually got him initially dismissed from Valhalla Castle by Hilda (pre-Ring). However, Alberich also knows more about Hilda's about-face in personality than any of the other God Warriors... and he has no intention of simply being Hilda's soldier. Syd & Bud are twins, which in Asgard superstition is an ill omen, so Bud was cast off upon birth & left out in the cold (though found by huntsman, who raised him), with neither knowing of the other until a chance encounter as kids made Bud realize that he was abandoned by his real family, leaving him with an intense hatred of Syd, who himself never realized that he had a twin brother. However, Syd was chosen to be the Zeta God Warrior, leaving Bud to be Syd's "shadow", one that no one else knew about except for Hilda; Bud's existence is technically a spoiler, but he's also literally shown during the OP sequence. As for Siegfried, he's the head of Hilda's personal guard who's seemingly the reincarnation of the legendary hero he's named after, right down to being similarly as impervious, & has sworn to defend Hilda to the very end, no matter what she decrees. Similar to Athena & her Saints, even if Hilda was to do something that would condemn her Siegfried would follow her into the depths of Hel itself to continue protecting her. Finally, there's Hilda's sister Freya... who really doesn't do much at all in regards to the story, outside of her involvement with Hagen, being the one to personally ask Saori for help, and one or two other small moments throughout; she's not pointless, but her relevance is mostly minute in this story arc.
Another really interesting aspect of the Asgard Chapter is the overall melancholy & tragic nature of the story itself, which is only enforced by the fact that the God Warriors actually are given proper backstories during their fights with the Bronzes. Sure, there were tragic character moments in the canon story arcs, but since only a few characters in those arcs actually got fully defined backstories (or weren't truly fleshed out until later on, like Saga) most of the opposition who actually were defeated/killed in those arcs felt more like they were either getting their just deserts for their actions (Cancer Deathmask, Pisces Aphrodite) or were fighting for a side that truly wanted something terrible to happen (Poseidon's Mariner Generals). However, the Asgard Chapter makes it known right in its first episode that Hilda is under the influence of an evil force, that the horrible things she wants to do are not of her own volition, and as each fight with a God Warrior happens you see that these people are, for the most part, the kinds of warriors that in other circumstances would otherwise assist Athena's Saints.
In turn, seeing the Bronzes have no choice but to kill the God Warriors in order to retrieve the Odin Sapphires is (mostly) tragic, because they are fights that, in all honesty, don't need to happen in the first place; even Hyoga at one point calls him defeating a God Warrior a hollow victory. However, despite Hilda's actions being undoubtedly villainous... you can still see why the God Warriors side with her, outside of simple dedication to their land. Sure, for some they're fighting for more personal reasons (like Fenrir wanting to bring his family's name back to prominence, Bud wanting to replace Syd as the Zeta Warrior, or Alberich's own secretive ambitions), but overall you can see where they're coming from. Just as with the Shadow Clan in RnK the Asgardians have been given a bit of a hard lot in life, living in an area of the world that (by their own repeated admission) almost never receives the warm glow of the Sun, and as seen with Thor's backstory while Hilda is a beloved figurehead those on the lower end of the totem pole have to fight to survive. Therefore, the idea that Hilda could lead them to a better life sounds like something that's worth fighting for, even if the method she wishes to do it through is horrifying. Really, the only truly "evil" character in this arc is Alberich, as he only cares about his own goals, feels little about his fellow God Warriors & Hilda, and wasn't turned to the dark side by a magical ring. This all results in the Asgard Chapter feeling notably different from any other story arc in Saint Seiya, at least from a thematic perspective, and that makes it immensely memorable.
While not a traditional review, it's still worth bringing up some of the staff behind the production here, because the Asgard Chapter actually marked a shift from the 73 episodes before it. The biggest change was the director, as while (the now-current Representative Chairman of the Board of Directors for Toei Animation) Kozo Morishita directed the entirety of the Sanctuary Chapter the remainder of the Saint Seiya TV anime (both the Asgard & Posideon Chapters) was directed by Kazuhito Kikuchi. Kikuchi has always been more of an episode director & storyboarder, with the final third of Seiya TV being his debut as (overall) director, something that he's only done for a handful of other anime since, namely Gude Crest - The Emblem of Gude, Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!, & Samurai Gun, the last being his only other time directing a TV series. Overall, though, the Asgard Chapter looks rather good & visually is a fine follow up to the iconic battles against the Gold Saints that happened just before. In fact, for a storyline taking place mostly in snowy and/or frozen outdoor environments the staff did a great job at making each locale where the battles take place feel unique & different from each other, so props to art design director Tadao Kubota on a job well done there. Another notable switch was with series composition, as Yoshiyuki Suga (B't X, Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas) took over for Takao Koyama following Episode 73. In reality, though, Suga & Koyama effectively co-wrote the entire Seiya TV anime themselves, as all but seven episodes were written by one of them, and Koyama still wrote more than his fair share of episodes in this final third, much like Suga did in the first two-thirds.
That being said, Suga & Koyama still kind of rely on some repetitive aspects, like Ikki saving Shun during a fight, Shiryu removing his Cloth for a final blow during a fight, & Seiya donning a powerful armor for the climax, in this case the Odin Robe; all of these would be used ad nauseum across all four of the movies during this period, too. However, I will give credit for some of the more unique aspects, like the previously mentioned focus on giving the God Warriors backstories, as well as a couple of interesting combat-related moments, like Shiryu defeating a foe by literally dropping an avalanche on him (which I feel is cheating...) or Seiya actually losing a hard-fought fight & needing to be rescued himself. However, I feel like someone should have just given Athena a heavy jacket & pants to wear while in Asgard, as I imagine that would have given the Bronzes just a little bit more time. Of course, the duo of Michi Himeno & the late Shingo Araki still handled the character designs here, and the Asgardians all look pretty good & rather unique (mostly, but I've already gone over Mime). Some of the God Warriors' God Robes admittedly are a little bland, but there are exceptions, namely for Mime, Thor, Siegfried, & the Odin Robe. Also of note is that the Bronzes now have upgraded Cloths that change their designs to better match the manga, as the first designs in the anime were radically different (& more toy-friendly). Similarly, the late Seiji Yokoyama continued on as the music composer, and Yokoyama actually put forth the effort to give each story arc its own unique score, so there are only a couple of songs that actually are re-used from before the Asgard Chapter, while the Asgard-exclusive music is overall very solid; not quite on the level as what came before, but still rather strong. As for the OP & ED, the iconic tracks from Make-Up are replaced by new tracks performed by the venerable Hironobu Kageyama (& Broadway), with OP2 "Saint Shinwa ~Soldier Dream~" being just as iconic a song as "Pegasus Fantasy". Meanwhile, ED2 "Yume Tabibito -Blue Dream-" is a super chill & slow ballad that's the complete opposite of "Eien Blue -Blue Forever-", and arguably not as memorable, but still a very good song, in its own right.
Finally, while I won't go over the cast in my traditional fashion here, there is a fun little bit of trivia when it comes to the voice cast of the Asgard Chapter's original characters: There's a bunch of returning voice actors! Yeah, Yuji Mitsuya as Mime was far from the only seiyuu to "return" for this filler. Yusaku Yara "returned" to voice Thor after previously voicing Sagittarius Aiolos, the latter being a role that Yara has continued to reprise to this very day. Yu Mizushima "returned" to voice both Syd & Bud after previously voicing Lizard Misty & characters in the first two movies (Orion Jaguar & Loki, respectively), and would even be cast decades later as a couple of characters in Saint Seiya Omega. Shigeru Nakahara previously voiced a bunch of characters in earlier episodes (Black Pegasus, Pavo Shiva, & Sky Cloth Sho) before "returning" to voice Alberich, & like Mizushima would even have roles later on in Omega, including reprising Sho. The Asgard Chapter would also mark the very first role for Bin Shimada in a Kurumada anime, voicing Hagen, and in the decades since Shimada would be one of the most consistent voice actors in adaptations of Kurumada's works, voicing numerous Seiya characters in later productions, as well as having roles in Fuma no Kojirou, B't X, & Ring ni Kakero 1. The same is true for Toshihiko Seki, who made his Kurumada anime debut here as Alioth, before later getting roles in future Seiya anime (he's the current voice of Scorpio Milo), as well as in Fuma no Kojirou & B't X Neo. We also have the legendary Akira Kamiya here as Siegfried, having "returned" after previously voicing Perseus Algol, & during the run of this filler arc the third Seiya movie, Legend of Crimson Youth, would run in theaters in July 1988, which featured Kamiya voicing Carina Atlas, who was similar to Siegfried in that he was the strongest of the villain's warriors. Finally, we have Maria Kawamura as Freya (in her sole Kurumada anime role) & the iconic Mitsuko Horie as Hilda, a role she would later reprise in Soul of Gold.
So, when all is said & done, is Saint Seiya's Asgard Chapter truly the gold standard of filler arcs that I remember it being touted as back in the day? To be honest I don't think I can truly make a declaration of that kind of definitiveness, but I can absolutely say that it is really, really, REALLY damn good. On a basic conceptual level it's more or less the exact same thing as what came both before & after it, and in that regard it only solidifies what I feel is Saint Seiya's strongest weakness, which (to directly copy from my review of the manga last year) is that it can simply be described as "One story arc repeated three times over, with minor changes". However, where the Asgard Chapter manages to shine is in the characters that are exclusive to this filler, namely the God Warriors themselves. While some definitely get a little more depth than others, each of these eight foes for Seiya & his friends are given their own unique backstories that makes you come to understand where they're coming from, and outside of Alberich you wind up feeling bad for them, because this entire conflict is something not of their own choosing, nor is it really one of Hilda's own volition either. Instead, an outside force (which, when you consider that the end of this ties directly into the next story arc in the anime, you can figure out on your own) is the one responsible for all of this violence & death happening, giving the Asgard Chapter a tragic melancholy that remains unique amongst Saint Seiya storylines.
By no means is this a story arc that newcomers can go into mostly blind, as events from the Sanctuary Chapter are referenced (& flashbacked) to many times throughout, but for those who are watching the Saint Seiya TV anime it's a filler arc that I can wholeheartedly recommend viewing, as aside from the sometimes slow pacing (which is honestly just a flaw of Seiya TV, in general) it's absolutely an engaging watch throughout. Plus, you can then also watch Soul of Gold & return to Asgard for a new story starring the Gold Saints; the new group of God Warriors there aren't as memorable, but on the whole I rather enjoyed it a decade ago. Though, as mentioned, the Poseidon Chapter in the anime is tied directly into the end of the Asgard Chapter, so one can't simply skip from Episode 73 to Episode 100 without losing some of the plot, and I do feel that this is a bit of an odd & unneeded aspect, as it also makes watching the Asgard Chapter on its own slightly awkward at the end. If I had to guess the staff wanted to make sure that fans of the manga at the time the show was first airing would have been caught off guard by changing the way the Poseidon Chapter begins, which in turn would keep them watching.
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I don't expect Diagnosis: Filler to be a regularly occurring segment here, but it'll return whenever I'm in the mood. I have future subjects already in mind, & even a couple that have been recommended to me (giving me a total of six, so far), but if you have one you'd think would work well here (i.e. a [mostly] standalone filler arc of at least 10 episodes in length, both good or bad) then by all means leave a comment below or let me know on social media.
Anime © Masami Kurumada/Shueisha・Toei Animation
Watching this arc on TV was pretty exciting back in the 90's for me. I had no idea it was filler at the time, and it had some pretty cool updates on the characters designs, and my favorite mythology (Norse). The negative is that, by following the "Seiya Playbook" to a T, by the time I got to Poseidon I was kinda burnt out. Still, probably my favorite animated Seiya story.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it definitely still stays true to the Saint Seiya formula in many ways, but at least the foes here are such an interesting bunch to keep it from feeling too same-y.
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