| Saint Seiya Episode.G | |
The inside cover of volume 7, displaying the protagonist, Leo Aiolia, along with most of the Titans. |
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| 聖闘士星矢エピソード・ジー (Seinto Seiya Episōdo Jī) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Mythic fiction |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Megumu Okada |
| Published by | Akita Shoten |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Champion Red |
| Original run | January 19, 2003 – (on hiatus) |
| Volumes | 19 |
| Manga | |
| Volume Zero – Aiolos | |
| Written by | Megumu Okada |
| Published by | Akita Shoten |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Champion Red |
| Published | May 20, 2008 |
| Volumes | 1 |
Saint Seiya Episode.G (聖闘士星矢EPISODE・G Seinto Seiya Episōdo Jī) is an ongoing shōnen manga written and illustrated by Megumu Okada. A side-story and a derivative work of Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya, it first started being serialized in the monthly magazine Champion Red on January 19, 2003[1] and was later compiled into volumes by Akita Shoten, with the first being published on June 19, 2003.[2]
The story is set seven years before the events of the original Saint Seiya manga and six years after the death of the Sagittarius Gold Saint Aiolos, the brother of Episode G's main character. It takes place in a fictional universe where the Greek gods cyclically reincarnate into the world, often waging war on each other for dominance, and depicts the battle of the Gold Saints, warriors with superhuman powers who fight for Peace and Justice in the name of the Goddess Athena,[3] to protect the Earth from the recently awakened Titan gods.
Although no English version of Saint Seiya Episode.G exists, it has been translated into various other languages by publishers from around the world, where it was well received, but not without controversy regarding its differences to Saint Seiya. In Brazil, it was published by Conrad Editora; by Panini Comics in Italy, Germany and France; Glénat in Spain; Ivrea in Argentina and by Chuang Yi in Singapore.
Contents |
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 Athena's Saints, 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.[4] In turn, he holds a grudge against the Saints as a whole,[3] and against the elite order of the Gold Saints in particular.[5]
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.[6] 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, all kinds of ancient monsters that the Saints have to deal with are also resurrected worldwide. 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,[7] 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, and help her take control of the Earth, destroying gods and humans alike in the process.[8]
In the author commentary page published with the first volume, Megumu Okada explains 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. Original author Masami Kurumada left him free to write the story that would act as a prequel to the original manga.[9] As such, Saint Seiya Episode.G is substantially different from its predecessor. In terms of drawing style, characters appear more stylized than in Kurumada's manga and details are enhanced, for example, in backgrounds and cloth designs. Brief comedic scenes are also included throughout the manga, where the characters are drawn in a super deformed state. Drawings are made both by hand and with recourse to digital media.[10]
Classical mythology also plays a more visible role in the plot than in Saint Seiya.[10] Okada constantly draws from mythology, having the protagonists fight heroes of old[11] and even legendary supernatural creatures like hydras,[12] hecatonchires,[13] giants[14] and gorgons.[15] The gods' influence is not limited to the battles against the Saints and it affects the lives of regular people.[16] The casual clothes that the characters are seen in while in Sanctuary are reminiscent of Ancient Greek indumentary[4][5] and many of the names used for places, characters and other elements of the story are in ancient Greek.[10]
There are currently 19 volumes (tankōbon) published by Akita Shoten and a total of 83 chapters published in the monthly magazine Champion Red. The first images of the manga appeared in the Champion Red issue of January 19, 2003, along with posters by and an interview with Masami Kurumada.[1] The first chapter was then released on the following February issue[17] and the first volume published on June 19, 2003.[2] Releases arrested in 2009, as author Megumu Okada put the manga on hiatus to dedicate himself to other projects following an unspecified dispute with the publisher,[18] and resumed in Champion Red's April 2011 issue, with the release of a new chapter, as well as a compilation of past chapters that had not been grouped in volume format yet (chapters 74, 75 and 76) called "Volume 17.5".[19] The manga entered a second hiatus after chapter 83 was published in the October 2011 issue of Champion Red. It is unknown when it will resume.
Saint Seiya Episode.G has yet to be licensed in English, but it has been published in several countries outside of Japan: in Brazil, by Conrad Editora; by Panini Comics in Italy, Germany and France; Glénat in Spain; Ivrea in Argentina and by Chuang Yi in Singapore.
The volumes usually contain short special chapters (gaiden), most of which in color, that either tell little side-stories or highlight moments from previous chapters. Some have little relevance to the overall plot of Episode G, with characters that play little part in the main story but who are well-known to readers of Saint Seiya, while others explore the personality or the past of important characters and detail minor events pertaining to the plot.
In October 2007, a new side-story started being published with Episode G. It takes place a few years before the main plot and details the exploits of Sagittarius Aiolos in Egypt, revealing some plot points that influence the main story. A younger Aiolia and Galan also appear. This side-story appears compiled in a special volume called "Volume 0: Aiolos (アイオロス編 Aiorosu hen)", released on May 20, 2008, which also contains an encyclopedia with information on all the Episode G manga published up to that date.[20]
In Japan, there are two versions of the Saint Seiya Episode.G volumes. One is the normal version and the other is a Limited Edition. The Limited Edition features different covers and includes various goodies packaged with the comic books. These goodies include postcards, pins, a coin key holder, a day planner, tarot cards, a t-shirt, puzzles, calendars, a pass case and a key chain.[21] A bust figure of the protagonist, Leo Aiolia, has also been released.[22]
Two drama CDs were recorded for Episode G. One was released with Champion Red and the other along with the Limited Edition of volume 11. These CDs reproduce the events of several chapters with only slight modifications that reduce the cast: Aiolia's battle against the Giant in volume 1, Pontos's test of Aiolia through Galan from volume 1, and Camus's and Aiolia's fight against Okeanos from volumes 9 and 10. Voice actors include: Hiro Shimono as Leo Aiolia, Hikaru Midorikawa as Aquarius Camus, Kōji Yusa as Galan, Chiwa Saitō as Lithos, Kōsuke Okano as Okeanos and Hiroki Yasumoto as Pontos.[23]
The manga was well-received in France, where volumes 7, 8 and 9 sold thirty-one thousand copies each in 2006.[24] Its differences and similarities to the original Saint Seiya, however, have divided readers.
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.[25] Meanwhile, for Brazilian critic Pedro Hunter, Episode G sets itself apart from the usual shonen 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.[16] A third stance defends that Episode G might suffer from being too faithful to the original series, but that the ideas and concept behind Saint Seiya, with all its imperfections, go beyond its representatives.[10]
Generally praised as "impressive" is Okada's graphical skill, his use of composition and textures which enhance the divine aspects of the characters, although it is also noted that the heavy amount of details in a black and white manga often interferes with readability. Thomas Berthelon says such difficulty is reminiscent of passages from Kaori Yuki's manga Angel Sanctuary.[25] The author of Blog Bazar's review of Episode G sees it as "a definitely baroque manga, where the flow of action comes second to contemplation."[10]
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