Pegasus Seiya

Pegasus Seiya
Saint Seiya character
Seiya as seen in the manga, wearing the original Pegasus Cloth
First appearance	Manga vol. 1, chapter 1 Anime episode 1
Created by	Masami Kurumada
Voiced by	Japanese Tōru Furuya (1986-2004; 2012-present) Hiroko Emori (as young Seiya) Masakazu Morita (2005-Present) English Illich Guardiola Cameron Bautsch
Profile
Relatives	Mitsumasa Kido (father, deceased) Seika (sister) Orphaned Bronze Saints (half brothers - manga only)

Pegasus Seiya (天馬星座（ペガサス）の星矢, Pegasasu no Seiya), also known as Seiya, is a fictional character from the Saint Seiya universe created by Masami Kurumada. He is the thirteen-year-old protagonist of this media franchise, which originated in Kurumada's eponymous manga and subsequently inspired an anime adaptation, several soundtracks, original video animations, films, video games, spin-off manga and other collectibles. Like most of Kurumada's characters, Seiya's design was inspired in the main character of his previous hit manga Ring ni Kakero, Takane Ryūji.

In the story, Seiya is one of the eighty-eight mythical warriors known as Saints who have served the Goddess Athena throughout the ages, protecting justice and peace on Earth. As a Saint, Seiya dons one of the powerful armors of divine origins known as Cloths, the one which represents the constellation of Pegasus. He also possesses superhuman strength and speed, two of the many extraordinary abilities the Saints draw from their guardian constellations and an inner essence called Cosmo.

Creation and conception

While in the process of creating Saint Seiya, Masami Kurumada gave Seiya the name Rin at first, since he was going to name his manga Ginga no Rin (Rin of the Galaxy). As he continued developing his manga, however, he decided to change the name to Seiya, which was more fitting. First he spelled the name with the kanji that mean Holy Arrow, to relate it to Seiya's condition as a Saint, but later decided to use the kanji that mean Star Arrow, to emphasize the constellation and mythological motif. Finally, he changed the manga title to Saint Seiya, once he had fully developed the concept of the Saints.^[1] Kurumada also stated that one of the first ideas he conceived for Saint Seiya was Seiya's fighting technique, the Pegasus Meteor Fist. Since his manga was going to use the constellations as a very important and ever-present theme, he wanted his protagonist to have a special move that would be like a shower of meteors.^[1]

Kurumada drew inspiration from Takane Ryūji, the main character of his previous hit manga Ring ni Kakero, to design Seiya's likeness. Most protagonists of Kurumada's works bear a resemblance to Ryūji, because he subscribes to Osamu Tezuka's Star System (maintaining a stable cast of characters to be used in different works).^[1]

The author chose the Sagittarius Gold Cloth as the most famous of the Gold Cloths due to its symbolism in relation to Seiya. Since Seiya's name can also be understood as a metaphor for meteor in Japanese and Sagittarius represents an archer, Kurumada thought it would be a perfect match for Seiya. He already had in mind that the Sagittarius Gold Cloth would eventually be worn by Seiya in certain parts of the manga.^[1]

Character outline

Overview

Seiya is the eponymous main character of the Saint Seiya series. He is one of the eighty-eight Saints of Athena and serves loyally at her side. Seiya draws his superhuman powers from Cosmo, the energy of the Big Bang that lingers inside each being and which connects a Saint to his constellation and Cloth. At the start of the series, Seiya is thirteen years old.^[2] His main objective is to find his older sister Seika, who disappeared when he was sent to Greece to train to become a Saint under the supervision of the Silver Saint Eagle Marin. Due to her physical similarities to Seika, Seiya suspects that Marin may be his sister, but he later discovers he is wrong and finds his real sister.^[3] As Seiya starts fighting alongside the other Bronze Saints, albeit reluctantly at first, his motivations shift to the protection of Athena. Seiya tends to be the most immature of the Saints, as he frequently jokes and is unconcerned about the consequences of his actions.^[4]

Abilities

The Pegasus Cloth represents the Pegasus constellation, which is associated with Pegasus, the divine winged horse from Greek mythology. Seiya trained for six years and defeated ten other trainees to obtain the Pegasus Cloth and the status of Saint of Athena.^[5] The Pegasus Bronze Cloth is damaged various times throughout the series, with Aries Mu typically responsible for repairs.^[6] In the manga, the Cloth changes appearance each time it is fixed, while it remains the same in the anime adaptation until the series' second arc. After the Gold Saints use their blood to revive the Bronze Cloths at the end of the Sanctuary arc, the Pegasus Cloth takes on a golden hue whenever Seiya charges his Cosmo to the maximum.^[7] The version of the Cloth that Seiya uses in the Hades arc possesses wings that allow him to fly, both normally and through dimensions.^[8] During Seiya's fight against Thanatos, it reaches its God Cloth state, which was last seen in the ages of myth and further increases Seiya's Cosmo and vitality.^[9]

In desperate situations, Seiya occasionally wears the Gold Cloth of Sagittarius, a Cloth whose true owner, Aiolos, died thirteen years before the events of the series.^[10] The Gold Cloth magnifies Seiya's Cosmo. Nevertheless, although Seiya uses the Sagittarius Gold Cloth many times throughout the series to save Athena, he is never officially granted ownership of the Cloth.^[11]

Although Seiya begins his journey as a Bronze Saint, the lowest of the three ranks of Saints, his abilities gradually grow to rival those of the Gold Saints, the most powerful of Athena's soldiers. He achieves this by awakening his seventh sense, the essence and origin of the Cosmo.^[12] Before descending into the realm of Hades, he also awakens his eighth sense, known as Arayashiki, which allows him to enter the Underworld without being subject to Hades's rule.^[13]

Appearances

In Saint Seiya

Seiya plays a prominent role in all the arcs of the series. In the Sanctuary arc, Seiya returns from his training in Greece looking for his sister, but is attacked by the many Saints sent by the traitorous Pope. When Athena is struck by the Phantom Arrow at Sanctuary, Seiya and his partners climb up the Twelve Temples to find the Pope and remove the arrow. In order to get to the Pope, the Bronze Saints are forced to fight against the Gold Saints. Seiya is able to overcome them by awakening the seventh sense, the essence of Cosmo. During the Poseidon arc, Seiya fights against the Mariner Generals, the followers of the God of the Sea Poseidon. In the Hades arc, Seiya must fight against the Specters of Hades, the lord of the Underworld. He had been sent out of the Sanctuary by an order from Athena meant to protect the Bronze Saints, but, after her apparent death, Seiya goes to the Underworld to deliver Athena's Cloth to her. Seiya eventually arrives in Elysion and, after fighting against the gods Hypnos and Thanatos, he encounters Hades. During the fight, Seiya is mortally wounded by the sword of Hades while protecting Athena and his Cosmo disappears, leading readers to believe the Pegasus Saint had died.

In Saint Seiya: Next Dimension

Seiya's story continues in Kurumada's 2006 manga, Saint Seiya: Next Dimension. Here, Seiya is shown sitting in a wheelchair. He has survived Hades's attack, but remains in an unresponsive state, suffering from Hades's curse. Seeking to save him from certain death, Athena travels to the past to find a way to remove Hades's sword before it can strike Seiya.

As Pegasus Tenma

Tenma^[14] is Seiya's incarnation in the 18th century. He appears in Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya: Next Dimension and Shiori Teshirogi's Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas manga, both prequels of the original manga, although belonging to different continuities. Both have in common, however, that Tenma is a childhood friend of Alone, Hades's chosen body in that time. Tenma has the same appearance as Seiya and uses the same techniques.

In other media

Screenshot from the anime of Seiya, donning the Sagittarius Cloth

Seiya makes a brief appearance in Megumu Okada's prequel, Saint Seiya Episode.G, as Leo Aiolia has a vision of the events that will take place in the future, during the Saint Seiya timeline.^[15]

In the animated adaptations of the series, Seiya was voiced by several voice actors. Tōru Furuya voiced him in the 1986 anime series, all five theatrical releases, the first series of original video animations (OVA) adapting the Hades arc of the original manga released in 2004 and the 2012 anime series Saint Seiya Omega. Hiroko Emori provided additional voice acting for scenes in which Seiya appears as a child. In the later Hades arc OVAs from 2005 to 2008, Seiya was voiced by Masakazu Morita. In English versions of the anime by ADV, he was voiced by Illich Guardiola and Cameron Bautsch.

In the Saint Seiya films, Seiya appears defeating the main antagonists with the arrow of the Sagittarius Cloth, with the exception of Saint Seiya Heaven Chapter: Overture. This last film takes place after the events of the Hades arc. Seiya is cursed by the sword of Hades instead of dying, while Athena and the other protagonist Bronze Saints are attacked by the gods of Olympus. In the end, Seiya manages to wound the god Apollo. The conclusion of the actual fight between the two is not depicted; instead, the climax of the movie cuts to a peaceful scene where Seiya apparently becomes reacquainted with Saori Kido. It was explained in the Japanese DVD audio commentary with director Shigeyasu Yamauchi that, since Seiya's and Saori's greatest strength was their love and trust for each other, Apollo erased their memories so that they would never again be able to find the will to rebel against the gods.^[16]

In Saint Seiya Omega however the story branches out the Hades Chapter in a different way. Seiya is shown in several flashbacks as having recovered, and still serving Athena, as Saori Kido, as the Sagittarius Gold Saint this time, revered as a legend and a source of inspiration to whom the newest Pegasus, Kōga, looks at hoping to match his prowess and legendary deeds.^[17]

Reception

In Japan, Seiya is the least popular of the main characters in Saint Seiya, ranking fifth in the Bronze Saints character poll.^[18] However, in the technique poll, his Pegasus Meteor Fist ranked first.^[19] Merchandise based on Seiya has also been released, including plushes^[20] and action figures with different cloths.^[21][22]

Several anime and manga publications have provided both acclaim and criticism of Seiya's character. DVDVerdictReview.com describes Seiya as poorly developed, wholly characterised by his affiliations and connection to a constellation.^[23] DVDVisionJapan comments on Seiya's interesting character and praises voice actors Tōru Furuya and Illich Guardiola for adding emotion and passion into his character.^[24] Anime News Network, on the other hand, comments that Seiya's voice actor for the English dub is unsuitable, that he enunciates strange words and does not sound at all heroic. They also criticize Seiya for being an "underdog" in most battles.^[25]

Notes and references