Anime: Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas - Meiou Shinwa

Well, this is certainly one of the most difficult series for me to review. It was the original Saint Seiya that introduced me to japanese animation and even though the show itself is weak I have great respect for it and usually talk about it with some kind of veneration. Lost Canvas is what I could call the ultimate version of Saint Seiya, with superb graphical quality that lacked in the 80's and telling a story that has a deep relation with the original, showing the previous holy war between Athena and Hades and delivering some look-a-like characters that can give a nostalgic feeling to anyone who've watched the good old Sanctuary Saga of Saint Seiya.

Art & Animation
For those who've watched the original Saint Seiya and even the more recent Hades Saga, the jump in art style and animation quality is simply immense. The graphics are sharp, the armors are brighter and look more like real armors and not like flexible clothing, animation is on par with recent action animes and the overall production value is huge. Of course, comparing it with the old Saint Seiya is a harsh thing to do and to really evaluate we must compare with other recent shows. Lost Canvas is a little above the average in all departments, losing points only in the flashy character design that it brings from its root. If you demand animation quality, Lost Canvas is nothing short and delivers a tremedous show.

Sound
Music-wise, Lost Canvas is good but only tops the average show in all regards. Openings and endings are fine and succeed in bringing the atmosphere of the classical show with a more updated version. It's music is completely new and you won't feel watching a remake of old anime, but instead a great prequel. Voice-acting is as good as other recent shows and background music is somehow lacking, never ever grabbing my attention to mark any of its songs in my mind.

Story
Lost Canvas is the tale of the war between Hades and Athena that happened 200 years before the events of the original Saint Seiya. We have Shion and Dohko as the survivors from such age, and this will show how all the phantoms were imprisoned, how Hades was purged, and how the previous Pegasus Saint did his job as the ultimate-god-slayer.

1. Modern storytelling
   The original Saint Seiya had a very different but poor story. It was confusing, everyone had 13 years and were god-like powerful, the fantasy scenario mixed with real life and brought many bizarre comparisons, light-speed fists were something that only 10~12 year old kids could really love without being suspectful, etc. Lost Canvas is more grounded. Not because the characters became weaker, but because they simply omit making stupid references as in Saint Seiya. This approach makes things more tolerable and less childish, but we still have the shounen fight with us.
   
   It's Saint Seiya yet
   Lost Canvas is mostly the same as Saint Seiya because it does not bring anything new and only tells a story that everyone already knew, telling its details and how things happened for those who were always curious. It has a better pace than the older shows and has a few plot twists that help the overall fun, but it's extremely over-the-top and with dramatic moments that rarely gives any tension.
   

Character
What we see here are generic versions of all the saints, with the exception of Dohko and Shion which were already present in the original Saint Seiya. Because of these extreme coincidences of fate that made all saints of the same zodiac look identical, the overall experience became completely based on nostalgia and not in character quality. What you see here are typical "Go on, I'll hold them!", sacrifices of no importance, hundreds of characters thrown in a small amount of episodes and generic new characters appearing and disappearing without much attention. Development and depth is almost non-existant, and, as I wrote earlier, everything that is good comes from nostalgic feeling, so those who never watched Saint Seiya fully (or at least the Sanctuary Saga) will feel like watching a bunch of colored armor guys using super-powers against each others (not that is any different in the shounen shows of these days...).

Value
Lost Canvas brings a true classic with top-quality production. It delivers great stuff for those who liked the original Saint Seiya and for those who watch it previously. The story is very simple, but when mixed with all the other gods, sagas, and plots of Saint Seiya it becomes confusing. It's extremely important to factor the nostalgia in this series, because it was meant to be for Saint Seiya fans and in this mission it succeeds greatly.

Enjoyment
Watching a Seiya look-a-like named Tenma being punched hundreds of times, powers of impossible strength, greek gods wearing awesome armors and fighting each other, and everything else is extremely fun. Nostalgia helps to keep things interesting, but the show by itself is a very large chunk of addicting moments and fights. It delivers nothing deep, but the shallowness is overshadowed by the production value of good combats without fillers and annoying episodes.

Comments
Lost Canvas was a really good experience for me. The show is simply a superb new-version of Saint Seiya and delivers everything it was required to. Of course, Saint Seiya itself was bland and appealed only to a very specific audience, making watching it again a bit a bother for those who matured and became more knowledgeable in the anime department. I watched it always wondering how it would be if the whole Saint Seiya was remade with the same quality and with better narrative, without filler sagas and everything else.