Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas 1
For starters, I haven’t watched Saint Seiya before, so I wont treat this OVA from the perspective of the other Saint Seiya series cause I cant compare it. This is supposed to be the beginning of the story thou, so my lack of knowledge regarding Saint Seiya wont matter too much. The anime draws inspiration from the manga with the same name, by Shiori Teshirogi, which also is based on the original Saint Seiya manga by Masami Kurumada. The story from The Lost Canvas takes place 250 years before the events from the original Saint Seiya anime, in the 18th century Europe. We are shown the early years of Tenma and Alone, who later become Pegasus Seiya (or Pegasus Saint if you want) and Hades.
In this first OVA we are presented some aspects of the friendship between Tenma and Alone. They have totally opposite characters, with the black haired Tenma being the strong and always ready to fight, he’s strong and bold, and Alone, the blonde kid, who is gentle and kind, likes to paint and prefers to solve every conflict with words. We can also see that Alone has a sister, Sasha.
But Alone finds out that he is destined to become the impersonation of Lord Hades, ruler of the Underworld. Later, we see Tenma finding his own destiny, as he saves the village from the furious waters of an overflowing mountain river. He meets Libra Dohko, one of the Golden Saints of Athena, who happens to be around. The Saint sees the potential in Tenma and his loves for justice, so he invites him to join The Sanctuary, a first step into becoming of of the Saints of Athena.
The story develops at a good pace, and I couldn’t ask for more from this first part. Two kids, surprised by destiny, one totally happy with his fate, the other one… with a dark destiny that is imposed upon him, with no chance of escaping. I cannot make any comments on it either, since not much happens, and I guess nothing will shock you if you watched Saint Seiya before.
The inspiration from Greek Mythology is evident, and we have yet to see how far that goes. The music is there, fitting I guess, since I didn’t even noticed it. Good fluent animation, with a lot of movement, reminding me of Full Metal Alchemist. Some nice backgrounds and scenery, but nothing pokes you in the eye. I wait for the second part, for a more in-depth and longer article.
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