Saint Seiya, also known as Knights of the Zodiac, a classic and popular shonen series is getting its first shoujo manga spin-off. Saint Seiya was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1985 to 1990 by Masami Kurumada, and it was a hit in Japan at the time, later gaining fame internationally due to Toei’s anime adaptation back in the 1980s.
Back then, Kurumada was already an established Shonen Jump author, with previous hits like boxing manga Ring ni Kakero and martial arts manga Fuuma no Kojiro, but Jump manga wouldn’t get anime adaptations as frequently as they do now. Saint Seiya was his first manga to be adapted into animation, and it was a huge success back then, still having some fame among Japanese manga otaku up to this day.
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According to a post on Masami Kurumada’s official website, a new spin-off manga, titled Saint Mariya. The thing is: this one will be serialized in a shoujo magazine (Akita Shoten’s Princess, apparently), marking the first time a shoujo Saint Seiya manga will be launched. Masami Kurumada and Seira Shimotsuki (Kyouka Kusudono Monogatari) are credited as authors, and the plot is about a student girl called Mariya going to school, the Graad Academy. But then something happens in the school hall.
Female Fans Were Always There
While it may be the first Saint Seiyashoujo manga, female fans were always there. Saint Seiya was always known to attract female readers, and actually has a deep relationship with yaoi/BL fandom culture. For example, it is known among the fanbase that CLAMP made a Saint Seiya doujinshi manga at some point during the 1980s.
Creator Masami Kurumada was also interviewed by the June magazine (a shounen-ai focused magazine that ran from 1978 to 1995). There, he basically stated he did not mind that shounen-ai fans were into his manga, but also that he would keep writing the story as he saw fit. Right after that, he paid a small homage to the magazine, creating a female character named Chameleon June.
In the 2010s, a spin-off titled Saintia Sho started serialization, with a main cast composed of only female characters. But Saintia Sho is not exactly a shoujo manga, it was serialized in Akita Shoten’s Champion RED (seinen) magazine. It’s clear the author’s, Chimaki Kuori, style is also influenced by shoujo manga references, but this isn’t a shoujo series.
What about the main Saint Seiya story?
Saint Seiya originally revolves around Saints, warriors of the Greek Goddess Athena that protect the Earth. Saints are ranked by class: Bronze, Silver and Gold. The story focuses on five Bronze Saints and the current Athena reincarnation, Saori Kido.
The main story is still ongoing. More than a decade after finishing the original series, creator Masami Kurumada started Saint Seiya: Next Dimension in Akita Shoten’s Shonen Champion, and it was soon officially confirmed to be the sequel to the original story. Next Dimension recently ended serializations, but a new chapter opened, as fans expect the author will start the long-awaited “Zeus Chapter”.
Despite becoming a huge hit in some European and Latin American countries, Saint Seiya was never able to gain much projection within American audiences (it wasn’t due to lack of trying, as Toei recently dropped a live-action adaptation and a CGI remake to try to expand the series’ reach).
Source: Kurumada PRO
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Saint Seiya
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Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya
