Saint Seiya

Saint Seiya (also known as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac) has sold over 35 million copies as of 2017. The first international release of the series was in 1988 with the French version, Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque. The popularity it received in France sparked interest in both the manga and anime across other Western countries; however, an English version wasn't created until 2003. When Masami Kurumada was in the process of creating Saint Seiya, he first spelled Seiya's name with the kanji that meant "holy arrow," but later decided to use the kanji that meant "star arrow," to emphasize the astrological and mythological motif. Kurumada also stated that one of the first ideas he conceived for Saint Seiya was the Pegasus Meteor Fist. Since he knew his manga would use constellations as an ever-present theme, he wanted his protagonist to have a special move that resembles a meteor shower.

Saint Seiya's original manga series has three main parts: Sanctuary Act (volumes 1 to 13), Poseidon Act (volumes 14 to 18), and Hades Act (volumes 19 to 28). Volume 13 also contains a separate short story called The Chapter of Nastassja from the Land of Ice. In addition to the original 28 volumes, the series has been reissued several times. The first being the Collector's Version of 1995, adding 15 more volumes. The second reissue was 2001's Library Version series. The series was released again in 2003 with 19 volumes, titled the Remix Version. The fourth reissue, including 22 volumes and named the Complete Version, contains additional colored pages as well as colored armor schematics. Another Remix Version was published in late 2007 to coincide with the anime broadcast of Chapter Elysion. Then, a third Remix Version came out at the end of 2012. The English version of the comic is licensed in North America by Viz Media under the title Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac. Viz Media released the first collected volume of the series in January 2004.
In 2003, Bandai released the Saint Seiya Myth Cloth toy line in commemoration of the series' 12th anniversary, and also in anticipation of the Hades Arc OVA. The line-up was initially intended to only include the five Bronze Saints but has now expanded to include almost all of the characters in the Saint Seiya universe! Compared to vintage figures from the 80s, the revamped models incorporate new molding and sculpting technology. Due to the figures' improved articulation, they are now capable of recreating some of the trademark movements portrayed in the anime.

A DVD set entitled Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Classic Complete Collection was released in the US in April 2014 by New Video, containing the first 73 episodes in Japanese with English subtitles. In June and September of the same year, two Blu-ray box sets were released in Japan which contained all 114 episodes of the classic series, restored in high definition video and audio. Then in April 2015, TV Asahi in Japan began re-airing the original anime series to commemorate its 30th anniversary.
For the Saint Seiya 30th Anniversary Exhibition held at Akihabara UDX in June 2016, all items related to the series including manga, anime and figures were on display. Figures of Sagittarius Aeolus and Pisces Aphrodite from the Saint Seiya Myth Cloth EX series were featured at the event, covered in striking gold details.