Saint Seiya: Tenkai-hen Josou - Overture

After the Saints' victory against Hades, Seiya is left wounded and motionless in a wheel chair with no possible chance of recovery. Athena's sister Artemis, the Virgin Goddess of the Moon and twin sister of Apollo, makes an elaborate proposal - to restore Seiya's physical health in exchange for the supremacy of Sanctuary. Athena accepts and Artemis and her "Knights of the Sky" swiftly take control of Sanctuary. Now Seiya and his fellow Bronze Saints combat the forces of Zeus to regain their homeland but it will not be so easy. Bronze Saints Hydra Ichi and Unicorn Jabu, and Silver Saint Ophiuchus Shaina have join forces with Artemis and Apollo.

(Source: ANN)

Phoenix, Ikki Main

Hori, Hideyuki Japanese

Dragon, Shiryuu Main

Suzuoki, Hirotaka Japanese

Pegasus, Seiya Main

Furuya, Toru Japanese

Andromeda, Shun Main

Horikawa, Ryo Japanese

Cygnus, Hyouga Main

Hashimoto, Kouichi Japanese

Kido, Saori Main

Han, Keiko Japanese

Libra, Douko Supporting

Horiuchi, Kenyuu Japanese

Aries, Shion Supporting

Tobita, Nobuo Japanese

Ophiuchus, Shaina Supporting

Koyama, Mami Japanese

Eagle, Marin Supporting

Yamamoto, Yuriko Japanese

Yamauchi, Shigeyasu Director

Yokote, Michiko Script

Duclos, Didier Script

Del Greco, Marcelo Script

Reviews

Jan 19, 2021

Lhumberto49

Recommended

This movie is heavily criticized by the Saint Seiya fandom, however to be fair is a very competent work. The story happens after the Hades arc, and it shows very well the consequences of these events: the gold saints were punished and turned into a statue, Seiya now is in a wheelchair, in a semi-vegetative condition. This was a smart decision, because it shows that conflicts have consequences, what was not done in other sagas of the franchise, in which the protagonists simply win without side effects or losses.
Also, the saints do not have the same faith and confidence in their powers, what is very ... realistic, since the golden saints are absent and Seiya has not the same power from before. All this contributes to create a much more real scenario, in which you really feel that maybe the protagonists will loose in the end. Other factor that makes this have sense is that Athena apparently abandoned Earth, which is now in the control of Artemis.
In terms of animation the movie is very good: the colors that were choosed combine perfectly with the idea of a Sky saga, the action is fluid and dynamic, and more importantly: the art is capable of expressing the emotions and feelings that the story needs.
In regards to the theme it is coherent with Saint Seiya as a franchise: the mortals challenging the gods, what is very well developed, with Seiya regaining his power until he can face the gods and angels. The end is a controversial one, but I personally love it: it has impact, it is strong, and it expresses the thematic that was developed not only in the entire movie, but also in the original series. In conclusion, Overture offers a version more realistic, thematically coherent and well animated than the majority of the series, being in my opinion the highest point of the Saint Seiya franchise.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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May 9, 2020

SinCrow11

Mixed Feelings

English Version

The first thing to keep in mind and that I want to highlight about this movie is the Animation that without a doubt is the best that Saint Seiya has shown in all its OVA and Series that I have seen before, all the colors and quite careful movements I think is a point not less to consider.
Now out of the visual it is practically regurlar / bad, the OST that was always a key piece in this title passed unnoticed, neither an Opening or Ending and the music during the combats seems to have been forgotten. The plot itself, at first it can ... be striking in the first instance because it tells what happened with Seiya and the others after the battle with Hades, however that ends up being the most valuable thing in the movie.
Then it begins to get heavy, slow and bland with completely unmotivated characters and the only thing that is saved besides the animation is the new character (I forgot the name) who turns out to be Marin's brother. In the end, I really don't know what they wanted to do, but it seems that some herbs were smoked and they literally said "good that whatever comes out" that really loses all the thread and only leaves the viewer on the stage totally stunned and confused.
Anyway, I do not recommend this movie, it is just boring and does not bring real important causes to the "canon" story in my opinion.


Version en Español:

Lo primero a tener en cuenta y que quiero resaltar de esta pelicula es la Animacion que sin dudas de lo mejor que ah mostrado Saint Seiya en todas sus OVA y Serie que ya visto antes, todo los colores y movimientos bastante cuidadosos creo que es un punto no menor a tener en cuenta.
Ahora fuera de lo visual es practicamente regurlar/malo, el OST que siempre fue una pieza clave en este titulo pasada desapercibido, ni un Opening o Ending y la musica durante los combates parece que se la olvidaron. La trama en si, en un comienzo puede ser llamativa en primera instancia por que cuenta lo que sucedio con Seiya y los demas luego de la batalla con Hades, sin embargo eso termina siendo lo mas valioso de la pelicula.
Luego comienza a ponerse pesada,lenta y sosa con unos personajes completamente desmotivados y lo unico que se salva ademas de la animacion es el nuevo personaje (se me olvido el nombre) que resulta ser el hermano de Marin. En el final nose realmente que quisieron hacer pero parece que se fumaron unas yerbas y literalmente dijeron "bueno que salga lo que salga" que verdaderamente se pierde todo el hilo y solo deja al espectador en el descenlace totalmente atonito y confuso.
En fin no recomiendo esta pelicula, solo es aburrida y no aporta verdaderas causas importates a la historia "canon" en mi apreciacion.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 21, 2021

ChouEritto

Not Recommended

Heaven Chapter: Overture, was set to be the prologue to Kurumada's next arc for the Saint Seiya series to revive it after its manga's abrupt end with the Hades Arc. It's apparent both from this and the repurposing of its ideas in the manga sequel Next Dimension, however, that the concept was overall rushed and not well thought out.

Obviously, spoilers for the film, Hades Arc and other Saint Seiya material are to follow, so there's the warning.

The initial premise of Seiya left as an invalid, the Olympian Gods desiring control of the Earth out of fear of what Athena and her Saints have accomplished and ... Athena relinquishing control under the condition her sacrifice will stop the Gods from wiping out humanity are all good. That is where the positives for the first two acts end though as the rest is filled with questionable, contradictive or disappointing elements. The Gold Saints' souls being sealed in an unknown place not only isn't fleshed out, but seems an unnecessary punishment for destroying the Wailing Wall to prevent the Greatest Eclipse when it doesn't seem the Gods approved of Hades' ambitions. Seiya's condition is also utilised inconsistently with him quickly recovering from his coma and the claim that he can't use his Cosmo until after Athena's staff pierces him is contradicted by him being able to do anything to Icarus. Perhaps the most obvious poor element is the characterisation of Shaina and Jabu as abandoning Athena. Ichi is a little more understandable with his cowardly nature, but Shaina completely removing her feelings for Seiya as well as loyalty to Athena is character assassination that goes against all her actions in the series' 3 major arcs. The same can be said for Jabu when not only was he blindly loyal to Saori even before knowing her godly nature, but was willing to sacrifice himself to aid Seiya what was just days prior.
The battle against Artemis' Angels then begins, with it being a very rushed and lackluster experience. Not only are both defeated in very quick fashions with Theseus being oneshotted as soon as Shun and Ikki gain a resolve boost and seemingly gain the Cosmo of the Gold Saints and Odysseus is fatally wounded by Shiryu and Hyoga offscreen. Considering these two were capable of destroying Cloths even Hades' Judges couldn't, this is a very poor showing of such powerful characters. Icarus Toma is the only one who ends up mattering, with the reveal of him being Marin's brother being one good thing about the second act with that plot point being one that remained unresolved.
The third act is the best part of the film with Seiya's fight against Toma and Toma realising his flaws in a believable way. Athena only now using her staff to heal Seiya is questionable, though it can at least be assumed it was dangerous to do in his comatose state prior. The most famous and controversial part of the film is Apollo's appearance with him easily defeating Seiya and wiping the memories of him and Saori. This is fine for the idea of this being a prologue to the next arc and is the only real option given to the Gods beyond destroying them at that point, though it not being delivered on further obviously impacts its value.

One element the film succeeds at well are the superficial aspects. It has art and animation the franchise has only matched or bested through the previous theatrical releases (mainly due to the better colour tones within hand-drawn anime), the soundtrack has many iconic tracks of the anime and good new additions including a very good ending song and this is the last hurrah for the series' original cast for the Bronze Saints and Athena whose performances are far better than their successors. However, none of these can make up for a sloppily written plot.

Overall, as far as far later continuations of an anime franchise through a film, it at least isn't as much of a plot-hole riddled mess as something like Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, but is still far from being a product on par with what came before. It's still probably marginally better than the other Saint Seiya films due to having some sense of consequence and delivery on unresolved plot points, but it's still a redundant product with the more refinement of its ideas in Saint Seiya: Next Dimension. Only really worth checking out if wanting an idea of what Next Dimension may have in store once the pacing improves or if wanting to see some individual clips for the art and sound.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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