Back to zeta1's Profile zeta1's Profile

Pluto is a show I really wanted to like but despite having a compelling mystery, it is ultimately disappointing on too many key aspects to be considered truly great. It adapts the eponymous manga by Naoki Urasawa - who gave us the amazing manga Monster (the great anime adaptation of which I highly recommend) - who significantly reimagines an arc from Astro Boy. The show presents itself as a tense, dark and suspenseful mystery in its trailers but the experience of watching it often doesn't live up to that promise. The story is often predictable and the pace is slow and meandering, making it frequently ... boring. The latter at least improves in the later episodes. The visual designs pay homage to the original Astro Boy (which is well over 50 years old now) but unlike the modernised 2003 Astro Boy anime which felt fresh, Pluto has mixed results and some designs really look very dated as a result although overall the show is fine in this regard. The sound and music are a high point although the musical highlights could have been used more.

The biggest issue however is the world and several parts of the plot. The robots here have basically magic powers and their limits are only defined by whatever human aspect the writer wants to use for the plot without rhyme or reason. For example, robots supposedly cannot hurt humans but are active in war zones and act as bodyguards where hurting humans is almost guaranteed. The robots pretend to eat and mimic other plot-central human behaviours without actually understanding why and waste resources while expecting the audience to cheer for them. The supposedly emotional plot points which depend on the rules often fall flat as a result as there's no limit or logic to what the robots can and cannot do although that improves later on. Even worse though is that at several points the characters do illogical things just to keep the plot going. The world is nonsensical to the point that you can't really suspend disbelief and enjoy the show sometimes. The pacing issues, especially early on, really don't help the show when combined with this but the core mystery is compelling enough to at least try and keep going.

The finale thankfully is worth watching even with the occasional issue as everything comes together although some aspects could be better explained. If this show was half the length or less and more realistic it could easily have been a masterpiece but unfortunately I really can't fully recommend it because of its glaring persistent issues. If you want to watch Astro Boy, check out the 2003 TV anime instead, that's true to the spirit of the original and modernises things nicely although it won't be as dark.

This is a spoiler-free review.

To begin with, I wish MAL would split the entries for Saint Seiya Omega into the 2 seasons it aired as since both seasons are quite different. TL;DR: 1st season outstanding, 2nd season first half weak, second half great, still entertaining. Art style might seem weird initially but is actually great.

The first season is an excellent, gripping story with brand new characters and an interesting new setting with mysteries being progressively resolved leading up to an epic finale. The characters, plot and setting are well introduced and elements developed over the course of the season. The differences with the previous series ... are all explained and a small amount of filler-y moments do not detract from a truly epic continuation that does not depend on the past and tries several new story beats all while still having great cameos from past Saints. The character design was made by the same person who did the excellent Casshern Sins and it shows (might throw off original fans initially but watch a few episodes and you'll be hooked). The music and cinematography are great too, frequently channeling the Heaven chapter movie's epic animation in key moments. This season is truly remarkable and a must-watch for true Saint Seiya fans.

The second season retcons too many characters, attributes and motivations from the first season to be considered a true sequel and is best considered an alternate universe version of events, with some genuinely ridiculous moments especially early on. The second season starts off as very average, even weak but remains entertaining if you are willing to consider it as a different universe to the first season. The first half is very average, though watchable but the second half ups the game significantly and manages to end strong. Had the show decided on a different set of key plot points to continue rather than retconning power levels down and changing up personalities for no good reason, there is a sense this season could have been much stronger overall. The second season does have fantastic moments with the past Saints though and features the coolest version of Phoenix Ikki in the anime and an excellent Hyoga in particular. The strong ending elevates the season from the mediocre to the great, better writing could have helped a lot to prevent that weak first half. The animation in season is much faster than that in season 1 but the music and characters are generally weaker. They did try and align the art style closer to the original series and bring back a lot of older Saints this time, probably to appease the old time fans complaining about lack of familiarity. The Steel Saints play a significant role in this season, which personally does not appeal to me as I find the very concept of them very weak but thankfully the ending overcomes these concerns.

Overall, Saint Seiya Omega is a worthy continuation, which has the courage to try new things and for the most part pulls it off (in the first season especially). Old time fans may need to approach it with an open mind rather than expecting the same old thing, newer fans would best start with the older shows to fully appreciate the scenario. As a long time fan, I had misgivings based on the art style and reviews but ended up loving it. This show is underrated, give it a try!

This is a spoiler-free review.

As a big fan of both Star Wars and anime, I thought that a show where major anime studios were allowed to cut loose from cannon and go crazy in this universe would potentially be good. But then the trailer dropped and was pointing towards some corporate mandate crap and the final product was, with a few notable exceptions, even worse.

Star Wars Visions is nowhere near as good as other animated anthologies such as The Animatrix, Love, Death & Robots or Short Peace. It is a clear product of an unfocused creative team which doesn't understand anime asking studios which don't ... understand Star Wars to produce something Star Wars themed by liberally picking from a franchise fact sheet with the end result being mostly boring stories and pointless anime with the vaguest use of Star Wars terms (without an understanding of their thematic meaning) to justify the name.

Its 9 episode run starts off extremely weak with a few episodes of boring, nonsensical stories but does go up to average later on, with episode 8 being truly great. Episodes 3, 5, 7 and 9 were alright too. Studios such as Trigger, Production I.G. and Science Saru produced these and Geno Studio made the excellent episode 8, which blends in Japanese themes with Star Wars well while having a great story and cast of characters.

The variety of visual styles and high budget on display here does show in most episodes, even different episodes produced by the same studio have interesting variations (since some made 2) but the occasional great idea or action sequence just can't save the season of pointless and boring stories, shallow characters and rushed production visible here.

Shorts are usually some of the best productions around, with focused storytelling, high quality animation and poignant vignettes of life outside of the mainstream cinema fare. These shorts however generally fall far off the mark, katana lightsabers and ronin samurai Jedi can't save the show from not having a solid core. Hopefully the next season is better as some of the good episodes here show promise.

Forget the negative reviews, Saint Seiya Soul of Gold is a great story set in the equally great setting of Asgard with the return of the fan-favorite Gold Saints. With a mix like that, it isn't surprising that any fan of the series would at the very least be intrigued. Asgard was an anime-only location featuring an excellent filler arc (those are rare but its popularity is the reason why this came back). Therefore in terms of canonicity, this entry is anime-canon but not manga-canon. To fully enjoy this series, you would at least need to be familiar with the original series (including the ... Hades arc). This is a spoiler-free review hence some story details are intentionally vague.

The Gold Saints are finally front and center and the mystery of their return ties into events in Asgard as an epic battle unfolds between them and a new generation of God Warriors (Asgardian Knights basically - some with ties to the original arc). The melodrama, over-the-top dialogue and action the series is known far are all present and accounted for. The Gold Saints finally have time to be developed as characters and their armors also evolve to the next level (no spoilers but you know what ultimate level means if you finished the original series). The relationships between them as they return are also explored well (given their complicated history, it makes for fun situations) and all of their character arcs are fully resolved.

The action and twists are solid and use established lore well. The series does not overstay its welcome and has a satisfying ending. The music is epic and nostalgic and complements the action well.

This series is for the fans very clearly and it does a fantastic job at it. It definitely deserves a much higher average score than it has been given on this site, give it a shot if you like Saint Seiya!

***NO SPOILER REVIEW****
When I first came across Saintia Shou and skimmed over the reviews, it gave me the impression of a half-baked show which people hated. However, as has unfortunately regularly been the case for many of the Saint Seiya shows after the original, the negative general trend of nostalgic reviewers have nothing to do with the actual quality of the show when seen with fresh eyes.

Saintia Shou is full bore Saint Seiya, with strong saints, key Saint Seiya elements and over-the-top melodrama wrapped in a classic feel. Sure, it has several shoujo elements such as petals flying around sometimes and magical girl elements but ... that's just a stylistic choice for this genre, the actual story is great and feels like Saint Seiya, only with a focus on female protagonists while much of the original show is happening in parallel.

Saint Seiya exists in a multiverse and this show's story is an alternate universe where much of the original show's events happen in parallel to the adventures of the Saintias however the new elements are where the main attraction lies. The show brings back Eris, a character from the first anime movie, expands her mythology and creates several interesting relations to follow as well as interesting world developments. The Gold Saints have a key role to play as well with the Bronze and Silver Saints crossing paths with the Saintias occasionally. Surprisingly, the Saint Seiya feel is preserved while working well with these characters as the female warriors are imbued with several of the characteristics usually associated with their male counterparts without taking away from their uniqueness.

Technically, the show is competently animated, the music is classic and great and the visuals are solid. Apparently the manga is much better (some of the negative reviews point that out) but without that baggage the anime is enjoyable and definitely got me interested in checking out the manga. The story also wraps up well and considering the manga is still ongoing changes to the scenario to achieve that are understandable (again, didn't read the manga when watching and enjoyed the anime).

TL;DR: This is a great and underrated show, watch it with an open mind and you'll have a lot of fun seeing what new things this story brings to the mythos while having strong female characters. It's a Saint Seiya show deserving of the name.

I was hesitant to watch this as the title and key art seemed to indicate a derivative ecchi comedy but after going through some of the community comments (on and off MAL) it looked like that wasn't the case. I'm glad I gave it a chance as the show is an excellent story on many levels.

The plot is a mixture of strange sci-fi happenings intertwined with a pretty sweet romance although the main couple both have slightly twisted personalities. The characters each have their interesting quirks and backstories with enough time given to develop them without turning the show into a harem. You do end ... up caring for them and what they go through and the show strikes the right balance between happiness and overcoming torment without going into extreme depression or messed up feelings as some other shows do.

The visuals, music and voice acting are all top-notch and the show does some interesting things with the ending segment and characters. The author of the original work previously made Sakura-sou No Kano Jo which despite its ecchi side was an emotional roller coaster. He doesn't disappoint with this very different yet bright and emotional story with understated sci-fi elements.

This is a great show and I highly recommend it.