Saint Seiya will be adapted by Netflix into live action
Saint Seiya Live action
Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac is one of the biggest Anime IPs during the 1980s. The characters of this franchise are some of the most powerful fictional characters despite their feminine appearance. These Gods are stronger than Dragon Ball Z characters, they are beyond planet busters. This franchise is so popular in Japan that it sold 30 Million copies. Sadly it was not that well known in the west. If you are a fan of Bleach and Mobile suit Gundam, Saint Seiya is one of the biggest influences of both IPs.
This is not the first time Netflix adapted Saint Seiya. Back in 2019, they made a CGI Anime of it. Cartoon Network made aN English dub of it back in the early 2000s but it was so watered down with censorship.
Saint Seiya is about Gods called Saints. The Saints serve the Goddess Athena to protect the world from all the evils that wanted to rule the world. Japanese actor Mackenyu Arata is cast for the lead role. This will be his debut in an English acting role for Netflix. He was born in Los Angeles so he could be fluent enough in English. It is nice that Netflix gave him a chance because if this was years ago, a White actor will be playing a Japanese actor just like Netflix’s Death Note.
Madison Iseman from the Jumanji sequels is also cast to play Athena. Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop is getting a lot of mixed reactions and it is not even airing yet, so Saint Seiya will experience a lot of pressure and high expectations from its fans. Hollywood hasn’t succeeded on adapted an anime yet that fans end up embracing. I feel a lot of skepticism but the Producer is the man behind the Witcher series, so this could be a ray of hope.