Saint Seiya

The most famous ordering problem in anime: a series cancelled in 1989, continued thirteen years later, and finished six years after that.

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Where to start with Saint Seiya

Watch the 1986 series straight through, all one hundred and fourteen episodes, then the Hades chapters. That is the whole spine, and everything else in this list is optional. The reason the franchise has a reputation for chaos is not that the order is hard to work out, it is that the middle of the story was made thirteen years after the beginning and shipped in four pieces over six years.

  1. 1
    Saint Seiya, from 1986 Saint Seiya

    The original series. Do not skip the Asgard arc at episodes 74 to 99 even though it is anime original with no manga behind it, because Soul of Gold depends on it later. The series stops dead at episode 114 with the last arc unmade.

  2. 2
    The Hades Chapter, from 2002 Saint Seiya: The Hades Chapter

    This is what happens next. It picks up directly from episode 114 and runs Sanctuary, Inferno and Elysion. Episode numbering restarts at one for each part, which is why catalogues variously call it one series, three, or four.

  3. 3
    Soul of Gold, from 2015 Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold

    Set after Elysion. It only works if you watched Asgard, which is the one thing a manga reader would have skipped, and it is the reason the shortcut of reading the manga instead does not cover the anime.

  4. 4
    The Lost Canvas, whenever you like Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas

    A prequel set two hundred and fifty years earlier, by a different author at a different studio. Nothing depends on it and it depends on nothing, but it is the entry non-fans praise most, and it stops after twenty six episodes without finishing its own story.

Then what? Three things to be careful of. Saintia Sho runs alongside the Sanctuary arc, so it slots in around episode 73 rather than after anything. The Heaven Chapter film from 2004 is set after the Hades arc but was released four years before the Hades arc finished airing, and Omega then proceeds as though it never happened, so treat it as a curiosity rather than a chapter. And the two computer animated reboots, Legend of Sanctuary and Knights of the Zodiac, are not continuations of anything: they retell the opening story from scratch in their own continuities, and they are also the most prominent Saint Seiya entries on streaming, which is how most newcomers end up starting in the wrong place. The four 1980s films are non-canon and can be watched at the episode 73 pause or not at all.

A suggested way in, not an official one. The full list is below: tick anything off in either place.

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The manga

  • Saint Seiya 1985
  • Saint Seiya: Episode.G 2002
  • Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas 2006
  • Saint Seiya: Next Dimension 2006
  • Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 2013
  • Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter 2026

The main line

  • Saint Seiya 1986, 3 seasons, 114 episodes
  • Saint Seiya: The Hades Chapter 2002, 4 seasons, 31 episodes

Side stories

  • Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas 2009, 2 seasons, 26 episodes
  • Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 2018, 1 season, 10 episodes
  • Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold 2015, 1 season, 13 episodes
  • Saint Seiya Omega 2012, 2 seasons, 97 episodes

The reboots

  • Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary 2014
  • Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya 2019, 2 seasons, 36 episodes
  • Knights of the Zodiac 2023

The films

  • Saint Seiya: Evil Goddess Eris 1987
  • Saint Seiya: The Heated Battle of the Gods 1988
  • Saint Seiya: The Legend of Crimson Youth 1988
  • Saint Seiya: Warriors of the Final Holy Battle 1989
  • Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter, Overture 2004

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