Customer Reviews

Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya), Vol. 1: The Knights Of Athena

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not only are there mistranslations galore, but the DiC Ent. names & terms remain! (ie-Saint=Knight, Saori=Sienna, Shaina=Shina (?), Jabu=Jab, Mitsumasa=Nobu, Cosmo=mini-universe (??), Galaxian Wars=Galactic Tournament (??))
Mind you, I don't blame Viz for these errors. Although unstated within the volume, it is quite apparent that DiC Ent. (the same people who are mutilating the tv series) has a large measure of editorial control. I would like to see what Viz could do without DiCs interferance.
My advise: Find the fan translations.

This is a great Manga!!! Anyone who likes saint seiya should definitely give it a look. There are some bad translations, and its up to you if you can stomach the many changes.
Saints have been changed to Knights (which isnt really a big deal because its the same in the other countries)
Saori's name has been changed to princess sienna(princess???)
Cygnus has been changed to swan
jabu has been changed to jab the unicorn
Mitsumasa Kiddo has been changed to lord Nobu
cosmo has been changed to universe (although they occasionally slip up and say cosmo)

At first the new names feel like knives piercing your eyes, but it wont bother you that much, the great story and artwork is intact. So I definitely reccomend this book, but if you cant stomach the translations I think you should either buy a different language version or the great saint seiya dvds by adv.

translation - C
The translation is good but the name changes are a definite negative, fortunately the comic only adopts the name changes from its cartoon network cousin...You wont find any saints, err knights saying dude here!
Artwork - B+
The artwork is crisp and I like the style Kurumada uses. Youll definitely see some eyecandy. I detracted some points for the crazy cloth desings.
Story - B
the plot moves a little slow but slowly start to pick up.

overall - B-
I reccomend

The manga starts slow, but then gets great along the way. But this version has a seriously bad translation, and altered names and terms for unknown reasons. Versions from other countries have a far better translation, so I'd recommend searching for those rather than this one.

Saint Seiya is a great Anime and Manga but there killing it when they brought it to the US why is it so poorly translated? they need to get some new people working for them. I wonder if Massami Kurumada knows how bad there tranlations are. Mexico did a better job of translation i'm glad i know spanish so i won't have to suffer the poor voice overs and translations.

Look, it's great that you know how to read Japanese or read the Spanish version, but most of us don't or didn't. Masami Kurumada is one of the very best and most creative story teller there is. I don't think the essence of his story is getting lost. Some existential topics like what it means to be a being in the universe and relationship between cosmos and self is discussed, but never in a boring way (Marin crushes a rock to illustrate this point). It's a fantastic book, and it sets up a greater story line.
My Japanese friend used to tell me about this book, and I'm so glad to finally have something I can read. If you are intested in getting a great book that's fun and exciting; pick this up.