One of the most interesting aspects of Saint Seiya for me are the Steel Saints. They have a very different technological theme that makes many people dislike them.
The Steel Saints, despite being despised by many Saint Seiya fans, they could have their own spin-off anime in the “Monster of the Week” format, in which they would fight against smaller threats in the world of Saint Seiya while the Bronze Saints take care of the threats to Athena.
This way, Toei would be able to further monetize the franchise with a parallel series, which could sell action figures of the Steel Saints and the main enemies.
And who knows, we could even have a successful franchise, inspired by Getter Robo, Gundam, Ultraman and Super Sentai? With new annual seasons, with entirely new scripts and characters.
Furthermore, in the Saint Seiya anime itself they could have expanded roles, providing support in more fights and even starring in their own fights. Click here to know everything about the Steel Saints.
Let’s see a little about how Steel Saints could add to the anime’s history and generate a successful spin-off franchise!
Idea 1: More Help in Combat
The simplest idea would be to give more focus to the Steel Saints in the anime – after all, it would be a chance to add characters to the story, generating more episodes and more quality combat for the SAint Seiya universe.
However, there are four problems here: The first is that a greater presence of the Steel Saints would result in less screen space for the Bronze Saints, the favorites of the majority of the public.
Furthermore, if the fights contained the Steel Saints only as support (as was the case in the fights in which they appeared), the scriptwriters would have to invent a series of adjustments for each fight, which would make them less interesting – after all, individual fights are much of the fun of the anime.
The third problem is that, if it were to take advantage of smaller characters, there were already 5 less powerful bronze knights, who are also still waiting for their place in the Sun. Check all of the Saint Seiya filler here.
And, finally, the anime’s theme focused on Greek mythology and more mystical themes, such as the existence of the cosmos, would be distorted a little, losing its essence.
These are facts that could lead to a decrease in the popularity of the anime. Therefore, the best option would be…
Ideia 2: Anime Spin-off
One possibility to give more visibility and create a spin-off franchise for Saint Seiya would be to make an anime exclusively about the Steel Saints.
The logic would be as follows: while the first was already widely popular and had a theme focused on Greek mythology, the second would attract fans of the main series due to its name and, at the same time, attract other people due to its more technological appeal.
This could even start a successful spin-off series, with new seasons each year. Check here 10 anime recommendations for Saint Seiya fans!
Famous tokusatus, such as Super Sentai, Kamen Rider and Ultraman, have new seasons every year. The Steel Saints anime could follow a similar format, or even be a standalone series, without sequels.
In any case, I believe that many fans would be happy to have more content related to the Saint Seiya universe – and Toei would certainly benefit from many action figures and other types of merchandising.
Unfortunately, it was an opportunity that was lost. I understand that there are many issues surrounding the rights to the work, involving Shueisha, Toei and Kurumada, but it would be a beneficial arrangement for everyone.
Be that as it may, it is curious to think about what a reality with another Saint Seiya series would be like – would it be able to surpass the original anime?
But we can only guess. Click here to get understand where to start watching the Saint Seiya classic anime.