Saint Seiya: The Movie

Movie cover

Saint Seiya: The Movie / Saint Seiya: Evil Goddess Eris (Saint Seiya Gekijoban, Saint Seiya Jashin Eris) is the first film based on the manga and later anime series, Saint Seiya. In 1987, it premiered in Japanese theaters, where it was a success, and received a sequel the year after, The Heated Battle of the Gods.

Plot

The film is an independent movie, but since Seiya knows the Seven Senses, this movie can happen after the Sanctuary chapter arc (see also: List of Saint Seiya Volumes). It starts off with Seiya, Hyoga, and Shun visiting the Star Orphanage, where they save one of the children from being run over.

A new character called Ellie is revealed to be Miho's workmate and a second caretaker at the orphanage. She starts having feelings for Hyoga, and, one night, they are sitting outside watching the stars when they suddenly see a falling star. As Ellie makes a wish, it is stolen by Eris, the Greek goddess of discord, who uses it to revive herself.

Things worsen when Eris takes possession of Ellie's body and kidnaps Athena to Eris' own Sanctuary. Eris plans to gain control of the world by sucking all the energy out of Athena with a golden apple, and revives dead Saints to fight for her.

The protagonists receive the news about the kidnapping and set off towards Eris' sanctuary. As they enter the sanctuary, they fight various battles with the revived Saints, and the ghost Saints end up being killed again. In the end, after a struggle with the last of the "Ghost Five", Jäger of Orion, Seiya is helped by the spirit of the deceased Aiolos, who sends the Sagittarius Gold Cloth to his aid.

As Jäger is defeated, Eris is the only one left between the Earth's salvation and destruction. Seiya takes aim at the golden apple, but hesitates for fear that the arrow might hit Athena. Athena herself encourages Seiya to use his courage and shoot the arrow, which he does, to Eris' dismay.

After the Goddess of Discord has been returned to the realm of the dead, the Saints escape the crumbling sanctuary, and, along with the released Ellie and Saori, walk towards a more peaceful world.

New Characters

• Eris: Goddess of Discord

Eris tempted Eri with a golden apple to possess and use her as a tool to start chaos in this world. After capturing Saori Kido (Athena), Eris placed a golden apple in front of Saori's chest to drain her power and life force to the point she would no longer need Eri's body, and proceeds with her plan to take over the world. It had been foretold that, if Athena were to die, all of the dead Saints with grief in their hearts would be revived to finish Earth's destruction.

Seiyū: Toshiko Fujita (藤田 淑子, ふじた としこ)

In Greek mythology, when Eris was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis due to her troublemaking nature, she tossed a golden apple on the ground in front of Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. The apple was inscribed "to the most beautiful goddess", which sparked a contest between the three goddesses and eventually led to Trojan War.

• Ellie Aizawa

Ellie (絵梨衣): A volunteer at the Star Orphanage where Seiya, Seika, and Miho grew up. Her wish on a falling star was stolen by Eris. The goddess took control over Eri's body until Eris could be completely revived into this world again. Eri and Hyoga felt a close connection when they first met.

Seiyū: Mayumi Shô (荘 真由美, しょう まゆみ)

Ghost Saints "Ghost Five"

• Christ (Ghost Saint of Crux)

Sazan Kurosu Kuraisuto (南十字星クライスト^?)

Techniques: Southern Cross Thunderbolt

Seiyū: Ryuusei Nakao (中尾 隆聖, なかお りゅうせい)

Christ died some time before Athena was kidnapped, and is thus recognized by Hyōga as being the Southern Cross Saint, as Hyōga's the Northern Cross. Feeling restless and tormented by his death as he lay in his grave, Christ put aside his Saint title and joined Eris, who revived him with a new body. When he gets an advantage over Cygnus Hyōga, Christ is betrayed by Eris, who sees this as a good opportunity. She throws a spear into Christ's back, which pierces right through his heart, killing him and injuring Hyōga at the same time.

Named after Christ, the anointed one, who was nailed to a cross.

• Maya (Ghost Saint of Sagitta)

Sajitta no Maya (矢座の魔矢^?)

Technique: Hunting Arrow Express

Seiyū: Michitaka Kobayashi (小林 通孝, こばやし みちたか)

Another Saint revived by Eris in a new body. He has a personality similar to Pegasus Seiya, but Maya would fight to the death if it meant winning. He proves this when he faces Seiya, to first talk, and then attack with all his strength. Unfortunately, he is no match for Seiya, but one of the arrows from his Phantom Arrow Express attack makes it through Seiya's defenses. Seiya removes the arrow with ease and tries to get Maya to tell where Saori is, but leaves when Maya does not respond. Maya says in his last breath that the arrow is actually poisonous, and only one shot is enough to remove the five senses.

Named after Maya, the Indian deity of illusion and the Japanese word for Magic Arrow.

• Jan (Ghost Saint of Scutum)

Sukyūtamu no Yan (楯座のヤン^?)

Techniques: Bone Crush Screw

Seiyū: Keiichi Nanba (難波 圭一, なんば けいいち)

Jan is a Saint that apparently died in vain;this may well have been caused by his straightforward and jump-into-action personality. As he was restless in his grave, he gladly accepted Eris' offer, and was soon revived and given a new body. He faced off against Dragon Shiryu and to his advantage, as the Tateza Cloth has a stronger shield than the Dragon Cloth. In a mere minute, he had defeated Shiryu, but by gravely underestimating the Dragon Saint was soon defeated as Shiryu unleashed all of his Cosmo into one single attack.

Named after Jan III Sobieski, whom the Shield constellation was made for.

• Orpheus (Ghost Saint of Lyra)

Raira no Orufeusu (琴座のオルフェウス)

Birthplace: Greece

Techniques: Stringer Requiem

Seiyū: Yuji Mitsuya (三ツ矢 雄二, みつや ゆうじ)

The legendary mythical person himself, as expressed by Andromeda Shun.

After his failure to bring Eurydice back, he died with regrets. This led to him gladly taking Eris' offer and being revived in a new body.As he faced Shun, Orpheus seemed to be a calm and subtle person, but as the fight progressed, he showed his evil side. After ensnaring and almost killing Shun with his Stringer Requiem, Orpheus was cut short by Phoenix Ikki's arrival. Ikki attacked with his Houou Genma Ken, but since Orpheus had already suffered through hell, he brushed the attack off easily. Wasting no time, Orpheus attacked with his Stringer Requiem again, but this time Ikki unleashed his Houyoku Tenshou and Orpheus was killed.

Named after the Greek mythical musician Orpheus.

Notes of Interest

• Masami Kurumada, author of Saint Seiya, created and designed the five new Saints in three months, and the movie versions were based on his sketches.
• In Japan it was named Saint Seiya: The Movie, but in some countries it received the name "The Legend of the Golden Apple", or another similar title. The series author, Masami Kurumada, suggested the name of "Jashin Eris" for its DVD release.
• This is the only movie (excluding The Heaven Chapter~Overture) that fits in with the original story and plot.
• The five Ghost Saints used to be Silver Saints, which was confirmed with a question mark in the movie book of Saint Seiya: The Heaven Chapter~Overture.
• Tateza Jan was originally named Shield Jan, but for some reason "Shield" was replaced with the Japanese word for it, most likely to decrease any confusion.
• This film premiered at the "Toei Manga Matsuri" film festival, where it was shown as part of a quadruple feature alongside Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle and the film versions of Hikari Sentai Maskman and Choujinki Metalder.