, simply known as Seiya, is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Saint Seiya manga series created by Masami Kurumada. He is the eponymous protagonist who makes his debut in the first chapter , published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on January 1, 1986. Like most of Kurumada's characters, Seiya's design was inspired in the main character of his previous hit manga Ring ni Kakero, Ryuji Takane.
Seiya is one of the eighty-eight mythical warriors known as Saints who have served the Goddess Athena throughout the ages, protecting justice and peace on Earth. As a Saint, Seiya dons a powerful armor of divine origins known as a Cloth, the one which represents the constellation of Pegasus. Seiya also possesses superhuman strength and speed, two of the many extraordinary abilities the Saints draw from their guardian constellations and an inner essence called Cosmo. Critical reception to Seiya has been mixed. While many enjoy his character design and call of justice, many reviewers feels he is overshadowed by other characters and the way he handles his fights.
Creation and conception
While in the process of creating Saint Seiya, Masami Kurumada initially gave Seiya the name Rin, intending to title his manga . However, as he continued developing the story, he changed the name to Seiya, which he felt was more fitting. First he used the name with the Japanese characters that mean , to relate it to Seiya's condition as a Saint, but later decided to spell it as "star arrow", to emphasize the constellation and mythological motif. Finally, he changed the title of the manga to Saint Seiya, once the concept of the Saints was fully developed. Kurumada stated that one of the first ideas he had for Saint Seiya was the "Pegasus Meteor Fist". Since his manga was going to use the constellations as a very important and ever-present theme, he wanted his protagonist to have a special move that would be like a shower of meteors.
Seiya's likeness was inspired by that of Takane Ryūji, the main character of Kurumada's hit manga Ring ni Kakero created nine years before Saint Seiya and which he considers to be his favorite creation. Most protagonists in his works bear a resemblance to Ryūji because Kurumada subscribes to Osamu Tezuka's Star System (maintaining a stable cast of characters who play a different or similar role in the author's various works, sometimes with the same personality, sometimes with a different one). The same process was used to create almost all the other characters in the series, as in all of Kurumada's works. The Sagittarius Gold Cloth was chosen as the most famous of the Gold Cloths because of its symbolism in relation to the main character. The Japanese meaning of Seiya's name, "star arrow", is also a metaphor for "meteor" and Sagittarius represents an archer, so Kurumada thought it would be a perfect match for Seiya, especially since he already had in mind that Seiya would eventually wear the Sagittarius Gold Cloth in certain parts. Hence, Seiya's zodiacal sign is Sagittarius.
Casting
In the animated adaptations of the series, Seiya was voiced by several voice actors. Tōru Furuya voiced him in the 1986 anime series, all five theatrical releases, the first series of original video animations (OVA) adapting the Hades arc of the original manga released in 2004 and the 2012 anime series Saint Seiya Omega. Hiroko Emori provided additional voice acting for scenes in which Seiya appears as a child. In the later Hades arc OVAs from 2005 to 2008, Seiya was voiced by Masakazu Morita. In the uncensored English dub by ADV, he was voiced by Illich Guardiola and Cameron Bautsch, and by Tim Hamaguchi in the censored dub by DiC Entertainment. He is voiced by Bryson Baugus in the CG Knights of the Zodiac and the Netflix dub.
Furuya also said Seiya was his favorite character from all those he voiced and laughed when doing his iconic "Pegasus Meteor Fist". Morita has said that Seiya was one of his most favorite characters due to how "passionate" he is. Kaito Ishikawa mentions being happy with the work he was assigned to for Legend of Sanctuary.