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To celebrate the release of the Hollywood live-action movie “Saint Seiya The Beginning,” free distribution of the TV anime “Saint Seiya” has begun on YouTube’s Toei Animation Museum Channel, with five episodes per week, divided into three installments, up until episode 15, will be available for a limited time.

“Saint Seiya The Beginning” (Original Title: “Knights of the Zodiac”) is a live-action film based on the manga “Saint Seiya” by Kurumada Masami, which has sold over 50 million copies worldwide and the anime series has become popular around the world. The main character, Seiya, is played by Arata Mackenyu, who made his first Hollywood film appearance in “Pacific Rim: Uprising” and this is his first starring role in a Hollywood film. The film will also be directed by Tomek Baginski, the executive producer and director of “The Witcher,” which was the No. 1 watched film on Netflix worldwide in 2019.

To commemorate the release of this film, free distribution of the TV anime that first visualized “Saint Seiya” in 1986 has started on YouTube’s “Toei Animation Museum Channel.” The first distribution includes episodes 1 through 5, which can be enjoyed by those who used to watch “Saint Seiya” on TV, as well as by those who are experiencing “Saint Seiya” for the first time.

The TV anime “Saint Seiya” has created a huge boom, attracting not only male viewers with its battle action, but also many female fans due to the drama of friendship and rivalry between the main character Seiya and his friends, as well as the attractive appearance of the characters. The series has been broadcast in 80 countries and regions and continues to create new series, which has attracted a large number of enthusiastic fans around the world.

The key words and characters that also appear in “Saint Seiya The Beginning” will be depicted in the fifteenth episode, which is now available. The live-action film is a reboot that takes a different approach to visualization than this anime, so the content depicted is different, but both films utilize the spirit of the original work. We hope you enjoy the world of “Saint Seiya” more by learning about the appeal of each.

Free distribution of the TV anime “Saint Seiya” on YouTube’s “Toei Animation Museum Channel” will begin on April 14 for episodes 6 through 10, and on April 21 for episodes 11 through 15. The live-action movie “Saint Seiya The Beginning” will be released in theaters nationwide on April 28.

(C) Kurumada Masami /Shueisha, Toei Animation
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