Saint Seiya (TV series)

Saint Seiya (Japanese: 聖闘士星矢, Hepburn: Seinto Seiya) is a Japanese anime television series based on Masami Kurumada's manga series Saint Seiya and produced by Toei Animation. Covering the first two arcs of the manga series, the series follows five mystical warriors known as the Saints who fight using sacred armor known as "Cloths" to defend the reincarnation of the Olympian goddess Athena in her battle against other gods that want to take over the world.

The series was broadcast on TV Asahi and its affiliates from October 1986 to April 1989. It spawned four animated feature films, multiple video games and merchandise. The series was later exported and broadcast in over 75 countries worldwide.

Toei would adapt the Hades Arc of the manga as an original video animation (OVA) series, subtitled The Hades Chapter, released from 2002 to 2008. The studio would be responsible for Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter – Overture in 2004, serving as the final continuation of the Hades Arc.

Nearly 14 years after the show ended, it was licensed for North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Two separate English dubs were produced: one that premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States and on YTV in Canada in 2003, released under the title Knights of the Zodiac, covering 40 episodes, and a later dub that covered all 60 licensed episodes and was released on DVD from 2003 to 2005.

In 2019, Netflix acquired the North American streaming rights and Toei Animation Inc. commissioned Sentai Studios, a division of Sentai Filmworks to produce another English dub, covering the entire run and utilizing the same cast as the ONA series, Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya. Netflix's rights expired in December 2021.