
Kay, just finished watching ‘Saint Seiya –The Lost Canvas’ (anime) and it actually blew my mind! It really wasn’t what I was expecting! I mean when you think holy war with Athena vs Hades; you immediately think that Hades will be portrayed as evil and wanting to destroy everything and cause pain… BUT YOU ARE WRONG IN THIS CASE!!!
Firstly Hades is not considered ‘evil’, he doesn’t want pain, or suffering or anything like that; in fact he wants to end all the worlds suffering and pain by setting them free. The way he wants to do that however, is to kill every living thing, by painting wonderful pictures of them (everything he paints dies, sad but true.) But Hades himself is being manipulated; By, now get this…. Hypnos and Thanatos! They are the ones egging him on and giving him support. Pandora also helps them out, she’s bound in someway to do their’s and Hades binding, she also leads the dark spectres (bad guys and some are definitely evil) and is in love with Hades. She in my opinion plays a Persephone type role yet they clearly mark her as a big sister who watches over Hades when he’s in human form. I read in some review of the manga that she herself is the box… which for some that rings true… the evil gift in her myth not the box itself but Pandora. Hades is kind, taking the person the with the purest soul on earth as his host body. Athena’s reasons, for choosing to reincarnate was to learn about, protect and experience humanity. Thinking about it her staff represents the eagle not the owl; which may be a note that she’s working for her father, Zeus and not just for herself. She is fighting to stop Hades killing everyone for the fact that with the bad times in life there are also good etc…
Both Hypnos and Thanatos are recognised as gods in their own right, not just some lackeys of Hades. Their the owns with their eyes on the prize, pushing Hades to do want the want and even locking him up when they realise he hasn’t fully awoken yet, as the hero, Tenma, (Bronze Saint of Pegasus; )is still in Hades heart and the memories of their time together are “polluting” Hades pure soul. The people who made this series knows their greek mythology well. (okay so the first, original, 80’s Saint Seiya faltered there a bit… still they did well for an anime where their hair was inhuman half the time…) They do make reference to myths pertaining to Athena, Hades and Pandora.
Honestly if you have the time and computer power, download or watch these episodes! Or read the manga! It’s a great series which unfortunately hasn’t been dubbed yet which means you need to find the ones with English Subtitles (harder then you think!) and its only 13 episodes long. (Cant freakin’ wait for the next season!!!) And by the end if you’re not chanting “PEGASUS RUSENKEN!!!” your obviously just not cool… lol!
Found this online... it so tells you how epic it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqXUtTllct0&feature=related