Saint Seiya Vol 4: Personal Feuds (1986)
Animation Production: Toei Animation
Released by: ADV Films
Official Website: Saint Seiya
Episodes: 16-20
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

The world in which anime heroes live sure is full of evil villains and powerful beings bent on destroying our world one way or the other don’t you think? From the classic mecha show of the 70’s to almost every tokusatsu hero show ever made there always seems to be an unending number of villains for our heroes to fight in ascending order of their powers, going from the weakest minion all the way up to the head of the evil organization they battle in order to preserve the peace of our Blue Earth.

This is very much true of Saint Seiya, where over the past several episodes they have fought many different enemies from the Dark Saints, to Ikki, and now Docrates and the Ghost Saints, all within the first 19 episodes of the series! Not bad at all!

Story

“After the death of Ikki, the rest of the Bronze Saints are left scrambling to pick up the pieces. Docrates has not only come to steal the Golden Cloth, but, blinded by rage, he is also plotting to kill Seiya. Called into action by the evil Pope Arles, Docrates will stop at nothing—even going so far as to attack Saori and the Kido Foundation itself. Meanwhile, the evil Pope has even crueler plans for the Bronze Saints and the entire world. Hijackings, kidnappings, pirates, ghosts, hired henchmen and a slew of vile vendettas… the Saints will have to return to their roots to fully understand the magnitude of the perils that lie ahead. And one of them will even have to face his old master.” -- ADV's Saint Seiya Vol-4 Page

Review

Having successfully defeated Ikki, stopping him and the Black Saints from taking the Golden Cloth, the Bronze Saints must now prepare to confront an even more powerful and unpredictable adversary, Docrates, whose strikes at our heroes’ base of operations, the Foundation’s Mansion!

In this first encounter with Docrates the Saints are easily taken down by the gargantuan power of their foe and his almost unstoppable attack, the Hercules Fist. Even when Seiya appears he is unable to stop Docrates and prevent him from taking Saori with him as he flees the Mansion’s grounds. Having been unable to stop him during his attack our protagonists are now forced to confront him and his minions at the coliseum, where they must trade the Golden Cloth’s helmet for Saori. This leads to one of the most exciting team battles yet and the conclusion of the Docrates’ story arch

Having defeated Docrates however, the Saints are called forth to battle a new menace in the high seas, Gyste and her Ghost Saints, who are based on various aquatic creatures. Will Seiya and the rest of the Bronze Saints be able to stop this new threat!?

This was another fun Saint Seiya DVD to watch and pretty much lived up to my expectations. Basically it ends Docrates’ story and introduces us to a new set of characters while laying the foundation for what will surely be a much bigger storyline in coming episodes.

While the main plotlines that runs across these episodes focus on the continual hunt and recovery of the Golden Cloth and the battles that Seiya & the crew go through in order to protect it, what I found most interesting was the subplot that revolved around Sanctuary and its new Pope, who has taken over the reigns of Sanctuary and established a more imposing rule and a greater focus on ill activities. This is sure to lead to some interesting possibilities as the series progresses.

One thing I should mention is that this DVD ends with a cruel cliffhanger! As episode 19 comes to an end the Crystal Saint, who was Hyouga’s master in Siberia, is forcefully converted to the new Pope’s side and then commanded to eliminate his old student. The episode ends as the two of them encounter each other in their old training grounds! What will happen next!? I don’t know, but I sure am dying to find out!

As with previous volumes the animation in these episodes was up to task, however I did notice some noise in the video transfer in a small number of scenes. This doesn’t surprise me as the show itself is getting up there in years so this type of phenomenon should be expected, but suffice to say that it didn’t detract from the overall presentation. The music and vocal acting again, continue to impress and support the on-screen action quite nicely.

Thi DVD includes the following five episodes:

Episode 12: “A Giant! The Fierce Attack of Docrates!”
Episode 13: “Rescue! Saori's Crisis”
Episode 14: “Great Rage! Ghost Saints of the Caribbean”
Episode 15: “Life or Death! Bloody Battle of the Island Spirits ”
Episode 16: “Desperate Battle! Shaina's Revenge”

As with the previous two volumes English and Japanese tracks are included as is the original Japanese opening, a special that takes a closer look at the armor of the ancient Greeks and previews for other ADV Films products.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for great anime action you can’t go wrong with Saint Seiya! Especially if you enjoy more vintage anime, I know I do! While there is admittedly a slower advance made on the main storyline, this one does a nice job at setting up the stage for some bigger stories’ that will unfold later on.

Highly recommended!

Jeffrey Couto