Saint Seiya: Shinku no Shounen Densetsu

No review yet ? It's a shame...
This was the best thing ever produced related to Saint-Seiya. I'll be trying to explain you why as good as I can...

While the other Saint-Seiya movies were painfully formulaic, Legend of Crimson Youth was one of a kind. Granted, its story is rather basic: Phoebus Abel, a fallen God banished by Zeus and Apollo, resurfaced after a long absence. He's accompanied by his bodyguards, the corona saints, while showing to Saori Kidou, i.e. Athena his sister. He proposed her to join him to his final residence following World's end. Bronze saints sedition ensues.

In fact, what differs is art execution. ... For the era, displayed means were exceptional. Character design, animation, music, background art it has aged stunningly well, given that the title is 23 years old !
If one word can sum it up, it's poetry. There isn't a single moment of emotion falling flat if you pay attention, thanks to the strong, imaginative and yet simple mise-en-scene...
From Abel immersed in his cup's play of light while brooding over spooky memories to Seiya awkwardly stumbling on harbor surroundings, cut to a shot of some scrapped doll representing his state of misery.
Imagery never cease to be downright amazing, from start to last frame.

To be fair, characterization of some of the main cast needed to be worked more. That's why I rated it a 9 instead of 10.
Abel's the best villain of the serie ever created, next to the knight of Gemini. He's an extremely refined person who cherish beauty of art, while at the same time he can turn in the wink of an eye into a terrifying brute in order to defend his convictions. His relation with Athena is really interesting, too bad their common past was never used. In fact, I wouldn't mind watching an entire arc if it was to build his character at full potential.
Some says it borders to incest. I don't know, you can only speculate about it...
Even so, incest isn't shocking for a deity. Hera's Zeus sister and spouse after all, and examples abound in Greek mythology. I personally think it's fraternal passion formed when he was on his own against jealousy of major Gods.

I can hardly describe how much I love this movie. I saw it when I was a kid (sure, I wasn't supposed to watch a PG -13 but meh...) it literally blew my mind. I was totally receptive to its sensitiveness... Here probably originates my long time love for animes, as far as I can tell. Yet, I seldom rate 10 my overall reviews: I do it only for overwhelming stuff like studio Ghibli's...
I hope Legend of Crimson youth bring to you, reader, as much joy and fascination as it did to me back then...

Legend of Crimson Youth is the 3rd film of the Saint Seiya series which is the longest of the bunch, but sadly it's probably the worst of the features. Note: this movie takes place after the events of the Sanctuary arc. Episodes 1-73.

The story begins with Saori meeting her brother Abel along with his servants, The Corona Saints, & the revived Gold Saints. In short, Abel wants to rid of humanity as they are a vile & wicked species set on self-annihilation. To enforce his actions, Abel asks for the aid of his sister Saori to cleanse the planet of humanity and begin anew as ... messiahs. The moral of the film is to emphasize a divine figure whose solemn duty is to abolish the dangers of Earth with his sins being justified for the greater good. It is the duty of The Bronze Saints to rebel against this holy figure to prove his actions are wrong.

While the subject matter seems promising for a full length feature it doesn't hold up on very basic story principles being action and motivation. For starters, the film states right away what the story is but takes a slow pace towards it as the first 20 minutes is focused on a brooding Seiya due to Athena siding with Abel aka Apollo. This plot point quickly becomes irrelevant as Athena was only feigning her loyalty to Abel in order to assassinate him. The murder attempt fails and the story follows the same structure as the other plots of Saint Seiya being to rescue Athena from sort of act of self sacrifice. So the rest of the movie is what you can in Saint Seiya but delivers poorly.

While it may seem trivial to complain about the action in a film where the emphasis is the story; the fights are terrible. Being the first movie debut for the Gold Saints I expected more out of them but they are dispatched very quickly. The same can be said for every other battle as they end far too quick, eliminating the build up presented in the previous scenes. It gets to the point where the audience can call "bullshit" on the power scale presented in the action as most fights feel "fixed".

While the action is poor the same goes for the story as Abel never elaborates why he must be rid of humans or what classifies them as evil. This is where the movie starts to fall flat in its ethics as it never goes into detail of the sins man has committed. From what has been presented in the series, Earth is currently a peaceful place so there is no need to wipe out humanity. If anything, all the conflict came from Gemini Saga. Ironically, Saga is the saving grace of the movie as he motivates Seiya to rescue Athena as a way to atone for his past sins. I certainly wished he played a bigger role in the story as Abel's current actions reflect his own during his time as Pope Ayres.

To sum this up, Legend of Crimson Youth basically repeats the villain characterization of Gemini Saga offering very little action & a story that isn't as complicated as it claims. The only highlights to the movie are the animation, a rematch between Shiryu & Cancer Deathmask, and the brief inclusion of The Gold Saints. Saint Seiya Movie 3 just felt like recycled material in an updated look. While the art remains gorgeous as ever, the pacing & structure needed improvement.

Review - Saint Seiya: Shinku no Shounen Densetsu
Rating: 3/10

The third film in the Saint Seiya franchise, Shinku no Shounen Densetsu (The Legend of the Scarlet Youth), is yet another example of how spin-off films can disappoint even the most dedicated fans. Despite showing an attempt to improve the emotional involvement of the characters compared to the second movie, the result is still far below expectations.

The plot is clumsy and unconvincing, to say the least. The premise involves the return of Abel, the sun god, who is described as Athena's brother. However, the script fails to bring any weight or impact to this conflict. The concept ... even had the potential to explore mythological and emotional themes, but the development is weak, superficial and lacks depth. The Bronze Knights are once again thrown into a battle against time to protect Athena, but without any innovation to make the plot interesting.

The pace of the movie is one of its biggest problems. The narrative drags on exhaustively, with moments that try to seem epic but end up sounding boring. The lack of urgency or an exciting climax makes the 70-minute running time seem much longer than it should be. Although the movie offers a little more interaction and drama between the characters, this isn't enough to redeem the story as a whole.

Visually, Shinku no Shounen Densetsu maintains the standard of the series with animations that were appropriate for the time, but there is nothing that makes it stand out from the rest. The soundtrack, although competent, fails to carry the emotional weight that the script is trying to convey.

In the end, the first film (Eris - The Legend of the Golden Apple) still stands as the best of the films so far, managing to capture the essence of Saint Seiya with more energy and emotion. This third feature is a lackluster effort that seems to exist only to fill space.

Recommended only for the most die-hard fans of the series who want to complete the experience, but for the general public, it's a big disappointment.