Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac is Netflix’s updated take on the classic anime. Andromeda Shun, originally a male character, has been reworked as a female character.
The trailer (below) is racking up dislikes on YouTube.
Eugene Son, the remake’s producer, took to Twitter to explain the decision. Via Japanese site Hachima, here are his tweets:
Inclusiveness is great! The sensitivity to the current climate is admirable. Viewers who aren’t familiar with the series, especially younger viewers, will probably be oblivious to the change. However, for Saint Seiya fans, the decision overlooks the character’s essence and what makes him special.
Here is an excellent Twitter thread by Tales of Nothing co-creator Fanny Rodriguez that explains why:
If this was about giving the audience women representation on the remake, they could easily go and explore Saori’s character. She’s Athena reincarnation and the one keeping it all from falling apart when everyone was fighting. pic.twitter.com/YxAd6a5U96
— Fanny Rodriguez ???? (@charratastica) December 10, 2018
But back to Shun, while I’ll say that we should give the series a chance. Making Shun a woman seems more of a backwards move than any other thing. Let me explain. pic.twitter.com/HVwlykRciY
— Fanny Rodriguez ???? (@charratastica) December 10, 2018
Not only for that he was my fave bronze saint as a girl, he could kick ass if he wanted to. He was the only one to defeated a gold saint without resorting to killing himself. His personality and that he decides how to fight as a male character it’s a great role model. pic.twitter.com/pZY9WXey3k
— Fanny Rodriguez ???? (@charratastica) December 10, 2018
But at the end, one must give the chance to the reboots and remakes that are being done. Lots of people work on them to toss it out for one of two things without seeing the end product. That said, the decision made with Shun it’s still not great imo…
— Fanny Rodriguez ???? (@charratastica) December 10, 2018
Let’s just hope the dialogue created on social media regarding these topics is considered in future projects, whether they are from an existing franchise or a new one.
— Fanny Rodriguez ???? (@charratastica) December 10, 2018
Besides these thoughtful reasons, it also feels like other female Saint Seiya characters might have been overlooked when making a decision that could have better satisfied longtime fans.
You know Netflix, I’m not a saint seiya fan and all but…if you wanted a female lead for your new series and still have them wear the Pegasus armor you didn’t have to rule 63 Shun when you ALREADY HAVE SHOKO
You get to promote the MC for her series and still get this one! pic.twitter.com/gJ5TZGfAzZ
— ????Santa_50???? (@Sith_50) December 9, 2018
Turning Shun into a girl just DESTROYS the message behind his character and reinforces the idea that men shouldn’t be fragile, anti-fights etc.!! If you want some REAL girl power in Saint Seiya, go watch #SaintiaSho (A SPIN-OFF LED BY WOMEN!!!). pic.twitter.com/azXG561Tx4
— blazewarrior29 (@blazewarrior29) December 9, 2018
Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac debuts on Netflix next winter.
Comments
9 responses to “Netflix Remakes Saint Seiya And So Far, The Fan Reaction Is Not Good”
This seems like some really solid reasoning about why the character being male was integral to the theme.
Seems a real shame that they’ve changed him for the remake.
Sooo, they didn’t want to be seen as making a statement by having a bunch of male characters… Do they think changing a primary character’s gender isn’t a statement in and of itself?
I’ll never get changing existing properties like that… And I’d have the same “Uh, why?” reaction if people went and turned the likes of Samus or Lara Croft into dudes in gaming.
I don’t think they’re denying that it isn’t a statement in and of itself.
rather than by not changing it they might have been making a statement on gender roles that they didn’t intend or agree with.
I reckon its subtle when he was explaining it, but I think what he was really trying to say was something along the lines of
“In this new age, I am actually afraid of creating something with an all male cast lest I get hate from the progressives. I rather take my chances with the fans”
I could not care less to be honest…As long as the series explains their origin and then builds a good story, I don’t care about adhering to the past. If I want to see the old storyline, I’ll watch the old series.
What I’m saying is stop calling it a remake and just call it the 2019 series…
Very much this!
If you are going to get to the point of drastically altering in a series then at the very least make it its own thing… SSSS Gridman still has some of the themes from the original Tokusatsu show years ago but has its own spin on the themes a new cast based both on the first concept AND new faces in relation to the theme changes.
Just calling it Saint Seiya and then suddenly alterring the main character whilst being functionally the same in plot and story sorta seems more of a cash in on the brand to get views IMHO
I’ve never really had much knowledge of Saint Seiya but yeah, this does seem like a bit of a shame the way they’ve done this.
add in more female characters? that’s fine
genderbend the most softhearted male character as if that made him the natural choice to get that treatment? less fine.
Why not follow the Hobbit’s example and instead of changing the gender of the core group, add in a female character?
That was kinda the 2nd point… there are already great female characters in the original. Why change the gender of the main character when you coulda have had an original spin off/show based on the female lead mentioned
Heh, one really does have to wonder how many people crying out over this were not the same who used to make fun of the character for being overly effeminate.
I don’t super dig the change but I’m willing to wait and see. My biggest concern at this point is that those cosmo energy attacks look rather cheesy in 3D.