Knights of the Zodiac, Volume 1: Battle of the Bronze Knights

After training in Greece for six years, Japanese fighter Seiya wins the Sacred Cloth of Pegasus and becomes a Bronze Knight of Athena. Returning home, he hopes to reunite with his sister--but she's disappeared, and Princess Sienna will only help him find her if he competes in her grand tournament. This is an edited-for-American-television version of the Japanese series Saint Seiya--which is also being released by ADV unedited, under its original title. With spiffed-up opening credits and cranked-up background music, Knights of the Zodiac has a more contemporary feel than the 1986 original, but while this new version may hold some appeal for undiscerning pre-teen boys, it will have none for devoted anime fans. Some of the rewritten dialogue is atrocious, and although much of the original's violence is removed, some still remains, and an appallingly dishonest attempt is made to disguise it by coloring the blood blue instead of red (it is still quite obvious, however, that Seiya's opponent in episode one loses an ear in their battle). And the choice of a terrible cover of A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran" as the show's main theme is unfathomable. The original is hardly great, but it's definitely preferable to this compromised product. Not recommended. [Note: Knights of the Zodiac, Vol. 2: The Fight for the Gold Cloth is also newly available.] Aud: P. (S. Raiteri)