Knights of the Zodiac, Vol. 4: The Fire of the Phoenix (1986)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by Masami Kurumada and Takao Koyama
Directed by Tadao Kubota

Features:

• Trading card
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Goofy technique names
• Cooler costumes than YOU will ever get
• Personal tragedy
• Obvious moral-to-the-story

Released by: ADV.
Region: 1
Rating: NR
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Rent it at best.

In this next volume of the story, The Bronze Knights continue their quest to stop their Black Knight opposite numbers and protect the Gold Cloth using the power of their friendship to stop the evil.

Knights of the Zodiac is the kid-friendly version of the popular Saint Seiya series, but unfortunately, this often means that much of the show's potential emotional impact is dulled. In "Duel of the Dragons," Shiryu squares off against the Black Dragon, and it's up to Shun to save Seiya if he can. Shiryu is willing to make the final sacrifice, but will it be enough? And if it isn't, what power can stop the Black Dragon? In further episodes, the Knights must learn to be willing to combine their individual powers into the person of one Knight, and then face off against assorted villains after the Gold Cloth, such as Ikki and Docrates. Eventually, the gang winds up back at Sienna's mansion just in time for her to be kidnapped.

The extras list is limited to a collectible trading card with admittedly nice art. What would have been cool is a look at the Greek roots of various aspects of the show, or perhaps even just a gallery. The audio and video quality are nice enough, but the English scripts are just not quite as engrossing as they should be. The show keeps being almost interesting, but just never quite gets there. The voice actors reflect this, as they can't seem to drum up much emotion for their parts, even during the scenes of personal sacrifices that should be heart-wrenching and just aren't.

The music and sound effects, however, are beautifully balanced with the dialogue; the production values are not at all the problem here. The art looks good and bright, with only a few quibbles here and there if you look hard enough. The original prints are almost two decades old, after all, but the digital transfer cleaned up most of it, and it looks fine. The art is even attractive on average (the retro character designs might grow on you), though I still think Andromeda should have gotten a new agent and renegotiated for more money after seeing his costume.

What could be an interesting show combining Greek mythology with Japanese action is instead merely lukewarm. Even the impressive power of friendship--something we all would love to hear more about--is reduced to Afterschool Special formula here, which is really a shame. This would still be a good show for kids, and maybe parents could use the opportunity to talk with their children about such issues as peer pressure, the tainting power of hatred or jealousy, and other related issues, but the show itself is a shadow of the original. Perhaps the voice actors should have worked harder to breathe passion into the tepid script, or maybe there's just nothing more they could have done with the half-baked pabulum they were given. Either way, the show just plain falls short.

Hardcore fans of Saint Seiya will want to pick this up just to be completists, but the rest of us would just be better off renting this to enjoy the references to Greek gods and heroes.