The Delinquent Author Who Saved Shonen Jump

I started rewatching Saint Seiya over the holidays, and felt like it was time to do a video about Masami Kurumada. Plus, it's his 50 year anniversary since his manga debut.
Sources:
-Land of Obscusion Blog by George Horvath: landofobscusion.blogspot.com/
-NHK Shonen Jump Documentary
-Shotaro Ishinomori Web Magazine 3: ishimoripro.com/magazine/web-...
-聖闘士聖衣大全

[@hugoleonardoamaral586]

Saint Seiya is absolutely HUGE in Latin America, second only to Dragon Ball Z. Excelent video!

[@99Gara99]

O cara viajou legal

[@queenzoroark]

​@@99Gara99Onde cara?

[@omegadreemurr6271]

In France too

[@queenzoroark]

@@desconhecido141 Ainda é forte, só não como antes

[@warrenbradford2597]

I can't tell how big it is here in the United States. I have just read it had bad dubbing back in the 80's when it localized by DIC Entertainment.

[@matheussanthiago9685]

"Does not get recognition outside of Japan" The entirety of Latin America: ¿Somos un chiste para ti?

[@thiagots85]

Going to represent the portuguese speaking part "Somos piada para você?"

[@Rob_991]

thats mean : No mainstream in USA, es lo triste q no haber triunfado en estados unidos le costara mucho a la franquicia

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

Saint Seiya was huge everywhere in the west...except english speaking countries.

[@bamma8slamma]

Spain here. Saint Seiya were huge and still got a lot of fans.

[@UltimatePerfection]

@@bamma8slamma Same in Poland, but I never knew about the author or how influential he was.

[@Val825.]

Kurumada doesn't charge his ki, he Burns his cosmos

[@ayakuweb]

You're right! I wanted to say ki first since I realized I hadn't even talked about Saint Seiya just yet but I really should have just gone with cosmos.

[@oscarruorochmolinacansino5907]

Doesn't get recognition outside of Japan? What are you talking about? Masami Kurumada is worshipped (WORSHIPPED, I tell you!) in large portions of the world (the entirety of Latin America, major European countries like Italy or Spain just to mention a few). His Saint Seiya series are still incredibly popular. Great video, as usual. There was a lot of information I didn't know about the author. Thank you!! :)

[@jeremybriggs6951]

It really doesn't look like it considering his peers after him being well more recognized

[@n1hondude]

Saint Seiya has a special place in my heart, it was my first anime in Brazil even before Dragon Ball!! I wish the world knew more about it so he can make more money and have more assistants and work less because this has been on a longer hiatus than Hiatus x Hiatus and NOBODY knows about it 😢

[@99Gara99]

Saint Seiya is pretty much THE anime that kicked off anime culture in Brazil. The first otaku, people that fell in love with anime, manga, japanese language, japanese culture and all... did so because of Saint Seiya. It's impact in our culture is just impossible to explain to someone that haven't lived that

[@AndreaAndy85]

Saint Seiya and Fist of the North Star were huge success in the late 80s, 90s in Italy and are still cult anime. Best childhood ever!

[@jefferyquick3280]

Without Saint Seiya, we wouldn't have Ronin Warriors, G Gundam, Gundam Wing, Bleach, etc.

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

I think One Piece, Fairy Tail were also influenced by Saint Seiya, though I haven't seen any interviews/articles that Oda and Mashima claimed that it is one of their influences on their manga.

[@RyuuChan3821]

I never knew that gundam wing was inspired by saint seiya

[@KamenKami]

@@RyuuChan3821 G Gundam. It is a battle shonen.

[@user-sm2ln8vi8t]

​@@jesseowenvillamor6348 That's right, the 12 keys of the zodiac or Erza's armor.

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

@@user-sm2ln8vi8t Not only that. The "group of heroes going through the enemy's lair and fighting one-on-one matches with each villain" trope is pure Saint Seiya influence.

[@jf_paes1589]

Saint Seiya and Kurumada are very well known here in Brazil. Knights of the Zodiac, a translation of what it is called here, is arguably the most important anime in the history of anime in Brazil, it jump started the anime craze that led to many others being brought over and dubbed, it was huge, like Pokémon in the 90s huge. There were merchandise, action figures, events, and every open TV channel were fighting to get the rights to host anything Saint Seiya related, like musical shows and shit.

[@satansjihad6353]

Colocação perfeita.

[@hellblazer8543]

his anime/manga is the reason why i spent a lot on action figures years ago. oh god. those saint cloth Myth EX line were expensive before. now the prices even doubled. i hope he gets visited by Athena in his dreams and let us have Saint Seiya Lost Canvas season 3 onwards

[@teteuzero2011]

Me and my friends grew up obsessed with Saint Seiya and i never knew how much Kurumada had done for the shonen genre as a whole. This is the first time i click on a video about an author of a series i hold dear and actually learn something cool about their history as an artist. Up until this point I only really saw him as a mangaka who only drew the same main character on all of his series lol Thank you for this.

[@MisterAIG]

Since last year, I got into Saint Seyia, and I love it.I'm glad it's still getting some love in the U.S.

[@deathfalcon5023010]

Excellent video! While the explanation about Saint Seiya's narrative lacks some depth, the overview overall for Kurumada and his works is fantastic. He is one of the most influential mangaka but he is mostly unknown in the English speaking sphere. Thank you for your great video bringing some light onto him.

[@eduardoneves3070]

Yep. Specially Bleach was way inspired on the plot devises of santi seiya kurumada. Saint Seiya is specially popular on south america and some european countries, specially France

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

I'm actually surprised that other mangaka today only credited Dragon Ball as their influence, though its very obvious they got influenced by Saint Seiya too. Like One Piece, Fairy Tail, etc.

[@justatoaster7476]

Don’t see it mentioned much but he’s also known as one the earlier shonen mangaka to embrace that yaoi community in his fandom. He named one of his characters in Saint Seiya (Chameleon June) after a Yaoi magazine that interviewed him and included a few LGBT characters in his works over the years.

[@magnetdance]

Based

[@FairladyZ2005]

I discovered Saint Seiya last year for the first time and am still working my way through all the spin-offs. It's become one of my all-time favorite manga and anime. Thanks for the video. We need more people talking about Kurumada and his works.

[@arx3516]

Saint Seiya is huge everywhere in the world except the USA.

[@DigiMega351]

And other English speaking countries for that matter. As an American Saint Seiya superfan, that makes me sad.

[@yinztigators5552]

My dog died two years ago he was 17 years old his name was Seiya

[@ayakuweb]

Aww that's such a great name for a dog!

[@yinztigators5552]

@@ayakuweb thanks we got him in 05 and at the time Saint Seiya was mine and my dads favorite anime so we named him after the titular character lol

[@darkroninmarvel]

Many Japanese friends of mine are surprised to learn that Saint Seiya was HUGE in Chile

[@m.j.vazquez4720]

mexico too

[@99Gara99]

Brazil too

[@whathell6t]

Los Angeles, CA too. That’s probably the only American place where Saint Seiya is hugely popular.

[@jmh8817]

Very interesting. I would have never suspected Kurumada to have authored manga about sukebans early in his career, but in hindsight that makes perfect sense. Really highlights how little Kurumada gets talked about in english speaking circles.

[@gabrielsyme4550]

Saint seiya wasn't popular on the US because they screwed up censoring and trying to do a localization that eas garbage. In latin america we got the real deal, with amazing voice cast and quality covers for openings. Unlike the US that took out every otiginal opening and replaced it with generic music for every anime up until streaming was a thing.

[@jarosbodytko6462]

'Does not get enough recognition outside of Japan'. Correction: doesn't get enough recognition in America. The rest of the world, particularly the French speaking and Latin countries adore his work with Saint Seiya as his most important creation.

[@magnetdance]

This. It's very frustrating when American is taken to mean "rest of the world" 🙄

[@jeremybriggs6951]

But still even so, everybody always see Akira toriyama as the headliner

[@jarosbodytko6462]

@@jeremybriggs6951 rightfully so, I think. Toriyama's impact on Manga was far bigger. And, as much as I like Saint Seiya, story wise DragonBall is much better structured and universally more appealing I think.

[@lenardregencia]

Besides Saint Seiya/Knights of the Zodiac, B't X (Beat X) is also popular here in the Philippines.

[@goldenjames]

ahhh that cool good news

[@danielca4360]

This was an amazing video, well documented. I hope one day more people give Kurumada sensei the recognition he deserves.

[@benninasc]

This is the author of my childhood heroes. Saint Seiya was so massive around here. Kurumada's name was a legend for me

[@WinspearUltima]

For me my personal favourite work from kurumada is Saint Seiya I absolutely love it it’s my favourite 80s Shōnen series

[@leonardobarbosatelles2779]

That’s a phenomenal video you’ve made friend, congratulations!!! Kurumada’s Saint Seiya was huge here in Brazil in 80s/90s, and still has a place amongst many ppls hearts. I seldomly see ppl talking about Kurumada, so I’m very happy to see such excellent material released!!

[@goldenjames]

wooooooow as a saint seriya fan i must say this is awesome video and yes the fact the characters of ring ni kakero shout the attacks loud was a boomb in japana even akira toriyama was a fan of that

[@sinmenon4347]

As a Latin American I recall when Saint Seiya OVAs were released in the theaters and it was always packed full. I think over here in my country it was bigger than Dragon Ball until Z came out. I also recall seeing rather sizable nooks in book shops with the manga both in Spain and Italy , this last one was like... 2019? And the manga keeps getting reprinted all the time and we always wait the next release. Got love that "unknown" is basically "everyone but the USA know and appreciate them"

[@Chillchildren999]

Tite Kubo the creator of Bleach and Zombiepowder has said that he considers Masami Kurumada to be his hero, Bleach is also heavily inspired by both Fuma no Kojiro and Saint Seyia

[@xandosworld]

Love Saint seiya. I remember seeing the toys in the dollar store when I was 5 in 1998 . I was like well they look like power rangers so this is Comin with me 😂 I never read the manga until years later & loved it .

[@Miraihi]

Really unexpected to see such an iconic bishounen character designs from a former delinquent.

[@deathdoor]

11:00 by the way, Saint Seiya' anime character designer is the same that did Rose of Versailles.

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

Shingo Araki who was also one of the animation directors of Ashita no Joe (the manga ironicaly inspired Kurumada to creat RNK).

[@owenevans4532]

Her name is Michi Himeno

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

Saint Seiya is huge in south america and europe.But Saint Seiya fans have a love hate relationship to Kurumada akin to SW fandom to George Lucas. People still believe in lies disseminated by cheap anime news magazines in the 90's and by Internet rumors.

[@GerardoSantana]

great video. Saint Seiya is a huge fave of mine. great to see this man get the respect he deserves

[@danillospindola696]

"he doesn't get recognition outside off Japan" No, he just doesn't get recognition in usa

[@JanHell666]

Good video! Thanks for your work.

[@BunnyDMuzi]

this channel is about to be goated

[@gespenst1329]

Akira Toriyama was also a fan of Kurumada's work.

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

Yeah,in RNK last chapters he even wrote a text praising Kurumada.He hoped that someday he would draw a manga with rivals as awesome as Ryuji and Jun Kenzaki. Well,he kept his promise with Goku and Vegeta.

[@satansjihad6353]

To us latinos, it is hilarious to see americans saying Saint Seya is that "obscure, underated anime". I even went to an orchestral concert of Saint Seya songs in the beggining of this year, I like it way more than I like Dragonball.

[@Kurooganeko]

I'm from Brasil and I LOOOOOOVEEEEE Saint Seiya

[@neMgieTV]

Woow, thanks!

[@johngibson4874]

Never heard of this mangaka before but the instant I saw some his earlier works I thought this must be the guy behind Saint Seiya

[@RyuuChan3821]

I love saint seiya!!! Its my favorite anime atm

[@VirideSoryuLangley]

Overall I enjoyed the video, but I strongly disagree with one thing: most characters in Saint Seiya are handsome, not beautiful. Just because they're not super muscular like bodybuilders, doesn't make them feminine. Beautiful is an adjective I'd use for a Korean pop star, not a gold saint.

[@Obscusion2]

It depends, really. Characters like Lizard Misty & Pisces Aphrodite are 100% meant to look "beautiful", while characters like Andromeda Shun & Hades' primary body are close enough to that, by intention.

[@adrianusatmawijaya4049]

actually, while it supposed to be 'handsome' it was 'handsome in shoujo style' while being a shounen manga. you have to understand that sounen-shoujo manga style distiction is so prominent in showa era. and when they say 'beautiful' it mainly refer to the face, with some addition to the lanky build for those intended to be 'ikemen'. and then there's pisces Aphrodite and andromeda Shun... for those who understand the lore, female saint always wears mask, but to those who don't understand the lore, and with the help of dub that somehow choose to use female dubber to dub those 2 character, well... let's say that children in Indonesia always thought of those two as girls until they watch the original. edit: and yeah, beautiful is what you put as an adjective to male Korean Pop Star, and some male character of saint Seiya are inteded to be characterized that way (Aries Mu, Virgo Shaka, and the two mentioned above). why do you think Clamp draws Saint Seiya Doujinshi? making a what if story? well... yeah, A BL version of it

[@phoenixikki2641]

I LOVE KURUMADA!!

[@DigiMega351]

Saint Seiya has the honor of being my alltime favorite Anime! (Although my icon is of Teppei from B't X LOL)

[@Patski-qh8fy]

Saint Seiya is the Childhood of many people born in the 90s in France

[@jackblades90]

Holly hell, this man is just a shonen protagonist. xD

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

It was a nice abridged biography. Sadly, I do not want to learn more, but I am glad I learned this little. Saint Seiya I learned of from Anime World Order, believe it or not. BTW, please deinterlace/detelecine your raw footage before using the clips in the video.

[@pocenha]

Saint Seyia is huge in Brazil

[@taylorbee4010]

So kurumada got his dreams fulfilled by BEING a shonen protagonist Lol

[@99Gara99]

10:24 Kurumada didn't think of any transforming (henshin) on his manga. The characters would get into their cloths by grabbing each peace and manually wear each part just like we would do in real life. The beautiful henshin effect you are thinking of, was create by toei and is exclusively for the anime. 10:47 In addition, when you mention very beautiful characters, you are also showing the design of master Shingo Araki. Who creates the design for the anime and yes, he based it in Rose of Versailles style. Kurumada's artwork and character in his manga are, on the other hand, very ugly at (most of the) times.

[@enminghee2926]

Motomiya had another notable accomplishment of late: apparently he's one of the few mangaka who's ever depicted Japan's war crimes in manga, see Kuni Ga Moeru.

[@franckateba2970]

I see. Nice content.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Can you make a Kinnikuman manga video next?

[@TheMags53]

The US being the only place on Earth missing out the Saint Seiya hype, and the rights holders trying to force ito the US market by pandering to american stereotypes and changing everything in awful new adaptations instead of doing a proper remake of the classic manga with current animation techniques will always be one of the greatest anime tragedies of all time.

[@gespenst1329]

Dragon Ball should have gone this way too (minus rights holders forcing it in) if it meant that Funimation wouldn't be a thing.

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

They had Samurai Troopers/Rounin Warriors first. Yeah that series inspired by Saint Seiya .

[@gespenst1329]

@@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526 And to its credit the adaptation actually kept the original soundtrack by Osamu Totsuka. Sadly the same could not be said of Saint Seiya's ridiculous adaptation and Seiji Yokoyama's masterpiece.

[@irving000vaz]

He gets a lot of recognition in all of latin america

[@jermaineevans6910]

Even I know about los caballeros del zodiaco

[@kabutogouki]

Tesuka was not the GodFather of manga, he was the GOD of manga. no fanboyism here, he was literally called kami-sama no manga (god of manga),title coined by Ishinomori sensei itself. where this chicken coward Bs of Godfather comes from? also, Kurumada and seiya are known in at least 80% of the world.

[@kamikaze5528]

"Doesn't get enough recognition outside Japan." Are you kidding? Saint Seiya's popularity is on par with Dragon Ball in Brazil, Latin America and Europe. Even more popular in these places than in its home country. You're probably american, and the US is the outlier here.

[@Obscusion2]

I'd say that it's still an applicable statement, because even though Saint Seiya is known worldwide that still doesn't mean that Kurumada gets enough due recognition outside of Japan, because there's way more to him than just Saint Seiya, including over a decade of noteworthy manga before it (& as well as other manga since Seiya's original ending), and none of that is really properly recognized abroad. To most people outside of Japan Masami Kurumada is "The Guy Who Made Saint Seiya... and some other stuff, too, I guess", despite some of that other stuff having its own notoriety that should be be more widely known about.

[@pablocasas5906]

​@@Obscusion2B't X was somewhat popular in Latin America back in the late 90s and early 2000s. I'm from Argentina and I remember watching B't X on the same TV channel that aired Saint Seiya. It must have been successful enough because my parents bought me a couple of official B't X toys that I still have more than 20 years after

[@Obscusion2]

@@pablocasas5906 I know B't X had a small surge in popularity in some regions around that time, but I wouldn't necessarily use toys as a measure of success. After all, DiC's Knights of the Zodiac in the US & Canada had toys released for it, and that absolutely bombed. Toys accompany plenty of animated series, even if the show itself flops. And I say all of this as someone who first got into Masami Kurumada's works via the B't X anime, and I absolutely love that series.

[@falconeshield]

Yeah he needs to talk for USA and UK only. It's popular outside of them.

[@ChibiChidorii]

I don't think they mean having toys is what shows its success... But the fact parents Knew about the toys and bought original ones. Parents in Latin America will usually buy a knock off of a completely different anime and think it's all the same. If they are able to recognize a show that's a big sign of popularity here.

[@Ishiisan]

Did you guys cover Masanori Morita?

[@99Gara99]

Where are you from? Kurumada is a God in France and in all Latin America

[@jeremybriggs6951]

But I’m sure Akira Toriyama overshadow him regardless

[@NotRegret]

Why did he start integrating bishounen designs?

[@EMPERORPROVIDENCE]

Saint Seya my first anime be4 Dragonball z

[@CCootauco]

So if you want to be a successful manga artist, just storm the publishing house and demand why you lost the contest...

[@merial9]

He's a legend in the industry but, a terrible writer using old tropes that himself developed. He became what shōnen jump was at the time. OLD and cliché. Good video btw.

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

The same could be said of Toriyama.Every arc from Dragon Ball Z on had the same story structure from Piccolo Daimaoh arc (multiple transformations,hidden power awakened,power up,Goku only coming to fight mid arc ,mulitple characters deaths etc) Majin Boo arc is even more evident,it is like a parody of Piccolo's arc (even the end is identical).

[@merial9]

True. I can't even argue with that.@@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526

[@joelnordlander8858]

Saint Seiya is kinda bad tho

[@desconhecido141]

Could it be the bad 80's graphics style making you don't like it? For the people who didn't grew up watching SS, I'd greatly recommend watching Lost Canvas over the Original.

[@joelnordlander8858]

@@desconhecido141 thank you i will try lost canvas. But i dont mind older shows the thing for me was that i think the characters are too one-note. Except for the green haird girl idk the name

[@RyuuChan3821]

Your tripping saint seiya is amazing