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:
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.
Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac debuts on Netflix next summer.
DISCUSSION
I see the concern here, really, but as someone who was too young to catch Saint Seiya beyond an academic (oh, those are where most of those tropes come from...) way, this doesn’t really bother me that much. Again, I get that Shun was seen as a great male role model, but, well, we *do* already have a lot of great male role models bobbing about in media, so I find it hard to see this as a huge loss. Granted, a lot of the context is lost on me since I’m not a longtime fan, but this doesn’t change my hype one way or the other (though I’ll admit it wasn’t high in the first place).