Now this is an anime that's not nearly as well known as it should be. Saint Seiya aired in 1986 (until 1990) and achieved most of its success in Latin America (mainly Brazil and Mexico) and France, as well as in some Southeast Asian countries. From what I gather, it did not perform well in the North American market.
One has to wonder why exactly Saint Seiya has not become as much of a hit as Dragon Ball Z or other big-name Shōnen titles, and I have my own take as to why that is.
As you (probably) read on the Summary, Saint Seiya is indeed one of the main forefathers of the Shōnen genre. Many of the tropes and constituents of the genre were firstly explored (or became more common and well established) within the various arcs of Saint Seiya. The one most obvious would be tournament arcs - Saint Seiya had one of the most defining/well established tournament arcs that not only ties into, but allows the story to flourish, while also serving as a great intro to explore the initial relationships with several of the main (and some of the supporting) characters.
Despite falling in a category for younger audiences, one can only truly appreciate the full depth of Saint Seiya as an adult, and that's probably one of the reasons why it didn't explode in popularity. This isn't to say this shouldn't be watched by said younger audiences - as a kid, I felt enthralled being pulled into this universe. A universe of courage, determination, friendship, struggle, the loss of loved ones...The show deals with all of these in an approachable way while still having great depth. That's not to say Saint Seiya is without faults, however, and it surely has quite a few.
One of the glaring ones are plot holes. I won't mention them because I want to keep this spoiler free but it's indeed one of the show's main problems. Pacing and inconsistency (both art and story inconsistency) being some of the others. Watching this as an adult (or maybe even a kid who's been exposed to more modern shows) will be a tad difficult for most viewers. While all of the characters (including supporting ones) tend to be unique, the anime struggles to keep them all involved meaningfully in the story, and it also struggles in maintaining the attention to those details in the art department. It can be a bit jarring at times - I didn't mind it as a child because I watched it back in the early 90s, but I think most youngsters would find it hard to deal with nowadays. Even I became more critical of it along the years despite Saint Seiya being the very first anime I watched and certainly one that left a lasting impression on me. You'll find that many of the early fights are heavily telegraphed, with characters having static skills and animation that's repeated one too many times.
That being said, what you'd get out of watching Saint Seiya in modern times is:
This review is already far too long, but I feel I have to comment on this. The OST for SS is one that you can tell was composed with so much care for the series. Characters have their own themes suited to their story, battle scenes are made vivid by the music, and the sad songs are heartbreaking.
Make no mistake - This is a classic that opened the door for many others.
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