Why did CN buy Knights of the Zodiac?

[Catlover]

Just like the subject states, why? It's been said on these boards that CN doesn't want older animation, so how did KOTZ get here? Was marketing just fealing sadistic that day?

[A SAint]

My two cents :

Cos they thought it would be real good?
Cos it was wildly received in many other countries?
Cos it has never been brought to the US?
Cos they think its gonna make an impact?
Cos they think audiences won't mind old animation?
Cos they think it will be the next big thing?
Cos......

I think they said it somewhere about futuristic action or " there has never been an animation that is popular in other country which does not get to air in US", whatever it is it was hyped to be real good. Unfortunately, they made a crap out of it.Am I writing rubbish? Then again, just my two cents..

[Joe Mama]

I'm not sure how the ratings are, but it must not be that good if it only airs at twelve in the morning.

I think they thought it would be a good show so they gambled on it. I guess you always have to give everything atleast one try. unfortunatly it ended up being something less than what they hoped for.

[Catlover]

Cos they think audiences won't mind old animation?

You had very good reasons, but this one has been debunked. Mobile Suit Gundam, Lupin the 3rd, most (if not all) of the Hanna-Barbara cartoons, and most of the Loony Tunes have been taken off because marketing thinks old animation turns viewers away.

My only guess is that they thought it would reach YYH level popularity.

I'm not sure how the ratings are, but it must not be that good if it only airs at twelve in the morning.

I wonder if the drop in ratings is because of the old animation, or because it's a bad dub of what seems to be a good anime?

[William C. Maune]

Maybe they got a really good deal on it. If a series is cheap enough they don't have to expect the ratings to be as high to make a profit.

[EscaflownePilot]

Well, we all know DiC didn't exactly flash the bling bling on this series' dub.

*crickets chirp*

Yeah, I'll stay away from terms like that from here out.

Seriously though, all editing and hacking and writing problems aside, this dub is so cheaply produced that I can't imagine they charged CN too much.

[DarkMaster]

because lady ronin warrior fans send many letters:D. Girls like both the saint seiya and ronin warriors.

[Sketch]

My guess is that it's done very well in other countires. The problem is we got the short end of the stick as far as television distributions goes. Chances are DiC begged CN to put it on because they knew Kids WB, Nickelodeon, and ABC Family would have stayed as far away as possible.

[Roger Smith]

Cause they want to insult it?
well in Mexico went very good until kids start to say Old Stuff is Lame But it stills good right now Airingin CN LA as the Caballeros del Zodiaco Version
Its Saint Seiya just with the name change

[Rabi~en~Rose]

how many episodes did they buy anyway? I can't see them buying the whole long series in one shot so probably say 26? and then likely no more..sheesh...even if the series is bad it's still new episodes and shouldn't be bumped back that late. http://members.aol.com/kimminakochan/chicken.gif

[Sora Takenouchi]

KotZ is waaaay after it's time. Chances of this becoming popular are completely gone now not to mention this dub is the type of quality we got 10 years ago. It's a shame the US was so late catching the Saint Seiya train. It really could've gotten popular if it had come at the right time. But the time has long past. Other countries hav elong since forgotten about it.

[Amano Ginji]

Note: The series itself IS NOT bad.
DiC's version is.

[Rabi~en~Rose]

Note: The series itself IS NOT bad.
DiC's version is.

if ya say so!

I'm still waiting on the supposedly cute boys put there for girl viewers.. :( http://members.aol.com/kimminakochan/chicken.gif

[Ikki D LEO]

how many episodes did they buy anyway? I can't see them buying the whole long series in one shot so probably say 26? and then likely no more..sheesh...even if the series is bad it's still new episodes and shouldn't be bumped back that late. http://members.aol.com/kimminakochan/chicken.gif

Yeah U R correct CN only have it in their schedule untill february(about the 25th episode). But DIC have the rights of the first 40 episodes I think.

About the series being old, I think they should have started with the Hades Chapter(which is the newest) and then if the series becomes popular then air the old episodes of Saint Seiya, like they did with DBZ and Dragonball.

[A SAint]

KotZ is waaaay after it's time. Chances of this becoming popular are completely gone now not to mention this dub is the type of quality we got 10 years ago. It's a shame the US was so late catching the Saint Seiya train. It really could've gotten popular if it had come at the right time. But the time has long past. Other countries hav elong since forgotten about it.

I won't agree with you on this one, if its long forgotten, why is the hades saga being animated? And why do we have a new movie? And heck, we might even have a series after hades! And the fact that its all done after 10 plus years. StS is still being discussed around, be it mailing lists or forums of other languages. And to the fans, i assure you it is not forgotten.

[Joneleth]

It wasn't forgotten long ago, fans always hoped a new arc to come out, and now it finally will happen; 15 years after the series ended.

[Dragon_Shiryu]

Forgotten? Not exactly. As mentioned, all these things have come out in less than 2 years:
Episode G - which is a prequel manga. Currently being serialized in a new magazine called Champion Red. And it's the main seller for the magazine.
Hades Chapter ovas - 13 have come out. More in production.
New movie for February 2004 - it'll be the beginning of the last arc, the heavens part. And that arc seems that it'll be done in manga form too.

But the thing is, those products are mainly for fans in Japan and all around the world. For all those of us that already know about it.

It arrived too late in the US, although it may gain a niche market in the US. At least when I went to the local Suncoast, this was one of the few anime series that had the DVD's all sold out (though that's not representative of the whole market). It looks old, so it already had a tough time. That coupled with the disaster DiC made with messing with the story, characters, music, etc.

What I find sad is that ADV's dub is quite good. That one could've aired, what a waste that what was aired was DiC's messy half assed job.

[Sora Takenouchi]

Ok, it's not forgotten. I don't read up on Saint Seya stuff sorry. :sweat: All I know about it is that it was insanely popular years ago in other countries. I wasn't aware they were still making new stuff.

[A SAint]

if ya say so!

I'm still waiting on the supposedly cute boys put there for girl viewers.. :( http://members.aol.com/kimminakochan/chicken.gif

I afraid the DiC dub wont make it to the "cute" boys.
But then again, the 5 bronzie are one of those attracting girl viewers as well..
imagine 1986.....
Then again i could post links of those beautiful looking saints!! ;)

[saki]

because lady ronin warrior fans send many letters:D. Girls like both the saint seiya and ronin warriors.

You know StS fan ladys and Ronin Warrior fan ladys are historically hostile each other, don't you?

[Rabi~en~Rose]

I afraid the DiC dub wont make it to the "cute" boys.
But then again, the 5 bronzie are one of those attracting girl viewers as well..
imagine 1986.....
Then again i could post links of those beautiful looking saints!! ;)

Can't imagine '86 since I was born a few years after it! But whatever! What's StS mean? I thought it was Saint Seiya... what's the T for? http://members.aol.com/kimminakochan/chicken.gif

[saki]

Forgotten? Not exactly. As mentioned, all these things have come out in less than 2 years:
Episode G - which is a prequel manga. Currently being serialized in a new magazine called Champion Red. And it's the main seller for the magazine.
Hades Chapter ovas - 13 have come out. More in production.
New movie for February 2004 - it'll be the beginning of the last arc, the heavens part. And that arc seems that it'll be done in manga form too..

Actually, I'd say it has been partially forgotten for a couple of years over there. Say, from around 1991 to 1998, before Shueisha started to re-issue compact comic books of the series and print the encyclopedia of it, the market was calm there. StS popularity was just revived a couple years ago, then bunch of fans came back the state like as they used to be (like me :anime: ).

StS-only-con also restarted to be held in a couple years ago, but not in the capital city, Tokyo, but in a small town farrr away from it, costs a lot for bullet train fee.

Returning to the original subject.. why CN bought the KotZ?
I just guess they thought they can make lots of money in the same way as other countries. And, they didn't have a chance to see DiC's dubbed virsion of the series.

[kaine23]

Bad dubbing aside, I actually want to see the real version of this series now. Mayb eif this came out during the Sailor Moon/Ronin Warrior's hayday, it would have done better too. Shame how DiC ruined a teriffic series with fans around the world.

[Brent Long]

I say it's doing badly here because Saint Seiya doesn't get good til like episode 15. And that means waiting three months in the U.S. at the weekly schedule now. But aired toonami 5 days a week, they would reach that point in only three weeks. Saint Seiya's animation isn't that bad really either. If DBZ, and DB did good over here despite dated animation. I don't see why Saint Seiya can't.

[Dragon_Shiryu]

Can't imagine '86 since I was born a few years after it! But whatever! What's StS mean? I thought it was Saint Seiya... what's the T for? http://members.aol.com/kimminakochan/chicken.gif

Wow, you're young. Tsk, now I feel too old :P
St means Saint. It just doesn't have the dot because it's abbreviating the whole name.

Here are pics of some of the characters:
http://fuunoroad.free.fr/Hades_Hen3.html
http://fuunoroad.free.fr/Hades_Hen_Tsuzuku.html
http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~masamist/hades.htm

Usually female fans really like these ones: Saga, Aioria, Camus, Shun, Shiryu and Hades.

[A SAint]

Wow, you're young. Tsk, now I feel too old :P
St means Saint. It just doesn't have the dot because it's abbreviating the whole name.

Here are pics of some of the characters:
http://fuunoroad.free.fr/Hades_Hen3.html
http://fuunoroad.free.fr/Hades_Hen_Tsuzuku.html
http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~masamist/hades.htm

Usually female fans really like these ones: Saga, Aioria, Camus, Shun, Shiryu and Hades.

Aww, i wanted to post the link from Fuu chan's page too, but you beat me to it!!
:p

But hey,

http://www.koala-haven.net/projekt/saint_seiya/