One can reasonably surmise that Masami Kurumada, the much acclaimed [insert snicker here] author of Saint Seiya didn’t know what he was doing when he entrusted the young mangaka Teshirogi Shiori with the making of a prequel to the series. The young woman was after all at the beginning of her career, having only a two volumes series to her name (Kiiri: Shisha-tachi wa Areno ni Nemuru, based on the novels of the same name by Yukako Kabei).

Miss Teshirogi’s prequel was to run parallel to another prequel, one done by the “master” himself. The two prequels would tell the tale of the previous holy war between Athena and Hades, the one which had taken place in 1743.

That prospect alone was rather disappointing, as fans were largely more interested in seeing more of the Heaven Chapter after the fantastic Overture movie directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi. But then, as Mr Kurumada had had a bit of a temper tantrum concerning the movie, loved by the fans but hated by him, a sequel was not to be. Instead, two prequels got underway.

Mr Kurumada's would be titled “Saint Seiya Next Dimension” and was published first. The result was an affront to the eye and to the mind. Art so ugly it hurt to look at it, dialogues about right for characters aged respectively 7 and 8 years old, and a scenario about as bad as what the worst 7 years old male fanfickers can do concerning Saint Seiya. So, quite logically, many among the fan community, myself included, were disgusted and more or less abandoned all hope concerning this new revival of Saint Seiya.

As it happens we were wrong.

By accident more than by design, Mr Kurumada gave a license to produce Saint Seiya material to a woman who not only loves the series, but what’s more shows a true understanding of what Saint Seiya is about, of what lies at its heart. And so, soon after the Next Dimension horror of Mr Kurumada came out, Miss Teshirogi’s Lost Canvas appeared, and charmed a great many Saint Seiya fans off their feet.

Why? Simple enough:

• the art is gorgeous, and is, in spite of its own personality and originality, true to what we know of the characters, to the elegance and harmony we have all known thanks to the fantastic character designs of Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno.
• the scenario so far is coherent, and the character development is on par with all the fans could hope for.
• there is an overall touch of class in all the characters she brings to life. Some may be clones of those we know, but still they feel true and real. Others, such as Alone/Hades are fantastically done, their personality being offered to the reader shining drop by shining drop.
• the sensations tied to places are very nicely rendered through the art.

Miss Teshirogi enriches her characters touch by touch. With a single picture, she adds nuance and layers to an Alone/Hades, or to a Pisces Albafika. Exit all the over-simplifications and the hasty, or inexistent backgrounds to explain a character’s personality. In little drops of jet black ink, Miss Teshirogi paints the characters, gives them a life, a soul, and draws the reader along with her vision of the story. Elegance, class, nobility, resourcefulness, razor-sharp depictions and good humor at unexpected times are the key elements that are sure to turn her vision of the 1743 war into a success.

In the original series, natives of Pisces and Cancer often felt rather unhappy, for the Gold Saints of those two zodiacal signs were depicted in a mostly black and white fashion. Death Mask and Aphrodite were evil, they were freaks, in love with absolute power whatever the cost and universally hated, except where some yaoi doujinshis and fanfictions were concerned.

The very, very good news for natives of Pisces is that Saint Seiya, the Lost Canvas looks like it will more than vindicate them. Although his looks kind of resemble those of Pisces Aphrodite, the 1743 Pisces Gold Saint is nothing like his 1986 successor. Or rather, at least here, thanks to Miss Teshirogi, we at last get to see the other side of the coin, and to understand there is much more to the Pisces Saint than meets the eye. Pisces Albafika has the makings of a fantastic character, one that will be loved and whose nobility and class nobody is likely to challenge, or to forget.

The vilains’ cast hasn’t been forgotten. We get classy Judges of Hell, and in spite of their being clones of their 1986 namesakes, quite interesting to follow. Overall, the interactions between the characters feel natural, contrary to how forced they do when Mr Kurumada tries to use his lack of talent at dialogues. With Miss Teshirogi, there is no obvious rigidity in sentences and dialogues, no jarring sensation that send your teeth gritting in frustration. The flow of words is just right.
The characters are true to themselves, instead of becoming mere parodies fit for a farce.

And then, there is the scenario, there is what Miss Teshirogi wishes to do with this prequel. Of course, we know some of the events that took place because of Aries Shion and Libra Dohko, and also because of Hades himself, but still, there is quite a lot of room for development, for creativity and for shaping a very, very good story. Without revealing too much of what’s happening in Lost Canvas, one can safely say it’s going into the right direction. The relationship between Pegasus Tenma and Alone/Hades is nicely depicted, and enriched thanks to the very interesting triangle of Tenma, Alone and Sacha, three children bound by the deepest bonds of friendship and love, and whose destinies will tear them apart in the most tragic of ways.

The mix between those characters and those of the Sanctuary and of the world of the dead is seamlessly done, and miss Teshirogi clearly intends to address all the sides and elements of the holy war between Athena and Hades, as well as what led the characters where they’re now standing. The depths and coherence she brings, along with the charisma and class of the characters are a blessing. The flow of the story-telling feels right, and interest for the developments is very well managed.

Of course, this is Saint Seiya, and it will remain Saint Seiya. But miss Teshirogi has given it back its touch of class, she has re-infused it with subtlety and elegance, she has brought back coherence and depth. With a feathery brush of shoujo talent, she has revived a very much battered hope for the series. In spite of my initial lack of interest for a prequel of Saint Seiya, I now find myself eagerly waiting for each new chapter to be published. That, in itself, is undeniable evidence of miss Teshirogi’s talent and true understanding of the series. It’s both sad and apparently illogical to say, but she knows more concerning the heart and soul of Saint Seiya, than the one who created it in the first place. Mr Kurumada lost his way a long time ago, among too many packs of beer and wrestling matches.

Thankfully, be it fate or something else, Mr Kurumada’s path crossed miss Teshirogi’s. She is the right person at the right place, and in the right time. It’s a rare and precious enough chance to be noticed. And one wonders, if the gods haven’t decided to smile again.

Link to Ms Teshirogi's web home: Da-Daism - presented by Shiori Teshirogi.