Saint Seiya Omega

is an anime series produced by Toei Animation. It is a spin-off of the Saint Seiya anime series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada, produced in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the franchise.

The series began broadcasting in Japan on TV Asahi on April 1, 2012. It is directed by Morio Hatano (his debut as series director), with animation character designs by illustrator and animator Yoshihiko Umakoshi.

Plot
Omega takes place 25 years after the Holy Wars of the 20th century narrated in the original manga and its anime adaptation. The goddess Athena  is still on Earth after reincarnating to continue her duty of protecting peace against several antagonistic deities. Athena and a new generation of Saints prepare to face new threats that lurks in this new era, in which Pegasus Seiya, the protagonist of Kurumada's original manga, is revered as a Saint of legend and one of Athena's Gold Saints.

Characters
See also: List of Saint Seiya Omega characters

As an installment separate from Kurumada's work, the series introduced new characters to the Saint Seiya fictional universe, that will make use of elements already established. Some of them, such as the deities, exist in the original manga.

Additionally, known elements from Saint Seiya, such as the Cloths, the armors worn by the Saints, bear their known constellations, but are presented in Omega with a new design that differs substantially from those in the original source material, and departing from it, the Cloths emerge from jewels worn by the characters to envelop their bodies, which are known in Omega as Cloth Stones (クロストーン Kurosutōn).

The Cosmo essence, one of the basic concepts of Saint Seiya, is expanded in Omega with the addition of specific elemental properties: Fire (火 Hi), Wind (風 Kaze), Thunder (雷 Kaminari), Earth (土 Tsuchi), Water (水 Mizu), Darkness (闇 Yami) and Light (光 Hikari).

In the second season, several Saints including the main characters have their cloths upgraded, sporting a new design much more reminiscent of Kurumada's original designs, and are stored in special boxes like in the original continuity.

Production
Originally, Toei planned to make an anime adaptation of the manga Saint Seiya: Next Dimension but the series' slow pace of release resulted in them trying the opposite of Next Dimension: A story set several years after the events of the original manga. For this, they created a new cast of main characters who would be assisted by the previous generation's Saints.

The creative staff, including character designer Umakoshi and head writer Reiko Yoshida, previously worked under flagship Saint Seiya director Shigeyasu Yamauchi, either on the original Saint Seiya anime adaptation (director Morio Hatano was assistant director of its fifth film), or on his other works, such as Mushiking: Mori no Tami no Densetsu and Casshern Sins.

Release
Toei Animation describes it as an "original anime story", separate from the continuity of Kurumada's manga. Original Saint Seiya author Kurumada is not involved in the creative process of Omega, thus he is credited as the original creator of the series' concept.

Crunchyroll announced on March 30, 2012 that they had acquired the rights to stream the show online with English subtitles in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, and have since continued to post new episodes online shortly after they air on TV in Japan.

Episodes
See also: List of Saint Seiya Omega Episodes

The series started airing in TV Asahi on April 1, 2012. Beginning with the second season, which premiered in Japan on April 7, 2013, Hatano was replaced by Tatsuya Nagamine and Kohei Kureta and Yoshida by Yoshimi Narita.

The series is organized according to seasons and chapters, with each season thus far containing two chapters and each chapter having its own opening theme song. Like in most of the anime that are broadcast in Japan by TV Asahi, all the credits are incorporated into the opening themes and there are no endings or ending themes for the show.

The first chapter of the series is "Chapter Mars" (マルス編 Marusu Hen), comprising episodes 1-27, and its opening theme song is, performed by MAKE-UP featuring Shoko Nakagawa.

The second chapter is "Chapter Zodiac Temples" (十二宮編 Jūnikyū Hen), comprising episodes 28-51, and features the opening song performed by.

The second season begins the, comprising episodes 52-77, and with it a new opening theme titled "Mirai Saint Omega ~Saint Evolution~" (未来聖闘士Ω～セイントエボリューション～ Mirai Seinto Omega ~Seinto Eboryūshon~) performed by Nagareda Project (流田Project Nagareda Purojekuto).

The second half of season 2 comprises the "Chapter Omega Awakens" (Ω覚醒編 Omega Kakusei Hen) from episodes 78-97, and uses the opening song "Senkō Strings" (閃光ストリングス Senkō Sutoringusu) performed by the band Cyntia.

Bandai Visual collected the series in both DVD and Blu-Ray format with each volume containing four episodes. The first DVD compilation of Saint Seiya Omega was released on August 24, 2012.

Manga
In February 2012, it was announced that the Omega animated series would be adapted to manga form. It started serialization on March 26, 2013 in Kadokawa Shoten's Kerokero Ace magazine. The comic book contains the arcs of the first season and it also adapted the second season.

Video Game
Bandai released a fighting game titled Saint Seiya Omega: Ultimate Cosmo on November 29, 2012 for the PlayStation Portable.