Saint Seiya: The Heated Battle of the Gods

Saint Seiya: The Heated Battle of the Gods (聖闘士星矢 神々の熱き戦い, Seinto Seiya Kamigami no Atsuki Tatakai) is the second movie based on the manga and later anime series, Saint Seiya. Due to the success of the first movie Saint Seiya: The Movie, this film saw the light as it premiered in Japanese theaters in March 12, 1988. And the success continued with the series as a third Movie, Legend of Crimson Youth was made.

Plot
The movie is an independent feature, and isn't part of the Saint Seiya canon but since Seiya mentions that Dolbar has a speed faster than the Gold Saints, this movie can happen after the 12 Temples arc. It starts with Cygnus Hyoga saving a stranger from being beaten to death in Siberia. The man reveals himself to come from the domains of the god Odin, Asgard, and claims something terrible is going to happen there.

After a rendezvous with Saori Kido and the main Bronze Saints. Hyoga is dispatched to Asgard, to scout the situation ahead. He never returns, so Saori, Shiryu, Shun and Seiya go to Asgard themselves.

When they arrive, they are greeted by the master of Asgard and the representative of Odin, Dolbar. He informs them that someone like Hyoga hasn't been seen around their territory, and that he would send out people to search for him. At the same time, the three Bronze Saints sense there is something suspicious about Dolbar's right hand man, Loki.

They are offered a place to stay for the night by the siblings Frey and Freya while the search for Hyoga continues. But as they leave, they are greeted with small hostility from the God Warriors of Asgard, and everything doesn't seem to be right with them, as Shiryu notices. Later during the evening one of Frey's guards locate Hyoga's Cloth headpiece, and so Seiya and Shiryu sets out to look immediately. As they are out, Dolbar summons Saori to his palace saying they have found Hyoga. Shun follows her there, but she meets with Dolbar by herself. She is immobilized by the master of Asgard, and put as the figurehead of the ship on the statue of Odin.

As Shiryu still searches for Hyoga, he stumbles upon the God Warrior, Midgard. But he soon reveals himself to actually be Hyoga, yet they still fight. Shun senses that Athena has disappeared, and tries to locate her inside Asgard but ends up in a fight with the God Warrior Ulr. During the fight, Phoenix Ikki arrives and helps his brother, and is stopped when another God Warrior called Grung appears to battle Ikki.

In the meantime, Seiya locates Athena, but has to face the God Warrior Loki to get to her. As the Warriors of Asgard are defeated on by one, the final obstacle to save Athena is Dolbar himself. Seiya tries to fight him but fails, and is followed by Ikki and Hyouga. Suddenly the Gold Cloth of Sagitarius appears, and enrobes Seiya. With it he easily outmatches Dolbar, but Athena will still be in her eternal sleep. That's when Frey appears, climbing up the Statue of Odin. Realizing what he is about to do, the master of Asgard tries to attack him. But it is too late, as Frey stabs his sword in the head of Odin's statue.

As Frey sacrifices himself to do so, the statue crumbles after Dolbar's defeat. And as the statue slowly disappears, the grand tree Yggdrassil appears in its place.

New Characters

 * Durbal
 * Techniques: Odin's Shield
 * Seiyū: Iemasa Kayumi

The Master of Asgard. Seiyū: Keiichi Nanba
 * Frey
 * The young ward of Durbal's court.

Seiyū: Satoko Yamano
 * Freya
 * Frey's sister.

God Warriors

 * Loki
 * Techniques: Juugeki Gunro Ken, Odin Tempest
 * Seiyū: Yū Mizushima
 * The right hand of Durbal who served him loyally. But as his namesake he is deceiving and secretive, harboring an immense cosmo for felony. Loki was the one who directed the rest of the God Warriors, and was behind most of the happenings in Asgard. When Pegasus Seiya had almost made it to the Statue of Odin where Athena was sealed, he decided to take matters into his own hands. A fight ensued between them, even though they were very similar in strength, Loki had the advantage of being very fierce in battle. But in the end Seiya overpowered him and defeated him. As the Saint left he said to Loki.
 * Named after Loki, the Norse god of fraud.

Seiyū: Koichi Hashimoto
 * Midgard
 * Techniques: Aurora Thunder Attack
 * A heavily disguised God Warrior, whose real identity is uncovered by Shiryu. The design of his God Robe would be modified and reappear as Thor's Phecda Robe in the TV series' Asgard Arc.

Seiyū: Akira Murayama
 * Ullr
 * Techniques: Hikari no Ken
 * A God Warrior armed with a large sword capable of cutting through solid rock.

Seiyū: Tesshô Genda
 * Rung
 * Techniques: Boomerang Hammer
 * A huge God Warrior who attacks with twin boomerangs.

Trivia

 * The author of Saint Seiya, Masami Kurumada participated in the original development of the film. And as such he created the looks of Dolbar, Loki, Frey and Freya.
 * When Shiryu falls unconscious after his fight, the dragon on his back is facing the opposite direction (right instead of left)