Saint Seiya: The Hades Chapter


Saint Seiya: The Hades Chapter is a Japanese original video animation series based on the manga series Saint Seiya by Masami Kurumada, adapting the final chapters of the manga. Produced by Toei Animation, the series serves as a sequel to the 1986–89 television series and was released in three parts from 2003 to 2008, first on pay-per-view television, then on home video.

Production and release

The first part, Sanctuary, was directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, still with designs by Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno, with series composition by Michiko Yokote, and the soundtrack was lifted from the TV series. It consists of 13 episodes, and before its release on home video, it was broadcast on the direct-to-home satellite platform SKY PerfecTV! from November 9, 2002, to April 12, 2003, with the episodes released by Bandai Visual on seven DVDs from January 25 to July 25, 2003.
The second part, Inferno, consists of 12 episodes; from this part onwards, all of the characters were recast and features a different staff than Sanctuary. The first six episodes were broadcast on SKY PerfecTV! from December 17, 2005, to February 18, 2006, and were released on three DVDs by Avex from February 22 to April 26, 2006; the following six episodes were broadcast on from December 15, 2006, to February 18, 2007, and were released on three DVDs by Avex from January 31 to March 28, 2007.
The final part, Elysion, consists of six episodes, which premiered on Perfect Choice from March 7 to August 1, 2008, and were released on three DVDs from March 28 to August 22, 2008.
In North America, all three series first debuted on Netflix in North America on February 22, 2015 before being removed. The series later debuted on Crunchyroll in 2016 and on Tubi in 2021, the latter as part of a wider addition of content from Toei Animation.

Music

Seiji Yokoyama returned to compose the music, making the only staff member from the original 1986 series to return.
For the first part of The Hades Chapter, Sanctuary, the opening theme is " and the ending theme "Kimi to Onaji Aozora"; both songs were performed by Yumi Matsuzawa. For the second and third parts, Inferno and Elysion, the opening theme is "Megami no Senshi: Pegasus Forever", performed by Marina Del Ray. The ending theme for Inferno is "Takusu Mono e: My Dear", performed by Matsuzawa, and the ending theme for Elysion is "Kami no En: Del Regno", performed by Yūko Ishibashi; Kurumada contributed to the latter song, expressing satisfaction with the result.