Knights of the Zodiac, Vol. 2: Death Match! Pegasus vs. Dragon

聖闘士星矢 Saint Seiya #2

by Masami Kurumada

Seiya, who is one of Athena's Knights, along with the other Bronze Knights, must train hard, take on battles and other challenges to earn their "Cloths."

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Mythology, Fiction, Comics Manga, Shonen

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Masami Kurumada ( 車田正美, Kurumada Masami, born December 6, 1953) is a Japanese and writer, known for specializing in fighting manga featuring bishōnen and/or mahō shōnen. He is famous as the creator/author of popular manga, such as Ring ni Kakero, Fūma no Kojirō, Saint Seiya and B't X. His male protagonists are a reflection of the classical and modern society's archetype of the true men. The male characters in his works often display very masculine qualities and traits, and pursue to achieve courage and manhood perfection through sacrifice, selflessness and true heroism. He has won the best success award with Saint Seiya and the best inspiration award with Ring ni Kakero.

Reviews

[John Bonilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo que más me desconcerto fue... ¿Cómo demonios Fenix cabia en la caja y cuanto tiempo llevaba ahi?

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I continue to read these volumes 'totally legally', I figure it's only fitting to continue to bombard you all with my thoughts.

So the tournament that began at the very end of the previous volume finally gets underway. The audience is initially introduced to the user of the Swan cloth, Hyôga, and the opening chapters make a big point of showcasing that he's half-Russian, and that his particular cloth has a unique property that more or less allows him to wipe the floor with his opponent, the user of the Hydra cloth. I'm sure it comes as little to no surprise that due to the fact the Hydra knight was kind of a sadistic creep, Hyôga takes the opportunity to execute him, as per orders Hyôga received to return to Japan and execute all other knights/saints.

From there, we spend a lot of focus on the battle between Seiya and the user of the Dragon cloth, Shiryû. We quickly learn that Shiryû is fighting to honor his martial arts master, who is near his time of death, and the fight between Shiryû and Seiya thus eats up the majority of this volume. The former is aiming to end the fight as quickly as possible in order to see to his master, and Seiya isn't willing to quit because his goal is to win every one of his bouts (very Domon Kasshu of him, really.) The fight goes on for a while, with Seiya taking the majority of the damage, before finally pulling a fast one on Shiryû that gets the Dragon knight to shatter his own weapon and shield. The two wind up shedding their armor--you know, like manly men--and thus have a tense end to the fight where both are trying to look for the opening that will grant him victory. Seiya pulls the victory off, dealing Shiryû a 'death blow' in the process before he is convinced by the Dragon's companion to reverse the effect and restart Shiryû's heart. Seiya complies of course, assisted by a couple of the other knights who stand to the code of chivalry, before he and Shiryû are both ushered off to receive urgent medical attention. The entire bout and its ending cause Hyôga to question the kill orders he received, as they indicated that the other knights/saints were abusing the powers of their cloths, but witnessing this fight has given him reason to doubt those orders.

The final bout of the book takes place between Unicorn Jab, and the wielder of the Andromeda cloth, Shun, but little actually occurs in the way of the fight itself before the chains of the Andromeda cloth--which are blessed with a type of ultra-defensive ability that can predict or detect enemies--indicate that there is a greater enemy nearby who threatens the lives of all the other 10 knights, the wielder of the Phoenix cloth.

Turns out this particular knight/saint has been just hanging out in the box containing the golden cloth the tournament is competing for, and the volume ends with him dramatically popping out of the box like Marilyn Monroe.

So far, I enjoyed this volume a lot, but I think I could have done without all the introspective moments that occur in-between the margins of Seiya's and Shiryû's fight. I feel like those particular moments did more to drag out and slow the fight than they added anything to them. By contrast, I'm loving some of the character designs (the ones that aren't so close together that the characters themselves are hard to tell apart,) and especially the armor designs of the cloths.

One thing that I think I need to make note of in this volume that I failed to do with the previous one, is that there's a very prevalent, recurring theme of racism so far. The first volume displayed it with the various Greek warriors talking down to Seiya because he's Japanese, calling him unworthy of the Pegasus cloth, and this volume tends to lean more toward the other tournament competitors slandering the fact Hyôga is half-Russian. My guess is that this manga will eventually challenge that particular mindset, the further and further it goes, because I've seen similar instances in which this is the case, especially for a shonen title. Still, it did take me somewhat by surprise, so I'll probably be a little more aware of that as I keep reading.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Galaxian Wars tournament continues. Kurumada's art shows clear preference for certain characters, so obviously-ugly guys like the Lionet Saint get defeated in a single panel so we can have more time for pretty-boy Hyōga's backstory, or lengthy battles between Jab and Shun or Seiya and Shiryū. Pretty sure all, or at least most, future fighters in the manga will be ikemen, so I'm thinking Kurumada helped to establish the rise of fujoshi....

I'm not an astronomy expert, but I'm pretty sure the Greeks didn't have Chinese dragons or lion-dogs in mind for the Draco and Leo Minor constellations.

I really appreciate the diagrams for the Cloths in the back of the volume. Shows Kurumada put more thought into designing them. Also kinda makes me want the action figures, but they're expensive as fuck.

[Regalia Lenzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hyoga ociąga się z pojawieniem na turnieju, ale starczy jeden list, by chłopaka przekonać do lotu do Japonii. Ciekawe, co tam napisali, bo jakoś mi się nie wierzy, żeby tak kiepski argument go do tego popchnął. Ale to nie on jest gwiazdą tego tomu — bo tu zaczyna się walka Smoka z Pegazem.

Z drugiej strony nikt poza Seiyą nie może uratować Shiryuu. Ale dlaczego? Facet jest betka, co to za filozofia pierdyknąć w pazur, tak mocno? Albo, dlaczego by defibrylatora miał nie zadziałać, przecież nikt nie mówił, że tylko energia kosmosu może tu zadziałać...

Shun, chłopie, poczekaj tylko jeden chapter, a twoje życzenie się spełni. Chyba że coś źle podpowiadam, ale tak mi się zdaje.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally freaking rad.

[Solaris Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟
Sin lugar a dudas la música es un aditivo irremplazable.
Genial la historia.
I Love you Shun

[Ben Zimmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was marginally better than the last volume, but I'm not in any rush to read more.

[FunttiDiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ma chronique ici.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hyôga <3 !!
Le petit rebondissent à la fin très savoureux

[Zintulo Deyuno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saint Seiya - Los Caballeros del Zodíaco, #2: Lucha a muerte! Pegaso versus Dragón (Saint Seiya #2; Saga del Santuario #2.).

[Ribrarian Not · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro de historietas con ISBN propio. Primera edición argentina basada en la tankoubon original.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable.

[Index Purga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición argentina, tomo 2 de 28.
VOL.2 LUCHA A MUERTE! PEGASO VERSUS DRAGÓN
· Cisne, el guerrero del campo de hielo
· Dragón, el escudo y el puño más fuertes
· Lucha a muerte! Pegaso versus Dragón
· ¿Otro capítulo sin títular?
Esquemas de las piezas que forman los Cloths [sic]:
1. Cloth de Pegaso
2. Cloth de Dragón
3· Cloth de Oso
4. Cloth de Hidra
5. Cloth de León Menor
más tres páginas de Aclaraciones de la traducción y varias de publicidad.
Aparentemente en los créditos se repite el ISBN del tomo 1.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

A esta altura, el dibujo de Kurumada sigue quemando retinas (y lo va a hacer por unos cuantos tomos más, aunque uno se acostumbra fácil), las armaduras siguen siendo espantosas y los personajes van dejando en evidencia de a poquito sus traumas (y alguna que otra hipocresía)... ¡¡Pero qué lindo festival de violencia imaginativa, golpes de efecto y homoerotismo juvenil!

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición argentina, segundo tomo. Aclaraciones a cargo del traductor.

[Galion Public Library Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review by K.M. : "Boring." (2015, 4 stars)

Review by A.J.: "Hard to understand. [Recommended for] anyone." (2013, 5 stars)

[Guido · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigue el Torneo por la Armadura de Oro.
Incluye el combate entre Seiya y Shiryu y otros igual de violentos.