News

'Saint Seiya Then' Gets 2nd Installment, Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō Memories Gets New Short Serialization

The January 2026 issue of Akita Shoten's Champion RED magazine revealed on November 19 that Masami Kurumada is publishing a new installment of his "Saint Seiya Then" sequel to the Saint Seiya: Next Dimension manga titled "Saint Seiya Then II: Shimei" (Mission), in the magazine's next issue on December 19. As with the previous installment, "Saint Seiya Then: Haikyo no Hana" (Flowers of Ruin), the manga will have eight pages with full color. Akita Shoten published the previous installment in Weekly Shōnen Champion in November 2024.

The issue also launched a new short serialization of Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō Memories, the spinoff side story manga titled "Memory 4: Kōri no Tōshi" (Warrior of Ice). Chimaki Kuori has been publishing the spinoff side stories to her Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō manga irregularly in Champion RED since July 2022, and it so far has had three "Memory" installments and two "Extra Memory" installments. Unlike the previous side story installments, which were published with one chapter every story, this new installment is marked as a "short serialization."

Kurumada published the original Saint Seiya manga from 1986 to 1990. The manga has inspired a number of television anime, original video anime projects, anime films, and spinoff manga. The original series has 35 million copies in print. The Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō spinoff manga also has an anime.

Viz Media published the original manga in English under the title Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac. ADV Films released Toei Animation's anime adaptation with an English dub under the title Knights of the Zodiac, and later released it unedited under the title Saint Seiya. New Video Group later also released the series on DVD.

Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya, the CG anime remake based on the original manga, debuted worldwide in July 2019. Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac - Battle for Sanctuary -, the second season, debuted in July 2021. Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac - Battle for Sanctuary - Part 2, the next part, premiered in April 2024.

A live-action film of the manga titled Knights of the Zodiac opened in 2023.

Kuori's Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō spinoff manga launched in Champion RED magazine in 2013, and it ended in July 2021. The manga's 16th and final volume shipped in January 2022 and had corrections and a revised ending. The manga inspired an anime series adaptation. The show premiered on Amazon Prime Video in Japan in December 2018. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan.

Sources: Champion RED January 2026 issue and website, Chimaki Kuori's X/Twitter account