Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth Blu-ray Movie Review

Legend of the Crimson Youth is the third feature in the Saint Seiya – Knights of the Zodiac film franchise. The film debuted theatrically at the Weekly Jump 20^th anniversary film festival in July 1988. One of the longest films in the Saint Seiya – Knights of the Zodiac film franchise and yet it still carries a brisk run-time of 75 minutes.

The Legend of the Crimson Youth film takes place between the Poseidon saga and the Fallen Angels saga. Created by Masami Kurumada, Legend of the Crimson Youth is executive produced by Chiaki Imada (Galaxy Express 999, Taro the Dragon Boy). Legend of the Crimson Youth has opening theme music performed by Make-Up. Hitomi Tooyama and Oren Waters did the ending theme music.

Produced by Toei Animation (Digimon Adventure, Sailor Moon), Legend of the Crimson Youth has outstanding animation. The film features vocal performances by Taichirou Hirokawa, Tōru Furuya, Hirotaka Suzuoki, and Kōichi Hashimoto. Fans of the franchise will appreciate the third film outing.

Phoebus Abel (Taichirou Hirokawa) comes to visit Athena. Abel has decided to set forth on a mission of revenge against all of humanity. Abel is determined to unleash a wrath of fury against everyone with diabolical plans of world conquering. Pegasus Seiya (Tōru Furuya) and the other warriors must find themselves gearing up for another epic battle as the stage is set to fight for the future of mankind.

Attempting to rebel against the danger of Abel, Athena strikes back but is sent to the Elysion Fields. Attempting to rescue Athena, The Bronze Saints band together to travel to the Elysion Fields sanctuary and fight for Athena while battling the villainous Abel. Can Seiya and the other warriors be victorious as another epic battle stage is set?

The character designs by Michi Himeno (Saint Seiya, The Rose of Versailles) and Shingo Araki (Cutie Honey, Galaxy Express 999) bring so much creative vitality to the production. The designs were outstanding. The first-rate design elements give a sense of life to the animation.

The animation is an essential element of the film. The film features brilliant art direction by Fumihiro Uchikawa (One Piece, Rainbow Across the Pacific) and Tadao Kubota (The Rose of Versailles, Captain Harlock: Mystery of the Arcadia). The film features animation direction by Shingo Araki (The Rose of Versailles, Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato). The animators have fun exploring this animated landscape. The characters and their world are brought to life by the entire team. The cell-based animation is breathtaking.

The cinematography by Toshio Shirai (GoShogun, Armored Trooper Votoms) and Yoshio Aiso (Sailor Moon S: The Movie, Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy) is a gorgeous aspect of the film and the brilliant visuals certainly bring a lot of wonderment to the experience. The results are stellar. An outstanding effort by Shirai and Aiso.

The score composed by Seiji Yokoyama (Saint Seiya, Space Pirate Captain Harlock) is in good fun and the music provides a solid backdrop to the entire action-packed spectacle. The score fits the action beats of the production like a glove. The results are superb.

Written by Yoshiyuki Suga (One Piece, Saint Seiya), Legend of the Crimson Youth is perhaps the best of the films. The script is engaging and entertaining. There were a lot of fun moments for the characters. These elements helped to bring the saga forward in an ambitious way. The scripting is consistently impressive and the solid storytelling is fun.

Directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi (Dragon Ball Z, Saint Seiya), Legend of the Crimson Youth is an essential view for fans of the saga. The filmmaking is Legend of the Crimson Youth is exceptional and there are many layers to the production. The results are outstanding. Legend of the Crimson Youth will bring audiences a lot of energetic adventure and action- packed mayhem. A must-see for fans.

Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray from Discotek Media, Legend of the Crimson Youth is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in a theatrical aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The video quality on the release is superb. The high-definition visuals are outstanding. The level of detail apparent in the image is something to commend. The encoding by Discotek Media is stunning and the cell-based animation has likely never looked better than it does on this home media release.

Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless Japanese audio options: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with English subtitles) and Japanese uncompressed PCM 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release doesn't include an English dub option.  The lossless audio quality is superb. The surrounds were engaging throughout the presentation. Dialogue is clear and well reproduced. The score sounds crisp and is well highlighted.

Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release includes a nice o-card slipcover.

The supplements are standard across all films in the collection. The four feature-films are presented on one Blu-ray disc (because of the short run- time of the feature-films). The on-disc supplements include:

"Evil Goddess Eris" Trailer (HD, 00:21)

"The Heated Battle of the Gods" Trailer (HD, 00:28)

"Legend of the Crimson Youth" Trailer (HD, 1:15)

"Warriors of the Final Holy Battle" Trailer (HD, 00:44)

Clean Opening – "The Heated Battle of the Gods" (SD, 1:26)

Clean Opening – "Legend of the Crimson Youth" (SD, 1:29)

Clean Ending – "Legend of the Crimson Youth" (SD, 2:37)

Clean Opening – "Warriors of the Final Holy Battle" (SD, 1:24)

Clean Ending – "Warriors of the Final Holy Battle" (SD, 1:32)

Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Legend of the Crimson Youth is essential for fans of the franchise. The film is entertaining in spades. The animation is stellar and vital to the filmmaking. The production has great elements throughout the film. The filmmaking is energetic fun. The Blu-ray release provides a solid video- audio presentation. Highly recommended.