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Saint Cloth Myth - Gemini Saga |
| Series | Saint Cloth Myth |
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| Title | Gemini Saga | |
| Release Date | December 2005 | |
| Manufacturer | Bandai | |
| Suggested Price (JPY) | 6,000 | |
| Scale | 1/11 | |
| Height (cm) |
In robe: 19.5 cm (approx) In full armor: 17.9 cm (approx) |
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| No. of Parts | 1 figure + 56 armor parts + 1 color instruction sheet (8-pages) + 2 robes + 2 mantel + 1 beaded necklace | |
| My Rating | Excellent |
Related Items:
Story
Ares
was a son of Zeus and Hera, and was known as the Roman god, Mars. He is a god of war but
many Greek kingdoms did not worship him because Ares personified uncontrolled and murderous
killing in war, and he engaged in bloody strife for the sheer love of combat itself. Many
Greeks preferred Athena, the goddess of war, whose judgment is not clouded by the passion of
fighting.
As the story goes, for a few hundreds of years, the Gods will re-incarnate as a human to
rule the world. Athena reincarnated as a baby girl. Owing to the discord and jealousy on
Athena, Ares cheated by possessing the body of a full-grown man. He chooses Gemini Saga who
also has subdued dark side of himself due to the side effect of Gemini Cloth. The possessed
Saga killed the aged Shion and took his place as the Master of Sanctuary. With the facemask
he wears and the voice change initiated by Ares possession, no one notices until he is
discovered in an attempt to murder the infant Athena by Sagittarius Aioros. He sent then
Capricorn Shura to hunt down Aioros and continue to rule over the Sanctuary for the next one
and a half decades.
Saga comes with a few special attacks up his sleeves. He could control time and space via
“Another Dimension” where it tore a space-time fabric and swept his opponent into it. That
is not his best technique. His other skill, “Galaxian Explosion”, is a more straightforward
technique that clashes two parts of his cosmos to create a galactic size explosion
(literally speaking). During his possession by Ares, he is seen using “Demon Emperor Fist”,
a skill similar to Ikki’s “Phoenix Genma Ken”, to put Leo Aioria under his mind control. In
term of cosmo power, it is safe to say that Saga can only be surpassed by Virgo Shaka and
maybe Libra Dohko.
Packaging
This release cost me 6000 yen! Historically the most expensive Saint Cloth Myth release
to date by a big fat 1000-yen difference to the next most expensive item (Taurus and Libra).
Being the second last Gold Saints to be release and the iconic characters in the series,
Bandai has done it again in their last attempt sinking their vampiric fangs into Saint Seiya
fans’ wallet. Although this comes with a hefty price tag, this is by far the most impressive
release and quite worth every pennies spent.
The package comes standard where it opens to reveal two window boxes; in one window box is a figure of Saga, along with his cloth parts while the other half contains another Saga figure with the rest of his armor parts and accessories.
The following are the parts count and items in bold are of metal (bold underline is for partially made of metal):
Upper Left
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Upper Right
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Lower Left
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Lower Right
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A normal Gold release comes with an instruction manual and a mantel tapered to the back of the box but this comes with an abundant list of items as listed below.
Additional Items
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Figures
As the story goes, Gemini Saga has dual personalities, the normal loyal Saints of Athena
and the possessed Saga by Ares. I am anticipating the standard head swap design, but then
Bandai is giving me a surprise here (beside the price tag). This release comes with not one
but two well-articulated body of Gemini Saga.
The first figure is a normal Saga with a blue hair and dark gray body with golden boots. The other figure is a possessed Saga depicted with white hair, red eyes and body molded in all black and comes with black boots.
I believe the main reason for Bandai to include a double here is to replicate an anime accurate scene for an evil pontiff and the anonymous all-black Gemini Saint whom appeared in Gemini Palace. Although it is not the new body, the articulation is still adequate for a Gold Saint.
The head sculpt is the usual good. Hair can be removed to wear a full helm. The long hair is an extra attachment to the neck just like Pontiff Shion design.
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The Pontiff, the Throne and the Golden Dagger Firstly, it comes with fabric robes to dress up Saga as the Pontiff. The black robe is decorated with gold embroidery and red ribbon belt. I will say this is the Pontiff casual wear and there is more to that. Another white robe is included to dress up Saga as the intimidating evil Pontiff in armor. Large spiked shoulder armor, beaded necklace and a full eagle helm is included to do just that. We have a pontiff here and so does the previous Pontiff Shion release. Bandai make this release better by providing a throne. The throne is made of 5 pieces of plastic snap together via male-female connectors and slots. The throne is a nice touch but then I am slightly disappointed with the paint job. It comes in flat gold instead of the shiny gold depicted on photos. The sculpting is detailed and yet no shading painted on it. Oh well. I think that can be fixed by painting it when I got the time. |
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Robes, checked. Throne, checked. What is next?
Most Saint Seiya fans will remember that Saga attempted to murder the baby Saori at the very beginning of the story. Saori is a God reincarnated and a fruit knife for the task, although adequate, is inappropriate and maybe downright insulting. The task has to be done via an elegant golden dagger, a tool appropriate to take the life of a God, specially made by Ares from god-knows-where. Those who watch Chapter Hades should notice that this is the same dagger Saori use as her one-way-ticket to Hades. The golden dagger, an iconic item in the chronicle of Saint Seiya, is provided in this release.
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Armored Figure
Since this release comes with 2 bodies. The armored figure can be dress on either one.
After going through the process in reviewing 11 Gold Saints, I am unfeeling towards it because there is nothing new over here. The helm, shoulder, chest, arm skirt and leg armor always goes to the same place. The differences between Gold Saints are the intricate patterns and details. I am not saying it is no good. The armor design is beautiful, great, astonishing, perfect, impressive, awesome and I am running out of words here. I could not write more. I think you should judge by your own eyes.
The all-black figure donning the armor is not without a story. In Chapter Sanctuary, the Gemini Cloth first appears in Gemini Palace, donned by an anonymous black warrior. This mysterious Saint is actually controlled by Ares in his throne room, with the intention of thwarting their attempt to reach him. This puppet warrior launches one of Saga special attack “Another Dimension” and sends Cygnus Hyoga to the Libra Palace.
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Conclusion
The Gold Saints release is coming to an end. Nobody care much about Pieces Aphrodite and
Gemini Saga is Bandai last chance to squeeze blood out from Saint Seiya's fans. Expecting
the best from Bandai, this is the most expensive, loaded with the most gimmicks and one of
the best Gold Saint ever released. Prepare to dig deep into your pocket. This is a highly
recommended item in this series.
This item is pre-order online via HLJ.
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Document Date : 2006-03-08 |
Responses to this page:
Which is ur fav out of all the saints? In terms of good buy collectible..
super:D
take a photo of saga wearing his helmet, plz!
Im broke because of you!!! thats ok.. I love Saint seiya!!! keep up the great reviews!!
I just bought this Cloth Myth and it's awesome! I can't figure out how to pose it in order to use all it's extras!
Where do you buy your Cloth Myth? I can't find a reliable place to do, and it drives me mad!