English Dub Review: Saint Seiya: Battle for Sanctuary “Heaven’s Treasure”

Overview:

Nero’s battle with Shaka concludes.

Our Take:

Shaka is proving to be a formidable foe for Nero, but Nero refuses to give up. During the battle, Nero sees a vision of his younger self carrying Shaun. A voice tells him to drop her, but he refuses. This motivates him to give it his all against Shaka. Shaka also destroys Nero’s armor, but the Phoenix armor can come back if destroyed.

Shaka is take to his limit, so he finally opens his eyes. Once that happens, his true power is unleashed. He takes Nero’s senses away one by one. After that, Shaun tries to step in, but Nero has one final trick up his sleeve. Unfortunately, it results in him taking his own life along with Shaka’s. Shaun mourns over the loss of her brother, but she knows that they will see each other again one day.

I wasn’t blown by this fight, but I thought it was fine for what it was. I haven’t seen much of the original Saint Seiya, but I vividly remember Shaka taking Ikki’s senses in that show. That scene stuck with me, so seeing it in this series is cool.

I admire Nero’s sacrifice. He wants to be the one to defeat Shaka and he knows the only way to do it is to destroy himself as well. It’s sad that Shaun has to watch her brother essentially get tortured and take his own life, but it’s a worthy sacrifice. At least this one feels more impactful than the last sacrifice we saw in this show.

The Bronze Knights can now move on to the next temple, but that only means their next trial will be even more treacherous than this one.