Saint Seiyai: The Lost Canvas is an anime series with almost non-stop action. That is not necessarily a good thing. When every fight seems not too different than the last, and when the action does nothing to advance the plot, just like the periods of endless dialog, things can get pretty boring.

We start out with three orphan friends – Tenma, Alone, and Sasha. Sasha is taken away, but later turns up all grown into the goddess Athena. Tenma becomes one of Athena’s saints; that is, a holy knight. Alone is a talented artist who becomes possessed by the demon Hades and initiates the most recent Holy War. So now the repetitive battles start, and the story-line develops at a pace so slow that more than half-way through I had to give up on this series. For the record, I got through episode 14 of 26.

The thin plot used as an excuse for just throwing together a battle scene is not helped by what is less than inspiring animation. The artwork is good, but the movement is wooden. This one was done on the cheap.

If you are hoping for some character development, forget it. Half-way through you would expect someone to change their view of the world and effect the story. OK, so early on nice guy Alone does become the nasty demon Hades. But it ends there. I have a feeling there would be some redemption at the end, but that would be a cliché ending and it would involve too much suffering on my part to sit through the remainder of the series.

Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas gets a