Saint Seiya DARK WING Vol. 1
Author: Masami Kurumada
Writer: Kenji Saito
Artist: Shinshu Ueda
Publisher: Titan Manga (print version)
Translation: Motoko Tamamuro, Jonathan Clements
Author: Yousef Mohammed
Publication date: September 16, 2025
Rating: 15+
Genre: Fantasy
Saint Seiya Darkwing is the latest spin-off of the fantasy constellation manga series created by Kenji Saito and Shinshu Ueda. Darkwing is a unique take on the series, spotlighting high school students who discover that they are the reincarnations of the Gold Saints and Judges of the Underworld.
I didn’t like how the main character changed in the middle of the story. We switch from Shoichiro to his twin brother Sojiro. It would have been a stronger and more grounded work if it had stayed in Shoichiro’s point of view in the first volume, and perhaps had a chapter or volume after that in Sojiro’s point of view. There are already so many spin-offs on the Saint’s side of the story, so it’s a shame that Darkwing still has to share a POV with them when it should be about the Specters.
I never would have guessed it if I wasn’t constantly reminded of how these characters are supposed to be the ghosts of Hades. Shoichiro and the other Specters are too kind and cheerful, and yes, they’re high school students, and yes, their innocence is understandable since it’s early in the story, but it’s not at all interesting to read. Shoichiro has no idea what’s going on and doesn’t bother to ask questions.
The pacing was also very strange. The first half of the story from Shoichiro’s point of view is long and frankly not that interesting, choosing to focus on things that don’t seem to have much bearing on the overall story. It was meant to build the relationship between Shoichiro, Hime, and Chunfeng, but it could have been cut.
On the other hand, the pacing in the second half from Sojiro’s perspective was slightly better, but not by much. We get fast-paced and unfortunately chaotic narrative storytelling. It was hard to understand what was going on because we were jumping from one big thing to the next. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get to the heart of the story, but in the end I did.
Saint Seiya has always been about the battle between Saint/Athena and Spectre/Hades, and Darkwing is no different, but the reveal that someone is manipulating the conflict from within puts an interesting twist on this age-old conflict. Still, despite the title Dark and the first half of the volume about the Scepter of Hades, there were no dark fantasy elements that I expected and expected from this series.
Dark Wing has potential, and considering this is the first volume, I think it’s more about establishing the characters and introducing their conflicts before diving into the action. Fans of the series should definitely give Dark Wing a try. Although there are a few references to the original series, I think it’s a good entry point into the series for new readers, as long as they take a quick crash course into the world of Saint Seiya first.
Something like this:
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