This romantic nook is something the manga lacked and did feel colder for, and honestly, it gives Seiya an outlet from an otherwise harsh story about him searching throughout several wars for Patricia. Seiya sees himself in Shaun and vice versa, and we get some cute moments with them bonding. The show doesn't step into full-blown romantic territory just yet, but thisВ common ground does mold them asВ best friends whoВ can relate to each other. This enriches their bond and even cultivates the potential for something more than friendship. In that sense, whileВ Shaun's looking to retrieve her sibling mentally, Seiya is doing so for his physically, giving rise to the duo sharing common grief. It works even betterВ asВ their sibling arc ties into Seiya's own journey in whichВ he's trying to find his kidnapped sister, Patricia, after six years of training. A brother-sister arc just has a lot more warmth and compassion compared to what you normally get between two brothers. In the books, their relationship was so abrasive but here, it's a great story of redemption as Shaun tries to get Nero to turn towards the light again after they got separated and he became a killer. What makes Shaun's integration even more powerful in this reboot is there's a lot more nuance to her brotherly arc with Phoenix Nero. Shaun's just as badass a soldier, helping Seiya in the field of battle and providing someone for him to confide in and lean on. RELATED: How Netflix's Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac Sets Up a Season 2 There was a female presence in the form of teachers like Seiya's mentor, Marin, in the manga and old cartoons/movies, but here, Shaun takesВ representation and female powerВ to a whole new level withinВ Seiya's legion as they aim to protect a reincarnated Athena from the swath of villains hunting her. However, while no one's advocating straight-washing or swapping out pseudo-gay characters, gender equality is still just as progressive a stance, and Shaun does add a much-needed degree of gender balance to the knights. Still, loyalists feltВ Shun was a subtle shout-out for diversity and this character shouldn't have been tweaked. Fans didn't like the swap because in the lore, Shun was effeminate and seen as a gay icon, even though it really wasn't explicitly stated. The show's writer, Eugene Son, drew heavy flak on Twitter, even deleting his account after admitting he made the change because he felt Seiya's knights shouldn't be all-male as per the source material.

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