Honest Opinion - Leo Aiolia
Ioria in Italy, the reason why I keep getting his name wrong when I write in English. Let’s hope I didn’t call him by the wrong name in this too.
(Hades and Soul of Gold not taken into consideration, I need to re-watch them before talking)
Overall score (character, not looks)
Classic: 8/10
Legend of Sanctuary: 8/10
Let’s talk about this oversize cat dressed in gold.
He didn’t impress me that much at first, because he felt like the classic heroic and noble character you normally see in works like Saint Seiya, but then?
Yeah, I started loving him, I just needed to know his character a little bit more.
Aiolia has an heartbreaking character arc, starting with Aiolos being flagged as a traitor, his death and the consequent issues Aiolia had with the people in the Sanctuary.
Even if it’s not strongly stated, you can see that Aiolia got kind of isolated by his fellow Saints, and the betrayal of his brother influenced his life way more than what’s shown on screen.
And, because of this, when we first encounter him in his role as a Gold Saint, he seems extremely faithful to the Pope, despite having little doubts, and willing to take on his shoulders the task of retrieving Sagittarius and killing the Bronze Saints.
Though, he’s still gentle and has a good spirit, as we see when he tries to save those poor kids running away from the Sanctuary, or when he spares Shaina.
On top of that, we can see he’s a good person at heart when, even if Aiolos intervened to help him, he recognizes Athena in Saori Kido and stops fighting.
Ioria also regrets instantly his deeds under Arles’ control, since he tries to save Cassios and apologizes right away.
He’s a strong character with a difficult story behind him, I quite like him.
The reason I can’t give him a 10/10 score is in his behavior towards Seiya and Saori, before recognizing her.
I stand with his brother, and say that he’d been way too blind. He actually met Saori, not just listened to the Pope talking shit about her not being Athena and whatever, but still doubted and wanted physical proof she wasn’t lying.
That, my dear, bites you back.
The sheer fact he believed Aiolos to be a traitor sounds absolutely weird to me, because he knew him at heart, and still thought “wait no, Aiolos wasn’t trying to save a life, he’s just a traitor”.
Come on, little lion. You could have done better.
In Legend of Sanctuary they mostly kept him exactly the same, maybe only changing his behavior a bit by making him a little bit more full of himself. Especially during the fight with the Bronze Saints, before he fell under Arles’ mind control.
He’s cool, faithful to the original. Approval granted with no complaints.