his power, offering it to Hades instead so that the Saints of Athena and his followers will be spared from death. Production In the author commentary page published with the first volume, Megumu Okada explained that he had concerns about taking on the project because he had never written anything that was related to a pre-existing original work and because Saint Seiya was such a renowned piece. Original author Masami Kurumada left him free to write the story that would act as a prequel to the original manga. This resulted in a manga that is, visually, substantially different from its predecessor: character designs are slim and androgynous and details are enhanced to an extreme. Media Manga The first images of the manga appeared in the Champion Red magazine issue of January 2003, published on November 19, 2002, along with posters by and an interview with Masami Kurumada. The first chapter was then released on the following February issue of this monthly magazine, published on December 19, 2002, and the first volume (tankōbon) published on June 19, 2003, under Akita Shoten's Champion Red Comics imprint. Releases arrested in 2009, as author Megumu Okada put the manga on hiatus to dedicate himself to other projects following an unspecified dispute with the publisher, and resumed in Champion Red Ichigo's April 2011 issue, with the release of a new chapter, as well as a compilation of past chapters that had not been grouped in volume format yet (chapters 74–76) called "Volume 17.5". The manga entered a second hiatus after chapter 83 was published in the October 2011 issue of Champion Red Ichigo and, after the publisher announced that the manga would end at volume 20, resumed in the May 2013 issue. The final chapter was released on June 19, 2013; the final volume was published on August 8, 2013.Saint Seiya Episode.G has yet to be licensed in English, but it has been published in several countries outside Japan: in Brazil, by Conrad Editora; by Panini Comics in Italy, Germany and France; Glénat in Spain; Editorial Ivrea in Argentina; Editorial Kamite in Mexico; and by Chuang Yi in Singapore. Special chapters The volumes usually contain short special chapters (gaiden), most of which in color, that tell little side-stories or highlight moments from previous chapters. Some have little relevance to the overall plot of Episode.G, with characters that play little part in the main story but