Plot
The film begins with Sagittarius Gold Saint Aiolos (Toshiyuki Morikawa) being chased by two fellow Gold Saints, Capricorn Shura (Shinji Kawada) and Gemini Saga (Kōichi Yamadera). They were sent by the Pope of Sanctuary in order to kill him for treason. Aiolos was struck down, and Saga died during the struggle. Meanwhile, in the Himalayas, Mitsumasa Kido and his butler Tatsumi explore an icy cavern. As he goes ahead, Mitsumasa discovers a baby girl and a heavily wounded Aiolos, barely clinging to life. With his last Cosmo, Aiolos shows Mitsumasa that the Pope branded Aiolos a traitor and he escaped with the baby in order to save her. The baby is the reincarnation of the goddess Athena. He also explains that in sixteen years, brave young men known as Saints will arise to protect her. Aiolos then succumbs to his wounds, leaving the Sagittarius Gold Cloth behind.
Sixteen years later, Saori Kido (Ayaka Sasaki), a beautiful young girl troubled by her mysterious powers, is being chauffeured by Tatsumi. He explains that Mitsumasa, Saori's late adoptive grandfather, kept her safe all these years and learns she is the reincarnation of the Goddess Athena and the existence of the Saints. However, they are suddenly attacked by Saints. Saori is saved by the Pegasus Bronze Saint Seiya (Kaito Ishikawa) from an assassin sent to kill her. Seiya's friends and fellow Bronze Saints Cygnus Hyōga (Kenshō Ono), Dragon Shiryū (Kenji Akabane), Andromeda Shun (Nobuhiko Okamoto), also arrive to rescue her as her protectors.
That night at the Kido Mansion, the Leo Gold Saint Aiolia (Gō Inoue), arrives to retrieve his brother's Sagittarius Cloth and kill Saori as a fake Athena. After the Bronze Saints are defeated, Tatsumi hands over the Sagittarius Cloth, but not before Saori displays her Cosmo. With newfound doubt, Aiolia leaves, asking Saori to come to Sanctuary to prove she is Athena. Upon learning of her destination from Seiya and his friends, she agrees to wage war against its Pope and travel to the Sanctuary. Before they can leave however, the Sagitta Silver Saint shoots an arrow at Saori before running away, pursued by Shiryu. However, he is ambushed and burned alive by Shun's older brother loner Phoenix Bronze Saint Ikki (Kenji Nojima) before he can report back to the Pope.
Seiya, alongside his friends arrive at the Sanctuary, heading straight towards the Aries Palace where they encounter Aries Mu (Mitsuru Miyamoto). After a brief misunderstanding, Mu allows them passage through the Palace. At the Taurus Palace, Seiya defeats Aldebaran (Rikiya Koyama) before the teenagers discover that both Aldebaran and Mu are their allies. They agree to watch over Athena while the Bronze Saints go through the rest of the Palaces.
At the Cancer Palace, Cancer Deathmask (Hiroaki Hirata) teleports Hyoga and Shiryu to the entrance to the Underworld, but Hyoga is rescued by his master, Aquarius Camus (Daisuke Namikawa), and ends up in the Aquarius Temple. There, Hyoga battles his master and is victorious, with Camus' final words being "protect Athena". Meanwhile, Seiya and Shun arrive at the Leo Palace where Aiolia attacks them mercilessly. At the entrance to the Underworld, Deathmask's Gold Cloth abandons him after it discovers his evil nature. Shiryu removes his own Cloth and successfully kills Deathmask. He is then teleported back to the Cancer Palace alongside Hyoga.
As Seiya and Shun struggle against Aiolia, the Virgo Gold Saint Shaka (Mitsuaki Madono) comes to their rescue, stopping Aiolia and allowing the Bronze Saints to continue. Once at the Scorpio Palace, Seiya and Shun are attacked by Scorpio Milo (Masumi Asano), with the battle escalating all the way to the Sagittarius Palace, with Capricorn Shura waiting for them. Back at the Cancer Palace, Saori arrives with Mu and Aldebaran and revives the unconscious Shiryu and Hyoga, even though she is weakened. While Seiya and Shun struggle with Milo and Shura, respectively, Ikki comes to Shun's rescue and engages Shura in his stead, but all three Bronze Saints are defeated. Milo then discovers Aiolos' testament, entrusting the Bronze Saints with Athena's life.
The surviving Gold Saints, alongside Hyoga, Shiryu, and Saori arrive. Shaka reveals that the Pope put Aioria under an illusion, explaining why he attacked Seiya and Shun at the Leo Temple. Shaka also reveals that the Pope is the real traitor within Sanctuary.
Saori, Shiryu, Hyoga, and Shun join their Cosmo to revive Seiya. Pisces Aphrodite (Takuya Kirimoto) speaks to the Pope about the current situation, but is killed by the Pope. Sanctuary is then attacked by the Pope who reveals himself to be Gemini Saga, who faked his death sixteen years ago. He reveals to the Saints that he tried to kill Athena all those years ago but was stopped by Aiolos. Now he plans to take control of the universe. He brings a giant statue to life and the Gold Saints join forces to destroy it, while Seiya faces Saga alone.
Seiya burns his Cosmo to reach the mythical Seventh Sense and gains the upper hand, but Saga merges himself with another giant statue and prepares to destroy Athena, everyone in Sanctuary and the Earth. Suddenly, the Sagittarius Cloth covers Seiya and he is able to rescue Saori. With Saori in his arms, Sagittarius Seiya confronts Saga one last time and saves her from Saga's curse. He shoots a powerful arrow and destroy Saga, saving Sanctuary and the Earth. Saori, now in control of Sanctuary, addresses all the Saints, thanking Seiya and his friends for rescuing her.
In a post-credits scene, Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga, and Shun celebrate Saori's sixteenth birthday.
