The Seven Deadly Sins (Season 1) Series Review

Not all those who proclaim to be good are good. Not all those who appear to be bad are bad. Nanatsu no Taizai is one ironic anime about seven strong knights called the Seven Deadly Sins. Set in the medieval kingdom of Liones, the Seven Deadly Sins along with Princess Elizabeth Liones save the land from being held captive by the Holy Knights.

Synopsis

Elizabeth Liones’ search for the Seven Deadly Sins started ten years after their rumored coup d’état. While villagers thought of it to be a myth, Elizabeth came to search for them anyway in order to rescue the king (her father) and the rest of the royal family who were imprisoned by the Holy Knights. These Holy Knights were originally appointed to protect the Liones kingdom. However, what they did was the opposite. No one knows for sure if the Seven Deadly Sins are alive or if they truly ever exist. Luckily, Elizabeth has found Meliodas, the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins. Together, Elizabeth and Meliodas will go on an epic journey to find the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins and hopefully save the Liones kingdom from the hands of the war-thirsty villains behind the uprising of the Holy Knights.

Plot

After reaching its popularity as a shounen manga, Nanatsu no Taizai (The Seven Deadly Sins) made its way to local television as an anime series on October 2014. Wrath, pride, sloth, gluttony, envy, lust, and greed are commonly known as immoral behaviors in Christian teachings. However, in the anime series, the seven members of the Seven Deadly Sins who possess these characteristics along with the mark of beasts in their body (dragon, goat, lion, grizzly, fox, boar, and serpent) are actually the main heroes of the story. Ironic isn’t it?

Ten years after the rumored war between the Seven Deadly Sins and the Holy Knights, Princess Elizabeth managed to escape from their captors and ran to a neighboring village running into Meliodas inside the Boar Hat wearing one of the Seven Deadly Sins’ armor as a disguise. Because of this, local villagers who were enjoying their ale at the Boar Hat were frightened and ran off.

At first, Elizabeth did not recognize Meliodas to be ‘The Meliodas’ because the Meliodas she just met looks like a kid in his pre-teen years. After finding out that the guy she met was the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins who were disbanded long ago, she immediately opened up about the state of her father, the Liones Kingdom, and the Holy Knights. She believes that only the Seven Deadly Sins are powerful enough to fight for the kingdom and bring peace to them once again.

Nanatsu no Taizai, like other popular shounen anime series, will excite you and pump all that adrenaline with its action-packed vibe and cool characters. Speaking of cool characters, each member of the Seven Deadly Sins represents one of the seven deadly sins (as their name suggests) as a metaphor to their ultimate power and ability. For example, Merlin is dubbed as the Boar’s Sin of Gluttony. Not to sound judgemental but physically, Merlin has the build of a tall and skinny woman which doesn’t explain why she is labeled as a glutton. In addition, Merlin isn’t literally eating that much. However, it was later on revealed that she is hungry for knowledge. Her tremendous thirst for learning spells and potion ingredients allowed her to be more powerful than the rest of the group in terms of magic. That is her most valuable asset.

You cannot expect to gain in-depth knowledge of some sort from Nanatsu no Taizai. Notwithstanding, as an action shounen anime, you can count on quality fights and power showdown among the protagonists and the antagonists. As a matter of fact, it will leave you wanting for more.

Art & Music

Nanatsu no Taizai was created by A-1 Pictures, known as the studio that created many hype anime series including Fairy Tale, Fate, and Sword Art Online. You can expect modern animation set in a medieval setting for this anime show. There are two opening theme songs and two ending theme songs for Nanatsu no Taizai. The first couple is used on the first twelve episodes and the other on the last twelve episodes. All in all, there are 24 episodes, with each episode carefully crafted to build an anticipation to watch the next episode.

Themes & Trivia

The manga of Nanatsu no Taizai was written and illustrated by Nakaba Suzuki and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Due to its rising popularity, a movie entitled Seven Deadly Sins: Prisoners of the Sky is set to premier in Japanese theaters by August 2018. The manga of Nanatsu no Taizai ends at volume 40 as well as at Season 3 of the shounen anime series.

Reviewer’s Thoughts

It may not be highlighted in the anime series but the love stories between the main characters was been well-written. I like the fact that the creators did not write cheesy lines for each couple (brace yourselves for Season 2). What attracted me to watch Nanatsu no Taizai in the first place is the beautifully crafted scenes, dialogues, and storyline. In addition, I also like the fact that the fight scenes are perfectly crafted as each hero complements the other. Though at times Meliodas might appear to be more powerful than them, he is not in his full capability 100% of the time. On the downside, I somehow felt like the story was just used to cover up the fact that the whole point of the show was just about the fight scenes. Don’t get me wrong, the fight scenes are epic. However, as mentioned earlier, there are no deep explanations and learnings about the story. Overall, that did not affect my perspective on Nanatsu no Taizai. I’d highly recommend the series and you won’t regret watching it.