Review: Seven Deadly Sins

Anime: Seven Deadly Sins (Season 1)Genre: Action, Adventure, FantasyAge Rating: Teen+Studio: A-1 PicturesMusic: Hiroyuki SawanoAuthor: Nakaba SuzukiDub/Sub: Dub

Ecchi Level: Otaku

So, due to another "Netflix Original" that I tried to watch before this, I almost didn't look at this one (Will get to that garbage fire later). And that would have been a shame, because this anime is pretty fucking awesome. I wouldn't recommend it for children that are too young, because there is a lot of blood spatter and stabbing.

But the first thing I want to get off my chest is how stupidly arranged the anime was! Each episode was like this. Relevant clip before intro, recap, intro, episode, ending, relevant clip after credits. I've run into plenty of anime that have put stuff before or after the anime, BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THEY'VE DONE IT ON BOTH THE BEGINNING AND THE END! Pick a side and go for it! Having to wait through credits and not being able to skip the intro immediately is infuriating. Also, putting both a recap AND a relevant clip at the beginning is dumb. That's something I'm required to watch if I don't wanna miss anything, then two things I have to skip over in order to get to the main episode. Whoever arranged this, I want to find them, grab them, and shake them until they repent for what they did...

But, that aside, the story itself is simple. Ten years ago in the Kingdom of Britannia, the Seven Deadly Sins were outcasts from the kingdom for slaughtering dozens of holy knights and murdering the grand master of the order. So they went into exile, and were forever more to remain on wanted posters. But in typical anime fashion, we're taught to believe that might not be the whole story.

Now princess Elizabeth of Britannia has fled her own kingdom after the Holy Knights captured her father, and is seeking out the Seven Deadly Sins in order to get their help to save her family and her kingdom. Already a good premise by itself, but the story gets even better when she finds Meliodas, and they work together in his moving tavern to find the other members. Also, credit to the author for making Wrath the dragon sign. :] What? No bias here.

Honestly, I really got into this one. The different powers of the holy knights, the different abilities and races of the sins, it almost had a My Hero Academia vibe to it, which is definitely not a bad thing. It also did a really good job in character history. A lot of backstory for some of the awesome characters that are portrayed in the anime.

If I had to make a complaint, I'd have to say two things. First off, this anime felt like a damn bullet train. From the first time Liz and Meliodas meet, it's a non-stop train of intense moments and epic fights. The anime rarely ever gave us a chance to slow down and breathe before it picked up speed again. So I'd say the pacing needs dialed back a bit so that there are at least one or two "relax" episodes before they get to their next HUGE KINGDOM SHATTERING FIGHT!

And secondly, it feels like they were intentionally trying to pull the hood over our eyes in a specific moment (explained in spoilers). It seems odd that they'd build the history of a character like this solely for one reveal. If I say any more, I'll spoil it, so you'll have to wait.

But otherwise, I loved it. The music was magical, the animation was... alright. Come to think of it, most of the texturing animation was repetitive. When a certain character makes stone pillars shoot out of the ground, you can easily see that there's a texture painted onto them rather than them being animated like the rest of the show. It didn't bother me much, but just something I noticed along the way.

The dub was pretty damn awesome too. Meliodas is played by Bryce Papenbrook, who as mentioned in my last review, plays a lot of big names in anime. Erika Harlacher (the voice of Elizabeth) is more well known for both anime and video games, and both of these two played in the Danganronpa series that I reviewed previously, making them already a really good partner pairing. So yeah, it's pretty awesome. Though I do have to say, Bryce's voice on a perverted character is... disconcerting...

TLDR: Awesome characters, awesome powers, awesome world, what's not to like? Well... actually, if you aren't a fan of gauge-busting, back-to-back action then this might not be for you. But I'd definitely recommend testing the waters yourself to see. I'd personally recommend it to most, but this is only season 1. So there's more to come in the future... hopefully.

RatingsAnimation: 7/10Music: 7/10Story: 7/10Comedy: 8/10Overall Rating: 7/10

SPOILER TALK BELOW!!! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO HAVE ANYTHING SPOILED, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!!

Best Girl: Diane. Nothing says adorable like a gigantic, constantly jealous girl in a body suit. Plus, she swings a hammer that can crack the planet, so yeah.

It seems stupid to me that the Seven Deadly Sins didn't know each other's faces. How did they not know that Gowther was a twiggy little femboy? And for that matter, what was the purpose of putting Gowther in gigantic armor other than to just throw off the watchers? Seems an odd choice to me, and I wasn't really impressed as much with the revelation about his identity as much as I was confused.

That being said, good on the writer for not taking the typical route of making Lust a sexy female. Nothing against FMA, but their homunculi are a bit... cliché, as far as appearance goes. So it was refreshing to have a tiny, short wrath, a sexy gluttony, and a male lust. They definitely mixed it up with the roster, leaving each character refreshingly new.