Seven Deadly Sins Review

Pros: fun, old school fantasy setting that uses established tropes for its advantage; mixes drama and comedy well and is careful to never take itself too serious; amazing cast of characters; solid animation and music Cons: nothing really new or original; a few jarring melodramatic scenes; art-style is an acquired taste; bland environments; not all the Sins introduced

Story & Setting
Set in a medieval times-like world, the story takes place in an alternate version of Britannia and its kingdoms; in this world, the lands are protected by organizations of Holy Knights, immensely powerful warriors sworn to protect the people and uphold justice. In the kingdom of Liones, there's a sub-section of Holy Knights, known as "the Seven Deadly Sins," a group of seven ridiculously powerful knights who are considered to be the strongest in the kingdom. However, ten years before the main plot begins, the Sins supposedly murder their superior and disappear, rumored to have been killed by the Holy Knights, who proceed to stage a coup de'tat and take control over the Kingdom of Liones.

Ten years into the beginning of the story, the third princess of Liones, Elizabeth, decides to find and recruit the Seven Deadly Sins, believing them to be the saviors who can help her in bringing justice to the kingdom.

So... Reading the plot, I won't be surprised if anyone would have passed on Nanatsu, believing it to be a generic fantasy tale with its plot being a poor excuse for some either boring fanservice sessions or exhausting melodramatic plot-lines.

In truth, I would like to say that Nanatsu is a surprisingly very well-written high fantasy anime series, coupled with some great characters and stories. That's the short version.

One of the things that lead to the show's success is its rather old-school high-fantasy setting, which includes knights, demons, fairies, giants, immortals, ghosts and wizards. It's a real treat for fans of fantasy stories in general, especially when the show uses established tropes of both fantasy and Shounen genres for its own advantage; unbelievably strong characters, last-minute life-savers, and more are used in the show with much self-awareness and parody intentions.

In addition, Nanatsu knows how to mix its drama and comedy together very well; unlike many other shows such as Akame ga Kill!, Nanatsu rarely takes itself too seriously; the show is pretty upbeat and nonchalant in nature, placing a lot of focus on fun, adventures and its similarly upbeat and nonchalant characters. That said, the show can be dramatic and serious when needed, and it does so brilliantly when dealing with its characters' rather tragic and saddening backgrounds, especially with Ban and King's stories: I swear, saddest 20 minutes histories I have watched in a while.

Of course... Sometimes the show's drama levels go a liiiiiiiittle bit out of control, leading to a few melodramatic, sappy, and jarring moments, dialogues and confrontations. Honestly, I have noticed this happens more with the character of Elizabeth than with the rest of the main, or even supporting, cast; I don't know, her lines and tone often lead to me cringing at the screen, especially when she begins to sob and cry.

The second and more important "flaw" of the series' setting and plot, depending on how you see it, of course, is the fact that... Really, Nanatsu is nothing new or original in terms of setting, characters, plot, etc; all that it has done, has been done before one form or another. Although, I will mention that whatever Nanatsu does, it does well. Very well, sometimes. And its story remains intriguing throughout most of its run.

A side note before I'll continue to the next section: anime vs. manga changes; Nanatsu does that and it has changed several things to fit better to its 24-episode run-time and pacing. I'm honestly not interested in starting comparing one version to another, as an adaptation should stand on its own, and as far I'm concerned, Nanatsu stands firmly.

Characters
The characters are without a shadow of doubt, the best aspect of the show; the main cast includes the Seven Deadly Sins, Elizabeth, and a talking pig named Hawk (fuck if I'd know why he was named that way...), whereas the supporting cast includes allies, villainous Holy Knights and several other beings.

Each member of the Sins is entitled to their own title and of course, Sin, which is very often accompanied by a tragic series of events somehow connected to said sin due to the character's supposed actions, be it greed, wrath or sloth. Honestly, despite their troubled pasts and hardships, the Sins are notably cheerful, laid-back and relaxed for the most part, and despite their fearsome reputation as a cruel and violent order, they're actually pretty nice and generous people. Only as the series progresses, then we see some of the scars they hold deep, deep within.

The most notable Sin is Meliodas, the Dragon's Sin of Wrath, leader of the Sins, and the main character of the show; despite his youthful appearance that makes most people mistake him for a kid, Meliodas is a few centuries old, and ridiculously powerful even when compared to the other Sins. Regardless of how powerful he is or what his Sin was, Meliodas is often laid-back, carefree, calm and slightly perverted (when Elizabeth is in the area), traits that lead to a lot of the humor of the series.

Next up we have Elizabeth; Elizabeth is the third princess of the Kingdom of Liones who, after the hostile take-over of the Holy Knights, searches for Meliodas and his team to end the Knights' reign. A naive and sensitive character, Elizabeth can be a little hard to love at first, and as I mentioned earlier, she is one of the major sources of the show's more melodramatic scenes. That said, however, Elizabeth exists as a good contrast to the Sins' traits; she is a normal human being with zero fighting abilities thrown into a group of professional, super-powered killers. With that contrast, her dynamics with the Sins are that more interesting to watch.

We also have Hawk! A talking pig that is Meliodas' best friend and the show's comic relief character. He is also very similar to Happy from Fairy Tail in terms of role and personality, if to be honest.

Out of the Seven Sins, only six appear in the show (including Meliodas), and out of them, only four get as much development and screen-time as they deserve, while two other Sins appear in the second half of the series, and one is yet to be introduced... Which is rather saddening. *sad face* Out of the four Sins that DO get a major character treatment, we have Ban; an immortal human being that words fail to describe. Short story, he's awesome.

As for the show's antagonists, the Holy Knights, I really like how the show doesn't treat them as one-dimensional bad guys, but rather as multi-layered people with motivations, fears, regrets, traumas and reasons to do what they do. The most notable example, of course, is Helbram, a person from King's past, who I have to admit is one of the best characters in the entire series, and his story is just as heartbreaking as you may imagine it to be.

Animation & Art
Nanatsu was produced by Studio A-1 Pictures, a studio best known for its work on the mega-hit Sword Art Online, and the popular Fairy Tail. As far as their works go, A-1 Picture's work on Nanatsu is solid; the animation is mostly fluid with very few falls or inconsistencies in it, while the art rarely falls to rough places, so that's a plus. As an action show, Nanatsu is a great one with dynamic and entertaining action scenes that are made that much more with the cast's insane arsenal of weapons and abilities.

Now, as with the art itself... It's an acquired taste; Nakaba Suzuki has a rather unique art-style when it comes to his character designs, including more round noses and softer face features for most of the cast. Now, there's nothing wrong with this style or something... But you might take a few episodes for it to grow on you.

Another problem with the show's art... Background and environment designs are bland and uninspired, if to be blunt; forests, towns, caves and etc, all look generic and rather boring, with the only exception being a location known as the Capital of the Dead, which is a special place whose lands are covered by some weird green crystals and diamonds.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: the show does have some fanservice in it, often involving Meliodas doing some pervy things to Elizabeth, but overall, it's rather tame to the stuff we get to see nowadays.

Music & Sound
The soundtrack for Nanatsu was composed mostly by Hiroyuki Sawano, whose most famous works are probably Attack on Titan, Kill la Kill and Guilty Crown, among many others. Now, for the most part, Sawano's work on Nanatsu is pleasant to listen to and does its job as one would've expected, butI will admit it's a little less memorable than his previous works, and hell, may I even say it feels a little 'tamed' in comparison to some of his earlier work. That said, some tracks do stand out, in particular "Perfect Time," and the melancholic and emotional track known as "Ban & Elaine," which is played during one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the entire series.

The opening and ending themes are rather pleasant to listen to as well, and seem to follow the series' trend of "nothing new, but very well done," because I seriously found myself listening to both the first opening ("Netsujō no Spectrum") and second opening ("Seven Deadly Sins"? Huh...) for hours upon hours because of how addicting they can be.

As for voice acting... Here's a rather interesting fun fact: Nanatsu is the second anime production whose English dub was exclusively produced by Netflix, the first one being 2013's Knights of Sidonia. About the final product, it's a solid English dub and it won't change much about your opinion in regards to anime dubbing. I will admit, however, that I prefer the Japanese dub, if only because of Tatsuhisa Suzuki doing a much better work as Ban than Benjamin Diskin, but that is just my opinion, and hey, you're free to disagree.

Final Verdict
The Seven Deadly Sins is a good anime series; it provides little new to the either the fantasy genre or the anime medium as a whole, but it doesn't need to, for it is a very well done anime with a decent plot, good balance between comedy and drama, fun and instantly likable characters, and solid production values. It's far from perfect, yes, with its art-style and melodramatic scenes bog down the experience a little, and some may find its lack of anything new bothersome (*cough* like me *cough*), but those flaws are overwhelmed by the merits with little problem.

While it's not what I would call an instant or modern classic, Nanatsu deserves praise for an overall satisfying package. So, if you have some time and you're tired of people singing unworthy praises for shows such as Akame ga Kill!, Nanatsu is a great alternative.