Before the fun of what I have planned for Christmas (HEHEHEHEHE) lets take a look at an anime series I watched on Netflix (thank you Voltron, you will find why I say that next month) with the fantasy series, The Seven Deadly Sins or Nanatsu no Taizai ( not to be confused with another anime series using the phrase seven deadly sins that is not one I will be reviewing)
Set in the kingdom of Britannia (which is clearly Scotland on the map, no sign of anywhere else in the UK, just Scotland yet they call it Britannia….) we follow a team of former holy knights and the princess Elizabeth as they set to free the country from the sudden tyranny of the actual holy knights. Each of the seven (though you only meet 6 in the series, but season 2 is coming next year) has a sin they apparently committed, though as the series goes on you find they were often wrongly accused so in the series you meet all bar pride.
The main lead is Meliodas a small man sometimes mistaken for being A LOT younger than he is, who is the sin of wrath (and also one of the few that actually did commit the crime they were accused of) who runs a bar that sits on top of a giant green pig (no we’re not getting anywhere near Horizon levels of weirdness) . He and Elizabeth set out to find the other sins and save the kingdom. What follows is a fun series with depth plot and character twists, secrets revealed, hidden plans exposed and an even greater darkness hidden and its connection to the lead (but doesn’t fully get out as that’s season 2.)
The lead cast is rather diverse as it includes a female giant, a talking pig, an immortal man, the king of fairies and a man who seems very strangely emotionally detached as well as Meliodas and princess Elizabeth and that’s not including everyone else. Once again the series main strength is in its characters. You are following what should be the bad guys but you soon find it’s much more complicated than that, which does lead to some tearful moments as Diane the giant protects people who are themselves calling for her death.
It’s very much an action series though, with fight scenes that show off the leads abilities with for the most part the leads being at the top level to some points seemingly like unstoppable foes. But as the series progresses that image quickly fades, for although they are vastly above the regular people, when they face a foe that can hold their own you get to enjoy the fight. For the most part each character has their own set of abilities. They focus on and don’t tend to pull out an attack out of nowhere that doesn’t seem to fit though King (the fairy king) does have a very wide array of abilities.
Of course you do start to get confused as to what is meant to be super powerful at the end as the power bars start flinging left and right. Some elements were built up for what is to be revealed later (though thankfully it’s not done in an entirely necessary way and the story is still feeling complete without it) and with character driven shows, if you end up not liking the characters you won’t like it.
However I did enjoy the series and am happy that season 2 is on its way (though Netflix early this year inaccurately said the 4 intermediary ovas were season 2 and got my hopes up URGH). Thanks to the manga I know what’s coming, and those hint towards bigger things which will be much greater than you can imagine.
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