Anime Review: Nanatsu no Taizai(The Seven Deadly Sins)
With Season 2 coming out in January, and this being a well-received adaptation of a popular shounen manga, I decided to give it a go.
Number of Episodes: 24(Plus 2 OVA Episodes, and a mini-series consisting of 4 episodes)
Genre: Shounen, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Ecchi
Plot:
In a world similar to the European Middle Ages, the feared yet revered Holy Knights of Britannia use immensely powerful magic to protect the region of Britannia and its kingdoms. However, a small subset of the Knights supposedly betrayed their homeland and turned their blades against their comrades in an attempt to overthrow the ruler of Liones. They were defeated by the Holy Knights, but rumors continued to persist that these legendary knights, called the "Seven Deadly Sins," were still alive. Ten years later, the Holy Knights themselves staged a coup d’état, and thus became the new, tyrannical rulers of the Kingdom of Liones. Nanatsu no Taizai follows the adventures of Elizabeth, the third princess of the Kingdom of Liones, and her search for the Seven Deadly Sins. With their help, she endeavors to not only take back her kingdom from the Holy Knights, but to also seek justice in an unjust world.
Art(9/10): This is one of the most beautiful looking anime I've ever seen. It's colourful. Really, really colourful. And, doesn't look generic either. Each background looks like it serves a purpose.
Animation(8/10): I'm not exactly an expert on animation, but the animation in this, especially during action scenes, is amazing. The use of Sakuga during fight scenes(basically the style of animation used in One Punch Man, FMAB, My Hero Academia), makes sure every action scene is intense, and so, the hits are visible. You actually see characters hitting, harming, being harmed, injured, and everything, in a clean way. And, of course there are noticeable dips in quality, but rarely are shows able to maintain quality consistently throughout.
Characters(7.5/10): This is a strong point, and sometime a weak point in the anime. The main character, Meliodas, is not a conventional shounen protagonist. He's over-powered, and no one other than the members of the Seven Deadly Sins pose a challenge to him for the first half of the series. He's laid back, and is a pervert, he doesn't really have a goal or anything. The other sins are also extremely like-able. But, Elizabeth, the princess, is, well, useless. She's a weak McGuffin, and nothing more. There's also a pig character which serves as a comic relief, and I found him to be funny and quippy but I feel like he can be hit or miss for other people. The villains are service-able and nothing exceptional, but the supporting characters are pretty memorable.
Story(8/10): I always like stories with a conspiracy angle(ala FMAB, my second favourite anime of all time), and this was a pleasant surprise for me. There wasn't a lot of cliche's and the story felt unique in its own way, and the plot moved at a brisk pace. The story is never super serious, and maintains a fun tone, and also has a lot of violence and fan-service, so be warned.
Voice Acting(9/10): Everyone sounded really appealing to me. Most of them were veterans who voiced like really popular characters(which you'll know if you browse their MAL profiles). On a side note, watch episode 20 till the end, when the preview of the next episode is being shown, if you are a big fan of Mamoru Miyano, and his performance as Okabe Rintarou.
Pacing(7.5/10): I think that the initial episodes, go a little bit faster than they should, and I think they should've taken more time with the setting. But they do eventually settle down and go at a very good pace, for most of the series, but, the last couple of episodes feel a little rushed. It's not slow, not at all, but really fast.
Overall, this is an entertaining Shounen anime, with a pretty unique setting, like-able characters, great action sequences and a good plot, although it may feel rushed at times.
Score: 8/10.
Anime Info:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/23755/Nanatsu_no_Taizai
Important Note: Every episode has a scene after the ending song gets over, so don't forget to watch it before moving on to the next episode.
Regarding the OVA:
The first episode is more of an expanded take on an event that takes place in the main series, and the second episode is a slice of life episode. You can skip them.
OVA Info:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/30347/Nanatsu_no_Taizai_OVA
Regarding the mini-series:
The anime does some things at the end that aren't in the manga, so the mini-series retcons and corrects certain things. It's kinda good, and there's some action in it, and you can watch it if you like these characters and you want more episodes.
Mini-series Info:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31722/Nanatsu_no_Taizai__Seisen_no_Shirushi
Trailer for Nanatsu no Taizai:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxcvbL6o55M
PS: There's also a second season that starts airing in January 2018.
Info on the second season:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34577/Nanatsu_no_Taizai__Imashime_no_Fukkatsu
Another Note: Don't confuse this series with Sin: Nanatsu no Taizai, which is a 2017 series that has 12 episodes and terrible ratings in myanimelist.
With Season 2 coming out in January, and this being a well-received adaptation of a popular shounen manga, I decided to give it a go.
Number of Episodes: 24(Plus 2 OVA Episodes, and a mini-series consisting of 4 episodes)
Genre: Shounen, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Ecchi
Plot:
In a world similar to the European Middle Ages, the feared yet revered Holy Knights of Britannia use immensely powerful magic to protect the region of Britannia and its kingdoms. However, a small subset of the Knights supposedly betrayed their homeland and turned their blades against their comrades in an attempt to overthrow the ruler of Liones. They were defeated by the Holy Knights, but rumors continued to persist that these legendary knights, called the "Seven Deadly Sins," were still alive. Ten years later, the Holy Knights themselves staged a coup d’état, and thus became the new, tyrannical rulers of the Kingdom of Liones. Nanatsu no Taizai follows the adventures of Elizabeth, the third princess of the Kingdom of Liones, and her search for the Seven Deadly Sins. With their help, she endeavors to not only take back her kingdom from the Holy Knights, but to also seek justice in an unjust world.
Art(9/10): This is one of the most beautiful looking anime I've ever seen. It's colourful. Really, really colourful. And, doesn't look generic either. Each background looks like it serves a purpose.
Animation(8/10): I'm not exactly an expert on animation, but the animation in this, especially during action scenes, is amazing. The use of Sakuga during fight scenes(basically the style of animation used in One Punch Man, FMAB, My Hero Academia), makes sure every action scene is intense, and so, the hits are visible. You actually see characters hitting, harming, being harmed, injured, and everything, in a clean way. And, of course there are noticeable dips in quality, but rarely are shows able to maintain quality consistently throughout.
Characters(7.5/10): This is a strong point, and sometime a weak point in the anime. The main character, Meliodas, is not a conventional shounen protagonist. He's over-powered, and no one other than the members of the Seven Deadly Sins pose a challenge to him for the first half of the series. He's laid back, and is a pervert, he doesn't really have a goal or anything. The other sins are also extremely like-able. But, Elizabeth, the princess, is, well, useless. She's a weak McGuffin, and nothing more. There's also a pig character which serves as a comic relief, and I found him to be funny and quippy but I feel like he can be hit or miss for other people. The villains are service-able and nothing exceptional, but the supporting characters are pretty memorable.
Story(8/10): I always like stories with a conspiracy angle(ala FMAB, my second favourite anime of all time), and this was a pleasant surprise for me. There wasn't a lot of cliche's and the story felt unique in its own way, and the plot moved at a brisk pace. The story is never super serious, and maintains a fun tone, and also has a lot of violence and fan-service, so be warned.
Voice Acting(9/10): Everyone sounded really appealing to me. Most of them were veterans who voiced like really popular characters(which you'll know if you browse their MAL profiles). On a side note, watch episode 20 till the end, when the preview of the next episode is being shown, if you are a big fan of Mamoru Miyano, and his performance as Okabe Rintarou.
Pacing(7.5/10): I think that the initial episodes, go a little bit faster than they should, and I think they should've taken more time with the setting. But they do eventually settle down and go at a very good pace, for most of the series, but, the last couple of episodes feel a little rushed. It's not slow, not at all, but really fast.
Overall, this is an entertaining Shounen anime, with a pretty unique setting, like-able characters, great action sequences and a good plot, although it may feel rushed at times.
Score: 8/10.
Anime Info:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/23755/Nanatsu_no_Taizai
Important Note: Every episode has a scene after the ending song gets over, so don't forget to watch it before moving on to the next episode.
Regarding the OVA:
The first episode is more of an expanded take on an event that takes place in the main series, and the second episode is a slice of life episode. You can skip them.
OVA Info:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/30347/Nanatsu_no_Taizai_OVA
Regarding the mini-series:
The anime does some things at the end that aren't in the manga, so the mini-series retcons and corrects certain things. It's kinda good, and there's some action in it, and you can watch it if you like these characters and you want more episodes.
Mini-series Info:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31722/Nanatsu_no_Taizai__Seisen_no_Shirushi
Trailer for Nanatsu no Taizai:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxcvbL6o55M
PS: There's also a second season that starts airing in January 2018.
Info on the second season:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34577/Nanatsu_no_Taizai__Imashime_no_Fukkatsu
Another Note: Don't confuse this series with Sin: Nanatsu no Taizai, which is a 2017 series that has 12 episodes and terrible ratings in myanimelist.
