Running from 2012 to 2020, Nanatsu no Taizai (The Seven Deadly Sins) ran in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine, and was written and illustrated by Nakaba Suzuki, also known for the 3 year manga Kongō Banchō, and no I have no idea what that's like. And now that it's been a couple of months and my feelings won't be affected by close proximity to the series ending, I figured now was as good a time as any to go back and see how the series did overall. Especially since the sequel-spinoff is currently in the works.
Note: Some spoilers ahead, but I did my best to make sure there was as few as possible for newcomers. Also, this is a review of the manga, not the anime. So voice actors, animation and such do not apply to this article. Enjoy!
The main premise of Nanatsu no Taizai is that in the land of Britannia (that place where the crumpets are made), the corrupt Holy Knights have taken over after the protectors of the land, known as the Seven Deadly Sins, were disbanded for treason. Princess Elizabeth Liones, wanting to save her kingdom, sets out to find the Seven Sins and reunite them to save the kingdom. The story starts with her finding the Sin of Wrath, Meliodas, and discovering this journey is as complicated as it is dangerous. So Elizabeth and Meliodas travel together, meet many strange characters, fight off some gruesome villains and engage in those pesky shenanigans we all love so much, eventually finding themselves facing the wrath of the demon clan and their Ten Commandments.
Much like Fairy Tail with Lucy and Natsu, the new girl is not often considered by fans to be the protagonist-protagonist of the series, despite seeming to be when you read the premise. Instead, that honour goes to Meliodas who is definitely a step above many of the bland Shonen leads out there that all look the same, but it took a long time for him to even become likeable to me. For a large portion of the first arc, Meliodas is an overly-perverted powerhouse (which is a character trope I've officially grown out of) and it's the others that are stealing the spotlight by a country mile. It's not until the Ten Commandments arrive that Meliodas begins to display his backstory and personality, but we'll get to that.
Elizabeth is in the same ballpark, with her best stuff waiting until later, but she's fine enough as heroes go when we first meet her too. The typical cute girl with no powers but doing her best to help anyway, much like the overly-confident talking pig mascot Hawk, (who I surprisingly enjoyed actually), managing to remain endearing and determined in her quest. I've seen this type of character done horribly so many other times, but Elizabeth somehow manages to be a step above them.
However, the best heroes are without a doubt, the other Sins. All six of these characters are basically wonderful. You have King of Sloth, a fairy who can shapeshift from a young boy to an old man, Diane of Envy, a giantess in love with Meliodas, Merlin of Gluttony, the overpowered sorceress of Camelot, Gowther of Lust, an emotionless and awkward crossdresser, Escanor of Pride, who has an amazing moustache, and Ban of Greed who is just perfect and undead. In fact, while I do love them all, every Sin managed to annoy me at least once within the story, except for Ban. Ban's cocky yet kind-hearted personality won me over immediately and never let go. Despite what the popularity polls said, he's the best.
Every Sin has something going on, which is more than welcome as it keeps the plot from only revolving around Meliodas or Elizabeth the entire time and lets everyone steal the spotlight at least a few times. They all fit into the plot nicely and develop because of the story and the new characters introduced, not in spite of them. For example, Gowther is trying to learn about emotions and the characters he meets along the way influence his decisions to try and figure out what they truly mean, causing him to commit an act that greatly influences King and Diane's stories. It feels very natural and in-character for everyone, which is a sign of some great writing and presentation.
The story of Nanatsu no Taizai can be split into three sections: The Holy Knights, the Ten Commandments, and the Bad Stuff.
Starting with the Holy Knights section, which is by far the most simple of the stories. Meliodas, Elizabeth and Hawk are off to find as many Sins as they can before going to fight the Holy Knights and their leaders, Dreyfus and Hendrickson. Essentially, this is a road trip plot and that comes with the good and bad that usually accompanies these stories. Some small situations will need fixed, we'll meet the important characters one-by-one, and when the plot is ready, the group will attack the final goal. It doesn't go on too long, there's a few neat twists sprinkled throughout, and the final battle is one of the best of the series, in my opinion. And if you've read my articles in the past, you'll know I'm a huge fan of characters arsing about which thankfully, they do a couple of times in here. In fact, there's a surprising love of alcohol that, I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure just about every major hero (and even some villains) to get drunk for fun.
The biggest downside of this section, as mentioned before, is of Meliodas himself. He's essentially the all-powerful protagonist with unexplained greatness that can trounce over anyone, and I'm almost never a fan of when a series does this. Yes, it's explained later on but at this time, you don't get that context. You get Meliodas squeezing breasts instead. Creep.
But then... Then we get the Ten Commandments section! And that means ten wonderful new villains, all with their own unique abilities and powers, who can naturally raise the stakes by their sheer existence alone! I love when we get this from a manga, and we get it a lot! And while they aren't all Akatsuki-levels of intimidating, they're a surprisingly effective bunch that I'm unsure who my favourite is. Maybe Galand? He's great fun! Although I did have an obsession with Gloxinia and Drole...
The Ten Commandments section is the best part of the series, no question. The action gets a major adrenaline boost, the demons provide much more diversity than the Holy Knights from before which keeps things visually interesting, and Meliodas finally becomes the character he's meant to be thanks to his relationship with these characters and how every meeting with them reveals more and more of his history. I could write an article about these characters alone, but we'll be here for too long and it's time to talk about... the Bad Stuff.
Like many other manga, Nanatsu no Taizai decided to have a war. This is not the Bad Stuff, but it's important to bring up because it ends with a dramatic battle against what is essentially Satan himself. It's all over, it's been difficult, and only a few small threads are needing dealt with. Despite this, there are 39 chapters left! And these 39 chapters are, to put it as gently as I can, awful.
Enemies who should have already died come back, plot twists are fired at us as if Nakaba Suzuki is a Sony executive trying to see what ideas can stick, and the pacing drags to an unbearable crawl. The final battle especially is painful. A likeable character devolves into blathering vague nonsense and loses all of her mystique, and the final boss is jarringly abstract. Again, without wishing to spoil, it's like if Sauron was killed, and then the entire epilogue of Return of the King became about Frodo fighting the embodiment of a philosophy while Gandalf rambled on and on to make things even more confusing. I hate all of this. Not enough to say you shouldn't read the series, but still... Hate.
Nanatsu no Taizai was never groundbreaking, but it was almost always engaging. Chapters 1 to 306 were a solid adventure full of colourful characters and constant action, followed by 40 chapters of garbage and a fun enough ending that sets up the future nicely. While Nanatsu no Taizai isn't going to be the top of anyone's list, it usually knew what it was doing and sometimes, that's enough. I am very happy I read this manga, and sad to see it be one of many that ended in the long-ass year of 2020, and I hope you will be too.
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