The Seven Deadly Sins’ first season is what you expect and also not what you expect judging by its title. It’s a story that could not have been told in any other way than through an anime. This is my first time watching an anime in the genre of epic fantasy and I was not disappointed.
After finishing My Hero Academia season one, my anime-watching friends was adamant that I start this series. I was hesitant but owing to his persistence, which is to be admired, I started this. Unlike Boku No Hero Academia, I didn’t like Sins from the get-go. The 5th episode got me hooked but if a show takes that long to get you addicted then chances are you stop watching after probably the 2nd episode. But here I’m also extra critical of 7 Sins owing to my preference for comic-book and martial arts/ninja anime. So this was a new experience but I have a divided opinion on it.
The best thing I found was the animation. The animation of Sins is definitely above Hero despite them being different type of shows. I also like animation of Sins better than all the anime I watched last year. So I wonder if I’ll see better animation than Sins this year.
Where Sins also succeeds is that no character is overpowered. Unlike some other anime which rely on particular individuals, here every character had their individual traits. I also found it difficult to pick out a favorite character from both the 7 Deadly Sins and the overall series, but that’s what 7 Deadly Sins has what other shows lack; something for everyone to do.
There was no filler episode and despite some of the episodes being a bit jumbled up (at least to my eyes), the last 10 episodes really brought out the underlying philosophy behind this show. That it has a political message, that different people can actually work together and though different races like the fairies, giants, humans, etc. think they are distinct from one another, this is something we all feel in real life. No company employee or family member is exactly alike. And this individualism is what 7 Deadly Sins is all about.
I also like how action-packed every episode was. No chapter had prolonged drama. The balance between action and drama was spot on. Though at the start I was surprised what was happening, when I learned it was all due to magic I realized the show is magical. If you’re a fan of sword and sorcery then you won’t do any better than The Seven Deadly Sins.
Also, the show’s name is a bit ironic seeing that the Sins are the good guys here. What made me not love the show was its resemblance to one of my fav anime, Dragon Ball. Meliodus is an aloof youngster (Goku), with an attractive companion Elizabeth (Bulma), a talking pig Hog (Oolong) and a seemingly untrustworthy bandit Bon (Yamcha). OK, so if this series’ creative team wasn’t inspired by Dragon Ball you might as well say English didn’t originate from the British.
Also, the fact that almost everything ends happily. The finale, and the last three episodes, though extremely well executed, led me to lose a bit of faith in the show. Almost everyone was revived, almost every bad guy who was faking turned good; it’s clichéd but for the fantasy genre, that is something that can be overlooked.
Funny thing was I thought that the only thing that was missing from the show was King Arthur, and he ironically was introduced!!! When I heard the name Merlyn (who here is a woman!) I’m like Arthur must be there and he does appear! I like these Japanese style references to legendary figures, especially in folklore and medieval-style literature. There more references but I’m too sleepy to count all of them but smart writing.
To end with, we need this kind of writing in the current shows from the Arrowverse. There are good live-action shows out there but if you want to start watching something else, and become someone else, watch anime starting with 7 Deadly Sins. Great writing, direction, voice acting, animation, etc.; it’s an all-in-one package.
