Seven Deadly Sins is dope, there, I said it. While the anime takes a while to get into, at about 10-15 episodes in, I was hooked to the series. I was first put onto this Netflix exclusive by all the hype surrounding the show in the anime community. It doesn’t take much to make a meme, after all. And as a self-proclaimed anime aficionado, there is no way that I could let a show as popular as SDS go under my radar.
Admittedly, the show isn’t without its faults, however. Many of its elements are typical to the Shonen genre. A youthful prodigy? Check. Power Levels? You’ve got it. Immature sexual humor? Of course. In fact, I am hard pressed to think of any original concept the show brings to the medium off the top of my head. If this is the case, then why would I have such high regard for Seven Deadly Sins? Well, because it’s a fun show to watch, that’s why.
Seven Deadly Sins follows the adventures of Princess Elizabeth in her journey to find a notorious group of holy knights referred to as the Seven Deadly Sins. With a stroke of good fortune, she meets the captain of the Deadly Sins Meliodas, who had been enjoying retirement as a tavern guard. Accompanied by his anthropomorphic pig companion Hawk, Meliodas joins Elizabeth to hunt down the remaining six members.
Each member of the Seven Deadly Sins has a unique magical ability that differentiates them from one another. Although some members are undoubtedly more powerful than the others, their strength fluctuates often enough to keep engagements interesting. My favorite Sin, for instance, is simultaneously both the strongest and weakest member of the group. He can achieve unmeasurable power by midday but is a frail and scrawny man by night. Its this sort of absurdism that keeps the show fun, never taking itself too seriously. That isn’t to say that the show doesn’t explore heavier content, rather, it introduces them in a way that makes them palatable. This goes to serve the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of each story arc.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the show are the plethora of fully realized villains it introduces. Each have motives that are justified, and hardly are “evil for evil’s sake”. Which is often why friends become foes and vice versa. Although when truly evil entities arrive later in the series, it mimics the joy experienced with an archetypal Shonen “tournament arc”. Moments such as these, particularly in season three, have proven to be instant classics within the anime community, worthy of the time and attention of any fan of the genre.
In writing these articles, we try to avoid spoiling too much of the show, while doing our best to convey the excitement and enthusiasm we have for watching them. It is especially challenging to avoid spoilers for Seven Deadly Sins, as its exuberance is what makes it worth consumption. So in short, you’ll have to take our word for it that you wont regret given Seven Deadly Sins a shot. You can catch the anime in its full glory on Netflix today.
