“Never give up! Be strong! ‘Cause The Seven Deadly Sins are here!”

I love anime based on manga! I love reading and watching the shows, I love picking them apart when they make different choices and debating if the anime or the manga made the better call. One that always draws me back is The Seven Deadly Sins, by Nakaba Suzuki. It has all the elements one could want in a medieval anime: heroes, legends, castles, magic, and a code of honor. This one has layers upon layers where each new episode has major reveals! All voice actors credited in this article are from the U.S. release.

While the anime is called The Seven Deadly Sins, in Season 1 you get five sins (plus a special appearance very near the end of the season by the sixth sin). The story focuses on Elizabeth (Erika Harlacher), a princess from the kingdom of Liones, who has started a journey after her father and sister were captured by Holy Knights. Her father (King Bartra voiced by Michael McConnohie) had told her stories of the legendary heroes The Seven Deadly Sins and she set off to search for them to rescue her family and save the kingdom. Now, The Seven Deadly Sins had been named outlaws about ten years prior to these events; however, King Bartra of Liones never believed the lies said about them and made sure his daughter Elizabeth always knew that they would come back and fix the kingdom. The story starts out with her finding Meliodas the Dragon Sin of Wrath (Bryce Papenbrook), and captain of The Seven Deadly Sins. Meliodas we find out has a bit of a hole in his memory on what happened and has also started searching for his former comrades in hopes that everything will become clear.

The characters in The Seven Deadly Sins don’t always obviously fit their sin. Meliodas seems to be one of the most even-tempered men you could ever find. Ban, The Fox Sin of Greed (Ben Diskin), on the other hand completely matches his sin right from the start. He is an unapologetic thief who acts a bit of a scoundrel, especially in the manga. Diane, the Serpent Sin of Envy (Erica Mendez), gets angry at the drop of a hat, and is extremely jealous of any woman showing interest in Meliodas. King, The Grizzly Sin of Sloth (Maxwell Braden Mittelman), is another where their sin doesn’t seem to match them right away. The laziest thing you see King do is frequently use his magical weapon, Chastiefol, as a flying pillow. Finally, the last sin you get to spend any real amount of time with in Season 1 is Gowther, The Goat Sin of Lust (Erik Scott Kimerer). His sin doesn’t seem to fit him in this season at all. It isn’t until the resolution of season 3 that I truly understand why he was given this sin.

I deeply enjoy a medieval fantasy with magical elements. Anyone who is a Holy Knight definitely has a magical power, which seems to be unique to them. While someone else might have ice magic, the powers they can manifest with the ice magic are typically different. Or, as the author put it, “Magic powers are your strength of will and thoughts manifested from your body.” (Suzuki, 2014 page 91). Some people are born with them, and some people gain magical powers through life events (usually trauma inducing). I liked how the magical system is so unique to what each person is. Although not a completely original idea, I do feel this was done in a creative way. Some people, like The Seven Deadly Sins, have access to magical weapons that help them better use their magical abilities. The Seven Deadly Sins signature weapons are called Sacred Treasures and these magical items crafted by the famous Giant Craftsman Dubs have additional magical abilities.

I am happy to say that season 1 of the anime is very close to the manga. There are a few key differences but ultimately only one choice they made makes a significant impact on future episodes and makes things feel slightly off. In season 1, this isn’t immediately obvious, but in future seasons it is glaring. I do feel they tried to fix this a bit with the four episodes titled “Signs of the Holy War,” but ultimately none of these episodes are in the manga and are trying to retcon a situation that was caused in season 1, but that did not go well. While this retcon was written by the manga writer Nakaba Suzuki, everyone involved agreed it was retcon and a stopgap to help ease the waiting for season 2. “Signs of the Holy War” came out February 2017, over a year after The Seven Deadly Sins Season 1 came out in November 2015.