Nanatsu no Taizai: Kamigami no Gekirin

After saving the Kingdom of Liones from the 10 Commandments, Meliodas and the Seven Deadly Sins are enjoying their time off. However, things aren't as peaceful as they seem, as the Sins are put through various trials to become strong enough to defeat the 10 Commandments and to overcome their past trauma.

With help from past figures, the Sins are tasked with defeating the 10 Commandments and putting an end to their evil plans that began ten thousand years ago. The Sins begin to uncover the truth about each other, as well as those who stood before them. With this knowledge in hand, the battle against the 10 Commandments has only just begun.

Nanatsu no Taizai: Kamigami no Gekirin continues to follow the Seven Deadly Sins and those that they meet on their journey. Through their adventures, they realize that their actions have had greater consequences on the present than they could have ever expected.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ban Main

Suzuki, Tatsuhisa Japanese

Meliodas Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Escanor Main

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

King Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Hawk Main

Kuno, Misaki Japanese

Gowther Main

Takagi, Yuuhei Japanese

Diane Main

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Liones, Elizabeth Main

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Merlin Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Zeldris Supporting

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Kado, Masaharu Producer

Urasaki, Nobumitsu Producer

Nishizawa, Susumu Director

Yoshida, Shunji Episode Director

Reviews

Feb 29, 2024

Drakestalker

Recommended

Before I say anything, I must address the far and away number one problem that's sure to hit you in the face like a freight train from the first minute of S4's first episode: the censorship. For whatever reason, be it Deen's decision or the network's, the first cour of S4 features some pretty distasteful censorship. Don't bother trying to scour the internet for a secret uncensored Blu-ray version. There isn't one.

What is censored and how? The violence is censored in two ways. First, occasionally, if there's gore, the gory element will simply be blacked out. There is a scene where Ban uses his Snatch ... ability to steal an opponent's heart and crush it in his hand. You are, however, only able to tell that what he's holding in his hand is a heart by knowing Ban's ability and having seen him do it before, and perhaps the shape of the object. The object in his hand is otherwise completely blacked out. Fortunately, this kind of censorship only comes into play a handful of times.

Unfortunately, the other censorship technique is a lot more disgusting and absolutely permeates the show - sperm blood. You may think I'm being cute calling it that, but I'm not. It's exactly what it looks like. It literally looks like cum. There's one scene where the one dude gets punched in the gut and coughs up a river of blood. I swear to Cthulhu, it looked exactly like a hentai chick coughing up semen - exactly! What's even weirder, not all blood is censored. There are scenes where red blood is literally raining out of the sky that are left as such, presumably because it would have taken too much of an effort to edit, but when someone gets a papercut, no, no, no, we can't have that. As far as I was able to understand the censors' logic, if someone was already covered in blood, they didn't censor it. It was left properly red. But any active bleeding or blood splatters were colored white, so you effectively have scenes where someone's chin is already dripping in red blood, but then they cough up white semen. I mean... talk about unintended consequences. The attempt to soften up the presumably disturbing aspects of the show ends up making it genuinely sickening to look at.

Like I said, I don't know if this was Deen's decision or the network's, but I see this censorship technique often employed in the Chinese versions of anime, they recolor all the blood to be white for some reason. I remember seeing a censored version of the final episode of School Days a long time ago. The blood there was colored black. It still looked weird, make no mistake, but for fuck's sake, at least it didn't look like literal sperm. Was the network trying to suck up to their Chinese overlords to get some extra shekels from the Ching Chong market? I don't know. The fandom at large doesn't seem to know, either. All I've been able to find after a cursory search is speculation.

Be that as it may, the point is that it makes for a frustrating viewing experience and I was tempted to drop the show until I could find an uncensored version. I gave up and gritted my teeth when I found out there isn't an uncen version, but suffice it to say I wasn't a happy camper. It is also worth noting that the censoring seemed to be at its worst in the very first episode. It mellows out somewhat after that.

Alas, whoever was behind the censorship seemed to finally give up at the end of the first cour, so starting with episode 13 of Imperial Wrath of the Gods, you have nothing of the sort to worry about anymore. To which, thankful as though I am for it being gone, I'm left to wonder... what the fuck was even the point of it? It's not like this is a new show. It already had 3 seasons' worth of blood and gore broadcast on TV. Why decide to hide stuff now? We suddenly decided that the viewers' innocence is too precious after already tainting it for over 50 episodes? Why, when you're starting out at a disadvantage as an unpopular studio taking up a popular project, would you needlessly antagonize your audience like this? Only to drop it later? Why was the censorship even discontinued? Because of backlash from fans? Or because the Chinese overlords were unimpressed?

Without a doubt, the biggest loser in this whole mess is the studio. As you may have gathered from what I've said so far, studio Deen has taken over the production of the franchise in season 4 and 5. To put it kindly, Deen doesn't have the best reputation. They're infamous as the studio who produced the abomination that was the original 2006 Fate/stay night TV series. Their other work is also unimpressive at best. If they were taking over a project such as this, especially given their public perception, you would think they would want to make a flamboyant statement right out of the gate to gain the audience's trust that the show is in good hands and that they'll do it justice. Well, they sure made a statement, but I'm not sure it's the one they wanted to make or should have made.

Whether you're willing to put up with it for one cour is up to your investment in the franchise so far and hopefully what I'm about to say. In the show's defense, the censorship isn't so bothersome that it made my experience miserable. The way I thought about it, if I can get used to the Viz Media translation of the One Piece manga calling Zoro Zolo, I can get used to this. Lo, I could.

So, how did Deen actually handle the show? I was initially so fucked off by the censorship, that it made the difference in quality only feel all the more pronounced. For that reason, I originally planned to limit this essay to a single sentence: "It looks like ass." Having now finished the entire show, I can say that judgement was a tad too harsh. There is an inarguable dip in quality, but all in all, they did a decent job of it. T7DS effectively looks and feels mostly the same. I firmly believe that an untrained eye, provided ignorance of the change in studios, would not be able to tell the difference.

That said, differences exist. Though they did a fine job of keeping the anime's visual identity intact, a lot of people complained about the fact that they changed the way Melodias' face looked. Truth be told, if you compare them, he looks somehow dumber and more childish in Deen's version - something more of a blank expression on him. It's certainly a bizarre decision, to say the least, to fuck around with the design of the literal protagonist of all characters. The difference is not significant, however, and I don't know if they slowly changed it back, or I just got used to it, but I stopped noticing it altogether after a while.

Perhaps the greatest loss, though, is the action sakuga. It's been years since I watched S1, and yet, to this day, I still remember the sakuga that was Gilthunder's lightning attack combined with Meliodas' against Hendrikson. It holds up as one of the most hype action scenes there are. Contrary to that, for the entirety of the Imperial Wrath of the Gods and Dragon's Judgement TV shows and the Cursed By Light movie, there wasn't even a single sakuga scene I felt presented enough of a visual spectacle that I wanted to see it again. There were some Escanor scenes I wanted to rewatch, sure, but that's because of the character, not the animation.

All in all, the animation and production in general is pretty not great, but it's decent enough to not be insulting to the content that came before. Yes, I know, we've all seen the one screenshot of Meliodas lying on the bed, but trust me. It's not that bad. Say what you will about Deen. Yes, they may not be Madhouse or Bones, but the one thing they deserve to be acknowledged for is the fact that they're prepared to pick up franchises other studios are no longer willing to continue and finish them. Yeah, they won't make a Fate/Zero or Violet Evergarden any time soon, but they're willing to pick up that franchise you love that Ufotable or KyoAni dropped and churn out a dozen seasons of it and give you closure at a level of quality that's sufficient to not be offensive to your emotional investment. They basically did just about as good a job here as 8bit did with S2 of The Irregular at Magic High School when they took over from Madhouse. In short - good enough!

The one thing I want to sincerely praise Deen for is the fact that they kept Hiroyuki Sawano-sensei on board for the OST. I don't know if it's usually for copyright reasons, too broke or too cheap to buy the rights, or ego reasons, they actively want to reject the franchise's previous identity and make their own thing, but I've seen so many studios take over the productions of sequels from other studios and then completely abandon the original OSTs. The final season of Sengoku Basara, for example, comes to mind. There's no need to worry about that here. You'll still hear Hiroyuki-sensei's epic soundtracks you've come to love from the previous seasons. The only detraction is that Deen is perhaps less willing to use them than A-1. In all fairness, I felt A-1 was a bit too cavalier with their use. During A-1's tenure, literally everything the cast did, no matter how mundane, was accompanied by epic orchestral music every 5 fucking minutes. It got to feel cynical after a while. I would suggest that the sweet spot exists somewhere between A-1's liberal and Deen's conservative approaches.

As for the story, what can I say? No matter how much I may trash talk the show and all manner of aspects of it, at the end of the day, I can't lie. T7DS' narrative still managed to draw me in and hold my attention. In spite of the sperm blood censorship, the ass animation, the too-discreet use of the OST, I was still fully invested and looking forward to see more. I think I watched the entirety of Imperial Wrath of the Gods and 70% of Dragon's Judgement in one day.

Pretty much everything that I said in my previous essay about the first 3 seasons still holds true. If I had anything to add or correct, for one thing, it would be the fact that, in time, what I said about the interpersonal connections of the cast gets rectified to a reasonably satisfying degree. You get to see the Sins interact and develop independent relationships with each other to the point where they become decently believable as an actual team, rather than just a bunch of randos following one dude.

On the other hand, what I said about the narrative's longevity proved itself to be gospel. Dragon's Judgement is the final season of the anime. There's is no sequel coming. The story is over. The entirety of Imperial Wrath of the Gods and the first cour of Dragon's Judgement are part of the same larger story arc or saga, whatever you want to call it, that starts in Revival of the Commandments. In fact, you could even go so far as to say it started in Signs of Holy War. It doesn't turn into a long running story of always bigger, better things and progressively escalating obstacles, because it's structurally not set up for that. It sets up a clear goal, it pulls the trigger in Signs of Holy War and doesn't stop until that goal is reached, for better or worse, with no detours or side quests. The first season is its own arc, the kingdom invasion arc, as it's called, but after that, season 2, season 3, season 4, and the first half of season 5 are all part of a single expansive, continuous story arc.

On a not completely unrelated sidenote, you can lay to rest any apprehensions you might have had about the numerically represented power level system that gets introduced in Revival of the Commandments. I was worried it might turn into some Dragon Ball Z ridiculously escalating clown fiesta, but it didn't. We started with power levels in the thousands and tens of thousands. We end with the highest power level explicitly mentioned being little north of 200k. No million, billion, trillion bullshit, so relax on that point. It's still pretty fucking dumb with no redeeming qualities and I hate it for all the reasons I generally hate numerically represented power levels, but at least it limits itself to being merely pointless, rather than outright offensive like in DBZ.

That being said, I mentioned that only the first cour of Dragon's Judgement is part of that saga. That's not technically true. Episodes 13-20 of S5 are still technically part of the same saga, but there is a reason I'm writing the 2nd cour off wholesale. T7DS manga has roughly 350 chapters. In contrast to that, the anime only has a total of about 100 episodes. I did some Google-Fu to find answers about differences between the anime and the manga, and though I've found people detailing various differences, all of the articles and Reddit posts entertaining the matter were dated years ago, and were mostly discussing differences from the kingdom invasion arc. I haven't been able to find any recent information to substantiate my theory that the ending was significantly rushed as compared to the manga. My hypothesis is that most fans got turned off by Deen's performance and dropped the show, so there were no more mangaheads left who cared enough to analyze differences that late into the anime.

Why would I believe it was rushed in the first place, you ask? That's because in the 2nd cour of S5, the writing just falls off a cliff. The last time I remember feeling this way was when I watched Parasyte and the series just went completely and irretrievably off the rails after the city hall event. The previous saga to do with the Commandments took around a total of over 60 episodes to flesh out and conclude properly, and even there I felt some things were rushed and that the Sins were plunged into conflicts with opponents they weren't quite ready to face yet, which subtracted from the prestige of said opponents, but S5's 2nd cour is just laughable. It goes through content twice as dense in 10% of the time. Know how people joke that in JRPGs you go from collecting sheep fur or whatever in chapter 1 to killing God in chapter 100? Well, it felt just like that here, except the jump happens almost overnight. It felt extremely jarring and made it a challenge to stay invested and care.

The last 4 episodes in particular introduce several new twists that just served to make me roll my eyes and an entirely new power system and conceptual universe that is so poorly explained, presented, and resolved, it just felt like badly written fanfiction. It gave me the impression of a major arc that probably spanned 100 chapters in the manga, and was turned into a 4-episode Cliff's Notes version in the anime. Not saying I know that to be the case, just that it felt that way.

The one thing I can say in T7DS' defense with no trace of reservation whatsoever, is that I respect that it's a shounen battle story that is unafraid to have its characters be romantically involved with one another at moments other than the literal end of the story à la Bleach, Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul, Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Fairy Tail, Food Wars!, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Highschool of the Dead, and so, so, so many others. Yeah, it's all fine and dandy that you find out that Naruto and Hinata or Ichigo and Inoue hooked up after the end of the series, but for all the hundreds of episodes that either series boasts, you never get to see them be a couple. T7DS breaks this tradition without much hesitation and establishes several OTPs during its run. Seeing characters you ship actively reciprocate each other's feelings and hook up during the story was extremely satisfying.

I think that the reason behind having no overt romance in shounen is the thinking that the main audience, young boys who are a tad more on the socially inept side (because let's not kid ourselves, it's not the popular Chads who spend their time watching anime and reading manga), are extremely shy when it comes to pair bonding and don't confess to the girls they like, so if their heroes do the same, they will be able to relate to them and feel better about themselves. While I understand the basic idea, I disagree that what people want is to relate to someone who is exactly like them. The entire point of the fantasy genre is to see something better, cooler, more fantastic than one's self - something aspirational, something to strive towards! It is my contention that most people in the anime industry underestimate the degree to which their audience, even their young male audience, perhaps particularly their young male audience, craves fulfilled romance. There's a reason Kirito and Asuna have become one of the most beloved OTPs of all time.

In addition, no matter how idiotic I thought the narrative in the 2nd cour of Dragon's Judgement was, something happens in there that had me ugly crying like bitch. The set-up was all wrong. Everything that went into creating that moment was completely busted. It had no right to be as emotional as it was. And yet, it still made me cry harder than I remember crying in literally a year.

Still, credit where credit is due, the ending goes to great lengths to give the viewer closure on several threads, which I appreciated greatly. It's something a lot of series avoid for some reason and prefer to go with the "leave it up to the audience's imagination" approach. Fuck that noise. To this day, I'm still in disbelief that you never get to see Naruto become Hokage in the actual show, and instead in an irrelevant special 10-minute miniepisode released much later.

To make a long story short, if you liked the first 3 seasons of T7DS and got invested in the story and characters and feel like you can stomach some disgusting censorship (literally, I'm serious, I cannot overstate how much it looks like sperm) for 12 episodes, you'll have a great time with the 4th and 5th season of the franchise.

P.S.: Zeldris is the most dollar store Vegeta motherfucker in the history of dollar store Vegeta motherfuckers.

P.P.S.: Dragon's Judgement has nothing to do with any dragon, really. It's a mistranslation. Funnu means anger, rage, fury, wrath. I guess the translators didn't want another season title to contain the word wrath? So instead of going for a synonym, they went for a different word entirely? I suppose dragon and wrath may be interchangeable if it were in reference to Meliodas personally, seen as he's the Dragon's Sin of Wrath, but that's a misapprehension. The "Judgement", as it were, is someone else's. Meliodas is not the one doing the judging. This feels kind of like when people thought the last samurai in The Last Samurai movie was Tom Cruise's character, Nathan Algren. It's like, no.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 3, 2024

Chris_Oxendine

Mixed Feelings

**Review of *Seven Deadly Sins* Season 3**

Season 3 of *Seven Deadly Sins* is a mixed bag that, unfortunately, leans more into disappointment than triumph. The series has had some great moments in the past, but by the end of this season, it’s clear that it has lost much of its magic.

One glaring issue is found in Episode 5. The narrative decision to have Elizabeth and Meliodas attempt to stop Ludociel from destroying Derieri and Monspeet doesn’t quite make sense. Given everything that’s happened with the Ten Commandments in Season 2, this sudden moral stance feels unearned. It’s baffling to see characters shift in such an ... unexpected way, especially considering the danger and chaos the Commandments have caused. There’s a disconnect in motivation that leaves viewers scratching their heads.

On the brighter side, Episode 7 finally delivers something rare in anime—real relationship progression. Seeing King and Diane together feels like a long-overdue breath of fresh air. Their relationship has been building up, and now, the series rewards the audience with meaningful development. It’s refreshing, and if more anime followed this example, we’d see less of the typical romantic tension that never quite pays off. The King and Diane moments are heartwarming and one of the few highlights of the season.

However, the good vibes are short-lived, as the season takes a nosedive with Episode 12. This episode is where things really start to unravel, not just in terms of plot but also in production quality. The animation feels like a relic of the '90s, with scenes that are more reminiscent of a PowerPoint presentation than modern anime. There are countless still shots, and characters speak without moving their mouths, giving off an amateur, low-budget vibe that’s jarring to witness. It’s a painful reminder of how far anime has come over the years, and this episode feels like a step back in every sense.

As much as I wanted to defend Season 3, it's hard to do so with so many glaring flaws. The potential for a great continuation was there, but it’s been undermined by weak storytelling and a clear drop in animation quality. All I can do is hope that Season 4 turns things around because it wouldn't take much to surpass this low point.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 12, 2023

Keith06

Not Recommended

Brace yourselves for "The Seven Deadly Sins: Imperial Wrath of the Gods," a season that epitomizes everything wrong with rushed adaptations. This is a series that has managed to turn a promising narrative into a dumpster fire.

Let's talk about the animation. Or, should I say, the lack of it. "Imperial Wrath of the Gods" takes a nosedive in animation quality that makes even the worst filler episodes look like masterpieces. Character designs become inconsistent, movements lack fluidity, and the action scenes, once a highlight, turn into a slideshow of poorly choreographed static images. It's as if the animators decided to take a coffee break and ... never returned.

The narrative, or what's left of it, is an absolute mess. "The Seven Deadly Sins" was already veering off course in the previous season, but "Imperial Wrath of the Gods" manages to mangle the source material beyond recognition. The pacing is breakneck, with critical plot points and character developments crammed into episodes like they're going out of style. The result? A narrative that feels like it's on steroids, a jumbled mess of rushed exposition and half-baked character arcs.

Oh, and let's not forget the unnecessary fan service. It's like the creators realized they were tanking the plot and decided to distract viewers with gratuitous shots of barely clothed characters. I get it, "The Seven Deadly Sins" had its fair share of ecchi moments, but "Imperial Wrath of the Gods" takes it to a whole new level of cringe. It's as if the writers thought, "Who needs a coherent story when we can just throw in more boobs and butts?"

The soundtrack, once a strong point of the series, takes a nosedive along with everything else. The epic orchestral compositions that accompanied the intense battles are replaced with forgettable tunes that lack the grandeur needed to match the scale of the story. It's like they hired the office intern to compose the music, and they did it during their lunch break.

In conclusion, "The Seven Deadly Sins: Imperial Wrath of the Gods" is a prime example of how not to adapt a beloved manga. It's a rushed, poorly animated, narratively incoherent disaster that tarnishes the legacy of a once-promising series. If you were a fan of the earlier seasons, prepare for a heartbreaking betrayal. This season is a colossal disappointment, and I wouldn't recommend it to even my worst enemies.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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