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Seven Deadly Sins is a difficult beast for me. On the one hand I really like it, it's a modern Shounen that gives me a similar feeling to the one I used to get reading Shounen Jump when I was young, but on the other it's very confusing to read.

I really enjoy the artwork and many of the main characters, both the Seven Deadly Sins and Holy Knights, and think they have very interesting character concepts that I've not seen executed quite the same way in any manga before. I was roped in with the various love triangles, drama, and conflict between characters.

Unfortunately, I found ... myself mainly enjoying the backstories explaining their Sins and who they were, but not the chapters focusing on the present day and ancient past (which are a larger portion of the series) because many of those story arcs feel as if the writer is making it up as he goes along. He introduces enemies or a plot point, and then eventually reverses everything about it. It was interesting the first few times the author did this, because it was unexpected or an interesting twist, but now it's simply too repetitive or slightly less inspired. It's got to the point that I almost expect characters to reveal some big secret every chapter and there's too many characters in the limelight now for each one to have a deep and interesting backstory (not that it wasn't difficult enough already with seven main characters, eight counting the princess).

I would probably still recommend Seven Deadly Sins, but with this caveat: expect lots of Shounen-style fights, a decent chunk of fan service, and a very layered, sometimes confusing storyline that may require multiple reads to fully appreciate or enjoy.

I started the series on episode two and was initially gripped by the story of this young swordsman, who fights for survival against great enemies using his even greater sword. For a while I enjoyed the series, however, around episode twenty three I just mentally checked out as more and more complicated plot lines kept being introduced near the season's end.

You could say "But it continues those plot points in the manga," to which I'd say, "It's the purpose of the anime to properly adapt the manga, so that the story makes sense to someone who only watches the anime." A good example of this ... is Zodd, he shows up in the anime for one scene and is built up as a huge villain, but he NEVER returns, he only serves as a tool to foreshadow the actual future villains and they still come out of nowhere.

Furthermore, I could barely even bring myself to watch episode one after watching episode twenty-five (episode one happens after episode twenty-five canonically, but you can watch it before or after). The constant themes of rape and gore are just too prevalent throughout the series, and often unnecessary for the forward motion of the plot. One of the only things I enjoyed consistently throughout the series was the soundtrack.