The Seven Deadly Sins (Manga)

The Seven Deadly Sins: copyright Nakaba Suzuki / Kodansha Ltd.

When you think about mangas, there is no way to forget some classic shonen titles. They may be somewhat repetitive, but almost everybody has a favorite.

Probably, the best mangas are the ones published by the Shonen Jump. Actually, more than good stories, this magazine manga has the most famous titles around the world. But this doesn’t mean that we can’t find good stuff outside the Shonen Jump World.

One of these mangas is called The Seven Deadly Sins, by the Shonen Magazine. When I first read the title, I couldn’t imagine how the story would be, or how would be the characters design. I say it because these are the two more important factors in any story: the argument and the players.

First Nanatsu no Tanzai volume cover (Japanese original name)

However, after the first chapter, I could easily state “this will be a great manga story”. And now, with 186 chapters read until today, I continue to be fascinated by this great sinful adventure, and its great characters.

The story focus in seven great warriors, each one represented by one capital sin: wrath, greed, envy, sloth, gluttony, lust and pride. The group must help the land of Britannia, in order to defeat all the evil that spreads against the people, in a magical-medieval era. All the seven are very original and interesting, each one with a different origin and motivation. It’s funny to see how they interact, as comrades, fighters, and sometimes, lovers. As the story develops, you are presented to each one, every time in a more difficult challenge.

All the Seven Sins, plus Elizabeth

One of the three main characters is the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas. He is a powerful warrior, with a fair (but also hentai) heart, always ready to help his friends and anybody in need. Making a couple with Meliodas, Elizabeth is a princess of the Liones Kingdom. Lovely, beautiful and brave, she does everything for his friends, and is absolutely in love with Meliodas. At last, but not at least, is Hawk, the talking pig. He acts as a humor point, but also as the great heart of the group.

Hawk (also known as The Captain of the Leftovers) 

As any shonen, there are many fights in the story. The combats focus in magical moves, with spells, curses, natural abilities and, of course, physical blows. They are very original, and it’s very funny to see the different ideas used by the author.

Talking about the author, Nakaba Suzuki has a very detailed and competent art style, being able to deliver fighting scenes as beautiful as the environment scenes, for example (or the fan service scenes, an almost obligation of mangas in general). There are a lot of funny jokes, and the story, still not finished, is very exciting and solid.

A Seven Deadly Sins Magazine Cover

In my opinion, one of the few problems about the manga is that some characters don’t receive enough attention than others. I believe that more side stories could have been done, developing more of the manga group. Another boring point of the manga is that, sometimes, it can get very repetitive and obvious. As the ecchi scenes of Meliodas with Elizabeth, or some battles with weak opponents, when you already know almost everything that will happen in the sequence.

But these two cons are nothing compared to the fun delivered by Seven Deadly Sins. The adventure is addictive, the art is enjoyable, and the characters are original (as much as a shonen manga can be). If you don’t know it, don’t waste time to enjoy the Seven Sins. And if you already like, what’s your favorite capital sin?