You know that feeling when you finish watching the first episode of a series on Netflix and you’re like, “Welp, there goes the next 6 hours of my life. I’ll see the rest of you humans later.”
Honestly, how did we ever procrastinate before Netflix?
I’m referring to a series titled The Seven Deadly Sins, of which Netflix recently acquired the exclusive streaming rights. I feel like the distribution of Knights of Sidonia worked out pretty well, so I’m glad to see them continuing the trend by picking up another anime title. I hope to see the company continue to support and distribute anime series in the future. This manga adaptation is produced by the Aniplex subsidiary A-1 Pictures Inc., the same studio that brought us Fairy Tail and Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. That should give you an idea of the animation style and feel you can expect.
The series takes place in a time before the magical and non-magical works had been separated. It’s a time of magical warriors and holy knights and vile demons. A good starting point, right?
Our unlikely heroes are a now disbanded team of ex-knights know as, you’ll never guess, the Seven Deadly Sins. Okay, I’ll start by saying get the Fullmetal Alchemist sins out of your head immediately. Yes, there is a sin of Wrath, Envy, etc. Not similar in any way. Erase all memory of the homunculi from your mind. There, now that that’s out of the way, you can enjoy the series for what it is. It’s a tale of good versus evil, of justice versus tyranny, of order versus chaos. And it’s excellent.
The characters are well-developed, and you really begin to empathize with them. Each one has a compelling back story and brings a unique flavor to the table. The point being that in the medieval / knights / magic fantasy genre, it’s all too easy to fall back on clichés and under-developed character molds that leave you uninterested in the story. It’s so refreshing to get a genuine, character driven story that gives you “the feelz”. Honestly, I was ready to pick up a sword and take on the entire Order of Holy Knights for Princess Elizabeth. I did, actually. Granted it was a cosplay sword my wife left by the couch.
I really am an adult, I promise.
While that might sound like an anime geared for the younger audience, the adult language and tasteful sprinkling of adult content let you know it has the more mature viewers tastes at heart. They don’t skimp on the blood either, which always makes me smile.
And to those who don’t like subtitles, you’ll be happy to hear that it is streaming in an English dub as well. In fact, it’s a pretty good one too.
All 24 episodes are streaming now on Netflix. So go add it to your friend’s or parent’s Netflix queue that you’re currently using. It’s okay, we won’t judge you (out loud).
Life-long Geek. Closet Otaku. Has never once been accused of being normal.
