When Netflix released the anime adaptation of successful manga series The Seven Deadly Sins back in 2015, they only had the exclusive rights to one other anime series, Knights of Sedonia.
It’s crazy to think that the streaming platform that practically invented binge-watching and now actually produces its own anime series, once only had two Netflix Exclusive anime series. That growth and development is due in large part to the success of The Seven Deadly Sins.
Clearing Up Season Two, Season Three, and Season Four Confusion
If you find yourself confused with the numbering of The Seven Deadly Sins seasons, you’re not alone. Following the first season of the series, a four-week special was aired in Japan called The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War.
When the special was released on Netflix, it was initially referred to as Season Two causing some confusion when the actual second season, The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments, was released.
Since then, Netflix has adjusted the series listing to refer to each season/special by the name of their story arcs. While the first season is listed simply as The Seven Deadly Sins, the next two are listed as Signs of Holy War, and Revival of The Commandments, respectively.
Considering that the actual third season (The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods) began airing in Japan last October and the fourth season (The Seven Deadly Sins: Anger’s Judgement) is set to air in October 2020, using names over numbers is sure to ease the confusion once the seasons land on Netflix.
Though the movie, The Seven Deadly Sins: Prisoners of the Sky, was released on Netflix in 2018, neither of the series’ 2015 OVAs have yet to be made available on the streaming platform.
Characters
Set in a fantasy inspired version of a Middle Ages Europe, the series focuses on a country called Britannia and a cast of characters; particularly a crew of deadly knights referred to as The Seven Deadly Sins.
Meliodas
Leader of The Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas bears a dragon tattoo that represents the cardinal sin of wrath. Though he looks young, Meliodas is actually the thousand-year-old son of the Demon King. Former leader of a different order of demons called The Ten Commandments, Meliodas betrayed his father and order when he fell in love with the Goddess Elizabeth.
Upon this betrayal, which started a Holy War, the Goddess Race to which Elizabeth belonged cursed Meliodas with immortality, while the Demon King cursed Elizabeth to live and die, being reincarnated over and over again.
Elizabeth Liones
Hailing from the fallen kingdom of Danafor, Elizabeth was adopted by a princess named Baltra Liones. When the Great Holy Knights take over her new kingdom, Elizabeth seeks out the Seven Deadly Sins for help.
Upon meeting Meliodas, she feels familiar with him somehow. Well, it is eventually revealed that Elizabeth is the reincarnation of Goddess Elizabeth, whom Meliodas had initially fallen in love with.
Elizabeth eventually regains the memories of her past, though doing so triggers the curse, causing her to die again. However, Meliodas does retain his memories of past relationships with Elizabeth. In particular, Liz, as a previous incarnation of hers was called, was a warrior from an opposing kingdom.
Hawk
Don’t let the avian name fool you, Hawk is in fact a pig. More specifically, a talking pig. After finding Melodias in a ditch years ago, the two became friends, starting a traveling bar together called the Boar’s Hat. The Boar Hat Tavern is able to travel because it rests on the back of Hawk’s Mother, a giant green pig.
At one point, Hawk gets a magical eye that allows him to see the power stats of anyone he’s looking at. Hawk also has the ability to temporarily take on the power of any magical creature he eats. It’s eventually revealed that Hawk comes from Purgatory and is the younger brother of a creature named Wild, that the Demon King uses to spy on Meliodas.
The Seven Deadly Sins
Meliodas, as wrath, is the leader and one of the seven warriors that make up this titular order of knights. Before the start of the series, the Seven Deadly Sins were disbanded and branded as traitors to the kingdom of Liones.
Having gone their separate ways, Meliodas started the Boar Hat Tavern to gather information on the locations of the others, which aligned perfectly with Elizabeth’s desire to find them as well
- DIANE: While at first glance, Diane might appear like a typical 15-year-old girl… if 15-year-old girls were typically 30 feet tall. Diane is a giant and is actually 750 years old. Despite hating violence, she is strong and fast and, due to the powers of her people, has the ability to manipulate earth. She embodies the cardinal sin of Envy, symbolized in the snake tattoo she bares on her thigh.
- BAN: Despite looking like a 23-year-old vampire, Ban had actually been gifted the gift of immortality by a fairy lover named Elaine. She did so to save his life when he was mortally wounded trying to protect Fairy King’s Forest and the Fountain of Youth that was hidden within it. A legendary thief, Ban has a Fox tattoo on his left abdomen representing the sin of Greed.
- KING: With the full name Fairy King Harlequin, King(for short) used to be THE king of the Fairy King’s Forest. In fact, his sister was Elaine. After leaving his kingdom to save a friend, he lost his memories, regained them, then wiped Diane’s memories of him, before they were all separated. Actually 1300 years old, he bears a tattoo of a Grizzly bear on his ankle signifying the sin of Sloth.
- GOWTHER: A pink haired, androgynous, glasses wearing being, Gowther is actually a living doll. Created by a demon sorcerer centuries ago, also named Gowther, he received his free will, eventually falling in love with the Princess Nadaj Lioness. When Nadaj succumbs to an illness, dying as she and Gowther were having sex, he is accused of murdering her. With a tattoo of a Goat on his chest, Gowther represents Lust.
- MERLIN: With a true nume that is unpronounceable by humans, called Daughter of Belaluin, Merlin is a 3000-year-old witch. The daughter of Gowther, the one that created Gowther the doll, she typically presents herself as a scantily clad, beautiful woman. With a variety of powers and abilities, she bears the tattoo of a boar on the back of her neck that symbolizes Gluttony.
- ESCANOR: Representing the sin of Pride is the mustachioed and muscular Escanor. He was once the prince of a kingdom called Castellio, but was forced to leave due to his uncontrollable strength. With a tattoo of a lion on his back, he’s fallen in love with Merlin and has a connection with the sun.
Others
Beyond the central characters are figures like Arthur Pendragon, also known as King Arthur, from actual British lore. There are Demons, Goddesses, Fairies, other orders of knights, vampires, royal families, and more. As far as fantasy series go, The Seven Deadly Sins definitely has something for everybody.
Aside from the Anime & Movie There’s More Seven Deadly Sins
Sure, Netflix does have The Seven Deadly Sins, Signs of Holy War, Revival of the Commandments, and the movie Prisoners of the Sky, but if you want more of Meliodas and company, you have options.
As of February 2020, 40 volumes of the manga have been released. The creator of the series, Nakaba Suzuki, says there will be one more volume still to come, as well as side stories.
There is also a comedic spin-off manga series called Mayoe! The Seven Deadly Sins Academy! which looks at the series as if all the characters were actors performing in a live action TV show. The series has been collected into four volumes.
There is also a yonkoma style comic strip called The Seven Deadly Sins: King’s Road to Manga. In the classic 4-panel style, King’s Road to Manga depicts King as an aspiring manga artist. The strips have been collected into three volumes.
There are two different games called Seven Deadly Sins: Unjust Sin and The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia, released in 2015 and 2018, respectively. While the first was for the Nintendo DS, the second was for PS4. In 2019 a mobile game called The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross of Light and Darkness was released for cell phones.
Lastly, a series of four light novels were released in Japan from 2015 to 2016. Titled The Seven Deadly Sins -Gaiden- The Seven Wishes of the Royal City from Old Times, The Seven Deadly Sins: Seven Days, The Seven Deadly Sins: Seven Scars They Left Behind, and The Seven Deadly Sins: Seven-Colored Recollections. Only the second two, Seven Scars They Left Behind and Seven-Colored Recollections, have been released in English.