Seven Deadly Sins Review: A Knight's Quest to Reassemble the Most Dangerous Warriors in the Kingdom
by Nakaba Suzuki
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Quick Take
- A princess disguised as a tavern worker enlists the legendary Seven Deadly Sins — seven outlaw knights charged with attempting to overthrow the kingdom — to save her country
- Fantasy action manga with creative character designs and escalating stakes that reach genuinely cosmic scale
- 41 volumes, complete, with a satisfying conclusion
Who Is This Manga For?
- Readers who enjoy ensemble fantasy action with a large cast of powered-up fighters
- Fans of Fairy Tail who want a similar guild-style camaraderie in a medieval fantasy setting
- Anyone who likes the "gathering the team" narrative structure
- Readers who want a complete long-form fantasy series
Content Warnings & Age Rating
Age Rating: T (Teen) Content Warnings: Fantasy violence (battles escalate to very large scale), mild fanservice in early volumes, themes of sacrifice and war
Accessible. The fanservice decreases as the plot deepens.
Yu's Rating
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Story Depth | ★★★☆☆ |
| Art Style | ★★★★☆ |
| Character Development | ★★★★☆ |
| Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers | ★★★★★ |
| Reread Value | ★★★☆☆ |
Story Overview
The kingdom of Liones is controlled by the Holy Knights — an order of powerful warriors who have staged what they claim is a necessary coup. Princess Elizabeth, third princess of Liones, escapes and searches for the Seven Deadly Sins: legendary knights who were accused of attempting the same coup ten years earlier and have been in hiding since.
She finds Meliodas — the Dragon's Sin of Wrath — running a traveling tavern with his companion Hawk, a talking pig. From there, the Seven are gathered one by one: Ban the Fox's Sin of Greed, King the Grizzly's Sin of Sloth, Diane the Serpent's Sin of Envy, and the others. Each has a backstory, each has a specific power, and each has a reason the "sins" attributed to them are more complicated than the labels suggest.
The conflict expands from saving the kingdom to confronting ancient supernatural forces that predate the kingdom itself.
Characters
Meliodas — The captain; looks like a child, is not. His cheerful surface and his actual history are in fundamental contradiction, which is the source of his character arc.
Elizabeth — Grows from the rescued princess archetype into someone who chooses what she fights for.
Ban — Immortal and grieving; his relationship with the character Elaine is the manga's most emotionally affecting subplot.
King — The Grizzly's Sin whose backstory with Diane is one of the longest-running and most developed relationships in the manga.
Escanor — The Lion's Sin who is utterly powerless at night and the most powerful being in existence at noon. His character is the manga's most popular for good reason — his love for Merlin is handled with unexpected sincerity.
Art Style
Suzuki's art is clean with expressive character designs — the Sins' visual distinctiveness makes them immediately identifiable even in large battle sequences. The power effects scale appropriately as the stakes increase.
What I Love About It
Escanor. The manga introduces him late, but from the moment he appears, he recontextualizes every power scaling discussion in the story. A character who is simultaneously the most humble and the most powerful, whose pride at noon is not arrogance but literal divine fact, is a genuinely creative design. His final arc is handled with real emotion.
What English-Speaking Fans Say
Western readers enjoyed the manga through its anime adaptation and found the ending satisfying. The consistent criticism is that the later arcs escalate power levels to a point that strains coherence, but the character relationships carry the final volumes. Escanor is universally beloved.
Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning
Escanor's final sacrifice — choosing to use his power in a way that will destroy him, for the people he loves — is the emotional peak of the manga. The sunrise imagery in those chapters is some of Suzuki's best art.
Similar Manga
- Fairy Tail — Similar guild-ensemble structure, lighter tone
- Black Clover — Similar magic-knight setting
- Magi — More complex world-building, similar fantasy adventure
- The Rising of the Shield Hero — Fantasy ensemble, darker tone
Reading Order / Where to Start
Volume 1. The manga is accessible from the first chapter.
Official English Translation Status
Kodansha USA published the complete 41-volume series. All volumes available.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Escanor is one of manga's great late-introduced characters
- The ensemble develops genuine relationships over the full run
- 41 volumes, complete, satisfying ending
- Accessible and fun throughout
Cons
- Power levels inflate significantly in the final arc
- Some early fanservice feels out of place with the later tone
- The cosmic villain of the final arc is less interesting than the human ones
Format Comparison
| Format | Notes |
|---|---|
| Individual Volumes | Standard Kodansha USA release |
| Digital | Recommended for this length |
| Physical | Fine |
Where to Buy
Get Seven Deadly Sins Vol. 1 on Amazon →
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Written by
Yu
Manga Enthusiast from Japan
I grew up in Japan and manga literally saved me during a tough time in elementary school. My English isn't perfect, but my love for manga is real — and I want to share it with you.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.