Before I start, I need to give a few disclaimers. First, there will be major spoilers in this review, because it isn't much of a review, it's an analysis going in depth, so read at your own discretion. Secondly, I'll only be analyzing a few of the central characters, no other aspects, because the characters are what interests me the the most in this manga. With that being said, let's get to it.

Shonen Jump is the most popular manga magazine in the world, and has been for decades. However, for the sake of this video let’s leave Shonen Jump alone. Instead lets visit the territory of Weekly Shonen Magazine. Yes, they are different. Nanatsu no Taizai, also known as The Seven Deadly Sins, is one such manga from this magazine, and it’s THAT Shonen, the one that is really good, and has obtained moderate popularity, but deserves so much more, with the main reason for my claim being the characters, which are interesting and complex, but also manage to balance being the most FUN in all of Shonen battle manga. This video will be a character analysis, of sorts, in which I’ll be discussing seven characters which include six of the seven deadly sins, Elizabeth, and the comic relief of the series Hawk. I’m skipping out on the Sin of Pride Esconor because we don’t know much about him to the point I’ve read in the manga, which I haven’t picked up in a few years. I should also mention that season 2 of the anime has recently started, and it’s just as good as before. I would tell you to go watch it, but there’s currently no place to stream it legally for free because Netflix are assholes. Look, I have Netflix, I would have no problem watching on their site if they provided it, but they aren’t, so fuck’em, watch it wherever you want. With that being said, let’s get to it.

I wanna start with Meliodas, the main character, the Dragon’s Sin of Wrath. On the surface Meliodas has a lot of personality traits of an unlikable character, but mangaka Nabaka Suzuki has managed to craft him into someone that I love. Meliodas’ dominant traits are his frankness and his utter fearlessness. This is shown in several ways, most notably in battle, regardless of who his opponent is, but also in humorous scenes whenever he’s seen groping Elizabeth. That’s part of his personality that I said before would normally be unlikable, because it’s a trope in lots of anime and characters who submit to it are typically obnoxious perverts that I can’t stand watching, I think what makes it work is the blank expression he gives whenever he does.

Normally when a character has this trait they’re so obviously doing it on purpose that it’s just painful, I just wanna hit them myself. With Meliodas, it’s almost tongue’n’cheek, like he isn’t doing it for perverted reasons necessarily, although there may be elements of that as well, but it’s like he’s doing it as a joke. He’s a troll basically, and I love it. I know some people might still hate it, but if you have a sense of humor then it shouldn’t bother you. He’s also a complete badass. In most cases I don’t care about badass characters, I care more about deep, complex characters, but recently we have been getting more about Meliodas’ past, which allows me to take a step back and indulge in how cool he is. He’s incredibly fearless, calm, collected, funny, and powerful.

An interesting detail is that he almost never looses a fight, at least early on, similar to Luffy from One Piece. Most people would consider this to be extremely boring, but recently he has been struggling with more battles, and in the meantime his personality made it tolerable, plus, like I said before, it’s just fun. Up tot his point his fights have been less about the struggle of tough combat, and more about watching him blow through his enemies with a snarkiness that you wouldn’t be able to find hardly anywhere else. There’s also several other traits which ads to the fun. Aside from his perversion, he’s also a horrible cook, and whenever the customers at the Boar Hat, the restaurant that he owns, throws up on the floor, he has his pet, the talking pig Hawk, eat it up. He also seems to be extremely dense when it comes to others and the world around him, but we learn slowly that he has more awareness than he initially lets on, and watching that all unfold is really entertaining. Another thing that makes him likable is his strong sense of justice.

A little cliche, but still a welcome addition; he’s willing to help anyone in distress. Even when he’s severely injured he tries not to show weakness and stays strong in front of his friends. Meliodas holds resentment upon himself for being a failure as an older brother, and has even clashed swords with his own brother, Zeldris, in the past. Despite his time as the Sin of Wrath, he appears to be a very calm person. However, if his companions or friends are harmed in any way, he is greatly angered. He is also shown to fall into a state of extreme rage when someone tries to take his sword, with this rage being capable of scaring even a HOly Knight and leaving a permanent scar on Ban’s neck despite his regeneration abilities. It has been hinted that Meliodas is guilt-ridden over the fate of Danafor, saying that his sin was being unable to save the Kingdom.

Ban and Cain point out that Meliodas tends to be soft and naive, due to him never killing anyone, even someone like Guila, who was a serious threat to the group. Meliodas dislikes killing, preferring to be merciful; however, Elizabeth points out that Meliodas is not naive or a simpleton, but just really kind. Meliodas appears to have a darker side to his personality, as shown when he used the Black Mark that appears on his forehead when in trouble. When he uses the Mark, he becomes cold, quiet, ruthless, and murderous as he kills the attacks anyone near him without mercy. However, he does not kill Elizabeth, possibly due to her resemblance to Liz who was his lover. Despite being known as a womanizer to most people, Meliodas seems to be truly serious when Elizabeth or Liz are involved, but still cracks dirty jokes and tells of a woman’s three sizes.

It turns out that Meliodas has always tried to keep his emotions under control due to his immense power. In the past, he destroyed Danafor in his rage after seeing the death of Liz. Also, after seeing a little girl getting injured trying to help the Seven Deadly Sins, he almost lost himself. At that moment, Merlin sealed Meliodas’ immense power. The Seven Deadly Sins also revealed that Meliodas never acted like a pervert ten years ago, as he showed to interest towards others females before. This seemed to change with Elizabeth appeared in his life and he started acting like one, which also hints at his single interesting toward Liz and Elizabeth. His perversion is meant to be a joking act, not true insight to his personality. After his time in Purgatory, Meliodas’ personality changes drastically whenever he uses the Black Mark, becoming far more ruthless in his battles and wasting no time in his attempts to kill his former demon allies, even stating that his outlook has changed and smiled as he attempted to destroy them.

During his fight with Fraudrin, he used a clone of half his power to give Fraudrin hope of defeating him, only to erase that hope and put him in despair at the hopelessness of eliminating his true power, and realizing the position he placed his historic enemy in. This is contradictory to his previous self. This personality is Meliodas’ old demonic self, who was once revered as the vilest demon in existence. Every time he dies, Meliodas’ emotions are eaten, slowly reverting him back to that self. Meliodas is genuinely terrified of becoming that person again. Due to the immortality curse inflicted on him by the demon king and the perpetual reincarnation curse the supreme deity put on Elizabeth causing them to forever be separated, Meliodas has developed a strong desire to break his and Elizabeth’s curse despite knowing he would die in the process.

Due to all that he had suffered, Meliodas’ true purpose in his journey is to end his suffering and to die with his true love fully content with the fact that both of htem would be at peace and forever together in death. He shows no fear of death due to even smiling as he told Diane of his goals as if he had a death wish. Also, it’s my theory that his constant perversion is more than just a joke, and is his way of coping with the fact that he’s forever alone, but I have no proof of this. Unfortunately, ina desparate attempt to protect Elizbeth and escape the dark cocoon he was trapped in by Melascula, Meliodas unleashed his demonic powers, reverting back to his old self. With his old personality in control, Meliodas has been seen to be easily annoyed and angered, being far more brutal, sarcastic, sadistic, and cruel than ever, evidently enjoying himself when he’s beating his enemies. However, he is not above complimenting his foes if they are truly powerful, as when he openly praised Escanor for putting up a fight.

Next, let’s talk about Diane, the Serpent’s Sin of Envy, and Diane is actually my favorite female character. She is a very friendly woman, and is also very confident regarding her abilities, appearing to generally consider Holy Knights as weak. She cares very much about her captain and holds very strong feelings for Meliodas, often cuddling him, and becoming delighted from compliments from him. Her feelings are strong enough for her to overcome her fears for his sake. However, she is quick to throw temper tantrums, and often does so upon becoming upset. Diane also gets angry and jealous when Meliodas does perverted things to other girls. Due to her size, she cannot help Meliodas in any way other than fight for him. She has expressed her strong desire to be smaller, contrary to Elizabeth’s desire to be strong.

Despite Diane stating that she has no interest in humans, she still seflessly saves people who are in danger, like when the elderly man in Vaizel and Zeal were in danger, Diane risked her life to protect them. Despite her brave and strong appearance, Diane is a somewhat emotionally fragile person, as shown by her hatred of loneliness. This was portrayed when she was a child and insisted that King stay by her side when she was sick instead of getting herbs to heal her, and when she waited in tears for him to return to her. Diane showed the same kind of feelings towards Elizabeth after she was kidnapped by Vivian. Whenever nervous or embarrassed, she covers her mouth with one of her pigtails and blushes, which is so adorable and humorous that it should be illegal.

Next, let’s discuss Ban, the Fox’s Sin of Greed, and my second favorite male character. Ban is shown to be a passionate man. He takes actions based on whatever catches his interest, such as escaping from prison after hearing his Captain was alive, and trying to steal Meliodas’ sword Dragon Handle to discover why it was so important to him. He has shown some aspects of greed, as well as selfish desire, however, he will stay his stand if he is given a good reason to stop. He has a strange habit of making singing tones while talking, which he developed as a young age after he was adopted by Zhivago. Despite his selfish and greedy personality, he is also shown to be caring, which is shown when he rushed toward Elaine to save her despite being a “bad person.”

Ban is easily surprised and excited, as shown w hen he discovers Hawk’s ability to talk and that the child he was fighting is actually King. Furthermore, when King transformed back into his previous, larger form, Ban, was the only one who appeared to be astonished. Ban carries a deep hatred towards the Demon Clan, holding a grudge against them for killing Elaine, and he despises the very thought of resurrecting the clan. Occasionally, Ban seems to act out of character. When Ban was planning to get the Horn of Cernunnos located under the Kingdom of Liones Castle to revive Elaine, he was planning to save the kingdom, and be given the horn as a reward rather than stealing it for unknown reasons. Additionally, Ban has told the other Deadly Sins to not get into Melliodas’ past as it was against their rules, Ban even told Meliodas that killing Dale as he is, was the best thing for him and that he shouldn’t be naive.

Next I want to discuss King, the Grizzly’s Sin of Sloth, and my third favorite male character in the series. In his first appearance, he is shown to be an ally to the Holy Knights and is willing to wine out anyone who gets in this way along with the person he is after. Since he is the Sin of Sloth, he is shown as somewhat lazy, preferring to levitate in most occasions. In the past he was to be a compassionate character who returned stuffed animals stolen by Ban to children. Furthermore, it appears that he is an emotional person who cries easily. King has trouble admitting his affection for Diane. Although he enjoys being with Meliodas and Diane, he could not bring himself to express it. He cares deeply for his sister, Elaine, as shown when he was willing to take revenge for her death by “killing” Ban.

King is also shown to have a caring side. He helps the Seven Deadly Sins in their battle against the Holy Knights, although he claims it is merely for Diane. Despite being the Sin of Sloth, he is hard working and serious at times. When King joins the group, he starts to act like the only rational one in the group, and questions his teammates erratic and slightly insane actions, such as their nonchalance about losing their sacred treasures. When forced to do something he dislikes, King can easily be motivated if it will make Diane happy. Despite King’s kind personality, he is not against killing someone, if pushed to his limits. King was willing to kill Guila and Jericho if they continued to attack him, but was unable to after Helbram saved the two. In terms of being fun, King probably has the least enjoyable scenes, but the emotional moments with him and the fairy race more than makes up for it.

Next I want to talk about Gowther, the Goat’s Sin of Lust During the battle between a deformed Dale and DawnRoar, Gowther first shows himself speaking in his distinctive, emotionless manner. His expression never changes, being completely blank, and his speech bubbles are uniquely square, compared to the round bubbles of everyone else. Yet despite his emotionless nature, Gowther does care about others. This is shown when he protects Pelliot from the Armored Giant’s attack. He is shown to be completely unaware of others’ feelings has shown an inability to understand the meaning of friendship. He often states things factually without realizing that what he says can upset people. He decides to assist Elizabeth on her journey, not because of a desire for justice, but because he felt obligated as a member of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Since Gowther doesn’t understand emotions he goes to great lengths to understand them better, which can lead to some of the most hilarious, but simultaneously interesting, moments int he entire series. For example, he often observes Meliodas and Ban’s friendship and he is not beyond using his powers to experiment on others, as seen when he brainwashes Guila. Despite his title, he has been shown to not normally be lustful, even when he brainwashed Guila into loving him, it was not out of lust, it was only out of curiosity of human emotions and his lack of understanding that it wasn’t okay to do, rather than a predatory desire for her. As such, it is likely that his title may now refer to a lust for knowledge, rather than in his Nightmare Teller technique on another person, remarking on how fragile humans are when confronted with their deepest fears.

Despite Gowther’s emotionless nature, he appears to enjoy posing whenever he introduces himself or when on a mission. In the past Gowther was shown to be quite emotional and rather playful, often seen arguing and playing games. Even when he was fighting, there was no ill will or malice in his actions. However, he would also get very distraught easily, tearing up whenever the prospect of being alone was evident. After much time, the idea of being alone again proved to be too overwhelming for him, leading to who Gowther is in the present. Since regaining both his memories and his emotions, Gowther’s personality has amalgamated aspect of his younger self and present self. While retaining his factual manner of speaking, Gowther has expressed more affection and excitability in his mannerisms.

He has also picked up on his social situations, suchas King inviting him to a round of drinks to ease the tension between them, though Gowther still retains a certain aloofness about him. Along with his newly rediscovered emotions, Gowther strives to be a kinder person. When Gowther disguised himself as Armando, he displayed an easily flustered attitude and frequently played with Pelliot and his group the Fake Seven Deadly Sins. He demonstrated apparent gratitude towards Pelliot for saving his life many years ago and has shown himself to be willing to endanger himself to protect the young boy.

Next up is Merlin, the Boar’s Sin of Gluttony, very briefly. Prior to the Seven Deadly Sins supposed betrayal, Merlin demonstrates a playful nature telling her teammates that their meeting with the Great Holy Knight might turn out to be a scolding from their superior for destroying the Great Druid Alter. Merlin is also apologetic in asking for her Captain’s forgiveness for knocking him out. S he enjoys mocking and challenging others, teasing her apprentice Vivian for losing herself in rage again. Merlin tends to use anyone as a magical guinea pig to test out new techniques she learned so long as the results are good.

After that we have Elizabeth Liones, the Princess of the Kingdom of Liones. Elizabeth is very polite, grateful, and caring, and though initially she appearas to be fragile and frail, she is in fact very brave and courageous. Her selfless attitude and bravery are demonstrated when she willingly tries to rescue a child from friesia’s attack, which earned her some form of respect from the Seven Deadly Sins due to her courage. On the other hand she is also a fairly gullible person, always being tricked by Meliodas’ antics. Elizabeth has relatively low self-esteem, always saying that she is just a burden to the Seven Deadly Sins since she is unable to fight back. Elizabeth is always being seen being harassed by meliodas, but she appears to not mind it after listening to and believing Meliodas’ excuses.

She begins growing more casual with Meliodas’ perverted antics, blushing less. Despite being a princess, Elizabeth shows a lot of respect and trust towards the Seven Deadly Sins even though there are several bad rumors about them. She even addressed them with the titles Lord and Lady. Elizabeth is very strong-willed, as shown w hen Veronica died, she remains determined to continue stopping the Holy Knights. She oly cries when she is alone, not letting others see tears. When Gowther stated that she likes Meliodas, she immediately blushed and became bashful. After Liones was set free and Meliodas didn’t want Elizabeth to continue to travel with him, Elizabeth grew more determined to become stronger and unlock her hidden powers so she could help everyone and no longer be a burden to Meliodas anymore.

After spending much time with him, Elizabeth grew a little casual to Meliodas’ groping, but at times shows embarrassment, as she feels nostalgic whenever he does so, possibly feeling a hidden key to her past life as Meliodas’ deceased lover, Liz. Another sign of Elizabeth’s strong will is during Meliodas’ death; despite being devastated over it, shedding many tears, she continmued to show a bravea nd kind smile and run the Boar’s Hat with the same energy as Melioidas, attempting to give people the best as she could. However, deep down, she is still hurt by Meliodas’ death and hoped one day he would come back. When meliodas does finally return, Elizabeth allows him to grope her as much as he wants, showing how much she missed him.

When Meliodas stated that he was afraid of becoming evil again, Elizabeth confronts him and gives him hope. Eventually Elizabeth grew curious about the mentions of other Elizabeth’s that were linked to Meliodas at different points in time and confronts him. After being lied to she was left upset and began to cry. Once she meets Zeldris and he reveals that he also recognized her she insisted on how he does. After she eventually finds out the truth Elizabeth was happy and relieved but eagerly wanted to remember her past lives. After fully regaining her memories, Elizabeth becomes much more confident in herself and she is now more than willing to directly participate in battle. She retains strong attachments to her current life’s friends and family but her feelings towards Meliodas dwarfs said attachment.

The last character I want to go into is the primary comedy relief of The Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas’ pet pig Hawk. Hawk is shown to be an easily annoyed pig as seen when Meliodas lies in jest and does perverted things to elizabeth, and when Elizabeth is being air headed about it. He also appears to care a lot for his friends and seems to be a mama’s boy, occasioanlly crying for help from his mom, Mama Hawk, the gigantic green pig that carries the Boar’s Hat on her back. Hawk tends to have a big ego and is prideful, claiming that he is stronger than the Seven Deadly Sins. As I explained earlier in this video, he’s also the one who cleans up not only the vomit of Meliodas’ customers due to Meliodas’ poor cooking, but also their leftover table scraps, and Meliodas’ leftover food.

Aside form the characters themselves, their relationships with each other also helps to make this series entertaining; in fact, I’d argue that Nanatsu no Taizai wouldn’t be half as good if it wasn’t for the clever ways in which these characters interact. From Diane’s hilarious infatuation with Meliodas, to King’s hilarious, and at times touching, infatuation with Diane, to Meliodas’ and Ban’s amazing friendship which can get violet, but never with venom, we always have the impression that they’re still the best of friends, to how much both Merlin an Gowther seems to enjoy teasing the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins just in different ways, to the progression of Meliodas’ and Elizabeth’s romantic relationship, to the great ways that they’re all able to work together during battle. It’s clearly the driving force of the story. However, in my opinion the best one is the relationship between Meliodas and Elizabeth. I so want those two to end up together in the end, and learn more about Liz, Elizabeth’s previous life. I’d also like to see King and Diane end up together in the end, but that ones secondary for me. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind if Guilla ends up with Ban which they’ve also been hinting towards, even though she isn’t one of the main cast.