Written by: Nakaba Suzuki
Series: The Seven Deadly Sins
Sequence in Series: Book 2
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Publication Date: May 13, 2004
ISBN: 1612629237
ISBN-13: 978-1612629230
Genre: Fantasy
To save her kingdom, Princess Elizabeth has pinned her last hope on the infamous traitors, “The Seven Deadly Sins” and has set out on a journey with Meliodas—the Dragon Sin of Wrath—to seek out the rest of his fellow knights and former friends. Deep within an uninviting forest they find Diane, the Serpent Sin of Envy. Before they can celebrate their reunion, they must deal with an attack from Gilthunder, an electrifying Holy Knight!
The second installment of The Seven Deadly Sins by Nakaba Suzuki is more interesting than the first one. The first one was a lot of set up and did not require any investment in the characters or even so much the plot. At the end of the first book I found myself a little indifferent and kept reading mostly because I had seen the anime and knew I had enjoyed the overall story arc.
It is in the second book that we begin to see some character depth revealed for those of the ensemble cast we have thus far been introduced to, Meliodas, Elizabeth, and Diane. We are also introduced to another of the Seven Deadly Sins, Ban, and to a host of Holy Knights, the most interesting of which is Gilthunder. A bit of back story is revealed for Meliodas and Diane, making for the beginning of solid character investment. Elizabeth becomes a more rounded character, enhancing her likeability and making her seem like less of a throw away filler. The adversaries, the Holy Knights, continue to come across as two dimensional, except for Gilthunder, whose character seems to promise further development in future volumes.
The story itself begins to pick up in pace and action sequences. The art style is perfect for this, as it is a little messy and every line seems to insinuate movement. Because it is volume two in an ongoing series there isn’t really a story arc, it is merely a moving forward of storyline. It keeps a good balance between character development and back story with the fight and action scenes. It also does not feel choppy in the story telling when it jumps back and forth between what’s happening in Dalmally and what’s happening at Baste Prison.
I am continuing to withhold my opinion about the world building. There is magic and it appears to be a soft magic system, so I’m interested to see what kind of limitations, if any, are enforced. The world itself seems full of possibilities for adventure and imagination but it is a plain world thus far. The characters that dwell within it are what make it magical so far.
I believe the story is better at keeping the readers attention here in the second volume. I do caution that there is an innate perviness in the story line and the story may not be appropriate for all age groups. I sometimes find the humor juvenile. I am, however, intrigued enough to want to keep reading and to see how everything develops, to find out if everything lives up to its budding, promised potential.
This seems like a book my son would like. He has probably seen the series also.
I should put in a disclaimer that the main character is incredibly pervy, with lots of fondling of the female lead character, so if your son is very young it may not be age appropriate.
I love the Seven Deadly Sins show on Netflix! I’ve never read the manga though. I’ll have to get my hands on it.