Not Recommended
It’s no news to anyone that’s strapping in for the final season that Nanatsu no Taizai has been considered to be going downhill after the Commandments arc, both for animation and plot reasons. In my opinion, it’s not so much that this series changed drastically after that point, although that definitely plays a role. I think it has to do with the fact that Nanatsu keeps using the same plot devices and cheap writing choices to keep it going, and the more you look at it, the more you can see the cracks showing. The result is a clusterfuck of plot armors, confusing action andforced emotional drama.
**Spoilers**
Let’s dig in the plot of this season. The plot is becoming less and less about this band of powerful fighters we’ve come to love for their unique quirks. The Holy War fight and the 3000 years flashback leave many questions to be answered: Why didn’t Zeldris talk to his father about the vampire clan? How the fuck did Gowther rewrite everyone’s memories about Estarossa with ~magic~? There are so many questions I could add that it could easily fill this text. I don’t even want to get started on Estarossa being Mael plot twist, this was the definition of ridiculously forced drama. He got his name from a puppy... a puppy. Christ.
Just as Estarossa comes to the ‘good’ side, our big baddie is revealed: the terrifying Demon King. You’d think that the final villain should surpass every previous villain’s qualities. However, the Demon King is as bland as dry corn flakes at 6 am. He has no motivation besides ‘more power’, no backstory, no important relationship to understand his character. He’s just the shallowest villain you can get that only says the same generic quotes about defeating the MCs. As the final arc progresses, the author repeatedly makes you think the story is wrapping up, only to say ha gotcha!, and prolong it even more. The fight with the Demon King is prolonged three times at least, but it has no weight. The Demon King is actually a pushover who is easily defeated by the main crew without them breaking a sweat. There are no stakes in this final fight, no suspense, nothing. Each time, the Demon King is defeated only to come back because the author wanted to milk the series to its last fucking drop.
One of the biggest advantages of Nanatsu no Taizai is the author’s boldness in his decision to include romance in a shonen series. Most shonen series shy away from romance and shove it in last minute making it seem out of left field, like in Naruto. It’s clear that almost all members of the Sins have a love interest that motivates them, whether the feeling is reciprocated or not. Exploring the characters’ relationships or feelings and how the dynamics begin to shift, like in Meliodas/Elizabeth’s case, or Escanor's feelings for Merlin for example, is very interesting and refreshing. The problem in this season is that every. single. character. is given the exact same romantic sob story in a very perfunctory way. Estarossa and Zeldris were the newest victims of this modus operandi. Their romantic feelings are shoehorned without properly exploring how their relationship with their loved one is unique or different from the others. We are just told that their goal is to save or be with the women they love. Is that a bad thing? Hell no. However when romantic factors are literally the only motivation to the actions and goals of the entire cast, this writing device feels recycled, boring and lazy. The author also tried to add Meliodas' and Zeldris' sibling bond in the mix, but without any scenes that solely had to do with them in flashbacks, or any development in their relationship it's hard to find this depiction moving in any way.
Watering down the plot and the characters’ goals to romance is not the only thing that is poorly written in this season. The characters are also becoming plot devices to move the story forward. It feels like Holy War is an arc that undoubtedly had to be mainly action, but the fights so tedious you can barely sit through them. Our main crew is receiving power ups out of nowhere only to defeat the seemingly insurmountable obstacle in front of them-- granted with a plot armor of 100 tons of course. You need olympic medal gymnastics to be able to reconcile all these drastic and sudden changes that happen conveniently every time. These power ups are poorly explained and give off the idea that the author couldn’t think of a better solution and settled with the easy options. And it’s not just power ups without build up; The fights are boring both in choreography and inventiveness. That’s no news of course, since Nanatsu has always lacked inventiveness when it comes to action. The characters are using moves we’ve never seen before, and the villains are suddenly turning from invincible to weak when the plot requires it which makes it hard to engage and get invested in anything that’s happening really. Nothing seems much of a challenge or suspenseful when the author keeps making up bullshit to escape the corner he’s written himself into. I never thought NnT’s fight scenes were anything spectacular, but with the action in this season being more prevalent, the poor writing is even more apparent.
Last but not least, the elephant in the room: the animation of this season. As someone who hasn’t read the manga, I recognize that some complaints I’ve had about this season might be the studio’s fault and not the author’s. The artstyle and animation are supposed to elevate the source material, not make it worse. I’m really not a picky watcher when it comes to animation; I barely notice faults others effortlessly take up quickly. Studio Deen’s treatment of Nanatsu has been god awful. The animation is not just bad, it’s practically nonexistent for the majority of the show. The action seems odd and as if in slow motion; the characters’ faces remain emotionless and expressionless because the animators just wanted to use the same frames. When Meliodas was being lied to that Elizabeth was dead for good, his face was literally the :O emoji for a good 5 seconds. My point is, the dramatic effect some scenes could have had falls flat because of the poor animation quality and effort. I understand this is not the studio’s fault and the animators tried their best, but unfortunately the production committee’s decision could only produce a power point slideshow as a result. It’s sad because animation is not even half of what makes an anime good, but when the effort is so low that it undermines the source material you have a problem. The audience can’t engage in the action sequences nor can they feel the dramatic moments the characters are having properly, no matter how excellent the voice actors or the soundtrack are in Nanatsu’s case.
All in all, they say the journey is what’s most important instead of the destination. In Nanatsu no Taizai’s case, I can definitely keep in mind the good things the series as a whole offered us; the quirky characters, the funny moments, the intriguing backstories. But when the destination itself is so bad it washes away what you had in high esteem, you are left with a feeling that this story should have ended much sooner than it did.
