Until this surprising gem that somehow molds itself into something just a bit different and unique, which manages to sit on top a pile of generic shounen, all filled with their busty female leads who are head over heels for the protagonist and like their unrequited love that could never be shown( a shonen is meant for young boys after all) they are often rather useless in ability. So then how could an anime that somehow checks off every box in the page of 'safe' be this good?
It's because it takes itself seriously. That may seem like a shock with the big bust of Elizabeth( your female lead) and the comedic perversion of Meliodas( your protagonist) but hear me out for. While the anime fits every box for shonen, it at least checked it off in a diamond fountain pen. The show's characters are developed and pop out whether in appearance, personality, costume or power( or some of all) Whether it is from the simple fact that the show is set up to mislead the viewer( as well as the characters in the anime) that the sins look very different than they truly do or the personalities that do so well to compliment their respective sins: Ban, the sin of greed thinks only for himself, tying not only to every day comedic relief to his past and ultimate goals. This does well with every sin( even those not shared by the same deadly sin group) which accents nearly everything in the show. From corner to corner, you find an anime that could not have been safer yet could not have been more different. Someone buying a turtle rather than a cat or a dog comes to mind. I can only see this example as true when I look at anime like Kill la kill which compares to me more that someone bought an anteater as a pet rather than a cat or dog.
You get a story with clarity; with defined goals; Princess recruits the sins to take back the corrupt kingdom. That's safe. That's shonen. Yet you somehow get twists, unprecedented turns, and by the end, you hardly end up on the same freeway( although, it still is a freeway).
This proves true with the characters just the same. You get your 5 or 6 major characters as well as your generic villain(s) and your few developed minor characters, each with obvious flaws and goals with just enough depth for real character development but not enough to leave us with something deep and resounding. An example I feel would work would be a character developing through their need to be the most powerful and a character developing between their need to feel like they're the most powerful. The latter leads into branches of why, how, when- which leads into other branches and other problems, goals and themes. The first one just says "I want to be strong", something akin to nearly every generic superhero villain we find in the movies. Yet, the characters created by the writing staff( or the manga artist I should say) focus deep on the simple mindsets and goals of each character giving us something more and certainly better than "I want to be strong".
This relates very well back to our story which again, was very simple from the start and although it branches little off in ways of the story changing( a story like House ( little to non changing story) to a show like Breaking bad( branches very far off by season 5) it delves deep into the story it does have, leaving us at least on a different, bumpier road than we started.
The road we end up on gives us real development between what we saw as enemies and friends, and does a great job at giving us those unseen twists we as viewers love.
The check marks have also been checked( though again with the same fancy pen) under the art and sound categories. The artwork is typical of a shounen- almost goofy and unrealistic but it is done well and animated well for the majority of the series, hardly letting us see those terrible animation sequences during fights. The sound plays well in what a shonen expects- a mix between upbeat pop and rock, and the in show soundtrack does well to either become compatible or happily forgetful.
If the story suffers from anything it is from the fact that it should have been named the (5 deadly sins) as that is pretty much the amount you will see( maybe 5 & a half) and truly only 4 of them are truly great characters. Though that is less to do with the manga and more to do with the anime adaption as the manga was developed fine and spaced properly given it did not have a frame of episodes to meet. In true but very appropriate nit-picking the show also suffers from sometimes generic uninspired fights that do well to show action and gore but not so well in showing something different. After all, if you are an actions show and have a lot of action, it seems important to not 1/4 of it be the same boring scenes you already showed. Finally, as far as characters, it suffers from the fact there are just too many, with some becoming important far too late, then presenting them as very important to either the characters or the plot, as well as showing them off as if we were supposed to care or know they were important all along. Though I will say that surprisingly they managed to do well with a few of these pop-ups which I find very hard to do.
All and all, it is that general sense of seriousness given to a safe shonen like this that are very appreciated and evident throughout, giving this show a powerful and entertaining watch.
