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REVIEW: Seven Deadly Sins: Dragon's Judgement Episodes 1-12




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Connor Dino



Joined: 20 Dec 2010
Posts: 299
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 12:48 pm Reply with quote
Dragon's Judgement is a definite improvement over the previous season animation-wise (although that isn't a high bar). Likely due to the fact the studio had more time. In fact, outside of episode 11 of this season (which just looked terrible) there were always a few scenes per episode that had some good animation and direction.

Something that I wanted to bring up, and something that no one talks about, is how fantastic the backgrounds looked in season 5 (and even season 4). The studio had a lot of issues with the production and I will fully admit I wish A1 kept making the show (although they weren't perfect either), but whoever did the background, environmental animations for the 4th and 5th season deserves a raise...

No where else can I bring this up, but it needed to be said. As the discourse for the SDS generally gets overshadowed (often rightful) in how much of a stepdown the fight animations have been. I get that no one comes to a battle manga adaptation wanting fantastic background art...but hey, at least it is something the new seasons have over the old.

Curious to see the reviews about the final half of this last season! As the ending of the manga got bogged down in hyperbolic "oMg tHiS enDiNg sUcKS" toxic discourse...like 99% of manga these days...hoping for more reasonable discussions for the anime.
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Matros



Joined: 22 Feb 2021
Posts: 270
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 1:31 pm Reply with quote
"Animation : B-"

Well, that's an insult to every well animated show. B- is a high praise.
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Touma55



Joined: 22 May 2021
Posts: 231
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 2:03 pm Reply with quote
Connor Dino wrote:
Dragon's Judgement is a definite improvement over the previous season animation-wise (although that isn't a high bar). Likely due to the fact the studio had more time. In fact, outside of episode 11 of this season (which just looked terrible) there were always a few scenes per episode that had some good animation and direction.

Something that I wanted to bring up, and something that no one talks about, is how fantastic the backgrounds looked in season 5 (and even season 4). The studio had a lot of issues with the production and I will fully admit I wish A1 kept making the show (although they weren't perfect either), but whoever did the background, environmental animations for the 4th and 5th season deserves a raise...

No where else can I bring this up, but it needed to be said. As the discourse for the SDS generally gets overshadowed (often rightful) in how much of a stepdown the fight animations have been. I get that no one comes to a battle manga adaptation wanting fantastic background art...but hey, at least it is something the new seasons have over the old.

Curious to see the reviews about the final half of this last season! As the ending of the manga got bogged down in hyperbolic "oMg tHiS enDiNg sUcKS" toxic discourse...like 99% of manga these days...hoping for more reasonable discussions for the anime.


I heard that the manga got REALLY bad once it got near its end and it kinda put me off the series. Do you disagree with that? If you do I would really like to here why you think it isn't bad and why you think people hate it so much. I think a lot of manga fans go WAY overboard when the quality of something dips especially when it is the last arc.
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Connor Dino



Joined: 20 Dec 2010
Posts: 299
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 3:47 pm Reply with quote
Touma55 wrote:
I heard that the manga got REALLY bad once it got near its end and it kinda put me off the series. Do you disagree with that? If you do I would really like to here why you think it isn't bad and why you think people hate it so much. I think a lot of manga fans go WAY overboard when the quality of something dips especially when it is the last arc.


I think you hit the nail(s) on the head when you say "dip in quality" and fans going "overboard." The ending of the SDS is most certainly not the high point of the series...but most battle manga are representative of that anyway (who honestly says their favorite part of Naruto was the ending? Some may, but most point to a specific arc).

Obviously your mileage may vary on the ending, but it is NOT the worst thing. Nor would I say that it fundamentally tarnishes the rest of the series. Now...to be fair to those who didn't like the ending (no spoilers), I do think that the criticisms of some reveals coming out of left field, without sufficient build up and pay off have some merit. And I am sympathetic to the view that parts of the final arc feel a bit repetitive and random. But that often gets overshadowed by hyperbolic statements from fans. I often want to ask those fans what they did WANT from the ending...because I think most had no idea.

Like most manga, endings are representative of the series they conclude. The SDS was flawed and imperfect...and so was its' ending. And that is fine. This is a problem with most manga fans these days, they want endings to be exactly as they imagine them, with every plot and character arc concluded perfectly, every theory answered, and no lingering loose threads. When that simply isn't reasonable, fair, or how stories work. How many popular modern manga can you think of that ended recently, that had a majority of readers liking the ending? Fairy Tail? Nope. SDSs? Nope. Tokyo Ghoul re? Nope. Attack on Titan? Nope. Jojo Part 8? Nope. The list can go on and on.

Were these endings bad? I would argue the answer is complicated for each story. I do not regret reading the SDS, it had fun characters, cool action, great art, and (as the review details) was a fun twist on Arthurian Legends. I think it is worth a read/watch especially if you are waiting for the newest One Piece chapter.

I get being put off, but I would say pick it up and decide for yourself. Smile
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Touma55



Joined: 22 May 2021
Posts: 231
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 4:13 pm Reply with quote
Connor Dino wrote:
Touma55 wrote:
I heard that the manga got REALLY bad once it got near its end and it kinda put me off the series. Do you disagree with that? If you do I would really like to here why you think it isn't bad and why you think people hate it so much. I think a lot of manga fans go WAY overboard when the quality of something dips especially when it is the last arc.


I think you hit the nail(s) on the head when you say "dip in quality" and fans going "overboard." The ending of the SDS is most certainly not the high point of the series...but most battle manga are representative of that anyway (who honestly says their favorite part of Naruto was the ending? Some may, but most point to a specific arc).

Obviously your mileage may vary on the ending, but it is NOT the worst thing. Nor would I say that it fundamentally tarnishes the rest of the series. Now...to be fair to those who didn't like the ending (no spoilers), I do think that the criticisms of some reveals coming out of left field, without sufficient build up and pay off have some merit. And I am sympathetic to the view that parts of the final arc feel a bit repetitive and random. But that often gets overshadowed by hyperbolic statements from fans. I often want to ask those fans what they did WANT from the ending...because I think most had no idea.

Like most manga, endings are representative of the series they conclude. The SDS was flawed and imperfect...and so was its' ending. And that is fine. This is a problem with most manga fans these days, they want endings to be exactly as they imagine them, with every plot and character arc concluded perfectly, every theory answered, and no lingering loose threads. When that simply isn't reasonable, fair, or how stories work. How many popular modern manga can you think of that ended recently, that had a majority of readers liking the ending? Fairy Tail? Nope. SDSs? Nope. Tokyo Ghoul re? Nope. Attack on Titan? Nope. Jojo Part 8? Nope. The list can go on and on.

Were these endings bad? I would argue the answer is complicated for each story. I do not regret reading the SDS, it had fun characters, cool action, great art, and (as the review details) was a fun twist on Arthurian Legends. I think it is worth a read/watch especially if you are waiting for the newest One Piece chapter.

I get being put off, but I would say pick it up and decide for yourself. Smile


Well said. People getting mad about series not going the way THEY WANT happens so often and they often have no clue what they wanted or have very poor ideas. I don't know what the main problem people had with the ending was was but if it was failure to tie up loose ends that would be odd since it has a sequel that could deal with that.

I will probably end up checking out the series at some point since it has had my interest for awhile. Thanks for your time.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 8:55 pm Reply with quote
IMO, being able to stick the landing for a story is what separates the wheat from the chaff as a storyteller. Lots of authors throw things into their stories because they seem cool or because they are trying to create certain feelings or thoughts in their audience without considering how those elements can be resolved down the line. This can lead to various sorts of problems: deus ex machina endings, dangling plot points, romantic pairings that lack any build-up, et al.

Generally speaking, the more extreme these sorts of things are, the more serious the backlash and disappointment by the audience. Even works that I view more casually can be ruined by mucked up endings. Connor Dino listed some of them, but of course there are far more. In fact, it seems to happen more often than not when it comes to anime: the list of well done endings is much shorter than those that were flubbed, IMO.

I'll wait and see how SDS turns out, though I'm not holding high expectations in that regard. I hope it'll at least be tolerable.
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 1853
PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:48 am Reply with quote
People picking a lot of endings here but even Dragon Ball ended in one of the most rushed and forced ways. The final volume started with the Buu that absorbed Gohan, lost his power, became the original Buu, got killed and Goku abandoned his family for the fifth time to train the kid. Yugioh skipped most of Yugi vs Atem, Shaman King dodged every fight, Hellsing made as much sense as Tsubasa, etc. Bleach had a lot of development of Ichigo's powers only to axe him in one chapter bringing up the most wasted antagonist from the series for a one chapter ending. It really feels like people nowadays call manga shonen in bad manner.
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