The current Seven Deadly Sins awesomnitude continues with a full on, no-holds-barred fairy smackdown. Hells yes.
This chapter was pretty much 100% fight – and what a fight it’s looking to be. Helbram came out flying, literally hurling an entire forest at King; Diane’s life (AGAIN…) hung in the balance; King fought like a lunatic… It really was top quality stuff, folks.
The place to begin, I feel, is with Helbram – who is pretty much stealing the whole series at the moment. In fairy form, even more so than as a human he is a nasty, slimy, smirking piece of work (if that were possible). Taunting King, making cruel jibes about his past and generally fighting absolutely filthy, he is without a shadow of a doubt my favourite villain in manga at the moment (sorry Madara…). If – when – he gets his comeuppance I will be a very, very happy man.
Helbram: Sleazy, manipulative and so, so goooodd…
He also seemed to have a major advantage over King, in that he was able to sling around the unrestrained power of the Sacred Tree – because, in his words, of being a true fairy. King abandoned the forest and his position as its ruler, and as such (it seems) the power of Christofel is severely weakened. Not that it’s ever felt anything other than borderline over-powered in the past, but against the might of Helbram King was really, really struggling.
An exemplar of just how good the art was this chapter. God damn.
The art reflected that desperation – it was brutal. Hauser getting swatted aside like a fly; King taking an absolute beating and then being made to watch as Helbram threw everything he had at the woman he loves… It was hard to read at times, but kept me utterly hooked until the very end.
And then the ending…
Not gonna lie, it felt a teensy bit like a cheat – although Diane’s life has been on the line so many times in the last few chapters that I’m hardly surprised that once again she was saved in the nick of time. I guess if the managaka cries wolf on Diane dying it’ll be a huge shock if she does bite the big one – but it’s a scenario I imagine is incredibly unlikely.
Incidentally, just how did King stop that attack..? I may be being obtuse, so please do correct me if I’m being obvious, but that shield didn’t look like anything I’ve seen from King before. That would make sense, of course, as Meliodas himself stated that King’s power had gone through the roof, suggesting new abilities are about to be unleashed – although we’ll have to wait a chapter or so to see it.
In the meantime (and I’m so, so looking forward to it…) we are going to get a King Gaiden!!! YAY!!! Just what I had hoped might be cropping up soon, following the age-old manga tradition of flashbacks in pivotal fights. More than that, though – this is gonna be HUGE. Like, 51 pages, cover and centre colour huge. Can’t wait to get my chops into that one…
Back to the present, and I’ll round off by saying that this chapter was the bomb. This fight (and arc) still feel like they have a long way to go, but my god is it a brilliant ride. More please!!
THE GOOD!!
- The art this chapter went above and beyond, wince-inducing at times as King got thrashed all over the place. Very impressive.
- Helbram’s character remains awesome – hells, even more so in fairy-mode. He is a brilliantly underhand villain – long may it continue!
THE BAD!!
- For the second week in a row, I have very few complaints. If I have to be picky, maybe the ending could have been handled a little differently..? It all felt a little bit wasted as Diane was saved yet again – but that’s small fry, really, when the rest of the chapter is considered.
Overall: Another top-notch chapter, basically. Simple as. I give it a 9/10
Koba out
Sleeping Geeks 
Certainly, Nakaba went overboard with the “Diane is about to die” thing, but is over. She is recovering slowly but surely, though she probably wont fight anymore this arc. It’s weird Nakaba forget the healing balls and instead King used the healing polen barrier.
” I feel, is with Helbram – who is pretty much stealing the whole series at the moment. In fairy form, even more so than as a human he is a nasty, slimy, smirking piece of work (if that were possible).[…] If – when – he gets his comeuppance I will be a very, very happy man.”
And then you learn about his past and only want give him a big hug and hope King spares him. Nakaba is even crueler than Helbram T.T
The Gaiden was heartbreaking, Helbram defeat was even worse.
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Yep, all just a big (and not very shocking) red herring. Which is good, I guess, as I do like Diane.
I’m finishing up the review for the gaiden/next chapter now and yeh, Helbram’s demise is a miserable one. Not quite sure how I feel about it all… Sort of wanted Helbram to go out in a big way, not fade away sadly. Huh.
Anyway, thanks for reading!!
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