Review for Seven Mortal Sins Collection

Introduction

I’ve been looking forward to this one ever since I borrowed the manga from the library, and discovered an entertaining, funny, and well written fantasy adventure, with a cast of interesting characters. So when MVM sent me the check discs, I rubbed my hands with glee. Then I put the first disc into the player and did a double take. Apparently it’s not my hands I’m supposed to rub with this series, Seven Mortal Sins. I got it confused with Seven Deadly Sins, which is a whole other series, and yet to be licensed for UK release. The latter is the one with the story and the characters and the writing. This one is the fan service aid to masturbation. But you know, sometimes one of these shows turns out to be good. No, really. I do love Cat Planet Cuties after all. Anyway, buyer beware; this isn’t Seven Deadly Sins unfortunately.


“It’s better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven”, words attributed to the angel Lucifer when cast out of heaven and banished to hell. But words are easy, actions not so much, when the would-be ruler of hell tries to make her presence felt. Coming up against the Seven Mortal Sins of hell, the demons embodying Lust, Sloth, Wrath, Greed and Gluttony defeat her and exile her to Earth, although not before she picks up a loyal minion in Leviathan, the embodiment of Envy. But Lucifer stopped off briefly on Earth on her way to Hell, where she received succour from an unlikely human named Maria Totsuka, and now that she’s back in the human world, Maria is the key to defeating the Seven Mortal Sins and claiming Lucifer’s place on the throne of the underworld.


Twelve episodes of Seven Mortal Sins are presented across two Blu-ray discs from MVM.

Disc 1
1. The Proud Fallen Angel
2. Driven Wild By Envy
3. Beach of Lust
4. The Town of Fog Where Greed Brews
5. The Languid Dream
6. Sloth Online
7. Guiltless Gluttony
8. Unleashed Wrath
9. Ye Abandon All Hope

Disc 2
10. Love Your Enemies and Pray for Those Who Persecute You
11. Ask, and it Shall Be Given to You
12. God’s In His Heaven, All’s Right with the World

Picture

Seven Mortal Sins gets a 1.78:1 widescreen 1080p transfer. It’s a Funimation/Crunchyroll author, and you might expect Funimation’s usual middle of the road transfers, but since this is a middle of the road animation, you’re not going to have a lot of nits to pick. Even the usual temptation to point out digital banding doesn’t afford too many opportunities here. The transfer is clean and sharp, with strong consistent colours, and the animation is smooth and fluid. The show’s aesthetic doesn’t really push the boundaries, with a simple world design and the emphasis put on the main character designs, notably their breasts, although they are as smooth as Barbie dolls down below; accurate if you recall the Metatron from Dogma.

Sound

You have the choice between Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround English and 2.0 Stereo Japanese, with subtitles and signs locked during playback. I stuck with the Japanese track, and it might have been a mistake this time, as I’ve read elsewhere that the English dub approaches the show with a level of knowing irony that might make it palatable. In comparison the Japanese is played relatively straight. The music drives the show adequately, and the action comes across without flaw. There are no glitches or dropouts, and the subtitles are accurately timed and free of typos.

Extras

The discs present their content with static menus.

Disc One autoplays with a trailer for another T&A extravaganza, The Testament of Sister New Devil.

Disc 2 autoplays a trailer for Tsugumomo.


Here you’ll find 3:41 of Promo Videos, 34 seconds of Commercials, the textless credits, and trailers for High School DxD Season 3, Rosario and Vampire, Valkyrie Drive Mermaid, and Prison School Live Action, all titles to satisfy those bits that Seven Mortal Sins is aimed at; and probably better at it too.

Conclusion

There is a certain kind of anime, a special sort of show that will stop me in my tracks, give me pause, knock me cold and force me to re-evaluate my life choices. An overwhelming wave of depression washes over me, a sinking feeling as I feel my age, and I exclaim to no one in particular, “Why the f*** am I watching this s***!” Then another wave of depression hits, as I realise that I’m not in the audience demographic for this show, but there was a time, long ago, when I was the perfect audience for this show. Once upon a time I would have drooled over its voluptuous, perverted, blasphemous assets.


I’ve seen anime based on many things. The usual source is manga or light novels. You get anime based on video games, mobile phone games, and card games. There are even anime based on stage plays. Seven Mortal Sins is apparently based on a series of figurines, dolls really, with physiques and scanty (removable) clothing designed solely to titillate. And that’s the raison d’etre of this show, to excite the excitable, to raise blood pressures and elicit Sid James laughs in its audience.


To best appreciate this show, you have to be male, heterosexual, and just past puberty, liable to get turned on by sitting too close to the engine on a bus, let alone the sight of a female, and most importantly, you don’t yet know what a girl actually is. I know this show is rated 18, but you’ll have outgrown its charms by that point, and at the very least discovered porn on the Internet, rendering this is a poor substitute. But if you’re at the nascent age, just turned teenage, and a constant hormonal mess, then this show is for you, a veritable trouser ten(t) out of ten.


I’m not thirteen any more. I can barely remember eighteen. This show isn’t for me. The angel Lucifer is cast down into hell for transgressing against God. On the way down, she somehow picks up a human groupie named Maria. In hell, she tries to live up to her destiny by taking over, but fails against the Seven Mortal Sins, and is exiled to Earth, along with Leviathan, the embodiment of Envy, In this world, all angels and demons are presented in the form of statuesque, big breasted girls, except for the small breasted cute ones. On Earth, Lucifer commences to work her way back to Hell by fighting and defeating the Mortal Sins one by one, aided by Leviathan, and Maria who joins them.


Lots of imaginative fight sequences ensue, which contrive to strip the combatants naked (the loser loses the most clothes), and since they are divine or demonic beings, they can regenerate their apparel to lose it again. And the loser will suffer sexual humiliation and torture at the hands of the victor. Not that it’s all violence, there’s some lust as well, most obviously from the embodiment of Lust, Asmodeus, but also Leviathan quickly develops a crush on Lucifer, and a green envy of Maria for being Lucifer’s favourite.


You can expect lots of nudity, a little bit of sex, a lot of animated S & M, and ridiculously oversized breasts that move as they are different characters altogether. As I said, if I was still thirteen, I’d be into this show like there was nothing better on Earth. But now... I fell asleep during a couple of episodes, felt no need to skip back and re-watch, and didn’t feel as if I’d lost anything by missing out. The biggest sinking feeling came at the end, when it was obviously left hanging for a second season. I don’t think I’d survive if I had to watch more. Now to find some screencaps that are family friendly enough to post with this review.