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The Seven Deadly Sins Vol. 10 Review

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The Seven Deadly Sins Vol. 10 Review

King’s character arc hits its peak.

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Things are getting very, very personal now in The Seven Deadly Sins. A friend is on the brink of death and another is feeling a pain he hasn’t felt in a very long time. Here comes the series’ tenth volume. Is it good?

The Lowdown

According to the official description from Amazon:

King arrives just in time to see Diane broken and near death. Furious at himself for failing to protect Diane, King is desperate to find the person who hurt Diane so badly. Sir Helbram is singled out and we find the [sic] and King have a very complicated past. Secrets long forgotten stir to the surface as King and Helbram clash!

The Breakdown

The tenth volume of The Seven Deadly Sins is a tad off. On one hand, the first half is rock solid, finishing out what should be most of King’s character arc. I’m iffy on a few things, but it has strong characterization, action, and a pretty powerful conclusion that’s left me satisfied. The second half, while fun, is a little lacking in comparison. It’s more about moving the characters around for the next stage of this major arc than anything else. As such, let’s break the two parts down.

The first half focused on the final confrontation between King and Helbram, with more truths learned and backstories revealed. This is the height of King’s character arc, hitting the peak and leaving us with only the fallout of how he’ll handle things. I find the backstory to be fascinating and pretty well-written, providing some new angles for this hostility and the origin of why he is “Sloth.” The climax is powerful, hitting all the right notes for me. I do find some things sketchy though, like King and Diane’s relationship in the past and how it ended. It feels very morally dubious, a bit more than I’m personally comfortable with. Still, I can’t say that I wasn’t fully invested; I was excitedly racing through everything and going back to reread it again.

The Seven Deadly Sins Vol. 10 Review

Kodansha Comics

The second half is where it falls a little, but it’s not bad by any means. There are some decent character moments, interesting plot revelations, and exciting action for sure. However, everything feels lesser in comparison to the first half, like we fell far from the mountaintop. There’s not as much characterization or development. The plot mostly just moves characters around the board into certain areas, setting them up for the next round. The pacing is much faster as well, making things zoom on by. This works somewhat well given the heavier focus on action during this portion of the story. With that said, it feels like we don’t get much room to breath here due to the breakneck pace of the transition from the first to second half. Again, I don’t hate this by any means but I do think the second half doesn’t have the same punch to it.

All around, this volume is perfectly fine, though there are a few hiccups. One plot point introduced towards the end feels like it comes out of nowhere. While hinted at, its appearance and effects come across like the writer just dropped something into the plot to artificially extend the conflict. I’m curious to see where it goes, but it leaves a bit to be desired here. The artwork is good too, with the usual praises to sing towards it for the excellent action, character design, and layout work. One issue (and it may just be with the Comixology edition) is that some of the pages are out of order despite the page numbers saying differently. There’s a big, pivotal moment where some pages are jumbled around. Sure you understand what is happening, but the flow and pacing is horrendous.

Is It Good?

The Seven Deadly Sins Vol. 10 is a book with a great first half and an alright second half. It feels front-loaded with all its greatness at the start, but it gets lighter the longer it goes on. This doesn’t kill the book by any means though, and outside of some other plot-related issues this is another good outing for the series.

The Seven Deadly Sins Vol. 10 Review
The Seven Deadly Sins Vol. 10 Review
Is it good?
The Seven Deadly Sins Vol. 10 is a book with a great first half and an alright second half. It feels front-loaded with all its greatness at the start, but it gets lighter the longer it goes on.
Strong, powerful first half
Intriguing plot developments
Excellent action and artwork
The second half isn't as good as the first
Some plot developments leave a bit to be desired
8

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