Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai

Holy holiness! I thought this was somewhat the sequel to that action fantasy adventure, Nanatsu No Taizai! Then I realized something is wrong when I saw the promotional poster. Sexy busty ladies?! Wait. Am I seeing it right? Shucks. What a misleading title. Again. Because in that same season we had Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahou No Sho in which I mistook it for another anime sequel thanks to its suspiciously similar title. Thus it is the same too for Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai. It has nothing to do with that series about a group of former baddies trying to take over a kingdom now taken over by corrupted knights who were once the heroes. The only thing in common is the use of the seven deadly sins as its theme. Everything else differs so much. Oh, sexy busty ladies, huh? I can see where we’re going with this one.

Episode 1
Crucified Lucifer falls from heaven as she blames Michael for this betrayal. She crashes into a church. Maria Totsuka, a normal human seems to be able to see her. Before she plunges into hell, Lucifer gives her an angel’s life. Down in the most bottom depths of hell, the demon of envy, Leviathan is excited to see Lucifer crashing down. She has always looked up to her and starts caressing her body. She suggests they take over hell by defeating the other Mortal Sins but Lucifer will not follow orders from anyone. This makes Leviathan mad as she attacks her. Her weak attack has no effect as Lucifer remembers Michael telling her God’s punishment to her to atone for her pride forever. Lucifer breaks free and I think her transformation into some cosplay made Leviathan adore her even more. She vows to follow her. Bringing her to the castle where the Mortal Sins rule, Lucifer is attacked by the demon of wrath, Satan. Of course she is no match for the fallen angel and gets busted. We are introduced to the other busty demons like Mammon (greed), Asmodeus (lust), Beelzebub (gluttony) and Belphegor (sloth). The leader of them all is Belial (vanity – what is Bayonetta doing here?!), she believes Lucifer is here to invade hell. Lucifer takes up Leviathan’s suggestion to beat the crap out of everyone and rule this place. Belial orders the rest to fight her. Nobody moves. Okay. She’ll do it herself. Too bad Lucifer easily destroys her family sword and rips her clothes in the process. Gnosis offers Belial to use him. She unleashes some restraining attack on her. Lucifer tries to escape but the other Mortal Sins attack and ground her. Belial torments her by cutting one of her wings. However this severs her restraints to God. She declares as the one who goes against God and the demon burdened with the sin of pride. She and Leviathan escape back to Earth. Right back at the same spot where Maria found Lucifer. First thing Lucifer does is to stab Maria’s heart! And she corrects her that she isn’t an angel, but a demon lord.

Episode 2
Maria isn’t dead. Lucifer has stolen her heart. How can a person live without a heart? Well, as long as Lucifer has it, she is immortal. Unless she crushes it. Since Maria continues to whine in disbelief, Leviathan wants to get rid of her. However Lucifer wants Maria as her servant. Because normal humans can’t see angels and demons, I guess they need Maria to do human business. Like booking a presidential suite of a hotel for an indefinite stay. Maria continues to resist her so Lucifer with a snap of her fingers is able to make her do things against her own will. Like stripping and taking a bath with her. Maria wants to be normal again but Lucifer doesn’t care. All she needs to do is obey her. Despite the abuse, Leviathan is envious that Maria gets all her attention. Leviathan thought she could try cooking for her but Lucifer still has her attention on Maria. So when Lucifer has gone out, Leviathan takes out her frustrations on Maria. If only she is gone, all of Lucifer’s attention will be on her. Maria tries to run but Leviathan outrages her modesty with some water tentacles. Don’t scream too loud or others will think you’re a pervert. Maria insists she has done nothing wrong to deserve this and this makes Leviathan mad. She envies her for having what she wants. Why could it not be her? Those words remind Maria of her friend Mina who said exactly the same thing. It’s like Maria has found enlightenment as she comforts Leviathan it isn’t a bad thing. She is able to break free from her shackles. The show ends with Lucifer putting a stop to it. She had been watching them. She chastises Leviathan for giving in to her own envy sin and losing to a human. She warns her not to lay her hands on Maria again. Now Lucifer molests Maria’s boobs and wants her to focus. Not on the groping, I suppose. Maria then screams out Miami. This is where they will be heading next.

Episode 3
Because Maria took Lucifer’s blood before she went to hell, the reason why she can sense the location of other Mortal Sins. So they’re taking a plane there instead of teleporting? Oh well, got to enjoy your time on Earth. Asmodeus is trying to gather followers (and by that means making a contract that sends you to hell!) by having everyone lust and gaze at her sexy body. It’s such a depraved beach with everybody making out with everybody. Lucifer steps in to announce she will take down the Mortal Sins one by one. Leviathan tries to fight Asmodeus but Lucifer realizes the people lusting at her will only make her stronger. What now? Retreat! That night, they visit the nightclub where Asmodeus gathers her followers. Asmodeus is such a hot pole dancer. Leviathan thought she could challenge her but her pole dancing sucks. Asmodeus is interested in Maria but Lucifer warns nothing will happen to her no matter how much she tries. That night, Lucifer sends Maria out to buy food but Asmodeus captures her back to her place to begin caressing and making her feel good. What is this?! 50 Shades of Grey, lesbian version?! It took Lucifer a while to drop in. Asmodeus fights Lucifer using her sex appeal. This means Lucifer gets captured by her plant tentacle trap. Her entire body is now one big sexual pleasure. Lucifer is ‘disappointed’ in her since desire is all she has. Love is all dressed up in the base desire of lust. However she doesn’t see a sin in sex and should go preach about its benefits instead. Ironically this turns on Asmodeus and loses to her own power. Lucifer is freed as she comments about pride being pride because it doesn’t yield to others. Asmodeus admits her defeat to Lucifer and promises not to get in her way. With Asmodeus’ magic dispelled, Miami beach is back to normal. Maria apologizes for getting into trouble but it was all part of Lucifer’s plan in the first place to make her as the bait. You sly devil… It makes Maria wonder if it is okay to believe in a demon lord. Somebody’s faith in God is wavering…

Episode 4
We’re in London now. At the library, they see an article of a potion that can grant anything. Definitely fake. So they head down to the store where it is sold. Nobody’s in. Maria sees a coin on the floor and picks it up. Too late. A trap. Welcome to Mammon’s store. She and Lucifer go have a ‘chat’. Mammon shows off her properties but Lucifer isn’t interested and fights. Although Lucifer loses, not without property damage and this pisses Mammon off. Now Lucifer is being tortured on a triangle horse and being forced to sign a contract for property damage. Leviathan summons her bat familiar, Behemoth to cut them out of the cage. Looking for clues, they see real estate papers. Leviathan believes Lucifer is being held in one of Mammon’s many properties and leaves Maria behind to go find her onee-sama. Maria looks around and seeks soul contracts but is caught red-handed by Mammon. Maria witness Mammon having a woman sign a contract and letting her drink some potion before she enters a secret room. Mammon is interested to know why she is with Lucifer. Is there some sort of secret between them? Mammon lets Maria suck on her breast milk. Oh, so calm… Leviathan has found Lucifer. She wants to help but is told not to because there won’t be any meaning if she doesn’t overcome this herself. It is painful to watch so Leviathan joins her. Damn she can’t last 10 seconds and faints on Lucifer! It’s heavier! Maria sees many people inside a room taking care of demon dolls in which they see as their own child. Of course in exchange for this, Mammon has them transfer their assets to her. It seems Mammon’s husband left her with debts and she has to raise 500,000 kids! Maria lectures her what the kids need are not babysitters but their mom. Lucifer breaks free and at the same time Maria is freed from Mammon’s cursed breast milk. Maria believes everyone is just lost and running away from their painful memories. Mammon thinks it is that pity that made them lose their place. That is pride. Speaking of which, here comes Lucifer to come kick her ass. This time more property damage and the entire place is razed down! My investments! With Mammon’s defeat, I guess everyone is freed from their debts. However thanks to the endless human greed, Mammon is soon back in operation via crypto currency. More money for her children, suckers!

Episode 4.5
WTF?! Why do we need a recap episode summary after 4 episodes?! Did production fail to keep up with the schedule?! No new scenes. Recycled scenes of what we have seen so far and the only difference is that some parts are narrated. The only thing brand new is the ending theme with this demon lord, Astaroth rocking away.

Episode 5
Back in Japan, Lucifer and co notice Astaroth as an online idol raking up the views. By the way, Astaroth is the demon of melancholy and hence her songs have depressing lyrics. So when Lucifer confronts her back at her home, Astaroth freaks out. Every answer she gives is in rap mode? So Lucifer records and uploads her own video and it is gaining more views. Belial then visits Astaroth. She wants her to accept Lucifer’s challenge and will help to beat her. So Astaroth records a new video. It isn’t anything special and looks so freaking boring but it garners more views than Lucifer. At this rate she is going to lose. What’s this? Lucifer sinking into depression thinking about it? Of course she busts those blues in the nick of time before Belial pays her a visit. Belial wants to know her goal when she fell from heaven. Since she isn’t telling, Belial will defeat her and make her reveal all on her knees. Lucifer gives Maria another chance to make another hit piece. With this computer synthesizer heavy denpa song, I’m sure it did. Of course Astaroth comes up with another to counter that. It’s that rocker video we see in the recap episode. Sex. Blood. Gore. Weirdness. Makes no sense. I guess all that sells. Could you believe the video is made by Belphegor who is Astaroth’s closest friend? Thanks to that hit, Astaroth now have sell-out concerts and TV interviews lining up. As the fans wait for her to go on stage, Lucifer is confident Astaroth will not appear. She knows she is afraid of people and the more people in the audience, the more she will retreat to her shell. Speaking of which, it is true as she is cowering inside the toilet cubicle. With the crowd growing restless and losing faith, demanding their money back, Lucifer takes this chance to take centre stage and steal the crowd’s heart. Belial is trying to get Astaroth to come out. Belphegor tells her the audience is on her side and to tell them her feelings with her songs. Astaroth gets the courage needed to go on stage. The duo sing a duet which is a mix of both their styles. Weird but fun. In the end, Astaroth admits she lost. Though, she loves singing and will continue. She wants to perform again with Lucifer but too bad she calls it quits. It’s too much trouble dealing with fans. Astaroth says she is on Belial’s side so the next time they meet, they’ll be enemies. Assuming if she isn’t this timid, that is.

Episode 6
Lucifer asks Leviathan about Belphegor. Just a shut-in. When Lucifer picks up a ringing call, she is sucked inside the mobile. Belphegor wants to play a game with her. Since Lucifer chooses to be the demon lord, Belphegor will organise an event where everyone can defeat her. As expected, Lucifer easily steamrolls the heroes. So Belphegor promises the heroes someone to come help defeat the demon lord. And so she drags Maria into the game as well. After making her test a heavy armour, she puts her in a lingerie armour that has her move faster. And with her magic sword, she is now known as the hero Maririn! As she faces Lucifer, of course Lucifer isn’t going to take her seriously about saving the world. Heck, even Lucifer defeats Maria. Maybe it’s the hotspring power of disintegrating lingerie and enhancing boob size. Belphegor can’t have her lose now so she takes her away for more training. Why do they look like torture or hentai potential? Once her training is done, she is tasked to get a legendary equipment from an angel. Isn’t that Leviathan?! And the legendary equipment is just a lingerie in different colour? Cheaper to re-skin, I suppose… As Maria is ready to face Lucifer again, the other players feel it is time to logout since they have to work, sleep, etc. Belphegor has them stay by offering them special weapons (because you can’t defeat the demon lord with free weapons). Maria faces off with Lucifer again. It might look like history repeating itself but her legendary armour requips itself to become something better to defeat Lucifer. With that, everyone is satisfied and logs off. Belphegor panics as this isn’t in her scenario. She tries to defeat Lucifer herself but Lucifer fights back to the point where it could destroy her game world. Belphegor has had it. She admits defeat and doesn’t want to play games with her anymore. Back in reality, Lucifer is impressed Maria could tell she was in a game world where Belphegor collects her followers. Had Maria defeated her, the game would have been restarted and everything will go back to square one to defeat the demon lord again. After Lucifer teases Maria as the lingerie hero, now she is going to punish Leviathan for being an angel…

Episode 7
Lucifer and co crash in on Beelzebub’s gourmet party to challenge her to an eating contest. Both looks like they’re going strong till Lucifer suddenly has pain in her stomach. Is this it? Although the contest ends in a draw, Lucifer immediately rushes to the toilet to vomit till she passes out. The next thing she knows, she is in hospital. Maria is forced to play her relative to fill the paperwork. It is pathetic to see the strong Lucifer in this weak state. It’s like she lost to some stomach flu virus. She continues to recuperate in hospital but her living conditions aren’t ‘ideal’. The neighbour is snoring loudly or vomiting and the bed is too cram. Complaining it to your subordinates won’t change a thing. When her illness remains the same, the doctor gives her suppository. OMG! It looks like Lucifer getting raped from the back???!!! Oh dear. Really pitiful to see her in this state. Of course the doctor turns out to be Belial as she tries to unlock Lucifer’s secret. She sees Maria’s heart and takes it. When Lucifer wakes up, she knows she has been had. Though she is confident Belial won’t realize its secret but the problem is how to get it back. She can’t tell Maria about it. So when Lucifer acts all nice to her, Maria thinks she is still sick. Get well and go back to your prideful self! Lucifer is surprised that Beelzebub is also hospitalized next door for gastric dilation. She teases her about not being able to eat but Beelzebub views food isn’t evil and the best medicine to put a smile on your face. Before you know it, they both become friends! WTF?! Cue for Leviathan to throw her usual tantrum while she is bathing Lucifer. So she gives her a chance to let her sleep with her. Too bad she wet the bed and escaped, making it look like Lucifer was the wetter. As Lucifer and Beelzebub begin to heal, they eat and appreciate better food. They get discharged on the same day as Lucifer treats her to some tasty treat. Beelzebub is willing to give Lucifer her throne. She doesn’t need it. When the time comes, all will change. After everyone leaves, Maria is kidnapped by Belial.

Episode 8
When Belial tells Satan how meekly Beelzebub turn over to Lucifer’s side, she is engulfed in rage. Of course she goes to fight Lucifer but Leviathan takes on her first. Satan is puzzled that she herself is feeling envious since Beelzebub is on Lucifer’s side. Leviathan ‘understands’ and that is how she is feeling. Leviathan’s water power causes damage everywhere but the chaos only further to strengthen Satan’s power. So she thought if fighting over the ocean would increase her power but she got defeated for real this time. Time for Lucifer to step in. Beelzebub wants to help her but Lucifer notes herself as currently weak to save Maria and will lose at this rate. She has Beelzebub return to hell for now. In some Pacific island, scores of military jets and ships attack Lucifer. Of course they are no match for her as she cuts them all into half. Military budget this year is going to skyrocket. Beelzebub awakens slumbering Leviathan at the bottom of the ocean (what the heck is that open sesame-like recitation?). She revives with a new set of sexy bikini armour? With the soldiers supporting Satan, she still is most powerful. So powerful that her blasts could cut the world into pieces!!! OMG! Haven’t seen anybody cutting water like that. Not even Moses. As Lucifer finally fights her head on, Belial and Maria are watching this from her castle. Maria continues to root for Lucifer so Belial shows her heart. Is this why she is rooting for her? Maria looks interested when Belial suggests she can have her heart back and even freed from Lucifer if she helps them defeat her. Now the epic battle takes place on the moon. Earth too puny for them? Satan did the most unlikely thing by releasing her curse on Lucifer so she could fight with all she’s got. In the end, the space battle ends with Lucifer stabbing into Satan. As agreed, Satan will follow her orders by opening the gates to hell. She’s coming for your ass, Belial. Belial maintains her confidence she still has Maria as her trump card.

Episode 9
Belial is seen making a deal with Michael. Belial tortures Satan for losing when she had the overwhelming advantage and Lucifer lost almost all her power. She gives her one last chance to protect the gates of hell and prevent Lucifer from coming through. But when Lucifer and Leviathan come waltzing in, they are easily able to walk through. This is because in that short span of time, Lucifer was able to gather followers from all over the world. Looks like every human is guilty of some sort of pride from judges to idol fans! As humans care themselves more than others, pride is the ultimate sin they are born with. Lucifer could send all humans to hell if she wanted to and knows this is what God is afraid of. So with 100 million followers, Lucifer makes her triumphant return to hell as the demon lord. Belial summons the Mortal Sins to go stop Lucifer. However they claim they have no more reason to obey her since they have been defeated by Lucifer. Only Astaroth remains by Belial’s side. Lucifer and Leviathan ride the ferryman, Charon. However he wants his payment. Care to share some of the souls of the living? No way. Then show me your pantsu! So we have this strange scene of Lucifer trying to fight off this dirty old man and getting tentacle raped by his tongue. It ends when Leviathan manages to overturn the boat and shows her pantsu to satisfy that lecherous pervert. They meet up with the other Mortal Sins as Lucifer reveals God’s plan to purge hell and Earth. Hence it isn’t Lucifer’s plan to destroy hell but God. Lucifer’s plan is to turn the tables by bringing God down and make a new world order. Hell always flourishes when humanity matures. But it happens over and over again so Lucifer got tired of this and brought this up. Look what happened to her by just commenting on it. And yes, Belial knows about this. Don’t believe? Ask her yourself. Astaroth is the only one who can’t believe it. Leviathan stays back to fight her while Lucifer moves forward.

Episode 10
Asmodeus confronts Belial about her betrayal. Come to think of it, she believes she has been lying to them ever since she became their leader. Flashback shows Belial requesting Asmodeus to be the leader of the Mortal Sins. She has sought everyone’s permission since she wants to defeat heaven. For Asmodeus’ punishment to defy her, she is being cut by razor sharp winds. Because she can heal, the process repeats. Is this ultimate paradise for a masochist? I wonder how many times she has climaxed. When Lucifer arrives and wants to rescue her, Asmodeus tells her to go forward. The other Mortal Sins are in danger and she has chosen Lucifer to be the one. Down the next level, Lucifer sees Beelzebub being force fed. Why does this look like a porn scene? Belial thought she could buy her loyalty by giving her more meat but since she refused, this is what she got as punishment for defying. Beelzebub won’t accept meat from anybody but Lucifer. Is there a sexual connotation there? Mammon tells Belial that she is betting all her next penny on Lucifer who is a better investment. Belial then turns her fortune into a golden triangle horse and torture her. She wonders why she is doing this seeing she comes from the famous Byrnedale family. Flashback shows she inherited it. Speaking to Gnosis, she was told the family was famous but now in ruins. Gnosis sensed she isn’t from hell as she explains why she wants to inherit it to preserve its vanity. She will make the Byrnedale name known throughout heaven. Her real reason to inherit is to use its name so the Mortal Sins would trust her. Would they believe her if she was an unknown demon lord? What is the best way to torture a lazy person? Exercise! So poor Belphegor running on a burning treadmill forever. Not even Lucifer wants to bat an eyelid.

Satan fights Belial and accuses her of betraying them since she won’t tell whether she has connections with heaven or not. Belial says that it wasn’t a lie when she told them she wanted to bring heaven down. However the circumstances have changed and there is no choice but to wait for it to come. Satan is punished by being covered by goo of the dead. Meanwhile Leviathan and Astaroth’s fight has turn into some naked slippery pathetic battle that has them falling down a long waterfall. When Belial cuts Maria, she realizes there is angel blood in her. She realizes Lucifer’s plan to hide it inside Maria so she could return to heaven again. See girl, she’s just using you. Lucifer has reached the final depths of hell. I don’t know how Leviathan and Astaroth got stuck in those icy pillars but since they got here so fast, shouldn’t have Lucifer taken a similar path? Unless she doesn’t know about it. Too bad Lucifer has no time to save them. In this area, there are dormant giants who once fought God and lost. Their punishment to be imprisoned here forever. Now under Belial’s command they are attacking Lucifer. She knows this is Belial’s plan to wear her magic out. And now she has already used them all up.

Episode 11
Belial tortures Lucifer as she reveals her plan to use her angel blood to return to heaven. It seems Lucifer doesn’t remember who Belial is. She was once the angel Satanael but was sent to hell for being accused of spreading non-existent miracles to humans. She believed she was doing the right thing as more humans prayed to God. However Lucifer told her she was wrong and Michael kept her silence. Satanael is crucified and sent down as she vowed revenge on Lucifer. Now that Lucifer remembers who she is, she adds that after what Satanael did, humans began to rely on miracles and fall into depravity. When they realized their hopes were unfounded, they abandoned God. So she played the demon lord than an angel. Belial doesn’t care for all that now as a new miracle will happen. She will be reborn as the new Satanael and discard her wretched and humiliating life as the leader of the Mortal Sins. However by saying that, Lucifer knows she has lost. Because by abandoning that title, she is no longer their leader and thus no more authority over their penance. The Mortal Sins are freed as they rush to Lucifer’s side. But Belial believes all of them won’t defeat her since she has absorbed Lucifer’s power. True, even if they all attack at once, she crucifies them all. She is going to kill Lucifer in the cruellest fashion. She wants Maria to stab her with the silver stake. Maria won’t do this but Belial threatens to crush her heart. Even in pain she won’t do it so Lucifer orders her. Still can’t? Lucifer runs towards her to get stabbed. While it might look like Belial’s victory, that is just short-lived. Maria’s heart enters Lucifer and Lucifer’s heart enters Maria. This was just an elaborate plan to switch hearts. Now the final epic battle. Lucifer chides Belial for being petty, having a grudge over something that has happened so long ago. Has she no pride? Besides, it is God who sent her to hell as He is the only one with powers to do so. Belial is in disbelief as Lucifer kicks her ass to defeat her again. Belial might have admitted her defeat but the battle is not over yet since Michael has crashed into the place.

Episode 12
Belial wants Michael to take her back to heaven in exchange for destroying hell. However Michael tells her God doesn’t negotiate with demon lords. Betrayed. More salt on her wounds as Lucifer chides her that God never planned on pardoning her. Or maybe someone never let God know of this plan in the first place. Michael claims she wanted to help Lucifer before she was sent to hell but Lucifer never recalled such. It’s like she knew of God’s mistake and accepting it is like accepting His error. So Michael’s attack form is a military cosplay? Well, her holy light wings are devastating. Belial attacks Michael out of rage. She manages to destroy a wing before being thrown out of this world. Astaroth follows her. Because of that, it seems Leviathan is promoted to one of the Mortal Sins and Lucifer takes Belial’s place as the leader, the demon lord of pride. The other Mortal Sins are motivated to take down Michael. Although each manage to break a wing, it is at the cost of their life. Not that they regret it. It’s finally time for Lucifer and Michael to clash. Since hell is done for, I guess they’re going to fight on Earth. It sounds like Michael has always liked Lucifer. But the need to be God’s absolute angel means she has to put on a façade like any other angels to suck up to Him. That’s why Lucifer cannot stand God’s tyranny. She could not accept God’s plan of destroying everything and then recreate it again. It’s like destroying something you create partway and then destroying it because it didn’t turn out to way you wanted. If that’s the case, stop being God! Maria realizes Lucifer has always been the only one trying to protect humans. When she was young, mother always told her this angel named Lucifer was always watching over them.

However Lucifer is defeated when Michael stabs her with her holy lance. Maria and Leviathan are crying over her dead body. If prayers are for God, how to reach a demon lord then? You offer a sacrifice. Yes, Maria sacrifices herself and uses her blood to revive Lucifer. Lucifer is sad she lost Maria. She notes she has always been enchanted by her and watching her in heaven. She always prayed to her and didn’t want to destroy the world she lives in. Now she swears to bring down heaven with all she’s got. Confronting Michael again, Lucifer’s revival means she also revives the other Mortal Sins. Maria has given her life to her so the lance doesn’t work now. As a fallen angel who is the leader of the Mortal Sins and having a human giving her life, she possess the holy trinity of all the worlds. Call it a miracle but God isn’t the only one who has a monopoly over it. She is able to defeat Michael who wants to be killed by her. However just this once Lucifer forgives her as she is being called back by heaven. With the Seven Virtues before her, looks like they are Lucifer’s next target to bring heaven down. In the aftermath, Leviathan isn’t sure to be sad or happy over Maria’s death. Lucifer sheds a blood tear and this revives Maria! Holy cow! Another miracle?! Something about the little angel blood left in Lucifer that allowed this to happen. As of now, Lucifer doesn’t have any more angel blood nor does she want any speck of it. Because she is the demon lord now. Lastly, Belial is seen living a normal human life with Astaroth on Earth.

Better To Know The Devil Than The Angel
Well… This is… Sinfully good! I know, despite the sleazy fanservice shots, this series actually has a pretty decent (oh, the irony) plot and pacing despite being cliché in the sense that a betrayed anti-hero goes around to defeat mini bosses or make them submit before having finally facing off with the big one but then plot twist! The real big bad guy is the one who is from your own former side! So yeah, I did enjoy watching this series not because I am a perverted otaku (that is partially a reason why one would watch this series but that isn’t the point) but perhaps I set my expectations low enough, anticipating it would be nothing but a slew of fanservice. And surprise! It is indeed pretty enjoyable. Wow. A miracle for what low expectations can really do :-).

I’m going to get the fanservice out of the way here because this is the most obvious element ever in the series and motivation why one would even pick to watch this anime. Since you’re dealing with demons and angels who are mainly busty chicks (why are there no men versions of devil and angels?), in every episode it is guaranteed there will be lots of boobs shots and crotch shots. Heck, there will even be parts whereby the characters will be totally naked thanks to all that ripping from the fight. Heck, why do demons and angels need to even wear clothes since they are already so skimpy and sexy. The biggest offender has got to be Belial. You think Asmodeus is sexy? You haven’t seen Belial yet. Ever since she started wearing Gnosis, she is practically walking around naked! I’m sure those freaking huge shoulder pads serve as a distraction. Not! You can’t help stare at her lower half because there’s just this one tiny patch covering her vagina area and the oddest part is that sometimes it looks like pubic hair if you don’t focus too much. Oh sh*t!

As the fanservice is so in-your-face because every few seconds there will usually be spamming those boob shots and crotch shots, hence there will be these annoying black insignias hovering over them. Lots of them. There are other types of censors like streaks of light and strategic coverings but the insignias are the ones forming the majority. Hence there are uncensored versions of the episodes but I didn’t see them. I use my creativity and imagination to picture them!!! After all, why should I rewatch the whole series again just to see tits? I know how (2D) real tits look like. Might as well go for real porn. Whoops! So anyway, I am fine with the annoying round things covering certain areas for most of the time. Until they start covering the entire screen, that is! Still not tempted to watch the uncensored version. Not feeling greedy, lustful, envious, gluttonous or wrathful for more boobs. Must be my pride, huh? Just kidding… Maybe I’m just slothful…

During the initial episodes of the series, I was a bit confused on the composition of the Mortal Sins. I mean, if I counted them, aren’t there 8 of them? Notwithstanding the final episode that pieces everything in order, was vanity one of the 7 deadly sins? Wasn’t it supposed to be pride? I know they reserve it for Lucifer and thought maybe both were overlapping in this area. You know, Lucifer beat the hell out of Belial and taking over her sin’s representation? Hence it was not. And since when was melancholy part of the 7 deadly sins? I was indeed confused. It is definitely 7 not 8 if you do not count envy in this anime’s context but wasn’t envy one of the deadly sins? I thought Leviathan was a Mortal Sin but as the series progresses, I realized she wasn’t part of it. So I guess they right the wrong by ‘kicking out’ vanity and melancholy in the end and replace it by pride and envy eventually. That sure cleared things up.

Also confusing me once the series ended are the ‘extra episodes’. I have not watched them but from what I read are just a couple of minute specials to go with the DVD. The confusing part was how they labelled it as unaired episodes 13 to 19. Or are they supposed to be specials 1 to 7? Since I have not seen them, I am not sure it is a continuation or at least the events these short specials are taken place after the series has ended. I believe they aren’t anything pivotal to the main storyline as I read summary about the first couple of episodes to be Lucifer fighting Belial again in a battle of strength and Leviathan going to the toilet (?!). More fanservice but of course…

On to the characters, the main character who is a force to be reckoned with is Lucifer. Watching her prideful character go all the way to exact her revenge makes it feel like you want to worship her instead of God or the big devil himself of hell. Really. I can see why she obtained so many followers so easily in a short period of time. Because I too feel that she is the best character to follow! Oh dear. Have I fallen for Lucifer’s charms? Because of her pride, she does not yield to others. At times where she looks like she ‘lost’ (like that stomach flu case), I believe she was just faking it and being a great pretender. After all, you can’t always just fight the Mortal Sins head on. Some needs subtlety. Because she bosses others around like a boss and does not compromise her ways, that is what makes her likeable and respectable in that sense. She doesn’t want to become God and has reminded us many times that she is the demon lord. Because with this title it allows her to do as she wishes instead of being a hypocrite virtue signalling. That’s acceptable, right?

I don’t want to say that Maria is a useless character and just a character who is there as a plot device. Because remember, what is the name of this anime again? That’s where the main focus is. But sometimes I can’t help think that she is just a side character who got mixed up in everything for plot convenience since we mostly see Lucifer as the one who mainly deals with the Mortal Sins (Maria was just as bait or something like that) and in the second half, Maria’s screen time is further reduced thanks to her being kidnapped. As for Leviathan, she is made to look like an annoying idiot who sucks up to her onee-sama. I suppose every great leader has a loyal underling who is an idiot. I won’t go so far as to say she is a comic relief character but sometimes it feels like she is going to cross that line. And her pet Behemoth is supposed to be the cute mascot but with so little appearances, he is hardly memorable.

As for the other Mortal Sins, they do represent their deadly sins well at least to current modern times. Like Mammon’s greed and fortune coming from real estate investments and Belphegor who just loves to play online games. Eventually the thought provoking thing about them is that these Mortal Sins seem to be better people than their angelic counterparts. They might prey on the immoral desires of human but that is only because that is what they are supposed to do. On the other hand if you compare them to the angels and heaven, these goody-goody beings are the worst. Could you not see how scheming and vengeful Belial was when she fell from heaven? Heck, the same can be said about Lucifer. What is it that makes fallen angels so vengeful towards God once they have been kicked out from heaven? Even angels like Michael from this perspective looks like a sneaky b*tch and a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A two-faced double agent.

This brings me to my next point about God. As I have said, with Lucifer being shown and painted as some great anti-hero, it makes God at least in this anime’s context to be the primary villain. If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why and how the heck does He let all this happen? And should not He know what everything is going on even if you don’t tell Him? That is why when this series ends, it feels like God is the main antagonist and it makes us more inclined to support Lucifer. For obvious reasons, Lucifer is there in the flesh. God? You don’t see Him. You don’t know He exists. Lucifer’s actions can be seen whereas God you can’t. Because he works in mysterious ways, right?

That is why Maria who has always been a hard faithful prayer ‘defects’ to Lucifer. She might be a fallen angel but she has done more good than God. At least from what she can see. Lucifer might have dragged her into this mess but she is also the one who saved her life. Where was God in time of Maria’s need? Was He there to free Maria when she was Lucifer’s lackey? I rest my case. Like Lucifer said, God doesn’t have a monopoly over miracles. This could also mean that God isn’t necessarily the only being who can resurrect, destroy, etc. Besides, if God really wants to destroy and recreate everything, He could have easily done so (assuming the almighty is powerful) but choosing this method, it makes you ponder if God really exists in the first place or not. I can see purists fuming in the mouth over this but that’s blind faith for you. Or maybe everything is a part of God’s huge plan because He allows Lucifer to go on a beat ‘em up spree and then purposely lose to her because He might have been bored of destroying and recreating from scratch the same way. Hah! God thinks like a Japanese anime and manga character!

Art and animation feels okay. Busty and scantily clad babes as all part of the fanservice as mentioned earlier. They look more like beautiful porn stars than anything scary, even Satan herself. She might look the meanest but even in the context of anime, she is still hot looking. No wonder people choose to go with the Mortal Sins because when you have angels covering up themselves like suspicious hooded people who look like they want to mug you, might as well go with your desires and then go to hell because it is all going to be worth it. Really. At the end of each episode is an illustration by others. Now you know where to get more sexy fanservice… This anime is jointly produced by Artland (Tantei Opera Milky Holmes series, Ichiban Ushiro No Daimaou, Senran Kagura, Umisho) and TNK (High School DxD series, Kenzen Robo Daimidaler, Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor, School Days), both of which have produced popular ecchi series before.

For the voice acting, kudos to Eri Kitamura and Shizuka Itou as Lucifer and Belial respectively. They do bring life into their character since they naturally have this prideful feel in their voices. It is no surprise since Eri Kitamura has voiced a handful of similar prideful characters like Ami in Toradora, Odagiri in Yamada-kun And The Seven Witches and Akane in Rewrite. Same for Shizuka Itou who did Bitch-sensei in Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, Meiko in Prison School and Luvia from the Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Ilya series. Other recognizable casts are Youko Hikasa as Mammon and Yui Ogura as Beelzebub. The rest are Megumi Toda as Maria (Hajime in New Game), Akane Fujita as Leviathan (Sagiri in Eromanga-sensei), Arisa Sakuraba as Satan, Chiaki Takahashi as Asmodeus (Nanami in School Days), Ai Kakuma as Belphegor (Julis in Gakusen Toshi Asterisk) and Azusa Tadokoro as Astaroth (Fino in Yuushibu).

Both the opening and ending themes are sung by Mia Regina. If there is a church choir singing its worship to the devil mixed with devilish rock music, you get My Sweet Maiden as the opener. Devilishly revering… If feels the same for the rock ending theme, Welcome To Our Diabolic Paradise. Only the male voice sounds like he is doing a take from Michael Jackson’s Thriller’s spoken verse. For an anime laden with fanservice, surprisingly there are a few good insert songs and BGMs. Really. Like Astaroth’s hard rock piece infused with rapping is surprisingly catchy. Not to mention that hip hop Goddamn Critical that is both cute and catchy. For the background music, I notice there is one that sounds very closely to the main theme of Beverly Hills Cop. It feels odd when that is played. Then there is that military-like marching BGM during that military battle over the sea which feels like a tribute to the Third Reich or something. Yikes. Weird.

Overall, if you can put aside and don’t get riled up by the fanservice of tits and crotch flashing every few seconds or minutes, this is quite the entertaining series. Of course, please turn off your brain and heart as well. We don’t want people to start blaming this series for making them lose faith in God and become infidels now, do we? After all, this isn’t the first series that is non-hentai and filled with fanservice (Valkyrie Drive ~Mermaid~, anyone?) nor is it one that questions the faith of the heavens (think Junketsu No Maria and even Shingeki No Bahamut series). A little guilty pleasure is acceptable. That is what makes us human. Not angels, not demons. A moment of desire on Earth in exchange for an eternity of suffering and regret in the deepest circles of hell. Was it worth it? Goddamn, better start praying to Lucifer from now on.