CATDOLL: Analysis and discussion of "The Seven Deadly Sins"

Since October, a new series "The Seven Deadly Sins" adapted from the manga of the same name has come into everyone's attention. This work is a fantasy theme and borrows a lot of stories from "The Legend of King Arthur". Creating such a work is also the long-cherished wish of the original author Suzuki Osamu. Recently, a Japanese media conducted a brief interview with him to learn about the world view of the work and the behind-the-scenes story of the creation.

In the story of this work, there is a country called "Lionness Kingdom" in the fictional continent "Britalia" with the background of medieval Europe. The paladins of this kingdom are beginning to strengthen their war preparations in preparation for the legendary holy war. However, despite the sacred name, the atrocities of the group have made the entire country miserable. The angry people even launched a coup and imprisoned the king. The third princess Elizabeth, who is worried about the current situation of the country, puts her hope of saving the country on the knights who were wanted for serious crimes ten years ago-the Seven Deadly Sins, and embarks on a journey to find them alone. However, no trace of the knights was found along the way. When Elizabeth, who was exhausted, mistakenly entered a hotel, she encountered a crisis. At the critical moment, she was rescued by the owner of the hotel. Unexpectedly, this blond boy was the leader of the "Seven Deadly Sins". After rescuing the princess from the crisis of the pursuers, they also embarked on a journey to save the future of the country...

Although it is called "Big Sin", the protagonist Meliodas, the "Sin of Wrath", looks like a childish boy. The "Sin of Jealousy" that appears next looks like a tall giant, but in fact, it is a cute girl with twin ponytails. This image is beyond everyone's expectations. In fact, the author Suzuki Osamu attached great importance to the creation of the characters when serializing this fantasy work.

"In the first few years after my debut, no matter what subject I drew, the editorial department would reject it. The Seven Deadly Sins is a fantasy work based on the Legend of King Arthur, and in fact, I had proposed a similar theme at a serialization meeting 15 years ago. However, at that time, I fell into the dilemma that many newcomers would encounter, that is, I only considered the setting of the fantasy background, but completely ignored the character creation. So I decided that I would never touch fantasy works again until I could create characters well."

After that, Suzuki began serializing a work called "Golf Story" with golf as the theme, and finally made his debut as a cartoonist. After that, he also involved in sports themes such as figure skating and kendo, as well as modern works such as fighting techniques.

“If the stage is an ordinary modern society, then if I can’t draw characters with personality, I can’t push the plot forward. So I naturally started practicing character creation.”

Before serializing "The Seven Deadly Sins", Suzuki drew some short fantasy works. After reading these works, the editor of "Weekly Shonen Magazine" invited him to create a serialized fantasy comic. However, it may not be an easy thing to serialize fantasy works in magazines.

"An editor invited me to create a fantasy work, and I was very happy at first. After all, I already had some confidence in creating characters. However, "Magazine" is also a publication with many adult groups among boys' comics, so if I am not careful, it may be cancelled immediately. So how can I draw a fantasy work that adults can accept? In order not to disgust adult readers, I tried to avoid the appearance of fantasy terms as much as possible, and made the characters appear charmingly. So, my serialization began."

When creating the characters, Suzuki realized the problem was "unexpectedness". The protagonists are rebels, and the enemies chasing them are paladins. Normally, the setting should be the other way around. However, this precisely reflects the peculiarity of Suzuki's style setting.

“If we make the Paladins the protagonists and depict them defeating bad guys everywhere, we must not forget that their actions often come from orders from their superiors and they have no will of their own. If we don’t want to be bound by the framework of an organization, we should still find the villains as the protagonists. I think this kind of character who acts according to his own judgment and consciousness is more interesting.”

For more relevant information, please pay attention to: Seven Deadly Sins Zone