After the immense success and conclusion of The Seven Deadly Sins anime in 2021, Netflix has released the official trailer for a new sequel series titled The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse on 20 November 2023.
Mokushiroku no Yonkishi, translated as Four Knights of the Apocalypse, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nakaba Suzuki as a fresh new story in his fictional world of Britannia. It has been serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine since January 2021.
In May 2022, it was announced that the manga would receive an anime series adaptation titled The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse, which was to be produced by Telecom Animation Film. The series premiered on 8 October 2023 on TBS, while Netflix acquired streaming rights to the anime, making it available for streaming from 31 January 2024.
The official Netflix description for the series: “As a prophecy of doom unfolds on the peaceful land of Britannia, a pure-hearted boy sets out on a journey of discovery – and revenge.”
As a sequel, the protagonists follow similar power structures and have the same charm as the Seven Deadly Sins, but the creator also made sure to establish the anime’s own unique storyline and cast of characters.
Based upon the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Knights are designated according to the Four Calamities: Death, War, Pestilence, and Famine. While Percival becomes the bearer of Death, the other three figures are shrouded in mystery and are embedded in Meliodas’ journey as they reveal their identities through the course of the anime.
Plot
Set years after the disbanding of the Seven Deadly Sins, who were known as Liones‘ most infamous Holy Knights, the trailer showcases the brand-new protagonist Percival, whose story begins with his father Ironside killing his caretaking grandfather Varghese.
Percival finds out that he is destined to be part of a group of four knights who will defeat the King of Chaos, who is shown at the end of the teaser, and consequently destroy the entire world. He thus sets out to find the other three members of the group alongside a mysterious talking fox named Sin.
Maki Odaira, from Pokémon Journeys: The Series, is the director of Four Knights of the Apocalypse, while Shigeru Murakoshi, who has worked in I’m Quitting Heroing and Zombie Land Saga, is the scriptwriter.
Youichi Takada, a key animator for anime like Lupin the Third: Part 5 and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, designed the characters for television, while Hiroyuki Sawano and Kohta Yamamoto composed the main theme.
The Seven Deadly Sins Franchise
Nanatsu no Taizai, translated as the Seven Deadly Sins, is a Japanese fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Nakaba Suzuki, and it was published in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine for almost 8 years (2012 to 2020).
Through writing in Japanese, the storyline and the fictional universe take great influence from the European Middle Ages, especially the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
It follows the journey of Meliodas, Elizabeth, and a group of knights, each of whom represents one of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.
The manga was adapted into an anime series by A-1 Pictures, and it ran for three seasons from October 2014 to June 2018, plus one theatrical film: Prisoners of the Sky.
Studio Deen picked up the plot from the 4th season and extended it to a fifth and final season from October 2019 to June 2021, along with a second theatrical film, Cursed by Light.
Having won the 2015 Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category, The Seven Deadly Sins has now become one of the best-selling manga series of all time, and its anime adaptation has received love and praise from all across the globe.
Now, with a fresh new start in an all too familiar universe, critics and fans alike await in excitement for the release of the sequel Four Knights of the Apocalypse on Netflix in January 2024.
