All the Announcements from Anime NYC 2023

Anime NYC 2023: The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse Premiere

ANN's coverage of Anime NYC 2023 sponsored by Yen Press and Ize Press!

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The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse is a sequel and spiritual successor of The Seven Deadly Sins created by Nakaba Suzuki. Considering the immense popularity and attention that the early seasons of The Seven Deadly Sins anime received, Four Knights of the Apocalypse seems to be holding up fairly well. This is a stronger and more emotionally gripping start compared to the franchise's previous entry.

The premiere only featured the first episode but there was a lot of ground to cover regarding the main character and the scope of his journey. We follow a young boy named Percival who lives with his grandfather on an isolated mountain that towers above the clouds called the Finger of God. We get glimpses into their simple yet happy life, fishing for air creatures to eat, sumo wrestling each other for sport, and doing dishes in a small waterfall. Percival's sixteenth birthday is coming up even though he doesn't look or act like a sixteen-year-old at all. There's a strong emotional core between Percival and his grandfather with the former wanting to go on grand adventures outside the island but doesn't want to lose the appreciation for the simple life he has with his grandfather. In contrast, the latter wants his grandson to go but is also happy when he says he wants to stay. These characters are selfish but in an endearing way.

There were a lot of audible reactions from the audience towards either the display of cute relationships or the incredibly well-timed slapsticks. The animation was bouncy and expressive. (The chibi mode of Percival at his happiest is adorable.) This episode looks better than a majority of the The Seven Deadly Sins anime and it is exciting thinking about how the rest of the show could look like. There were some predictable elements such as drama to get the ball rolling and this reminds me of the opening cutscenes for a lot of old-school RPGs. Despite the predictability, the infectious charm that exists hooked me within the first couple of minutes, and a lot of that could be attributed to the voice acting.

After the first episode aired, we were joined by Shou Komura, the voice of Percival, and Kikunosuke Toya, the voice of another main character named Donny who is supposed to make an appearance in episode two. I had the pleasure of speaking to Shou Komura at Otakon a few months ago and I enjoyed his performance in the show. It's incredibly distinct and you can see what the staff are going for when you realize that many of the main characters are played by relatively new talents.

Shou mentioned during the Q and A that he was very nervous to watch the episode because this was his first lead role and Nakaba was present during every recording session so there was extra pressure to meet those expectations. Kikunosuke Toya in particular mentioned that he was moved by the final scene of the first episode with Percival and his grandfather during the recording session. Even though his character wasn't present, he got to witness Shou at work and how he demonstrated why he was perfect for the role.

Circling back to Nakaba, they did leave a nice little note where they were thankful for all of the support from fans. The note itself trailed off and had a little add-on at the end about how they wished they were also present in New York. I think they would've been very happy with the overall response and reception that this premiere received. The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse is shaping up to be one of my most anticipated anime of 2024 and I hope it is an overall step up from what we have seen before in the same vein as what this first episode highlights.