Nanatsu no Taizai 205 Review: Dead Men Walking

Nanatsu no Taizai, Chapter 205: The Ten Commandments vs. the Four Archangels

Well, to be fair, it's like, five to six Commandments versus three Archangels. We get to see two of the Archangels, and they have a more... unconventional design compared to 'lady in a robe' Rudociel. Sariel is just a little kid with wings, while Tamriel is a six-winged, three-faced dude who bares his chest. Compared to how actual angels look in mythology, this is actually not particularly grotesque. Quite nice to see at least one of the goddess clan (angel clan?) aren't just beautiful people with wings, though. 

Sariel, I think, is the name of an actual angel from Judaic religions, the first of the four Archangels to actually have a name based on an actual mythological angel. (Rudociel is made-up, and Tamriel, I'm 100% sure, is the name of the region that the Elder Scrolls games takes place in.)

Anyway, Tamriel and Sariel unleash another Ark attack that just one-shots the entire army of lesser demons. It's a given that all five Commandments present aren't actually harmed since we kind of need them to be alive in the present day, but seeing Galan grab Merascylla and shield her is pretty sweet. Apparently, though, the Archangels have sacrificed other battlefields to take down the Commandments present, which is just shitty resource management if you ask me -- there are only half of the Commandments present (they don't know Gowther is sneaking around) and as much as I like Galan and Derriere, it's the weaker half... whereas you get three out of the four Archangels fighting. We get to see them fight, and while it's cool to see Monspiet and Derriere and Galan unleash their attacks on the angels... it's kind of a given that the demons will eventually gain the upper hand, so it's just... it's a cool thing, of course, but it's not particularly a mega-hype thing. I mean, this isn't a lesser manga like Fairy Tail, having the same characters do the same thing ad nauseum isn't to the style of Taizai. I just have kind of higher standards for this manga, y'know?

We get to see a little of Sariel and Tamriel. Tamriel fights Galan and Derriere, taking the brunt of their attacks, and is apparently able to just smoosh himself back together after being sliced in half. Sariel is apparently just super-fast and can, uh, cut your arm without touching you? That's not very impressive. Sariel fights Monspiet and Fraudrin, who honestly doesn't look impressive at all outside of Dreyfus -- sorry, a huge brute with a mouth in his chest just looks silly instead of creepy.

We get to see the final scene, where Rudociel tells Nerobasta to guard the gate with her life because it's super crucial, and to see it destroyed would see their reinforcements from the heavens cut off... only for Rudociel to return and tell Nerobasta to call in the reinforcements to be ready anyway so they can come the minute they require aid. And the final page reveals Gowther is manipulating Nerobasta! Yeah, that was absolutely unexpected, mostly because of Fraudrin's presence among the Commandments... so that means Fraudrin is still in his 'understudy' role here? Why Gowther would want Nerobasta to open the gateway and summon reinforcements is a bit suspect -- wouldn't Gowther want to destroy the gateway instead if he's on the demons' side? Though maybe the demons have an agenda of their own to massacre the goddess clan's army. I mean, they have gotten the 'oh these bad guys are actually a victim of circumstance' treatment lately, but, y'know, they're still motherfucking demons, and I love if we could get to see some demonic underhandedness.

I mean, one of my biggest, biggest pet peeves is when a villainous character suddenly is revealed to be good all along, or to be merely misunderstood, conveniently ignoring all the heinous shit they've done before. Like, y'know, Uchiha Obito. Or half of the cast in Fairy Tail. (Again, higher standards for this manga... which is probably rightfully deserved if this is going where I hope it'll go. Or if the writer surprises me with something else)

Overall not an overtly exciting chapter, just a bunch of characters wailing at each other with attacks that we already know the effects of, and we know that none of these characters will die -- maybe the angels might get sealed -- but the reveal is decent, and the fighting scenes are fun.