Nanatsu no Taizai 135 Review: Meliodas vs Galan, Round II

Nanatsu no Taizai, Chapter 135: Just A Greeting

So like everyone practically guessed from this chapter's title, this chapter involves Meliodas giving the Ten Commandments a 'greeting' by showing off his power. And holy fuck I did not expect Galan (who, lest we forget, curb-stomped basically everyone in the cast other than Ban and King in his last appearance) to be so utterly brutalized.

Unlike, say, Fairy Tail's less-plausible moments, however, we did get justification because, y'know, Meliodas got his power back. Back when they were all at their prime, Meliodas apparently stood around the same level as the other Ten Commandments, I think, but none of the Commandments have their full power back, while Meliodas just got all of it back.

And it's just a chapter of utter awesomeness and excellent art, which was slightly marred pacing-wise by the whole 'ten seconds' thing which kind of stretched credibility when Meliodas and Galan started talking. I wouldn't mind just action because then you could justify it as being super-speed or some shit like that, but this is Anime Second Ticking in its finest as Meliodas and Galan had a short conversation in the span of ten seconds, and the peanut gallery manage to discuss some shit about the fight.

The art is just awesome. That's really my main source of happiness this chapter -- from Galan looming over Meliodas to that entire page of Meliodas' punch distorting Galan's armour-face to the panel where Meliodas' iai thing caused so much blood to leak out of Galan to the final panel of an enraged Galan screaming to the heavens so utterly angry...

It's just utter demolishment of Galan as Meliodas just lays punch and kick after punch and kick that looked like they really hurt, though for Galan's credit he still manages to put up a decent series of counterattacks -- none of which reached Meliodas, though.

We have the druids talk about how Meliodas now has entire control over his wrath, and how it's like the calm wrath of the deep sea instead of a blazing, fiery rage, which is great -- I think Full Metal Alchemist's own Wrath used that same concentrated, deep, primal anger instead of the hot angry Hulk Smash interpretation.

Meliodas just one-shots Galan and cuts him all over his body with a single iai click of his sword, and has a short conversation with Zeldoris. Both Zeldoris and Esterossa zoom in, pretty quickly, to try and attack Meliodas, but ten seconds end and Merlin teleports Meliodas back. Galan falls, but it's clear that he's not out of the war yet because he can still vow revenge and scream pretty loudly. I guess the Commandments need to step up in their magic gathering and whatnot.

So I guess one on one, Meliodas probably can take on any of the Commandments except maybe his two brothers and Fraudrin, who I assume are among the strongest. But they are ten and he is one, and I don't see just how King, Diane, Ban and the others are going to get up to Meliodas' level so quickly. But still, overall an excellent chapter that reads extremely well.