Friday 13 November 2015

Nanatsu no Taizai 149 Review: HOLY FUCK ESCANOR

Nanatsu no Taizai, Chapter 149: Galan's Magic


Man, this chapter of Nanatsu no Taizai is just fucking insane. Spoiler alert: Escanor drew first blood and kills Galan. Or at least reduces him into a stone. I do absolutely love how Galan does manage to get the karmic death of being turned into a stone due to his own Commandment... but not remotely in the way I thought it would happen, with him simply being tricked into it. No, on the contrary, it happens in a show of force.

And after last chapter's big cliffhanger with Galan and Escanor basically engaging in a death match, and we know that, well, it's rather obvious that Escanor will take out Galan. Galan's been the brunt of two brutal beatdowns courtesy of Meliodas and Ban... and he has been built up to be able to take down nearly the entire Seven Sins all by his lonesome without his magic power back. And granted it is established multiple times that he's still a badass even post-defeat... but Escanor is the strongest of the sins and we all know that Escanor's not going to lose. The question is... how is Escanor going to defeat Galan?

Well, this chapter certainly doesn't disappoint. I'm tired as fuck after reviewing like five other stuff beforehand, but this chapter deserves a play-by-play review.

We start off with Escanor announcing who he is: The Lion's Sin of Pride of the Seven Deadly Sins, Lord Escanor. All with his doofy Mario mustache. Galan laughs and talks about how he's boasting about being above all clans, how he's a human made of pride... and laughs his head off. Escanor laughs too, and you turn the page...


Well, that happened. 

Escanor fucking cuts off everything above the chest without breaking stride. And holy ass is that awesome. Meliodas doesn't even do much injury other than bruise his face, and Galan's already recovered from Ban stealing his strength and whatnot. And Galan is the someone who can destroy cities and take out five out of seven Deadly Sins all by himself. Merascylla gets an absolutely horrified "EHHHHHHHHH" reaction panel. 

Galan's pieces topples to the ground, and Merascylla quickly composes herself... Galan's blood pulls off a Noro (from Tokyo Ghoul) and pieces himself back together, and Galan does a badass boast... and Escanor returns it with an absolutely deadpan 'of course, it won't be entertaining otherwise'. So Escanor intentionally avoided dealing a killing blow... something that Merascylla points out is prideful and arrogant. Yes, girl, we get it -- Sin of Pride.

Galan uses his magic power, "Critical Over", which, other than butchering proper English, is apparently a super-hulking power that turns the skinny Galan into... well, not quite Hulk, but he's more muscular, more spiky, more angry, and generally looks awesome. Critical Over is a power that he was saving for his rematch against Meliodas, but he feels like he has to wipe Escanor out right then and there. And he's so intoxicated with his new strength that some of the words he's speaking are reversed. Merascylla notes how simple yet effective this power is, and Galan's power level is 40,000.

Super Steroid Galan does a gigantic swing of his spear thing and it's like an explosion just went off. We see a bit of the aftermath, with Merascylla hiding in her shell, Team Ban barely getting cover and the shockwave from the swing actually slicing apart the tops of other mountains. The others in the Boar's Hat sense Escanor's power levels, with Merlin noting how it's still Escanor's power is still rising... 50,060 at the very least.

And all that mountain exploding strike.. doesn't do much more than a cut on Escanor's mighty bicep. Well, it drew blood, at least. Merascylla is all for retreat, but Galan of Truth does not go back on his word. Escanor declares it's his turn, and...


Look at that art! (Sidenote: I probably should do this image thing more often. I think I like it) And look at how absolutely awesome Escanor is, with his ax basically turning into the sun! It's probably just a representation of Escanor's strength and he didn't just go all Giant-Man or whatever.

The next page is one of Galan screaming, Escanor looking nonplussed, some reaction shots from the others, Merascylla looking away, Escanor standing next to an empty crater... and Escanor notes how disappointing it was even though he was about to get serious. The final page... is of Galan of Truth, running away like a bitch, turned into stone. 

One down, nine to go.

Merascylla... can rip out souls. Will it work against the sheer awesomeness that is Escanor? Good fuck. This is how you build up a character! Galan's easily one of my favourite characters in Taizai and this was the absolute best way he could've been defeated. Escanor is awesome. Galan's awesome. Good night to you all. 

No comments:

Post a Comment