The Seven Deadly Sins’ fourth season was released in August of 2020, and anime lovers have a lot to say about it. From the animation difference to the unpredictable plot development, not everyone is happy with the choices that were made in order to create Imperial Wrath of the Gods. 

The season starts off with Harlequin and Diane locked away in a cave with two of their previous enemies, Drole and Gloxinia. In this cave, they are forced to go back 15,000 years into the past as their Giant and Fairy counterparts. Harlequin, also known as King, and Diane travel back to the first holy war between the Goddess and Demon race, where they find some startling discoveries. The beginning of season four allows us to go back in time through the eyes of Drole and Gloxinia. Here viewers witness a growth in power from King and Diane as they grow into their true abilities. Diane takes over as the Queen of Giants, while the Fairy King finally sprouts his wings. 

On a more important note, the strange couple sees the original Elizabeth in her goddess form, as well as Meliodas, before he was cursed with eternal life while they experience what life was like for the past King of Fairies and God of Giants 3,000 years ago. King and Diane discover many secrets- from their friend Gowther’s true form to the real story behind the war between the demon and goddess race. 

Another truly surprising thing Diane and King stumbled upon was that Elizabeth and Meliodas had been cursed for falling in love with each other. While Meliodas can never truly die, Elizabeth dies a horrible death, each time she remembers her past life with Meliodas, and is forced to be reborn again and again.  Meliodas and Elizabeth’s love story is truly tragic, but the forced character development is a bit off putting. 

Elizabeth transformed from a naive, powerless princess to a bold and fearless goddess incredibly quickly. The quick change in character is hard to adjust to. Now with Meliodas, viewers are used to seeing him in his demon form, but when he decides to take the place of Demon King, an entirely new side of him is revealed. He makes it clear that he’d do anything for Elizabeth, including turning on his own teammates. 

This is where the storyline gets turbulent. While turning on his teammates, Meliodas asks for the help of his evil younger brothers, who aren’t necessarily fond of him or Elizabeth, or so it seems. It is revealed later in the season that the youngest of the three brothers, Estarossa, has an unhealthy obsession with Meliodas’ girlfriend, and even began believing that he was Meliodas. 

The least I can say is the turn of events was weird and didn’t seem to match the original story at all. Not only that, but the season ends extremely abruptly with Elizabeth being kidnapped by Estatossa while Meliodas slowly gains the power of the Demon King. 

The final season was full of surprises with some twists that didn’t quite make sense and a seemingly random ending. But another off putting factor is the not so great animation. 

For the fourth season of the Seven Deadly Sins, Studio Deen was chosen to be the animators. There is an obvious difference in animation because for seasons one and two, A-1 studios did the animating. Though fans noticed a decline in quality in season three, things really went downhill in Imperial Wrath of the Gods. 

Fight scenes were completely different, making them slightly less interesting to watch. The dialogue often trailed on and on, disrupting the quality of these scenes. 

All in all, the animation was quite terrible compared to previous seasons, the storyline seems completely rushed, and the character development of the main characters was forced beyond belief. Despite this, Imperial Wrath of the Gods is bearable to watch. The season was not terrible or in any way makes the series less likeable, but many fans were expecting a lot more from the creators of the Seven Deadly Sins.