Anime fans wanting to know what comes next in the Nanatsu no Taizai anime TV series are probably searching for The Seven Deadly Sin Season 6 release date. But since the manga series ended already, is a Nanatsu no Taizai Season 6 sequel even possible?
First off, it should be noted that the original anime TV series technically only had four seasons based on the way the Japanese anime industry counts seasons. But Netflix began counting the seasons differently in 2016 when they labeled the Sings of Holy War OVA episodes as the second season.
Thus, Netflix’s The Seven Deadly Sins Season 5 anime TV series contains the original anime’s ending. For the purposes of this article, the season counting will be based on the Netflix standard since Netflix has exclusive international streaming rights.
As it turns out, the direct sequel to the fifth season is a movie called The Seven Deadly Sins: Cursed by Light (Nanatsu no Taizai: Hikari ni Norowareshi Mono-tachi), which comes out in Japan on July 2, 2021. Manga creator Nakaba Suzuki is writing the original story for the film.
The movie will introduce several new characters. Fairy King Dahlia will be voiced by Japanese voice actor Yuichi Nakamura, while Giant master craftsman Dabuzu will be played by Shinichiro Kamio. Elizabeth’s mother, the Supreme Deity of the Goddess Clan, is voiced by Kana Kurashina.
Director Takayuki Hamana (Arte, Prince of Tennis) is helming the movie project at Japanese animation studio DEEN. Studio A-1 Pictures produced the first two seasons, the OVA, and the first movie, The Seven Deadly Sins: Prisoners of the Sky. The final two anime TV seasons were produced by Studio DEEN and Korean studio Marvy Jack.
In early 2021, DEEN also released Log Horizon Season 3 (see our story on Log Horizon Season 4), Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Season 2: Battle of Kimluck, and the Sailor Moon Eternal movies.
This article provides everything that is known about The Seven Deadly Sins ‘Season 6’ (Nanatsu no Taizai Season 6/Four Knights of the Apocalypse anime) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
The Seven Deadly Sins manga sequel continues the story after the movie
The story for The Seven Deadly Sins anime is based on the Nanatsu no Taizai manga series. Serialized weekly since 2012, The Seven Deadly Sins manga’s ending was contained in Volume 41, which ended with Chapter 346.
The final volume was released in Japan on May 15, 2020. The official English translation of Volume 41 was published in North America by Kodansha Comics on November 24, 2020.
While it’s not exactly The Seven Deadly Sins Season 6, it’s also possible the anime TV series could continue in the future by adapting The Seven Deadly Sins manga sequel The Seven Deadly Sins: The Four Knights of the Apocalypse (Nanatsu no Taizai: Mokushiroku no Yon-Kishi).
The English translation of the original manga is no longer available on Crunchyroll, but you can now read the Four Knights of the Apocalypse manga in English on Crunchyroll.
Here is the official story summary:
“Percival is a kind boy who lives out on the frontier called Finger of God along with his grandfather. However, the world was not kind enough to let peace and tranquility last for long. An encounter with a mysterious knight changed their destiny, and a shocking truth comes to light. The boy then sets off on an endless journey.”
There is a prophecy by King Arthur Pendragon that a group of four boys will bring destruction to the world. The prophecy also gives a vague description of the boys’ appearances and powers.
- “One is a boy bearing gold-colored magic…”
- “One, a boy with holiness and evil in his eyes…”
- “One a mysterious lad with no fixed appearance…”
- “…And one, a child with verdant, wing-like hair.”
As might be guessed, some of the main characters will likely be children of the original Sins, but Knight of Death Percival is a special case. He’s the son of the traitorous Camelot Red Knight Ironside the Assassin and grandson of Varghese.
Meliodas and Elizabeth’s son, Tristan, was introduced at the ending of the original manga series. Fans speculate that he might be one of the four knights since he has both holiness and evil in his eyes as Arthur’s prophecy describes.
Is The Seven Deadly Sins: The Four Knights of the Apocalypse anime possible in the future?
It’s actually pretty rare that an anime TV series based on a manga will finish adapting the entire story. The original anime TV series was regularly renewed, which gives fans an idea of its popularity.
The original manga was often in the top 10 on the Oricon manga charts. When the original anime’s first season was released in 2015, the original manga series had already sold over 10 million copies. In the first half of 2015, the original manga was the number one bestselling manga series in Japan. By December 2018, the manga was up to 30 million copies in circulation.
With only one manga volume under its belt, it’s difficult to analyze the chances for a Four Knights of the Apocalypse anime TV series based on manga volume sales data.
But it’s very likely that at least one season will be produced if only to advertise the manga and promote volume sales. The only question is when this will happen.
The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse release date predictions
As of the last update, Studio DEEN, Kodansha or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse release date. Nor has the production of The Seven Deadly Sins anime sequel been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, The Seven Deadly Sins “Season 6” release date will occur in the future.
Anime projects are planned out years in advance, with animation studios scheduled based on the availability of main staff and the voice cast. In this case, the biggest obstacle is the lack of source material.
When the first volume of Four Knights of the Apocalypse manga released in April 2021, the manga was only up to Chapter 12. Since the manga launched on January 27, 2021, the weekly manga should be up to around Chapter 49 by the end of 2021 assuming the creator does not take any major breaks or hiatus.
To put the anime’s pacing into perspective, the final season, Dragon’s Judgment, will adapt Chapters 268 through 346 with 24 episodes in total. That means the final season averaged about 3.3 chapters per episode, so we’ll assume the same adaptation pacing for a Four Knights of the Apocalypse anime.
The number of cours for the Four Knights anime adaptation will likely be determined by the pacing of the manga’s story arcs. What’s a cour, you might ask? For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a “cour” is a three-month block of TV broadcasting based on the physical seasons usually composed of 10 to 13 episodes.
If Four Knights of the Apocalypse Season 1 is only 12 episodes, then the manga will provide enough source material for a single cour anime by Fall 2021. But if the first season is two cours with 24 episodes, then the manga will provide enough chapters by the middle of 2022.
Therefore, in the best-case scenario, it’s possible The Seven Deadly Sins Season 6: Four Knights of the Apocalypse release date will be in either late 2022 or early 2023.