The Seven Deadly Sins: Heroes' Frolic

七つの大罪英雄たちは燥(はしゃ)ぐ (Nanatsu no Taizai: Eiyuu-tachi wa Hashagu)

7.1(34,352)

MAL Score

Ranked #4501

Popularity #2693

Action
Adventure
Fantasy

Episodes: 1
Duration: 24 min
Aired: Nov 16, 2018
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

*The Seven Deadly Sins: Heroes' Frolic* is an original video animation released as a special bonus bundled with the 34th volume of the manga.

Set in the same action-adventure fantasy world as *The Seven Deadly Sins*, it offers an additional animated chapter for fans alongside the final manga volume.

Otaku Consensus

Heroes' Frolic lands as a respectable but nonessential collector OVA: MAL's 7.07 and AniList's 69 reflect fans appreciating its brisk, self-contained pacing, A-1 Pictures continuity with the main anime look, and the novelty of a manga-bundled side chapter. The recurring complaint is that it inherits the franchise's most divisive shounen habits, especially broad archetypes and Meliodas' lecherous comedy, while offering too little weight for viewers who are not already invested.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Heroes' Frolic if you like The Seven Deadly Sins most when its overpowered knights are allowed to breathe between wars, banter, and indulge in shameless bonus-episode chaos. This is not the entry for viewers seeking a clean starting point or a decisive canon milestone; it is for completionists who want a compact A-1 Pictures side extra with the franchise's medieval shounen texture, magic-combat identity, and swimsuit/fan-service detour all in one sitting. It scratches the same itch as a Fairy Tail guild-party episode: familiar powerhouses, loose structure, and character comedy prioritized over escalation. Because it was bundled with manga volume 34, it also has the appeal of a collector's extra rather than a broadcast obligation, making it best watched after you already care about Meliodas, Elizabeth, and the Sins' group chemistry.

Key Characters

M
Meliodas
Meliodas remains the franchise's most polarizing hook: a compact shounen powerhouse whose easygoing charm and inappropriate gag humor are often discussed together by both fans and critics.
E
Elizabeth
Elizabeth gives the series its gentler emotional counterweight, and side material like this works best when it lets her react to the Sins' chaos rather than simply chase the next crisis.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
This is a single-episode OVA released on November 16, 2018, not a television arc or theatrical installment, which makes its structure closer to a bonus chapter than a franchise checkpoint.
2
The OVA was bundled with volume 34 of Nakaba Suzuki's manga, giving it a collector-oriented release context that many streaming-era viewers miss when following only the TV seasons and films.
3
A-1 Pictures produced the special, placing it within the studio era that defined the franchise's early anime identity before later entries became a separate point of debate among viewers.
4
AniList's tag profile is unusually revealing for such a short entry: Medieval sits at 79% and Shounen at 60%, while Swimming and Nudity both appear at 20%, signaling a lighter fan-service detour rather than a battle-heavy centerpiece.
5
Its reception is remarkably consistent across databases: 7.07 on MyAnimeList from 34,352 votes and 69/100 on AniList suggest a fan-approved extra that does not break into the series' upper tier.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: Nakaba Suzuki, the original creator of The Seven Deadly Sins, is the key credited creative figure in the research data, which matters because this OVA was packaged directly with the manga rather than launched as a standalone anime project.
Fun fact 2: Heroes' Frolic is more obscure than its vote count suggests: it has over 34,000 MAL votes, yet sits at MAL popularity rank #2693, a typical profile for franchise bonus episodes watched mainly by completists.
Fun fact 3: Watch-order guides tend to separate this kind of OVA from the main sequence of five TV seasons and two movies, treating it as supplemental material rather than a required narrative bridge.
Fun fact 4: The broader franchise criticism reflected in viewer commentary also shadows this special: detractors often point to familiar shounen stereotypes and Meliodas' sexual gag behavior, while supporters value the easy ensemble energy.
Fun fact 5: Its MAL rank of #4501 and AniList favourites count of 219 frame it as a modestly liked niche extra, not a forgotten disaster or a breakout hidden gem.