Is Four Knights of the Apocalypse Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read
Quick Answer
Yes, if you enjoyed the original Seven Deadly Sins and want more of its world without needing the first series memorized. It leans on legacy characters, but Percival's own journey carries enough of the weight to stand on its own.
Quick Verdict
“It's a sequel that knows exactly what its audience wants — familiar faces, a new prophecy, and a scrappy new lead — and mostly delivers that without reinventing much.”
Best for: Readers who liked the original Seven Deadly Sins and want a continuation built around a new, less experienced hero.
Not for: Readers who want a manga that works as a true standalone with no attachment to Suzuki's earlier series.
- Type
- Manga
- Genres
- Fantasy, Action
- Status
- Ongoing
- This review
- Minor Spoilers
- Author
- Nakaba Suzuki
- Publisher
- Kodansha (Weekly Shōnen Magazine)
- Platform
- Kodansha USA
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Format | Manga (shōnen) |
| Run | 2021–present · ongoing |
| Community score | AniList 7.1 |
| Content | Fantasy violence |
| Where to read | Kodansha USA — official |
Overview
Sixteen years after the Seven Deadly Sins ended the Holy War, Percival has grown up alone on a floating island with his grandfather, cut off from the rest of the world. When his grandfather is killed and Percival is forced to leave home for the first time, he learns he's one of four knights prophesied to either save the world or destroy it. Four Knights of the Apocalypse follows him as he sets out to find the other three, with Camelot's forces hunting him the whole way.
What it does well
Nakaba Suzuki's smartest move here is not just rebooting the original cast but actually shifting the emotional center. Percival isn't a seasoned fighter with a plan — he's a kid who's barely seen another human being outside his grandfather, and his wide-eyed reactions to the wider world give the opening volumes a sense of discovery the original series, which started further along, didn't really have. That naivety pairs well with the returning cast members, now sixteen years older and visibly changed, which rewards longtime fans without requiring a full reread to follow along.
The central prophecy gives the plot a clean throughline — find the other three knights, figure out whether they're meant to save the world or end it — and Suzuki keeps that search moving instead of padding it out with filler. The action holds up too: fights are choreographed with the same clarity the original series was known for, and the new magical abilities the knights wield give fights a slightly different flavor than straight Sin-style combat.
Where it falls short
This is a sequel through and through, and it leans on that status more than it probably should for a series trying to stand on its own. A reader with zero familiarity with the original Seven Deadly Sins can follow the plot fine, but a lot of the weight behind returning characters' reactions and relationships is borrowed from investment built in the first series, not re-earned here.
Percival's inexperience, which is the character's whole appeal early on, also becomes a pacing issue in stretches where the story needs him to catch up to information the reader and other characters already have. And while the central four knights get real development, some of the surrounding cast feel rushed into existence to fill out the ensemble rather than given the same careful introduction Suzuki gave the original Seven Deadly Sins.
Verdict
Four Knights of the Apocalypse is a comfortable, well-executed continuation rather than a reinvention — it knows its audience wants more of this world and gives it to them through a lead who's genuinely different from what came before. It's not essential reading on its own merits, but for anyone who enjoyed the original series, it's an easy, satisfying return trip.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- Percival makes for a genuinely different kind of lead than Meliodas was — naive, raised in total isolation, and reacting to the wider world for the first time, which gives his early chapters real momentum.
- Suzuki brings back enough of the original cast, now sixteen years older, to reward longtime readers without turning every chapter into a cameo parade.
- The central prophecy — four knights fated to either save or destroy the world — gives the story a clear structural spine, and the search for the other three knights keeps the plot moving instead of stalling on worldbuilding.
- The action retains Suzuki's clean, high-impact choreography from the original series, and the new magic/Danger systems the knights wield add some fresh toolkits to fights.
Weaknesses
- It leans hard on nostalgia for the original Seven Deadly Sins — a reader coming in cold will miss a lot of the emotional weight attached to returning characters.
- Percival's naivety, which works early on, occasionally slows chapters down when the plot needs him to catch up on things other characters already understand.
- Some of the new supporting cast feel thinner than their Seven Deadly Sins counterparts, introduced quickly to fill out the central foursome rather than given the same space to develop.
Similar Titles
Another Kodansha-adjacent fantasy adventure with a similar ensemble-and-prophecy structure and lighthearted shonen energy.
Shares the underdog-chosen-one fantasy shonen energy, for readers who want more straightforward power escalation.
Similar fantasy-quest structure built around a protagonist gathering allies against a world-ending prophecy.
Where to Read Officially
| Platform | Format | Pricing | Region notes | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kodansha USA | Free simulpub chapters and print/digital volumes | Free + Paid | Region availability varies | Open |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to read the original Seven Deadly Sins first?
You don't strictly need to, since the story explains its returning characters, but you'll get noticeably more out of it if you have — many of the emotional beats depend on knowing who these characters were sixteen years earlier.
Is Four Knights of the Apocalypse finished or ongoing?
Still ongoing — it's been serializing in Weekly Shōnen Magazine since 2021 and had passed 28 collected volumes in Japan as of late 2026.
Where can I read Four Knights of the Apocalypse in English?
Kodansha USA simulpublishes new chapters free alongside the Japanese release and also publishes collected print and digital volumes.
