Nanatsu no Taizai Chapter 288 Review - by eefritNanatsu no Taizai 288: Operation: GodSummary:Chapter 288 continues right where 287 left us off at, with Escanor and Ludociel preparing for a counter attack against Zeldris' Ominous Nebula. Ludociel goes over the intel they currently have on Zeldris, mentioning his resistance to magic, due to the Demon King's ability and Ominous Nebula, a technique they still don't fully understand. Escanor, despite following Merlin's orders to team up, still seems a bit annoyed at the situation, but goes with it, telling Ludociel to begin the attack.
Ludociel starts things off with an attack "Ruby Shine", blinding The Masters and, to a lesser extent, Zeldris. Escanor follows suite with a "Cruel Sun" near Zeldris' footing, blowing debris in front of the Demon Prince, further obscuring his vision. Ludociel makes the assumption that his technique functions similarly to Meliodas' Full Counter, putting forth the idea that Zeldris needs to see the attack in order to counter it. Escanor and Ludociel take advantage of Zeldris' apparent weakness and attempt to attack him. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, as Zeldris' magic still catches them and blows them back, shocking the Assault Squad members who aren't unconscious.
Ludociel expresses confusion as to how this happened, while Zeldris further powers himself up in order to put an end to this scuffle. The force of Ominous Nebula's suction is doubled and Zeldris takes aim at Merlin, wanting to get rid of her first to claim the Commandment. His power overcomes her teleportation and she is brought in to his abilities range, blowing her back. Fortunately, Escanor managed to get between her and Ominous Nebula, using his body as a shield to take the damage meant for her. However, it wasn't enough, as Merlin still got hit by the mysterious technique. Escanor sees this and becomes enraged and attacks the entire area indiscriminately with his technique "Crazy Prominence", which nearly hits Ludociel as well.
The attack shakes loose a large piece of rock which falls on top of Zeldris and is immediately obliterated. Escanor's wild attack was actually a good thing, as it allowed Merlin to see the true nature of Zeldris' technique. Concentrating his Power of Darkness, Zeldris creates a vortex around his body that moves at a speed which cannot be perceived by eyes alone. Due to this speed, it pulls in those who are near him, much like a blender or a jet turbine. Ludociel comments that the speed of the technique surpasses his own Grace, Flash. Despite admitting this inferiority, Ludociel's sense of duty pushes him forward, as he once again charges head first towards Zeldris. We get a glimpse of his past and see that, he as well, lost some important things due to this war, such as the chance for love and friendship. Like many of those in this war, he cannot forget and cannot forgive. As he is about to be blown back by Zeldris once more, Gilthunder pulls and Escanor and manages to put himself between Ludociel and Ominous Nebula, which blows the both of them back and, seemingly, knocking them out.
Zeldris focuses attention on Escanor and Merlin and attempts to bring them in. As the two are nearly sucked in, Escanor request something of Merlin, to which she responds she'll never do again. She teleports herself and Hendy away, leaving only Escanor. To the surprise of the Masters, Escanor begins to walk towards Zeldris, uneffected by the suction of Ominios Nebula. Escanor brings up that the Demon Princes have a habit of annoying him as it is revealed that he has transcended into The One. The chapter ends with a fully powered Escanor facing off against the lone Zeldris. Pride vs. Piety.
Review/Analysis:This was a fun chapter. Action packed, unique magic, logical turn of events. A good time was had by all.
While he was less than impressive in this chapter, there were some interesting implications about Ludociel. If the color of "Ruby Shine" is as it seems to imply, it's likely that Ludociel's control of light extends to the entire spectrum of light, which would imply some level of control of the electromagnetic spectrum. That would be rather interesting to see and imply a higher level of power than anything he's currently shown. That being said, it's unfortunate that Nakaba decided to make Ominous Nebula faster than light itself. Ominous Nebula was already a powerful technique, it didn't need to be superior to a Grace as well. Maybe there is another level to Flash which we haven't seen, but having Ludociel straight up admit his abilities inferiority lowers the possibility. Aside from that, there are potential implication that Ludociel is one of the few gay characters in this series. The translation is a bit iffy, but the context of it seems to imply the possibility, with him holding a man in his arms and weeping over their body. It could also just be a friend of his whom he is crying over. Maybe we'll get to see in a future flashback.
The Goddess Clan in general have gotten the short end of the stick. For a clan that's supposed to be the polar opposites of the Demons and their "rivals", they can't seem to do anything substantial against the heavy hitters, even when it's their own heavy hitters going against them. It really doesn't make sense.
Zeldris got some great shine in this chapter. It's a bit unfortunate that his technique can't kill in one hit, as it probably should, because of plot. We know the PoD can basically erase bodies with the swipe of a hand, so it's a little unbelievable that Hendy and Gilthunder can take these hits and keep their human forms. Lame.
Finally, we get to see The One again. Already hype as his ability to casually walk within the vacuum created by Ominous Nebula is a feat in itself. That being said, I don't expect either to win or lose. Both will come out of this, hype in check. However, it's possible we'll see some potential weak points for both of these characters.
Conclusion:Overall, good chapter. Goddess Clan need more feats and shine. Zeldris is the best brother. Escanor vs. Zeldris should be rather good.
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