Will There Be A Season 6 Of The Seven Deadly Sins?

Nowadays, anime serves as a significant pillar of Netflix's content strategy. Not only is Netflix a distributor of popular anime series like "Haikyuu!" and "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure," but it's become a producer of original anime series, too. Video game franchise "Tomb Raider," for example, will serve as the source material for an original upcoming anime series on Netflix.

Before anime was prevalent on Netflix, however, "The Seven Deadly Sins" was one of the only options available to users of the streaming site. "The Seven Deadly Sins," in fact, was the second anime ever added to Netflix, debuting in 2015. The series, which details the story of the powerful Meliodas and the rest of the band of knights. In the years since, subsequent seasons of the show have been added to the streaming platform after their premiere dates in their home country of Japan. Currently, 12 episodes of "Dragon's Judgement," the fifth and most recent season of the series, are available on Netflix. Season 5 has already concluded in Japan — the final episode, titled "Heirs," aired on June 23, 2021.

Not only was "Heirs" the final episode of Season 5, but it adapted Chapter 346 of its manga source material, which concluded the comic book series on which the anime is based. While that might suggest that the "Seven Deadly Sins" anime is over, and that the arrival of the final batch of Season 5 episodes on Netflix will mark the series' conclusion stateside, the prospect of a Season 6 is more complicated.

There's currently no word either confirming or denying the prospect of Season 6 of "The Seven Deadly Sins." That said, there are a couple of reasons that a sixth season may be a distinct possibility.

First, a continuation of the " Seven Deadly Sins" anime is already on its way. This sequel to Season 5 of the anime series will not be a new season but a film, titled "The Seven Deadly Sins: Cursed By Light." Since no canonical material exists from which to adapt a story following the manga, the film is based on an original story by manga author Nakaba Suzuki (via Anime News Network). Theoretically, Suzuki could continue to write original material, providing the basis for a new anime season. While this is unlikely, the existence of the film does demonstrate the continued popularity of the franchise, suggesting that a sixth original season might at the very least be fruitful.

More likely is a sequel series based the author's next work. Following the conclusion of "The Seven Deadly Sins," Suzuki began authoring a sequel manga series titled "Four Knights of the Apocalypse" for Weekly Shonen Magazine, the anthology in which "The Seven Deadly Sins" originally ran (via Anime Nets Network). Currently, only 20 chapters of "Four Knights of the Apocalypse" have been published, so their adaptation into an anime is most likely contingent upon the publication of enough story material to round out a full anime season. Though unconfirmed, the continued popularity of "Seven Deadly Sins," as evidenced by the upcoming movie, makes the prospect of a "Four Knights of the Apocalypse" anime — which would effectively function as a Season 6 — a real possibilty.