Based on the light novels by Ichiei Ishibumi, HighSchool DxD is a 12 episode anime series produced by TNK and released in 2012. The story focuses on Issei Hyoudou, a recently human turned devil and servant to one of the most popular girls in his school, Rias Gremory. It then turns into Issei dealing with the three factions of Christianity and to accomplish his never ending quest: to become the "Harem King!"
Story: 7
As stated, the series is about Issei Hyoudou, an average perverted second year high school student at the former all girl school Kuoh Academy. Then one day, Issei meets a mysterious girl named
...
Yuuma Amano, who confesses to Issei and becomes his first girlfriend. At this point, Issei is riding high. This does not last long, as after their first date together, Yuuma attacks Issei and then leaves him to die. Then, the next day, Issei believes that his death was just a dream and goes onto school as if nothing is wrong. However, Issei soon finds out that nobody remembers who Yuuma is or that she was his girlfriend (her number was even erased from his phone). It is then that later that night, Issei begins to experience strange things happening to himslef. He can see in the dark as if it were day, he can hear people from very far away, and he can jump much farther. Things begin to take a turn for the worse as our young hero is soon attacked by a strange man who has the same black wings that Yuuma possessed and the same method of attack as well. It is at that moment, that Issei is saved by one of the "Two Great Onne-Samas" of Kuoh Academy and his senior, Rias Gremory. However, all he sees is his rescue and nothing more before he passes out. Th next day, Issei wakes up to what he thinks is just another dream. However, he soon finds himself in a state of undress (in the nude) and right beside him Rias Gremory in a similar state as him. This surprises Issei and causes him to freak out a bit, causing the girl to wake and act extremely calm, even though she is naked in front of a boy. She then reveals that she is a devil and that Issei is now her new devil servant. End of episode one.
And my reaction: ...I'm sorry, what? Honestly that came as a surprise. The whole thing with Yuuma was rather unexpected and while the main character dying and be resurrected is nothing new in an anime, most of those characters knew they were killed, while Issei was kept in the dark about it, only to be told that he is now a devil and servant by a naked girl who is not shying away. Not a bad way to be told you got killed in my opinion.
So from there, we go into story that focuses about how Issei is dealing with his new resurrected state, his dealings with the three factions of Christianity (devils, angels, and fallen angels), and his quest to rise up the ranks and become a high-class devil so that he may achieve his dream of becoming the "Harem King!". Now my overall opinion on the story is that I do actually like it. The plot of an average kid thrown into a world of the supernatural is not new in the slightest, but HighSchool DxD does it in a way to give it a charm. It also has much more dramatic moments than most would give it credit for. It can switch from a comedic story into a dramatic story and does it very nicely as well. The story is also a lot deeper and more complex than I think most would like to admit as well.
Art/Animation:7
The studio that produced and released this series is TNK, better known for the anime adaptation to Ikki Tousen, Kannazuki no Miko, and *shudders* School Days. TNK is really that well known for having great animation or artistic achievements. However, this has to be one of their better looking titles in those terms. The animation for HighSchool DxD is very pleasing to the eye and has rather well done motion, especially in the jiggling of breasts, fight scenes that were energetic, intense, and well done. The art is also very beautiful in my opinion, as there is a mixture of colors that make the show pop out. The character models here have been done with great care. The female cast here are made to look sexy, beautiful, cute, and stick out, and boy do they ever. Each girl is looks differently and each are memorable in their own ways. And while the animation is rather nice and pleasing, it's not top-tier stuff. I also have to mention that the ending is one of the most well animated and eye pleasing endings I have seen.
Music:8
One of the reasons I liked this show was because of its soundtrack. I have Ryosuke Nakanishi to thank for that as he made this soundtrack rather memorable. While Ryosuke could have gone a more traditional route and had more harem, ecchi, comedy music to go to this series, he chose a different route. He instead gives the soundtrack a rather more dramatic, movie like, and orchestral feeling to it. And what makes it work and memoralbe is that each piece gives atmosphere to the scene that it is being played with. Two examples I like to bring up are Rias Gremory's theme, a slow and beautiful piece that gives off a rather melancholic feeling to it, and Beautiful Red, an intense and fast paced piece played during critical moments of the show and gives off a rather orchestral feeling when it is played. Overall, the music for HighSchool DxD is very well done and memorable at that.
Characters:7
Another aspect that I liked about this series was its characters. The characters are rather interesting to watch as each one is rather distinctive. And although this is a harem show, right now only two girls are really in love with Issei. Also, they don't fight over Issei as much as other harem anime do. They love him, and get jealous when he is with another girl, but they are not obsessed with him and fight over him at any given moment, but they also just live their lives normally. I really don't see that done a lot in this genre of anime.
First let us talk about our main character. As stated, Issei Hyoudou is your average perverted high school student who is resurrected into a devil after he is killed. While he first starts off as a perverted, breast loving teenager...he still is that, but he also develops as the series goes on. You see that besides being perverted, he is kind, compassionate, brave, and a hard working guy. He also provides a lot of comedy for the show as being the butt monkey a lot. He is also willing to go to the extreme to protect his friends and loved ones. Like with Rias, he sacrificed his arm to help save her from a terrible fate and he charged through several exorcists to save Asia. But what I liked about him is that he is much different from a lot of harem main protagonists. The reason is that he actually admits he is perverted and he is not ashamed of this fact. Most other harem MC will follow a similar pattern: they are nice guys which attracts the girls, get nervous when they see a girl naked or anything like that, faints or passes out because of that. Issei does not do that: he will faint once or twice if sees a girl naked, but that is due to him getting a nose bleed. He also admits that he wants a harem, unlike a lot of other MCs. And despite his perversity (which I don't mind), he is rather well done character and a nice guy. He also created one of the greatest anime powers ever: "Dress Break".
Second on our list is the lovely female lead, Rias Gremory. Rias is the heiress to the noble house of Gremory, one of the remaining devil houses in the underworld. While one might expect here to be rather arrogant and stuck up because of her noble background, that isn't the case for her at all. Rias is a kind, compassionate, and caring individual. She loves her servants like they were own family and will not allow anyone to harm them (god save whoever has). And while she fell in love with Issei, it was more of a progressing love. Her feelings towards him were a little brother type of love in the beginning. It soon began to develop as time went on and when Issei told her that he liked her for who she was: not Rias Gremory the heiress, but Rias Gremory his master. Her love continued to grow as he kept fighting for to free her of an arranged marriage which she had no desire to go through with and never gave up even as his body was broken and beaten and finally reached its climax when Issei literally charged in during her engagement party and declared that her virginity was his and then fights her fiancee to free her from the marriage. Rias is the type of female lead that I can really like for her actions, personality, and looks.
The third big character to talk about is Asia Argento.Asia was originally a nun from the church who was revered for her healing abilities, but was one day cast out and excommunicated when she healed a devil without knowing. When she moves to Japan, she comes across Issei who helps her out. Then, during another encounter, she finds out that Issei is a devil but she tries to dismiss that fact as she knows that Issei is a good person at heart and her first real friend. After a series of events, Asia is resurrected and is brought into Rias's peerage. Asia in general is a sweet, innocent, caring young girl. She is very naive, which is taken advantaged of by her new school friend that she make. Asia is a also very devoted to Issei and loves him deeply, and will become sad if anything were to happen to him. In fact she is so devoted that she helped him when he was creating his "Dress Break" move by using it on her (to which she happily agreed to do so).
With the villains of this show, they're there. The come in, do what they do, and leave. That's not to say they are bad villains, just that they make the arc go along and will be defeated as the arc ends. But I did enjoy them such as Freed, the psycho priest banished from the church because he loved cutting up devils and humans too much; Raynare, Issei's first girlfriend and a rather cold hearted bitch; and Raiser, one of the children from the house of Phoenix who is Rias's fiancee and a rather arrogant ass to boot as well. Like I said, the villains aren't bad, they're there to help the story progress farther. And in all honestly, I like that.
Overall:8
HighSchool DxD is one of my favorite series to this day. It has comedy, a story line that is deeper and much better than your average harem anime, and great characters. While it does have its faults, such as some character not getting as developed as others or some animation problems, the show is very good and is recommended by me. However, if you are turned off by ecchi things and harems, then this show is not for you. But if you can, just try it out, you may like it.
Sep 16, 2015
High School DxD
(Anime)
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Based on the light novels by Ichiei Ishibumi, HighSchool DxD is a 12 episode anime series produced by TNK and released in 2012. The story focuses on Issei Hyoudou, a recently human turned devil and servant to one of the most popular girls in his school, Rias Gremory. It then turns into Issei dealing with the three factions of Christianity and to accomplish his never ending quest: to become the "Harem King!"
Story: 7 As stated, the series is about Issei Hyoudou, an average perverted second year high school student at the former all girl school Kuoh Academy. Then one day, Issei meets a mysterious girl named ... |
