Each year tons of harem and ecchi anime come out, but the problem is that most of them, while perfectly enjoyable, aren't particularly great, so finding quality ones is quite the effort. I have heard of a few bright spots in the sea of mediocrity, and the one that was pointed out as something better was High School DxD. So when I was really swamped with collage work, and needed something to unwind to, I decided to give it a try, but never did I expect it to be as great as it turned out to be.
In the beginning we are introduced to Issei, who is your average perverted high school boy, on his quest to get ahold of some scrumptious breasts. He one day gets asked out on a date by this gorgeous girl, but when the date ends, she turns into a monster (well actually a fallen angel as we later find out) and kills our poor Issei. Thankfully the horny teenager he is he thinks of a super hot girl, Rias Gremory, he had seen at school, who happens to be a demon, and accidentally summons her to save himself. She saves him, but in exchange for his life he gets turned into a demon and becomes a part of her demon group, that operates in his school under the Occult Research Club.
The thing about the story is that, while it won't win any awards for originality, it is just executed so well. At no time did I have a bad feeling watching it, as I sometimes have when watching similar anime, as it was never offensively stupid. The point is that while there is a lot of nudity in the show, it is surely not the only thing it has going for it, as the story progresses in such a way that it constantly makes you want to know what is going to happen next, and doesn't just make you crave for more nudity. It manages to be serious at times but overall it just exudes positive energy and makes for a great anime to unwind to, while still offering something a bit more substantial. Quite surprisingly the anime manages to keep a steady pace, and there were no especially weak episodes. The ending was well done and fulfilling, while still being a nice starting point for a second season.
One of the stronger points of this anime are its characters. Our main character Issei is at first presented just like your average sex-obsessed teenager, but he reveals another side of him, one that is extremely caring and loyal. I have to say I can understand why the girls come to like him, even though the first impressions he makes are generally negative. One thing I can't understand about him is the way he responds to this affection girls show him, as he is always thinking how to get nearer some of the girls, but when he actually gets the chance, he does nothing.
Our female lead is Rias Gremory who is Issei’s master. She comes from a very distinguished demon dynasty and was always looking for someone who would like her for what she was, and not for her family connections. She finds that person in Issei, as he is completely new to the world of demons and is completely loyal to her, because she saved his life. We can see she cares a lot about the rest of the group and constantly tries to make them as satisfied as possible.
Later on we are introduced to another important character in form of Asia, an exiled nun with the power of healing both humans and demons. She is in some serious trouble but Issei helps her get through, and so she joins the group. She shows extreme gratitude towards Issei as he saved her and is also in love with him. I found this relationship between them a bit strange, as Issei sees her as someone he needs to protect, but he is not romantically interested in her (yes, he fantasises about having her, is there a female in the show he fantasise about), while she is completely in love with him. She is also timid enough to do nothing serious about his relationship with Rias, but rather suffers quietly and thinks of herself as a martyr.
We also have a whole slew of secondary characters, and they are mostly great if a bit unexplored, but hey what can you do in twelve episodes. There are two character I particularly disliked, and they were his two friends, as they are there only to complain about their lack of action. The problem is characters like these are common in the genre, and I have to wonder why. Maybe they are there only to emphasise how lucky the main character is, but I see no reason for the need to emphasise that. The other possibility I could think of is to mock a part of the audience, as they are the kind of people that would watch a show like this, and if that is so, it is funny in a way, but it would be just offensive to the people watching the show as, I still want to believe not many people like those two exist. Well enough of my ranting, as these two are practically the only two characters that I disliked, even though the villains could have been done a bit better, but they still get the job done.
The animation is done exceptionally, everything is smooth, the backgrounds are detailed, and the colours really pop. One thing I have to touch about the animation is the fan-service that really is plentiful. This thing has to have the most nudity I have seen in an anime, but unlike some other anime I have watched, everything is still in good taste (I’m looking at you Yosuga no Sora), but you should still skip this if you dislike fan-service. The sound was nothing special but the opening was still pretty awesome and while the ending was nowhere near as good it wasn't offensive in any way. The voice acting was great, but I still cannot comprehend why are they choosing such character names that the voice actors are unable to pronounce correctly.
I knew High School DxD was supposed to be good, but I could have never believed, that it was going to as good as it was. The point is that in my opinion fan-service in itself is perfectly fine, but if that is all an anime has going for it, it is going to be a pain to watch. As I had said in the intro you might start watching this for the “plot”, but the story is the thing that is going to get you hooked. All in all it deserves to get a score of 9 out of 10, as while it was great, there are still many places where improvement is possible, who knows maybe if some of them are alleviated in the next season it might even get a perfect score. I do recommend this to everyone who can stand a bit of fan-service, it could even be a good starting anime for some.
I really do appreciate feedback, as I want to improve my writing, and seeing people actually read my reviews gives me the push to write new reviews.
