ART - 6
SOUND - 7
CHARACTER - 6
ENJOYMENT - 6
High School DxD qualifies as one of those anime that could be analogical to an attention-seeker. But kind of in a good and bad way. Eroticism fed through an occult world of demons and angels, that's a formula to garner people seeking to experience some spellbinding hormonal action.
There's no denying that DxD is an ecchi harem with the implementation of a story. Rather than just drawing interest with fan service, it mingled around with some interesting concepts that had their own generic charms. Frankly speaking, the religious and noble aspects only blanketed what became a mediocre plot with a solid foundation but a weak structure. And the fact this show seemed to take its story seriously befell its true potential. No, I really can't turn my brain off or whatever as the show kept on trying to be impactful with its unfolding events. Honestly, the lackluster execution and the contrived reasonings with dull build-ups failed to evoke emotions in some of the more sentimental or badass scenes. It didn't helped that any tension quickly wavered in fights, especially with the bland motives of the antagonists who just spew out clichéd one-liners in the areas of "Masaka!". So really, the meat of the content was too undercooked but at least the surface was pretty crisp. While that progression failed, the characterization managed to succeed in place of it. In the Occult Research Club, the characters there all had their own interesting traits. A perverted boy goes through quite a bit of change through his relationships with other characters. Even when he has a really strong power, the fact he needed to train himself to use it and his willingness to do so left behind a kind-hearted value to his personality. Another great trait was the blending of ecchi with action, with his perversion serving as quite a leading role in breaking barriers.
The whole art looked pretty average other than for a couple of quirky appeals. There was this lingering fantasy lighting that filled up many of the scenes. Orange and red washouts from candles and magical powers, it's an extra something to be immersed with a churchly feel. Character designs also fitted the fantasy setting although the oversized breast sizes didn't really suit my taste, but that's a subjective thing and I'm sure a lot of ecchi fans liked it for the attention-grabbing nature that they possessed. Other than the fact that the animation was heightened up in action along with ecchi scenes, having empowering jiggling physics or bombardment of powers from the magics, it generally was nothing special with a blocky kind of movement going on. There were a lot of provoking angles that spiced up the fan service aspect that all ecchi must have. In the sound sector, each characters maintained their personality well with their voices, although it may have gotten a bit too melodramatic in the later episodes. A collection of good soundtracks gets the fight going with the dramatic and orchestral undertones to highlight the action. Also, the reverberating vibes of the "Boost!" that goes on whenever the perverted boy was using his power was another appealing thing. Might be random but I loved the echoing feel of it as it sent this pulsing shockwaves that goes through my whole body.
At the end, the potential is there, definitely. It's only the first season but High School DxD has its world set in stone and the history is briefly seen. Now, if only the execution can be improved on, it will become a sexy anime in all of its aspects.
