STORY: 6
Starts out a bit weak but later grows potential to be amazing. Great thing is it does take advantage of that potential, but only to be cut off because of the lack of time and episodes. You see the main kid as nothing more than a perverted shit who probably masturbates more than he does studying. Then he's introduced to a fake girlfriend, a big titted president, a shy nun (who is adorable), a pretty boy ( mmm you've got a purtty mouth), a vertically challenged super strengthened midget washboard, a sadistic bitch (she probably fantasizes about how she could go about zapping your genitalia), and an up-class faggot ass douche nozzle elitist as an antagonist. After the introduction of said characters you see what was a horndog now become a man with balls of steel. As boring as this may sound the way the developers executed this was what made it interesting enough to hold your attention for the brief amount of time the show had. Their method? Using an extreme excess of fan-service rather than plot development. With this strategy, your left with burning questions that result in confusion and frustration. What are the motivations of the three factions? You've got the Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils. But why are the fallen angels and devils on such bad terms? Going so far as to killing each other? Don't they both serve Lucifer? What ever happened to "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"? Why wasn't the angel faction introduced? No insight was given at all abut them let alone at least introducing a brief scene of them. Why do devils appear good and honorable? Aren't they called devils for a reason? You know slaughtering mean sons of bitches? Mercilessness sadistic cruel entities that via to destroy you? Even tho I found this bothersome I still was able to enjoy the dose of tits, blood, and of course profanity Highschool DXD provides. I find it more appealing that if I don't give you a whole run-down of what to expect you'd be enjoying it a whole lot more than if I did. Otherwise you might just end up dropping it or avoiding it. As bad as this sounds it still proves it is worthy of at least half your time. And as much as there was an excess of tit in here I see the continuation of the incomplete story that can blossom through a second season. (And hopefully answer who, what, when, where, why, and how about the three factions)
ART: 10
Personally I loved the way the characters were drawn. The detail was carefully well done from the blood and guts to the tits and ass.
SOUND: 8
The music sounded very classy for a ecchi anime. I enjoy classical music so it was a delight to hear it. Surprisingly it also fit the action scenes very well. The voices were very well done as well as the sound effects such as explosions and magic.
CHARACTER: 5
I've seen a shitton of character development become wasted in many anime's. *cough* Kanokon *cough* And after evaluating each character carefully, from Asia to Koneko, I can conclude that there was not enough time (or episodes for that matter) to give in a nice full insight of each character. Issei was about the only character that had true development if any. Everyone else seemed more like a bystander or support character to me. Including Rias, which was a huge disappointment. I'll explain why:
Asia Argento: Ah! The timid and honest, perfectly innocent cutesy personality is given to such a beautifully well drawn character. What are her aspects? Just as I described. She's a bit shy, with the Goody Two-Shoes act and God fearing trait. She is affiliated with the fallen angle faction and is later reborn as a low-class devil (Former human)/Bishop recruited by a duke of hell known as Rias Gremory. (Ain't that a surprise?) If you found that surprising than you have very poor foretelling skills. (Saw that a mile away man no way is it a spoiler) With her twilight healing the only thing that DOESN'T make her useless as many other characters I could name from other anime's *looks at Kazumi Yoshida* that was about as much character development you're going to get from her. Now I can give the developers a great way in exploiting her personality. And I'll do just that. Avoiding the typical evolve her power from healing to super healing abilities! TWIST IT. Twist it as if your playing Twister. Make her a TRUE demonic demon who goes from the happy go lucky Asia to the cynical blood thirsty type who'd tear you piece by piece. Let her evolve into that after witnessing a traumatic event. Such as a fellow comrade falling into a life or death situation. (Use Issei for obvious reasons) Only to revert to her "normal" self after the situation calms down.
Rias Gremory: Here's my problem, the description in MAL explains perfectly of what and who she is. And the character development didn't help any in the 1st (hopefully not last) season. You see what she is here? Absolute no significant change that is worth mentioning in my review. If I were to say the ONLY change in her development it would cause a (minor) spoiler that would leave many who cannot see the obvious miffed. And my review here is aimed to help you decide whether it is worth your time to watch the anime in question. When I say you, I mean ALL of you regardless if you are young, dumb, or full of cum. So those of you who know what her development is, I say hope that the second season gives a shit more of development for her than what we have received in the first. (Last episode completely shows her only development) Those of you that cannot see the obvious, refer to Sora no Otoshimono and compare our main male protagonist here with the one over there. Now notice the change in attitude toward the main male lead of the female protagonists in Sora and compare it with Highschool. What can you draw with these similarities given that both main males are extremely perverted with many "hot" chicks surrounding them? What can you predict on how the female leads will react with the male leads now that they have become men with balls of steel? Bingo. ;D
Akeno Himejima: Should be considered as supporting. Little to no insight/background given whatsoever. Description in MAL provides everything you need to know about her.
Issei Hyoudou: "An 11th grade student. Stupid, lecherous and a pervert. A normal high school student born in a normal family, but is in the possession of the Sacred Gear "Boosted Gear" which is listed as one of the ultimate Sacred Gears. He was killed by his then girlfriend who was a fallen-angel; later on was revived as a devil, becoming the servant of Rias Gremory. His new master. Now he aims to become a Harem-king by gaining a peerage, unaware of himself attracting the very girls around him." Perfectly given. So how about the way they executed this? Of course the typical cliche way of introducing a near impossible obstacle only to be overcame by a miraculous event such as taking advantage of his Boosted Gear and learning its abilities and advantages. Still very perverted, he gives meaning to "character development" in Highschool DXD's first season. He becomes a man that is comparable to Duke Nukem. (Without the shit one-liners thank God) The similarities? Well, none really other than a shitton of hot chicks surrounding him. Actually now that I think about it would you say Duke Nukem is the American version of a Japanese harem? Anyways you will see this kid grow the balls to announce to the world (and antagonist) SPOILER,,ɹıɐs,s ʌıɹƃıuıʇʎ ıs WINƎ¡,, END OF SPOILER. Google upside down text and enter it there if you'd like to see the spoiler. Concerning his aspects, it shouldn't be much of a surprise he'd do such a thing. But nonetheless you can perfectly notice how such a wimpy dog becomes a howling wolf.
Yuuto Kiba: Should be considered as supporting. Little to no insight/background given whatsoever. Description in MAL provides everything you need to know about him.
Koneko Toujou: Should be considered as supporting. Little to no insight/background given whatsoever. Description in MAL provides everything you need to know about her.
ENJOYMENT: 7
As much as I wish there was less fan-service and more plot/character development it was still great to see a great amount of blood spewing scenes and dramatic twist of events in the last few episodes.
OVERALL: 7
If your looking for a nice alternative to Sora no Otoshimono then Highschool DXD just might fit your expectations. Don't expect much from an ecchi anime that puts the "ecchi" in anime such as Highschool DXD, but know that this anime is still open to a second season that could blast you off to God knows where.
