High School DxD New - First Impression - same stuff still enjoyable

Despite the fact that the show has an abundance of nude scenes interlaced throughout the plot and is embedded into the humour, I still love the characters and serious tones of this show.

Last time we saw Issei  he was overcoming an immortal being and saving Rias from a wedding while riding a griffon for an epic finale. Now Issei wakes up with a more passionate Rias and an ever jelous Asia at his side.

The show wastes no time and gets right into the thick of things. This time it appears Kiba is at the center of attention. It seems holy swords and an old friend of Issei will be the main plot devices for this season, as well as a changed Kiba who remembers his hate and revenge towards the holy sword Excalibur. While there was nothing super surprising or incredibly eventful, I really love the pace of the show and how the nudity, plot, humour, and characters are well spread out for an entertaining experience.

I was so happy to see Sellzen return. This crazed murdering priest has an insane personality that is simply too much fun to see. He was a wonderful villain in the last season and I thought he had disappeared, but now it seems he is back and more insane than ever.

The episode have pretty much everything that High School DxD had, a contract situation, exterminating a demon, side humour of Issei's forgotten jealous friends, and even some Asia embarrassment of her feelings towards Issei. Everything about this show is enjoyable so I will be trying to keep up with it.

~Djr7

Wolf Rants: Some Anime Winter 2012 reviews

Okay so here are my quick reviews for most of Winter 2012s anime series. Yeah, I ain’t reviewing all the series that came out or ended this season either because I didn’t watch them or I just don’t feel like making one for ‘em. BTW, I’ve already given Nisemonogatari its own review but I just copy-pasted it here just in case.

High School DxD In Review 7/10

High School DxD was a rather surprising show this past season, introducing a enjoyable story, unique characters, and humor under all that fan service.

I decided to give DxD a 7/10. I would have gone higher if there was less ecchi dependent moments in the early stages of the show, however I do understand that this was their initial hook.

At first glance, you might think this is just a fan service show with no real plot or well defined characters, just nudity at every turn. This show was a huge surprise to me with how much fun I had watching Issei use his perverted abilities and hidden dragon powers to vanquish fallen angels after becoming a Gremory Devil.

One of the biggest surprises I found in this show was the girl Issei chooses in the end, after the show's build up could suggest otherwise. Personally, I never found a dull moment while watching this show, there was plenty of character development, humor, and some interesting fight scenes which was more fun to watch over some of the other shows that aired this season. Additionally some serious events would pop up and I found them to be quite interesting.

Characters: 

Overall the main cast was well defined. The story involves each of the core characters taking up a "role" or chess piece. Issei was the pawn, the weakest of them all but with the most potential. The chess piece system gave enough feedback behind each character that there was no need for any flashbacks or history of any other character. The characters were simple and straightforward, I was surprised with how much I enjoyed all of them despite neither of them receiving their own episode or special screen time. Each character was so different from each other that they made such entertaining comparisons.  

Story:
Surprisingly enough, there was a large background issue involving the Devils and Fallen Angles, not to mention the rather serious heartbreak Issei sustains after the first episode, which develops into a brilliant showing of Issei's inner emotions. The two key stories revolve around Issei's personal connections to three women, involving a close friend, a respectable sensei, and his first love. While the two stories were not at all serious events on the outside, they became compelling concerns that shape Issei and reveals his true nature underneath his perverted personality.

Humor:

The bread and butter of the show, everything involved Issei's perverted nature and it was quite funny. I felt that this form of humor was not the best of it's kind, however each character reacted differently to every situation and Issei's perverted events, which was the real gem in this show. Every character reacted different to Issei and each of them developed a likable personality that contrasted with everyone else, no one was too similar.

Overall this was one of my favorite shows this season and I would definitely like to see a continuation, although I find that highly unlikely.

~Djr7

Bern's Thoughts:


Firstly, I learned of the show from maneki_neko, who linked me to the trailer saying that I'll like it because apparently all guys are supposed to like fanservice shows. After seeing said trailer, I didn't have very high hopes going into the show. After watching the finale, I felt surprisingly satisfied with the show overall, and I think that it's a lot better than other typical supernatural harem fanservice shows, and it should rank pretty up there in the genre.

Though the show blatantly presents itself as a fanservice show, I really only took note of it early on. After the first couple episodes, I just sort of glossed over all the various ecchi shots and paid attention to other things. So if you don't really care about the fanservice in a fanservice show, what is there left to see? For me, the characters were the main driving force. Each of the main girls had their own charms and they all satisfied certain archetypical panderings. Most importantly, I liked the main character more than your typical anime protagonist. Issei knew what he wanted, wasn't ashamed to show it, and was extremely determined to accomplish what he set out to do. Oh, let's not forget about Kiba; he was a pretty cool dude as well. All the members of the Occult Research Club meshed well together.

Story-wise, I never really take the stories of supernatural harems seriously and I found the plot in this show very acceptable. It used the idea chess pieces in an interesting way and their powers were pretty cool. The crowning moment of the plot was definitely during the final episode. When all hope seemed lost, Issei barges into the engagement party, beats the shit out of the bad guy with some clever thinking, and rides off into the night with his girl around his arm on a griffon. Not too bad.


Unlike a lot other light novel adaptions, the show paced it self really well, choosing to adapt only two volumes into a single cour. Good move. Overall, it was a humorous and enjoyable watch. Unfortunately, I don't think this show is selling well enough to warrant a second season, but if there is another season, I'd definitely watch it. 


-Bern

High School DxD 01 - First Impressions

Checkmating with a pawn, eh? Foreshadowing? Maybe. Prior to watching this first episode, I read the couple chapters of the manga along with watching the trailer. After seeing said episode, I can confirm my suspicions. This is the kind of anime you watch after turning off your brain and just try to enjoy it. Indeed, this has the makings of your typical supernatural harem with tons of fanservice that usually comes with the genre.

I'd love to know where I can get one of these alarm clocks. Judging from this first episode, the production quality isn't going to be high, but not terrible either. With these shows, it seems that more of the budget is appropriated to the various fanservice shots. As far the characters go, the main character seems fine. I actually laughed out loud from his first line, "Ahhh, I wanna grab some tits." Not because the line itself was funny, but because of the recent popularity of Yuki Kaji voicing main characters. I already had his voice associated him the epitome of beta that is Ouma Shu from Guilty Crown. Regarding Issei himself though, I like him already, as far as harem protagonists go. I mean, he actually went ahead and held his girlfriend's hand all by himself!

Unfortunately, said girlfriend kills him right after. If I recall correctly, the guy from Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka died and was resurrected in the first episode, so I was reminded of it in that respect. There were several shots that focused on that pink scrunchie, so that might come into play in the future. Also, if you were watching Subdesu's subs, I'm pretty sure the translated "Seiplit" meant Sacred Gear, which they'll probably deal with in the next episode.

Issei seems to have gained some superhuman powers, in the dark at least. Though he couldn't put them to use against this guy voiced by Wakamoto. They hinted different the different sides, such as Fallen Angels and Devils, which will probably be further explored next week. I'm also hoping that the chess game that Rias is playing comes into play. Hopefully, this writer isn't as ignorant to the rules as a certain Code Geass scene.

This anime is exactly what it presents itself to be: supernatural fights with gratuitous fanservice. If you didn't like this episode, I doubt you'll like the rest of the show. For those who love this stuff, you're in for a fun ride. Personally, I'm just going to turn my brain off and try to have fun with it.

-Bern