Review of High School DxD

I wish MAL had it set up to simply select whether or not I personally liked something as opposed to whether or not I'd recommend it to others because with this genre in particular, noting in this case that there are uncensored breasts in literally every single episode and unapologetic, unrelenting sexual references, lewd scenarios, and perverted humor this is OBVIOUSLY not for everyone and you should use your own discretion as to whether or not this might be your cup of tea. Personally, I quite like this genre and have had a really good track record with it. If you can accept and enjoy thebase premise and tone- and frankly, you simply shouldn't watch this if you can't, because it's inescapable- there's lots to like here. High School DxD is over a decade old in 2023 and it still looks fantastic, easily passing for something that could come out today. As noted on its dedicated MAL page, this anime also sports an award-winning English dub and as far as I'm concerned that's completely warranted. Scott Freeman and Jamie Marchi as the male and female leads respectively are perfectly cast and very tonally convincing, taking the obviously ridiculous and over the top script seriously and making their characters believable. The writing and translation folks should also be credited as the localization, references, terminology and variety of terms- even though they're more or less talking about the same thing over and over again- really hits the mark.

Uncensored boobies multiple times in every single episode, rather than just occasionally throughout the show, is a thumbs up from me. The program fully embraces what it is, what its audience is and the tone it's trying to uphold. If you're into this kind of thing, this is a lot of fun to watch. Something that separates the good ecchi from the great, however, is the presence of an actual story that you can get engaged in, specifically a story that isn't just a platform for sexual innuendo and shenanigans. High School of the Dead comes to mind immediately as an example of a similar show that excels in this area, and while the story and world building in this case isn't quite THAT strong- at least not yet, as this is only the first of four seasons- there's still a pretty respectable plot here and it's well-paced and has a lot of action sequences to keep things engaging. Admittedly there are a few tropes and predictable plot elements, but at no point does this anime take itself too seriously or try to be something it's not, so this is inoffensive to me.

One of my only concerns going forward is whether or not there will truly be enough meat on the bone to warrant what is ultimately nearly 50 episodes over the course of four seasons. Does the plot have enough substance to justify that hefty runtime? Will the novelty and repetition of boob gags eventually wear out their welcome, especially if there isn't a plot worth caring about in the background? I'm yet to watch the other seasons as of the time of this writing (working on it!) but if I'm judging the first season as a standalone product on its own merits, the fact that I popped the second season in the moment I completed the first should tell you all you need to know.

OBJECTIVE RATING- 8-8.5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 8-8.5