Review of High School DxD Hero

Note: I watched this series in the English dub, I have read the light novels, and I’m taking episode 0 into consideration for this review. Coming off the back of a 3 year break from the disastrous butchering that forced the author to retcon the events of S3 in his DxD DX series, High School DxD Hero is the fourth continuation of the light novel series. DxD is regarded as one of the best ecchi series out there with its raunchy ecchi scenes, great cast of characters and their dynamics, very good storytelling and worldbuilding to compliment it. Taking the helm of the anime’s production isa relatively new studio called Passione, and that means a new director, new music, and most noticeably, a new character designer. Just how well did they faithfully adapt the series?

Before the season started, a special that aired as season four’s episode 0, for a very important reason. In the third season of DxD, TNK decided to make several altercations to the story and the order of its events and the novels themselves. The order of the novels that were adapted were 5-->7-->6, and what’s worse is that they tried to fit all three of those volumes into just 12 episodes, cutting a lot of content, character development and dialogue, and some important fights, narratively speaking. This episode acted as a tool to retcon the final four episodes in order to put the series’ narrative back on the right path for future adaptations, as the what the final 4 episodes could have done is put the series on an entirely different path. As a fan of the novels, I was very pleased to see the new studio fixed up the mess of the previous’, probably at the request of the author himself. Although this was fixed and follows the novels really closely, there was a lot of relevant information that was never adapted which played into this season, with the events being mentioned a few times (like the Sitri vs Gremory rematch or Beelzebub improving Issei’s evil pieces). To fully experience the series and to actually understand what went on, I implore you to read volumes 5, 6 & 7, they’ll definitely be worth your time if you’re interested in the series and its story (which is great btw).

DxD Hero aired right after episode 0, which the series adapted volumes 9 and 10 of the light novel series, which splits the season into two, having 6 episodes to focus on each event. Volume 9 focuses on the trip to Kyoto and the fight against the Hero Faction. When Issei arrives at Kyoto, he and his friends get into a fight against Kunou in what is a misunderstanding. They then run into the Hero Faction, who are plotting to summon Great Red. This fight and victory against the Hero Faction gave them the opportunity to form an alliance with the youkai. Featuring the youkai adds a lot of depth into the series’ worldbuilding since there are many different mythologies that are featured within this story, it’s unique in its attempt to feature western and Japanese religion and mythology as a plot point, as it’s hardly been done before in any medium. Although the plotline and objectives are easy to follow, it’s still enjoyable to be able to see the events unfold and lead into the next part of this season.

Volume 10 takes up the second half of Hero, which entails the rating game battle between Rias and Sairaorg’s groups. Rating games are an essential part of devil culture in this franchise, as it can determine status, power, and wealth within their society, and it’s a great way for the author to pit characters against each other in different battles with specific sets of rules in place. The fight between Rias and Sairaorg is also where this season shines. The highpoint of this series is the final battle between Issei and Sairaorg where emotions ran high and as both of the character evolve throughout the fight, leveling up to more extreme levels of strength. And of course, after a long wait of four seasons, we finally get to see Issei confront his feelings and confess his love to Rias, which I think many shippers would have enjoyed dearly. Both volumes are loaded with info, and that made the speed of the show very fast, it flew through a lot of content in a short amount of time. If it were me, I would’ve spent an extra episode or two, maybe for each novel, to slow things down in order to get used to and flesh out the newly introduced characters and for more time to develop the story. But that’s the cost of only being 12 episodes long.

This might be an issue with the previous three seasons as this season felt different compared to them, but this season was actually able to capture the essence and feelings of the novels better than seasons 1-3. Passione was actually able to present the turmoil and PTSD that affects Issei since his death at the hands of Raynare, unlike TNK. In the anime, it may seem like Issei takes too long to decide on what to do, and to go for the move, which might seem typical of a male harem protagonist. But what Issei was actually feeling was fear and regret, being afraid of being harmed again or having the situation backfire. Unless you’ve read the novels, it’s nearly impossible to figure out that Issei was still strongly affected by the events of season 1. You might complain about how this season doesn’t feel like true High School DxD, but I think the first 3 seasons weren’t true to the novels to begin with. Maybe it has to do with how the series was written which may be hard to translate fully into motion picture, but this season was able to hit the mark in its faithfulness to the source material, and I’m overall impressed and pleased with the results.

One of the most noticeable changes, and most argued among many fans of this series, is the change in art style. When TNK fucked up and the author got mad, he changed studios in preparation for the next season of DxD, and with that change in studio comes a change in personnel, like director, animators, and character designer. Whilst I liked the old style, and I will miss it a lot, due to the fuckup of S3, we need to accept the changes and move on. What I liked with the change in art is the background designs, as I think they are a million times more visually pleasing and aesthetic than before. A lot of attention to detail is put into the details of drawings, be it of the cities (like Kyoto) or somewhere naturey (the scene with Azazel and Sairaorg after the game), I found them to be a great upgrade to the visual aspect of the series (they make the series brighter and pop out of the screen more).

One of the more important changes is with the character designs since the characters look less sharp and more rounded. What I think the character designer was trying to achieve was to match the designs in the novels and their covers as closely as he can, and I think he did quite well, and I quite like the changes. Even if the faces looks kinda fat around the cheek areas and hair not being as sharp as they originally were, this is one of the changes that’ll stay around for a very long time, so it’ll take a while before mostly everyone including myself will get used to them. The females still look as busty and sexy as they did before, so I’m pleased they didn’t do anything to the aspect that makes the series as popular as it is now.

The animation in this series isn’t known to be all that good, as it’s often janky and gif-like. Though that couldn’t be said the same about Hero. This season’s animation is a big upgrade, it’s actually decent compared to an average show. Passione put in the effort to make the fights seem more explosive and flamboyant with more frames per second to make the characters’ movements more dynamic and flexible. Since the character designs are easier to draw, the animators were able to do more with what they have at their disposal and focus more on the fights, which are a big aspect of this series. Overall, the fluidity of the animation and character movements were good.

Characters are an integral part of this series, as it follows Issei’s journey to becoming a high-ranking devil and the harem king. Even as we’re 4 seasons in, this series continues to churn out new and unique characters from newly revealed factions and mythologies. This series also focuses on the development of Issei resolve and his relationship with Rias. The new characters features the likes of Sairaorg’s team, Kunou and her mother, the Hero Faction, Hades, dragons and dragon kings, the rating game champion, Rosenkreutz, and many more. These characters all have different personalities and powers, so it’s always interesting to see how they interact with each other and with Issei and the others.

This season also focuses on the growth of Issei and his relationship with Rias. Since the beginning of the series, Issei has been scarred by the memories of his death at the hands of Raynare, which made him hesitant in most romantic or perverted situation he’s thrusted in. This made quite a few fans complain about him being a pussy for not being able to take advantage of the situation he’s in, or for being as thick as lead, but Issei suffering from his PTSD is overlooked by most anime-only fans since it wasn’t really touched on at all throughout the first three seasons. How many of you knew from the get-go that Issei was suffering from PTSD and that he refrained himself in most sexual situations because of his fear of being betrayed or rejected? It’s only thanks to the efforts of the other girls who reassured Issei that something similar to Raynare will never happen to him again and that they all love him that Issei is able to finally overcome is fears and find it in himself to confess to Rias. I don’t think the previous seasons of the anime gives that fact justice, so I think Passione did a great job of stating the fact of Issei having PTSD (before he got over it), even without having used too much of Issei’s inner monologue and thoughts.

The music made the show more dramatic than what I thought it would be, though I have no complaints on that since this is a different outlook on the novels compared to TNK. The music fits quite well with the romance/ecchi scenes, the really deep and emotional moments, and the fights between characters and their hyped up moments. I enjoyed the disco/techno themed OP, but I don’t have anything to say about the ED except for it’s sexy visuals. Overall, I think the music did its job well.

I enjoyed this season a lot. As I’m still disappointed about last season’s butchering, as a light novel fan, this a really good adaptation of the story, probably on par as my favorite season alongside seasons 1&2. I watched this in the English dub, and I can say for sure that this series’ comedy gets amplified from a 50 to 1000 thanks to the scriptwriters of the dub. This is a well-crafted and top-tier dub that most people can thoroughly enjoy watching, as the jokes and witty one-liners translate and suits this series really well, and I think this dub trumps the previous three seasons’.

You might be hesitant of the changes in the art style since the studio who’s now making this show has changed, but don’t let that deter you from experience what the novels are truly about. You might find the ecchi nice to see, or the story fascinating and intriguing (though that’s probably ruined because of season 3), or you might find the English dub a blast to watch. Whatever the case is, if you like this series or ecchi and harem shows in general because you’re a degenerate like myself, then you’ll definitely enjoy this season. Now it’s hopeful wishing for season 5 to come out soon rather than never (as volumes 11 and 12 are the best in the series).

Overall score: 8/10