Review of High School DxD Hero

The surprisingly highly regarded guilty pleasure show, (the fans can confirm) makes another return after a long time break, this time with a new studio. The past seasons were mostly fine with the second season being of great status, this season had a huge potential from what we've seen from the clatter of events in the third season, but hey, if this sounds familiar, think about what season three was to season two. It didn't greatly deliver on its predecessor's promises but it was okay. And then comes High School DxD Hero promising with something even greater than the last one, will it deliver? I questionmyself at the beginning, I knew I had to watch it sooner or later, but the pay off was as oblivious as one's vision on a moonless night.

- Story (7.2/10):
Much like the other seasons, fanservice is a massive chunk of nonsense, pills amoung pills stacking up on top of each other, but on some rare occasions, a faint aroma of a spicy plot can be felt.
Unlike the other seasons, High School DxD New was a magnificent one story wise that set up a pretty high standards for its successors to surpass, but that has got to yet happen, but with the work of the miracle worker, the Boob Dragon (I know it's weird for newcomers), anything is possible, they just don't have to underestimate what good character development can produce.
Following the events shortly after the previous season, but unfortunately not covering a really good arc that has appeared on the source material, a rating game between the Gremory and Stiri households, there we get to see Saji going all out revealing on his new abilities, and oh boy those were some exciting ones. That aside, they really should have included it on this season, but all we got were some references that left most of the anime-only-fans confused.
This season consists of two main story arcs, the first half of the season covers the main cast (mostly, excluding a few) going to a trip to Kyoto where they get involved in some crazy mess that has them fight against a monstrous organization that claims to have enough power to destroy the gods. They have to rescue a kidnapped fox with nine tails (sounds familiar enough? trust me, there is more of this). It wasn't really all that exciting, but we get to at least see Issei figuring out how his powers work, and improving on them.
For me at least, it all was around the second half of the shown. that was the closest it can get to reach the second season's hype for it was probably the most entertaining rating game on display. Where the Gremory team gets to fight one of the Bael family, Sairaorg, a yet interesting character with a lot to him than we thought at first. I can at least say that this season had a storytelling compared to that of the third season, which I think was good.

- Art (7.8/10):
As I've mentioned before, a new studio is handling High School DxD for now, that's Passione if you're interested. And with new teams and workflow comes new animation techniques and quality.
For me, I was so used to the old studio's way of doing thing that I genuinely had trouble recognizing some of the characters, most of them look a lot different, be it the color contrasts change or generally the design, but it's not something that concerning, a couple of episodes should be enough to get you used to it. Aside from the art style being like a damn stranger, the animation was a huge step up. It works very well with the new art style, everything looks more fluid and impactful.
Something I really disliked here was that apparently, every single girl in the cast had an increase in her cup size, and it was disturbing, I wasn't prepared for a busty Asia. Somethings just have to stay the way they are.
Body proportions aside, some faces really looked very unnatural and unattractive, like my dude, Kiba, like, where did it go wrong fam? he was a freaking handsome pill of paths and now he can barely hold a natural facial expression.

- Sound (7.8/10):
For the most part, both the opening and the end theme songs are likable, even from the first exposure. Differently better than the second season's second opening, that shit can never be recovered.
The voice acting is just at its best, I can't imagine what process they go through to have Issei say some ridiculous stuff while maintaining a serious tone of voice. the shouting and everything was epic and emotional, I'm just glad they didn't have a different team do the voice acting, that would have been a demonic disaster.
Something that really puts me in the most for some Juggly effects are the excellent soundtracks, no matter what you change, please don't replace those. They have stuck in with the show from the beginning till this late on, they even left a landmark on my memory, the show wouldn't be the same without them.

- Character (8.0/10):
Finally, some actually good characters to look at too. Along with some other characters that we previewed in the last season, Sairaorg proved to have a lot of depth to him, his motive and backstories, everything makes you root for the guy. And for you Rock Lee lovers, this is a character that you will treasure.
For once, Issei and Rias had some focus on their relationship and treats. Seriously, Issei is completely a different person, one that can control his emotions and realize his mistakes very quickly. And Rias isn't just another character that's just there for either comic relief, of extreme fanservice. She even managed to be the necessary switch for Issei's power at this point. and the two finally made up a solid relationship by the end of the show. Issei and some others have never been so close to being high ranking devils, it's all for the fifth season to answer.

- Enjoyment (8.3/10):
We all know what sort of guilty pleasure enjoyment we get from this. And as a Sage once said, “there are two kinds of actions in this show”, if you don't get what that quote says, then you're only inches from going to heaven.
I love fanservice as much as the next guy, but it can get annoying, out of place, and just look bad and cringy. And there is a lot of cringy in this season, some might say, it's the first time High School DxD has been this cringy. But that doesn't obscure the good parts.
Storywise, the hype was real, especially on the second half, you could barely contain yourself from watching those oddly satisfying punches and finishers.

- Overall (7.8/10):
Again, if you already caught up with the first three seasons, don't pass on this one. You might not like the new animation, but the story and fanservice are at least still true to itself. And seriously, if you don't care enough about the characters, there are new ones that are just as good if not better. But if you're just fed up with the franchise, I trust that the trilogy can hold up as a great guilty pleasure show on its own.