Review of High School DxD

Note: This will be a review of the series in its entirety. Overview: Honestly, out of all the many anime genres out there, the ecchi/harem genre is easily the most controversial. Oftentimes, the writers will focus solely on pleasing the audience's perverted desires, while neglecting anything even resembling a decent story. With that in mind, it's easy to see why "High School DxD" is commonly seen as one of the prime examples to do the genre right. Make no mistake, "High School DxD" is as ecchi as they come, but it doesn't use its fanservice as a crutch to hold up sagging plot and characters. Story & World(8/10):
The story follows Issei Hyoudou, a perverted 17-year-old student at Kuoh Academy, a former all-girls school that has recently turned co-ed. Obsessed with breasts and dreaming of having a harem, Issei is unexpectedly asked out on a date, and even more unexpectedly killed at the end of it, with the girl revealing herself to be a Fallen Angel. However, Issei is in luck, as he gets rescued by a Devil named Rias Gremory, who later declares herself to be his master. Yeah, turns out Fallen Angels and Devils are two separate beings in this universe, and Issei has been turned into one of the latter to save his life. He then becomes a member of the Occult Research Club, which is a front for Rias's base of operations. Basically, Issei has to do jobs for humans, compete with other Devils in fighting matches and help Rias and her other servants defend themselves from both Fallen Angels and Angels. And Rias states if he does a good job, he may just have some servants of his own one day. Upon hearing this, Issei resolves to fulfill his dream of having his own harem, and to become the "Harem King".

A big part of the story's appeal is that the status of things is constantly changing. In the hands of most other writers, Issei would constantly try to woo women to no avail, fail in any attempt at progression towards his goal and after three or four seasons of searching for his killer, he'd be no closer to finding her than when he started. "High School DxD", however, is nothing like that. Enemies are dealt with as soon as possible, with only a select few being given a second chance. The girls falling for Issei is also a gradual process, with it generally not happening until he does something to really earn their love. And while Issei starts off as something of a butt-monkey, by the end of the fourth season, you get the impression things are really starting to go right for him, making it hard to believe he was ever unlucky.

However, while the story is certainly fantastic by harem anime standards, it's also not without its problems. What the series sorely lacks in is consistency. We start off with Devils, Angels and Fallen Angels, but it isn't long before we're introduced to characters from every mythology you can think of, which can get pretty overwhelming, to say the least. There are times when I honestly forgot just what the story is about. The problem with consistency is also evident in Sacred Gears, ancient artifacts wielded by several characters including Issei. We see that reading a Bible and simply praying to God causes serious pain to Devils, so shouldn't Sacred Gears, which were bestowed upon them by God, hurt them as well? And later on, we have a Devil wielding a holy sword, which were established earlier to be able to annihilate Devils and that simply touching them is highly toxic for them. This contradiction is never even brought up in the series, so we're basically supposed to accept it at face value without any real explanation given. As far as plot holes go, this is pretty damn inexcusable, though maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Art & Animation (8/10):
The animation is pretty good, but not what I'd call fantastic. For the most part, it looks great but there are several moments where rough edges become noticeable. Also worth noting is that the fourth season is done by a different studio from the other three, meaning the art style is given a complete overhaul, which may disappoint some people. There are also times when the fanservice can be too much, such as when a character's breast is clearly visible in what's supposed to be a very sad moment, though thankfully this doesn't happen often.

Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10):
The soundtrack is all over the place- in some scenes it's great, but there are other scenes when it can be very ill-fitting. I actually noticed a couple of times when the exact same track was played for two scenes with completely different tones. There's a different opening for each season, but none of them stood in my mind quite as much as the first, which is used brilliantly in the respective season's final showdown. The voice acting is solid, and I would definitely recommend watching the dub, as it really ups the funny, perverted dialogue, which really fits the silly tone of the series, and Jamie Marchi in particular does a fantastic job as Rias. It should be noted, however, that several voice actors are replaced over the latter two seasons, most notably Issei's and Akeno's, which may take a bit of getting used to.

Characters (7.5/10):
We'll start with the man himself, Issei. He initially comes off as a lecherous asshole, and is seen as such by nearly his entire school. While he is lecherous, by the end of the first episode, it becomes clear he's not an asshole at all. He's not even a jerk with a heart of gold. He's actually a really nice guy who will go out of his way to ensure a girl enjoys a date as much as possible. There's a reason all the main girls end up falling for him, and that's because he's a protective badass who often goes to hell and back (both literally and metaphorically) for them. He's also very respectful of their feelings, and refuses to take advantage of them in a depressed state, even if they're the ones making the move. This chivalrous nature becomes especially apparent when we see other characters who already have what he has, but are complete assholes because of it and treat the women like their property. That said, while Issei's perverted antics are certainly funny, there are times when they can be just plain ridiculous. During one fight, he goes through all sorts of crazy power-ups in an attempt to keep up with his opponent, but the thing that finally gives him the upper hand is fear of his harem's chests getting smaller (it makes sense in context). There's also the fact that he's ALWAYS the one to fight the main villain of an arc, even when it would make more sense for another character to fight them, making him something of a spotlight-stealer in his own series. Nevertheless, as far as harem protagonists go, Issei ranks among one of the very best, and has very much earned the affection of the girls around him.

However, my favourite character would have to be the aforementioned Rias. The other characters are technically her servants, but that's very easy to forget since she really doesn't treat them like her servants at all. She gets them to do errands and commands them in battle, but more often than not she acts more like a surrogate mother or older sister figure. Her affectionate nature towards the others, Issei in particular, is really sweet and had no problem winning me over as early as the first few episodes. She also has an extraordinary lack of shame, and has no problem being naked in front of others (when she wants to be at least), to the point that her reaction to someone walking in on her is simply a polite "Good morning!" without even trying to cover herself up. For people who dislike the tsundere always being the lead, Rias is most certainly a breath of fresh air. She can be a tad selfish and possessive when it comes to Issei, despite his desire to have a harem, but it should be noted that Devils are explicitly stated to be selfish beings by nature, and not even really kind ones like Rias are immune, so I had no problem looking past this. Besides, despite her usual mature nature, she is still a teenage girl, so I'd say this kind of behaviour would be normal even if she wasn't a Devil.

Next up, we have Akeno, the vice-president of the club and Rias' best friend and first servant. She comes off as a refined lady most of the time, but in combat she becomes a giggling sadist, often smiling as she electrocutes enemies. She's also a big pervert and just as shameless as Rias, though also much more forward and loves teasing Issei. The series also features a prominent male other than Issei, namely Yuuto Kiba, the Prince of the school and a total badass with a sword, who eventually becomes Issei's best friend (essentially, he is to Issei as Akeno is to Rias). There's also Koneko, a small girl with massive strength and a very sharp tongue, who makes me laugh practically every time she opens her mouth, and Asia, a former nun who joins the club shortly after Issei and has a Sacred Gear that allows her to heal anyone, be they humans, Angels or Devils. She doesn't fight, but she is pretty much the one keeping the group together, and it's often shown just where they would be without her.

However, there are quite a few characters I didn't like. In season three, we're introduced to Rossweisse, a Valkyrie, who doesn't have much personality to speak of. She's cheap, more conservative than the other girls and very pessimistic, all of which serve to make her pretty annoying. Also, in season 3, Loki as a villain. Gee, never seen that before. Additionally, Loki is usually portrayed as a complex anti-villain with sympathetic motives, but this version is just a generic doomsday villain who wants to destroy all of reality because.... reasons. This is, without a doubt, the worst version of Loki I've seen. Hell, the "Son of the Mask" character is more fleshed-out than this version. The problem is that the extra mythologies often don't feel necessary since they don't add all that much to the story. The devil and angel characters are who really matter, and thankfully, they're usually great.

Enjoyment (8.5/10):
Even if it has its problems, "High School DxD" is a consistently and hugely enjoyable series. The action scenes are plentiful and awesome and there were more than a few moments where I just could not stop laughing, in no small part thanks to Koneko. Sure, sometimes the jokes can get a bit repetitive, but that doesn't happen very often, and the constant shift in status keeps the series from ever getting boring.

Overall:
"High School DxD" is a fantastic twist on the harem genre. It won't win prizes for consistency and doesn't do anything particularly original, and some may be put off by the perversions or just find the whole thing pretty juvenile. However, if by chance you're looking for an ecchi/harem anime that combines a healthy amount of fanservice with an actually good story, then "High School DXD" is exactly the one you should watch.

Score:
8+8+8.5+7.5+8.5=40.5/50=8.1/10