Review of High School DxD Hero
SIgh.... so another season of High School DxD is over... and man i am feeling ambivalent about this season. So much good, but also so much bad at the same time... welp... lets jump into it... Also, this is coming strictly from an anime only standpoint, i have not read any of the LNs. STORY:7 Well what can I say... Its good but its not great. The story is much more different from the last three seasons, and honestly its not what I would like to see. So, at this point, theres almost two reviews of the story. One one hand, as a standalone plot, itsgood. Its really not bad. It has moving parts, a coherent storyline, a resolution, a epic fight, and some interesting mechanics. But... as a standalone plot, its not great. It was somewhat boring, predictable. It lacked any sort of plot twists, and it was too short to serve as a good plot. To me, this story felt more like a prequel than anything, a set up for a future story.
Now, the second review of the story is in relation to the previous seasons. And in relation to those seasons, It falls short by quite a bit. What made the previous seasons so great was the epic ratio and balance between storyline and ecchi. And this season, season 4, is just not as good at balancing that ratio. There was almost no ecchi, none of the trademark ecchi that was present in the previous seasons. As much as story purists will hate this, the ecchi was what made the last three seasons enjoyable, and those last three seasons knew it. This season however, does not. There was a definite focus on the story and the plot, which alone is not a bad thing, but it is distinctly not HSDXD. The atmosphere was different, it lacks the flair of the previous seasons. The fanservice. The comedy. The ecchi
So Overall, a bit lackluster. Its a good story, but its not great, and its not very Highschool DxD.
Art:6
Alot of people were ambivalent about this. And I am too. I still am. But again, this section is also, two reviews. Firstly, as a standalone season, the art is mediocre at best. Sure its good, but its not as good as it could be. Its not HD, not sharp, not crisp. The animation is off, slower, not as fluid, and too.... bland. It lacks detail, lacks passion. The Character designs are also still off, not as good as the original that we all know and love.
Secondly, in relation to the previous seasons, the art falls very short. The previous seasons had art and animation that was almost second to none. The accuracy and sharpness were top notch. The images were clear. The animations were also great. The attention to detail, especially background was much better than this season.
So overall, not good. And not as good as the last three seasons.
Sound: 8
If theres one thing that did plateau its the sound. The soundtracks in the anime are just about the same as the ones from before. There is certainly a nostalgia factor, and the sound is good, but its just good, sadly. Its not amazingly better. VAs were same so no comment there. And the OP/ED were good, pleasing to hear, so again, no comment either
Character: 7
Again, much ambivalence. The characters were not that good. Overall not much character development. The new characters that were introduced were cool, but were not integral at all to the storyline, and all just fell into typecast characters. Nothing original, nothing innovative. As for the main characters themselves, again no character development. I guess Issei got some, but then it was so rushed it still felt half-assed. So good, but not great.
Enjoyment: 8
Its only this high because of the nostalgia factor. It is the newest and latest season of Highschool dxd. And although my review so far has been quite scathing, I still did enjoy this season a bit. But purely as the next installment of the Highschool DxD franchise.
Overall: 7
This entire anime could be summed up as "Good, but not Great". And it really is that. I wish i could have given it better marks. Hell I wanted to give it better marks as an ecchi enthusiast. But damn was i disappointed. I hurts me to say this, but this anime is distinctly NOT Highschool DxD. It has no notable comedy, no appreciation for the ecchi, and the art was just lackluster. Mathematically, as usual, Id say its like a 2 for story, and a 2 for enjoyment, plus 3 for it just being a HSDXD season 4? unfortunately disappointed and not impressed.
Peace