This is review number two hundred and forty seven. This anime is part of the Summer 2013 lineup. It’s this anime called Highschool DxD New. I am really perplexed that this damn show got another season. Between this and the second season of Freezing, I don’t know which one I am dreading the most. The rest of the shows in the Summer lineup that I haven’t watched yet are all Slice of Life shows so I think it’s a good time to get this one over with. Anyways, it’s a show about boobs. There’s something else but I’m pretty sure people are just interested in the boobs so there you go. Let’s read on.

Story

Issei Hyodo is still busy trying to raise his devil status and one day become a harem king. All he has to do is complete requests from people and make Rias Gremory, his hot master, happy. Sleeping with naked girls is a great thing but Issei wants more. Unfortunately, trouble is brewing. With the appearance of holy swords, insanely powerful sacred gear users and an impending war between God, the demons and the fallen angels, it seems that Issei’s dream will have to wait. He first must face all of these adversities while trying to make himself become powerful. The weakest sacred gear user in history is certainly going to have a tough time doing that.

Taking the Pants Off

I’m still not sure how most anime get green lighted for a second season but there are certainly some anime that I feel do not deserve a second season. In my short time as TPAB, there are actually three reviews that I regret doing. The first one is Gokujo because f*ck that show. The second one is Ai no Kusabi because I never plan on reviewing any yaoi and then it just happened. The last one is simply the first season of Highschool DxD. I was pretty green in terms of being an impartial reviewer and I just never liked that review. I don’t even read it. I’m ashamed of it but I don’t plan on changing it because it’s a fair reminder to never be a one sided reviewer. Anyways, I don’t remember much of the first season other than it had boobs. It had a lot of boobs to the point where you’ll get sick of looking at boobs. It also had naked characters and it’s your typical brainless harem crap. The story isn’t something I can remember because it doesn’t really have a decent one. It just had boobs and that’s all it really needed to be the most viewed anime review in this little site. It’s that kind of fact that makes me want to rethink my whole life goal, to be honest. When I heard a second season would be released, I had regret stir up badly inside of me. I have to review another season of boobs and boobs and more boobs? I don’t like doing that. Considering I’d get the obligatory Ecchi anime in every lineup, something as severe as Highschool DxD is something that will destroy my enthusiasm for blogging for sure. I planned on reviewing this show second to last but after my new found disdain for slice of life anime (and I had three left to review for the summer 2013 lineup) I was forced to watch this show. I honestly expected the worst but boy is it great to watch something that actually has a great plot. I think that was the greatest thing about the second season. It has a strong plot that actually balances out the strong perversion the series is known for. In fact, this show put more focus on the story rather than those cute round areolas the show randomly exposes at least once per episode.

I’m blurry on the details of the first season. This guy named Issei was killed by a fallen angel and was resurrected by a devil. This devil happened to be one of the hottest girls in school and Issei is now forced to forever serve her. I’m lost on the details but along the way, Issei joined the Occult club and was able to gain the power of a dragon that he can now use as a weapon. Most of the characters possess a sacred gear that gives them special power and Issei’s weapon is a unique one that can grant him tremendous power. I’m lost on the details as well but the show ended with Issei fighting a dude that was supposed to marry his new master and he now has a goal of becoming a harem king. The show ended pretty openly but you’re really just watching this rare piece because it doesn’t use censors that much. The female breast is just a natural thing to be exposed and then there are also the random images during commercial breaks where a girl is posing like the hot slut that she is. It’s a pervert’s anime and a great percentage of the anime fandom happens to be just that, shameless perverts that crave anime nudity. It doesn’t have much value beyond that so imagine this anime getting another season. Naturally, it’ll have a lot of this:

I think there is one per episode so there is definitely something for shameless perverts out there. This post won’t be showing anymore screenshot of naked girls so just have another one and f*ck off.

Surprisingly, this show has a story. As much as I hate to admit it, it’s a really intriguing one that was decently paced and was interesting enough to actually give the show a great balance between story and fan service. It’s still had a few rough edges considering it built a story without relying on the story the first season presented. It was nonexistent, by the way. Still, it was still a great surprise that I certainly didn’t expect after I watched the first season. The show has three plot points. They all had individual progressions but the show smartly incorporated all of them nicely to create one smoothly weaved show. The first plot point is about the holy sword, Excalibur. It appears that there are holy swords that can easily kill a devil. This caused some alarm in the occult club considering they are all devils. They must now seek out the owners of these swords and kill them before they cause more trouble in the city. It appears that they aren’t the only one looking for these holy swords though. The church is involved and they sent two powerful warriors in eliminating the owners and regaining the swords back. While it’s a pain in the ass to work with some high almighty people from the church, Issei still considered them an ally in order to finish off the trouble involving these holy swords. It appears though that this holy sword debacle is bigger than it seems. Behind the shadows, the holy swords and its owners are simply after something much bigger than causing trouble for the demons and the people of the church.

This was a pretty decent plot point. The progression was pretty great because it was really laying the ground work for more episodes to come. This took me aback a bit because the show was putting importance in the plot and I wasn’t really mentally prepared to process that. The first plot point pretty much consumed the first half of the show. It was able to build enough intrigue for the climax and it was able to establish the rest of the plot points in a great way that will make you want to watch the rest of the show. I’m a bit disappointed at the way the climax of the show blew over though. I realize it wanted to wrap up the first plot point quite early but I felt like the show spent too much brooding over the details when it barely produced any great pay off in the end. It felt a bit rushed and that’s not really a surprise considering the show condensed a full volume of the light novel in such a short time. I’m just glad though that the plot was easy to follow and it was able to setup the rest of the anime come the second half.

Under the umbrella of the first plot point is a great focus on one side character of the show. Yuto Kiba is the only other male character in the series and he is pretty much the bland side character that takes up significant space during the first season. In the second season, he was very much involved in the first plot point of the show. It appears that he was actually part of a gruesome experiment to produce holy sword users back when he was young. It was an evil experiment where young kids are killed like lab rats. Yuto was the only one that survived that dark event. When the person in charge of the experiment realized that it was a failure, he decided to kill the remaining kids and Yuto now wants revenge for his fallen companions. After hearing of some fallen angels wielding a holy sword, his only conclusion was that the man in charge of the experiments is involved in this incident. He went full on emo and then went on a rampage trying to get his revenge. It’s a little surprise considering he did very little in the first season. Now, he’s an integral part of the story and that’s pretty crazy. His participation in the plot point gave it some significance considering it blew over before the second half. The first plot point mainly just established the rest of the things you’d see in the show but Yuto’s one man pity party was certainly a stand out. Having a side character do something this big is a great addition for the show. Even if he did very little in the other parts of the show, he still had a great time in the spotlight and I did enjoy it for what it’s worth.

The second plot point is about the Red Emperor Dragon and the White Emperor Dragon. It is said that the users of both sacred gear is fated to fight one another. In fact, everyone that wields the dragons has fought till the very end and it appears that Issei, being the owner of the Red Emperor Dragon, is fated to have a duel till the death against the owner of the White Emperor Dragon. This is a pretty straight forward plot point. The two dragons will meet and they will try to kill each other. It’s a simple plot point. Here’s the twist though. You can call Issei a level 20 sacred gear user and he is fated to fight someone with an insane level of 90. If Issei is strong then the White Emperor Dragon is infinitely stronger. The plot point is mostly about the eventual encounter of the two dragons and Issei trying to beat someone he clearly cannot beat on his own. You’ll be surprised how powerful the opponent is and it just makes up for a really awesome showdown between the two. The second plot point is the least mentioned part of the story though simply because it is so straightforward. I was expecting for a rivalry building up between Issei and his opponent but the show had other things to focus on. It clearly just wants to establish that Issei is butterf*cked if he fights his opponents but there are also ways for him to win. The show mostly mentions some great options for him to come on top. Things like obtaining a new weapon or simply strengthening his gear through drastic methods are some of the things mentioned for him to beat his opponent. It was also a great way to build the plot point since you can’t wait to see if the plan will work against someone as strong as the White Emperor Dragon. Here’s a great thing about the two dragons facing off. In all of their history fighting against each other, it appears that Issei is possibly the weakest Red Emperor Dragon wielder while his opponent is the strongest White Emperor Dragon wielder. How can Issei possibly win?

The second plot point is barely focused because the third plot point is a pretty big one. It appears that there used to be a war against God, demons and the fallen angels. Something tremendously big happened where the three factions has decided to call a truce. Some parts of the factions don’t want a truce though. They want to re-ignite the war and prove that they are the most superior beings there is. This poses a problem for the leaders of the angels, demons and fallen angels because they don’t really want war but they can’t control the feelings of their people. The problem proved to be too big that a meeting is arranged to have the leaders of the three groups to meet and find a way to resolve things. The third plot point is simply about the meeting between the leaders. Yes, a simple meeting covered up the rest of the anime. The show slowly expanded from here where a lot of characters needed to be introduced. From a perverted demon vs. angel type of story, the anime grew into something much bigger. It is now a show about an impending war between the angels, demons and fallen angels with the main characters simply caught up in the politics. The show handled the transition quite decently though and I was a bit surprise that something so shallow can actually evolve into something so grand. Majority of the focus of this plot point though is mostly on the appearances of the leaders. All of them are enigmatic in their own right and you aren’t really sure how things will go down. The three factions have taken lives to assure their dominance so you can’t really expect things to go smoothly. With more and more characters appearing, it seems that this meeting will really affect the anime as a whole. The buildup was pretty great and you’re really just watching intently seeing which side will attack first. The outcome is pretty insane.

The characters are all pretty one dimensional. Even though the story improved a ton, the characters merely just functioned within the scope of the story and doesn’t really try and stand out on their own. It’s either that or their boobs and you really can’t complain all that much considering how they were treated on the first season. The main character is still Issei Hyodo. He is a normal high school student that is also a demon and he has two hot chicks willing to get naked for him. He is the typical overly determined character that does loud monologues about beating a bad guy so you’ll realize that he’s the main character. It’s a bit stupid at times that the good guys will get overwhelmed and then Issei, who didn’t do salt lick before, would yell out at how he’ll use his powers to defeat someone for hurting his friends and the good guys will just go “aw shucks, that’s our hero” like he is so important. He isn’t and most of the fights involving him also involve this plot device called Dues Ex Machina where in some random sequence of event, he’ll power up and miraculously defeat an opponent. You can chalk it up to his unpredictable sacred gear but I simply call it an anti-climactic form of storytelling. What’s the point of having majorly strong enemies if the main character can just beat him out of pure luck and not with his own skill? It kind of defeats the purpose, don’t you think? That’s just me though. I don’t like this kind of main character. He is a bit endearing though when he gets all perverted. That’s the only thing worth noting about him. He loves boobs and his perversion would often act up in the most inconvenient time. One example is when the world would be destroyed and he was imagining about Rias Gremory’s boobs and how he wishes he could suck them. I am not f*cking kidding. He is bland most of the times and it’s alright if the plot is intriguing by itself.

The recurring characters are pretty much how they were back in the first season. Most of them were even shoved to the sidelines to entertain the new characters so they had very limited roles. I’m a bit bummed that the silent kuudere and that blonde chick didn’t have much to do in the second season. They mostly took up space and provided fan service from time to time. Rias Gremory took the same role she did in the first season. She remained this interesting woman that commanded the Occult Club. She acted like a mother most of the times but also acted like Issei’s lover on other times. It is interesting to note that a lot of characters are getting aggressive in terms of being the only girl for Issei. Rias started out as this girl that happened to have big boobs that our main character likes but she eventually started to reciprocate the love. As the show progresses, it was pretty clear that she wanted Issei and so our little harem is slowly starting to go full circle. It’s not just Rias getting all freaky with Issei. Surprisingly, even the vice president started doing insanely sexy things for Issei. Akeno Himejema didn’t do much in the first season other than beat some people up with her lightning. In the second season, there was a decent amount of focus on her and she was fleshed out in a way. She also sucks Issei’s fingers because of something stupid I already forgot. It appears that she wanted to suck more than his finger so she started playing aggressive as well which often riles up Rias. I’d show some screenshots of their exchange but it’s mostly scenes without clothes so just watch the damn show.

There are a lot of new characters appearing on the show. I don’t want to spoil much of their appearance but they certainly made the show interesting. They also gave us an insight at the expanded story the show suddenly transitioned into. It gave us a clear look at the status quo thus far. The new characters also functioned within the story though and not a lot of them stood out. They’re sadly as one dimensional as the rest of the cast. The new characters do make the show lively though and a clear far cry from the first season. Even with most of the important parts of the story getting glossed over, the new characters helped in making sense of it all in the end. I’d love to talk about them individually but I don’t want to spoil more. There is a trap character so I hope that helps.

Despite the large improvement in the story, the Ecchi aspect of the show still persists. It didn’t ruin the pacing of the story and that does surprise me a bit. Usually, a show would abandon the story to give way to the Ecchi stuff but this anime was smart in making sure a scene is very very very very perverted but still an important part of the story. The show does add some fluff from time to time though. When a show is at a lull, you are expected to see someone get undressed or display some fan service one way or another. The harem element of the show also acts up during slow moments of the show. It’s a great way to balance out the show. Since certain aspect of the story is glossed over, the lull moments are a smart way to make sure the show doesn’t get overwhelming. I mean, some highly convoluted thing about a character having a new superpower for no reason won’t ruin the show as much when you’re treated to some nicely shaped boobs staring you in the face. The Ecchi even trickle down the serious moments. I still remember this serious talk between Rias and the student council president but they had the odd mind to talk about it naked in a bathroom. There are also times where Issei would just randomly go dirty and think about boobs. The perversion is still as strong as the first season but I bet you won’t feel it as much because of the story. I feel like I’m obliged to post a naked screenshot now.

…

No. Have this GIF instead.

This is the first time I’ve heard of TNK Studios. I wasn’t mindful of studios back when I reviewed the first season. Apparently, they handled great shows like Papa to Kiss in the Dark and School Days. Most of their shows are utter crap though. I think Highschool DxD is their biggest hit ever. God, they released some overly crappy anime, it’s amazing they lasted this long. I see that they love to be different though and that’s something to like about the studio that gave us Cosplay Complex. It must’ve been that “I want to be different” mindset that convinced them to release this anime uncensored. God Bless them. Who was the golden fairy that convinced them to improve the story of this show though? I’m seriously amazed that they even had the right of mind to improve this show. They did it in a way I’m pretty sure no one saw coming. Admit it. You never expected this particular review to wind up this long. I don’t either. If they can keep creating shows with a smart balance like this one then I’m pretty sure we’ll see more of the studio that gave us that stupid two part OVA called Itsudatte my Santa. Can you believe Highschool DxD is the best thing in their lineup? F*ck, TNK sucks.

Sight and Sound

Miyama Zero (the designer) is probably the only character designer that has their own Wikipedia page. What in the hell, right? Miyama Zero’s design is pretty standard in terms of body built and facial structure. The thing this person is known for is the amount of details you can see in the characters. Most girls Miyama Zero designs are actually the generic type of characters but then you’ll notice the way the strands of their hair create a great personality for them. This is then complemented with their great round and expressive eyes that set a characters demeanor. I like how simple details of the eyes can make one character look seductive and another character look innocent. Sometimes, you’ll see both in one character. The design is then completed by that particularly glossy skin that has a nice color that makes a girl even more attractive. One thing I love about Miyama Zero’s design, and I say this with all seriousness, is the way the boobs are created. I dunno. I don’t see a lot of breasts in anime so I can’t help but be drawn to them. Something about the shape and the way each character’s boobs has the same appeal as their personality drives me a bit crazy. Perhaps it’s the areolas that intrigue me the most. Pinkish reddish things that just pop out of nowhere, it’s probably this cute little detail that makes perverts want to watch more of this show. You have to be one massive pervert as well though to make a 2D character this sexy. It’s really the skin color and the character’s highly detailed naked body that makes them look really good. Of course, the outfits are pretty great as well. They’re mostly there to enhance the sexiness of a character though but the detail work is still pretty amazing that you can make a girl wear anything from a simple school uniform to a shrine maiden uniform to even a swimsuit and they’d look as appealing as they are naked.

The male characters are also nicely designed as well. It still walks along the line of being generic though but that’s OK. The manly features are still nicely present so it’s all good. There is a nice range here though and I appreciate that. Male characters range from old muscular guys to innocent looking mature types and the typical normally built that doesn’t stand out much. The way the fallen angels, the demons and the angels are designed is also pretty great. Of all the designs though, I think the armor of the characters stand out the most. The Red/White Dragon armor and a lot more appear in the show and they have some really great detail work on them. It makes a character really awesome yet dangerous at the same time.

The animation is pretty great. The movements are pretty smooth and there are a lot of battles in this show that was decently paced. They had enough smooth animation to get you invested in them. They still lack refinement though. Most battles are dialogue heavy and characters mostly call out a special technique then beat each other up with no smart progression to it. The battles serve as a plot device for the show so don’t expect much from it. Animation wise, there are enough cool effects and awesome transformation scenes to truly give the battles an awesome look. Regular scenes have decent animation. I think the best thing to note is the facial expressions of the character that has a nice range to it. The overly dirty scenes are also nicely animated. I still remember Issei applying oil on Rias back and the animation certainly made that stick to my mind. If there’s one thing I didn’t like, it’d be the weird horizontal camera angle. It’s to fully show a girl’s body but I don’t like it. The show doesn’t lack nudity so horizontal shots of a girl with her body exposed don’t do much for me. I mean, the show still has the unnecessary low camera angle that exposes a girl’s underwear, close up shots of their nipples, and their body getting undressed at random times so I think the show already covered the Ecchi aspects fine.

The anime has two OP. The first one is “Sympathy” by Larval Stage Planning. It’s a pretty decent song. It’s your standard OP song though and it doesn’t stand out as much. The song has a simple progression and the voices felt a bit drawn out. That’s just me though. The OP sequence is your standard OP as well. It summarizes the events of the first half showing a few key events on the sequence. It does spoil some of them but it also makes them pretty anticipated so I like that part of the OP. The second ED is “Gekijouron” by ZAQ. It’s pretty much like the first song. It doesn’t stand out as much but it does fit the show’s appeal. The song still doesn’t capture your attention much though and it’s a shame since the singer’s voice is pretty lovely. I dunno. I wasn’t impressed even with the chorus of the song. It sounded ordinary. The OP sequence features key characters and events of the second half of the show. It’s the same as the first OP sequence, to be honest. There’s nothing much to point out here.

The anime has two ED as well. The first one is “Houteishiki wa Kotaenai” by Occult Kenkyuubu Girls (Yoko Hikasa, Shizuka Itou, Azumi Asakura, Ayana Taketatsu). This is a cheesy love song about overcoming adversities. I think the appeal is that the characters are singing the song and it doesn’t really stand out beyond that. The song does have a cute chorus but it felt a bit forced since the anime isn’t really a love story. The lines are cute though and it is pretty catchy after a few times listening to it. The ED sequence features all the characters but you’ll notice the animation is a bit clunky yet superbly executed. The colors are predominantly single base and you’ll notice how different the characters look. The sequence then goes into this outstanding animation where the cast and their naked bodies are featured in a pretty artistic way. I love this ED. Yeah, it can’t beat the stripper pole from the first season but it’s an awesome sequence nonetheless.

Speaking of the first season’s stripper pole, I think the second ED came close to its craziness. The second ED is “Lovely ♥ Devil” by Occult Kenkyuubu Girls (Yoko Hikasa, Shizuka Itou, Azumi Asakura, Ayana Taketatsu, Risa Taneda, Ayane Sakura). It’s a sugary sweet song about girls being flirty and stuff like that. I love the lyrics since it’s pretty flirty by itself. It heads into a cute climax where all the voices come together into a really catchy chorus. It has also an easy to hum beat that is guaranteed to say with. If it doesn’t, then I’m sure the ED sequence will. It features all the girls of the show dancing to the music but in very provocative costumes that shows a lot of their skin. They shake their hips and dance in a very cute manner but the show does close up of the girl’s boobs and ass while they go about the song. It’s insanely dirty and something I’m pretty sure every fan of the show was expecting. I love the fact that they held back till the second half to unleash the sequence. It seems TNK really is mindful of the feedback of the show from the first season for them to tease this bit of glorious animation till the end.

Overall Score

7/10 “A massive improvement story wise that goes along with the high content of nudity that the series is known for”

I watched this show expecting the worst and I was happily surprised. This is a great improvement from the first season. I’m now actually intrigued at how the light novel actually fared. This show is not for everyone though. It has a lot of boobs and nipples and girls in provocative poses so if you’re not into that then back away. If you’re one of those shameless perverts the show is tailor made for then you’ll definitely enjoy this show. If you like a balanced Ecchi show then this one will definitely surprise you. If you saw the first season then don’t be like me. Don’t hesitate. Watch this show because it’s really great. I recommend it.