High School DxD

Sex.


Sex in modern society is an enigma. It's simply part of human nature. Without sex, we won't be able to reproduce at all. Others find enjoyment in the act of sex, and when between two passionate lovers it could blossom into something even greater. At the same time, sex is seen as a taboo topic in society, something you only discuss with very specific people. Perhaps it is due to the very nature of most sex: Between two people, something generally private and between the two consenting individuals. However, there is also a cultural reason. At least in much of the western world, it has been influenced by Christianity.

As such, thinking about sex or sensual thoughts is seemingly frowned upon, with among the more religious sects of Christianity sex is viewed as a means to an end: Producing children. And lots of em. Hence why the Catholic Church in real life has done everything it can to ban contraception. Because of this anti-sex rhetoric, Satan and his entourage of demonic familiars have been an analogue for sex. Satan himself has become a sort of sex symbol, with him being described as the most beautiful angel and when you combine that with William Blake's illustrations for Paradise Lost Satan has taken on connotations of sexual rebellion. After all, Satan was derived from the Hebrew word HaSatan, meaning "The Adversary." And that's not even getting into the Succubi, demons who entrance men. All of this had led to the image of the "Horny Devil" in modern society.

So what happens when you combine demons, fallen angels, and the occult with a horny teenager? High School DxD. It's nature as an ecchi is the most obvious aspect, and while at times the occult aspects surprisingly compliment the ecchi nature, other times it meshes horribly.

Issei Hyoudou is an incredibly perverted Japanese teenager. He owns the typical cliched stash of hidden magazines, along with being very blatant about his quest for women. Issei is a little more self-aware than most harem protagonists in my opinion. Far too often, harem protagonists are written as bland as they can be. This is meant so that the audience can insert themselves in the story easier. As a result they end up being bland, cookie-cutter characters. Issei is more in tune with what the audience wants: Issei wants to satisfy his fantasies. The audience want to satisfy their own fantasies, and some do this by reading a manga about a sexually active teenager who is surrounded by a plethora of attractive women and a token guy. I personally was in it for how it dealt with it's own interpretation of religious theology.

Issei was at the time in a relationship with a cute girl named Yuuma. Their relationship is going all well, that is until Yuuma stabs Issei, and then reveals that she was a fallen angel who killed Issei out of a sense of sadism and past animosity in a celestial race war. I'll get to that a little later. While bleeding to death, he is confronted by a friendlier figure named Rias Gremory. Rias on Issei's behalf reincarnates him as a demon (or devil). From there, he joins his school's "Occult Research Club" made up of a myriad of characters, from the sarcastic Koneko to the sadistic Akeno. The name is a misomer. They don't actually do any research. It instead serves as a convenient way for them to do whatever they want, from getting involved in large-scale conflicts to being contracted by average civillians.

Rias is perhaps the full realization of the "horny devil" I was talking about earlier. No doubt about it, Rias is incredibly attractive. While she is cute, she's not exactly too cute and is more beautiful if anything else. Her hair is red and slightly spiky, and her surname Gremory is an indication of a magical grimoire called the Ars Goetia. In that book, the demon Gremory often appears as a beautiful woman. Red is a very passionate, aggressive color. Very fitting for a series all about sex. While one's sex experience is varied, sex is ideally passionate. While she is a demon, she is not unecessarily sadistic or cruel. She is very confident in herself and with her body. She rarely has a problem being naked with Issei for one, much to Issei's carnal pleasures. There's a very good reason why she serves as the face of DxD compared to Akeno or Asia.

Speaking of Asia, her execution is a little mixed. While Rias is confident and assertive, Asia is much more timid and demure and cute in contrast to Rias' beauty. While Rias is a demon, Asia is the sworn enemy of demons: The Church. It does add a little bit of irony when she herself becomes a reincarnated Demon much like Issei did. Throughout it all she is very adamant about her faith. She's one of the more positive depictions of Christians. She rarely thinks a horrible thought and her faith is used to demonstrate her kindness more than anything else. I like Asia, and the manga seems to agree with that statement. While Rias is the main girl, there was a lot more scenes with Asia and Issei bonding than there were with Rias which did seem odd.

Except that while Asia serves as a compelling contrast, her very nature as a haremette betrays what contrast she was meant to demonstrate. While representing chastity and innocence, she is at the same time part of Issei's harem, which by it's very nature is hedonistic and very self-indulgent. Especially when she's sexualized as everyone else. Her personality just simply doesn't fit being in the harem as much as Rias does, which is ironic given how Rias is a literal sex symbol. It is also ironic, given how there is a fallen angel named Xenovia who while being also a Christian like Asia, goes into combat either wearing a short skirt or a skintight combat outfit. Christians can be assertive and confident in their sexuality, as Xenovia demonstrates. However, Asia seems like the odd woman out in this situation given how she's meant to represent chastity and is in a series which is very heavy on sex. It does not go to hentai levels, but it treads the line.

I understand why this is the case. It's an ecchi, of course it's going to be sexualized. And in High School DxD, fanservice is most likely the main reason people sought it out. It knows what it's audience wants, which is admittedly self-aware on their part. The problems set in a few areas however. For one, there are moments were the fanservice can get out of hand. I myself have little issue with fanservice, though I am not one who generally likes it. There are some moments where it can get out of hand. The biggest example was when Issei was exploring a church which was being used by his former girlfriend Yuuma (also known as Reynare) with Asia as a sacrifice. Guess what they decided to show off? Yes, her breasts. In what was supposed to be a serious moment, the inclination of fanservice diffused the drama of the situation. Why should I take a young woman's sacrifice when her breasts are jiggling?

Then, there's the issue of the ages of the characters. While pure-blooded Fallen Angels and Demons like Akeno and Rias are probably hundreds of years old, it does feel weird when characters like Asia end up being sexualized when she's still a young teenager. It gets a little weirder when you consider that High School DxD's audience probably are not around her age in-story. I don't know, there's just something a little weird about teenagers being sexualized and having it be targeted towards an adult audience. Part of it has to do with Japan's age of consent laws. Consent is basically where two sexual partners have clear communication with one another about sex that also respects their boundaries. What's the age of consent in Japan? 13. As someone with a western perspective, I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable. I wouldn't be having this issue nearly as much if the ages of the characters where a little bit older, like say in a college level.

On the other hand, there is the occult element. It plays with occult tropes in an interesting way, which was one of the reasons I was interested in the first place. Demons are like a tamer Mephistopheles a la Faust. They perform contracts with humans, though it's more like hiring someone temporarily to provide a service rather than the whole "give away your soul business". Here, demons, fallen angels, and angels fought a long war with one another. While they are not openly at war with one another, there is a serious tension between the two sides a la the real life Cold War. There are other mythologies involved, such as Nordic gods and mythical dragons. It reminds me of the American TV Show Supernatural, in which there was a melange of different theological players. Unfortunately, while it is an interesting backdrop it is one that can result in conflict. It is a little out-of place for Issei to go from being a drooling pervert to then making speeches on the power of friendship while encased in Gundam-like armor. It's like stitching a shonen battle series with a light-hearted ecchi series. The combination kinda works, though the elements could have been meshed to a better effectiveness.

In conclusion, High School DxD is a inconsistent work. There are flashes of brilliance in the writing, and the author is clearly much more self-aware about the harem genre's conventions than say To Love-Ru, but he has some missteps along the way.

This is not so much a review as it is a service announcement. If you have watched the anime you can skip to book 10. 1-9 are more or less the same as the two first seasons of the anime, with a few small non-important changes. vol. 10 is alot like the anime but it sets up vol 11 which is not adapted into the anime.

Would I recommend reading vol 10 and 11? YES! It shows great growth between many of the characters and is a great small storyline that any fan of the anime would enjoy.

The reason I only give the manga a 5 is because the story is incomplete. It may be completed in the light novels but the manga on its own will nit give the full story and that pulls it down alot. Had it been completed I would most likely give it a 7 perhaps an 8 if the story improves.

All in all you should be able to blast through the entire manga in a day if you focus on it, and it will be entertaining, the art is good, but if you have seen the anime just skip to vol 10 and enjoy.
I have not read the light novel so I don't know if vol 11 is a manga-only but I would think it is also in the novel.

A story with what all men love ecchi and not only that a true focus on otherworldly action in terms of supernatural. But with a repetitive beginning start off human have a near death experience and be re-born as something not human and then find out that you have legendary powers.

but what i find truly interesting about this story is how different it truly is in terms of both romance and action and also how it takes ecchi to the beautifully extreme level i'd recommend this for true fans of ecchi.

overall i truly am in love with the story and the ecchi that would give any man a nosebleed that they won't recover from any time soon so if your looking for a true reality escape into both action and ecchi this is the story for you.

tl;dr: A solid, though rushed, adaptation of a story with amusing and likable characters and decent action.

This is the manga adaptation for the light novel that was also adapted into a number of popular anime seasons. I've already seen the anime version of the parts this manga adapts, some of its seasons multiple times, and thus it's hard to really judge the manga on its own and not in comparison to the anime so this will somewhat be a comparison of the two.

This manga has the same cast of incredibly amusing characters who are all really likable and enjoyable just to see interact in various circumstances, especially the main character Issei who is absolutely ridiculous but hilarious and amazing. There were some differences though, such as that Rias felt like she came through as less majestic, which I wasn't fond of. It has the same solid plot with solid world building regarding factions, history, and such. However, it was paced much faster and a lot was removed or modified to shorten it, and with that pacing it manages to adapt approximately the first two and a half seasons, which is about 4.5 light novels, in 11 manga volumes.

The ending of this manga was completely different from the anime, in that this manga adapted a portion the anime didn't but modified that portion to serve as a more complete ending even though it was only the beginning of a longer story in the novels, which felt like a strange way to end things. I also think that as a result of the much faster pacing, character development and relationship development doesn't come through as well, even if it does manage to have all the major events, but at the same it's hard to judge because I'm already really familiar with the franchise and sort of have those events already ingrained mentally for lack of a better way to say it. 

The art is pretty solid all the way through and fit well enough. The action comes across decently enough. The characters were more of a mixed bag wherein I'd say the anime looked better but the manga's art is still pretty good in and of itself. All in all, I think it's a solid go through of the story if you're already familiar with it and want to re-experience it, but I think the anime or light novel would be better as introductions to the franchise.

I'm going to review this because it's become my favorite thing to read since Harry Potter. (It also chases away the memories of when I sat and read Twilight from start to finish. Alas those were dark days.)

Anyways...
I'm going to sum up the whole plot, in my own way, in just a few sentences, starting now:
Just how much insanity can you summon forth with a nipple, a dragon and a never-say-die attitude? Your answer would be 15 volumes and counting.
There's a lot of characters to introduce and so it gets off to a pretty slow start but when it hits full tilt you'll forget all about it being a Light Novel.

The art, I thought was actually really good, until we started getting less flaming demons and more loli upskirt pictures and other assorted hentai-borderline pictures but hey......

The characters of DxD come in huge quantity. Even so they don't feel underdeveloped, which I consider to be a pretty impressive feat. I speak as a author when I say it's extremely hard to juggle plot and character development at the same time. DxD features the sort of characters who would feature on polls as the greatest love pairing, the ultimate good guy or the biggest badass had they been written into Western novels.

Serious but silly, funny but sometimes dark, engrossing and entertaining.

Needless to say, I think you ought to read this....

In the begining, one might see this novel a expect a regular ecchi light novel, nothing out of the ordinary. Some comedy, mediocre story and characters, but GREAT "Plot". This novel is anything but mediocre. The sheer determination of the main character's desires, along with his harem where all of the girls have character, the pure epicness of the increasingly expansive world that just get stronger and even has moments that truly touch your heart. All of the main characters have fleshed out backstories, many of the villians are very respectable as well, especially later on in the series. I marathoned all 21 novels in 5 days, and I was never bored. Issei is just the kind of guy that starts out with a slightly selfish personality, but everyone in this novel has amazing character development, so he turns into a guy that you can't help to admire. This series is practical,y my will to live, and thinking about it helps me get through a lot. Not to mention, the anime has AMAZING GOD, no DRAGON GOD levels of "Plot" and is a crime to watch censored. And also, just because you are a girl, doesn't mean this isn't for you. If you like action, comedy, or character development, this is for you. Last of all HAIL CHICHIGAMI!!

High school DxD. The holy grail of ecchi harem stories, filled with plot, and even more plot.. If you know what I mean ;)

Just like your average Ecchi, Shounen story aye? Boy gets super power, go ham on evil guys, gets the most beautiful girls, so kinda yes. What is unique is that it not just around boobs and girls. There is this occult Devil vs. Fallen angels, vs. Angels war going on, which is filled with powerful weapons, gears, armours, magic, and what not setting in our world. As the story progresses, a lot of things gets revealed, around the factions, and the unique longinuses which resides in different persons. We see not just Ise grow his power but his harem as well. Of course he is so dim witted he doesn't even realize it.

However as the story progresses, factions, enemies, alliances, friends come and go, there is one thing always the same. They have a hard, but really convenient life. Hey look at this life threatening situation! We don't know how to get over it! Ohh wait, someone just unlocked a new ability, which just perfect for this situation. Or suddenly this individual showed up, and solved the crisis. And this somewhat goes over the whole series all the currently 19 books, which is about a full year in the story since Ise became a Devil (Which is i guess would be around season 8 in the anime). I am missing the disciplinary major defeats. So far they’re too OP, and there was no war, or crisis they were unable to solve. There were just some minor defeats (i’d call them draw), but overall no big deals. Bad guy was left with a wound or dropped jaw, or before the huge defeat something came up. Is it boring? A bit. Thankfully the author drops in some huge plot twist bombs every now and then which keeps your mind boggle for a while.

My opinion is that soon it's time to end this series. As the current story goes there is not much else to face with. Would i recommend it? Sure. apart from a few books, it's actually interesting. The characters are good eventho they’re cliche, there is a lot of action, goofing around, depth, and lore to look after.

Story: 7
I like occult stuff, so for me it was a must see. You'll see all the religion eventually in some shape or form. The way the author used them is quite good. The only problem i had is that everything is convenient, by the time i got accustomed to the progression, the tension I initially had was lost, because i knew something will come up that i'll sort the whole situation.

Art: 8
I am not artist, but i quite like the art style. Its modern, and crispy. The armours, and equipment looks good, and detailed.

Characters: 7
Your average horny teenager, your average, Tsundere, Kuundere, deredere, geeky girl, small boobed, big boobed, wild cat, (actual cat), shy.... all of them are here. But at least all of them has a flushed out backstory, and that's nice.

Enjoyment: 9

Overall there is a lot of action, and stuff that will keep your mind focused on the series, and want to see how it will progress. Also you will be frustrated with a lot of obvious things that for the main characters might not be.

Over all: 8

It's a decent story, with lot of depth under the boob, and fan service. If the author can come up with new ideas, and maybe use their characters a bit more better, this score could go up.

Okay, so let me first say this that my single most motivation for watching the anime was to fap. I was told by one of my friends that it had quite the amount of material to do the deed. Unfortunately after watching the anime and reading the light novels upto volume 15 I haven't fapped once (No my dick is not broken). I did get hard sometimes but nothing freaking happens with any of the characters as I expected because then it wouldn't be a harem anymore. Still I read the light novels because the story was quite engrossing and I liked the characters.

The most important thing that I liked about this series how always Issei is being spoiled and pampered by each of the girls and it is quite wholesome. Issei is like a loyal puppy to Rias and is adored by everyone. But don't get me wrong, Issei is not that pathetic at all, while he is not also overpowered but he's like a 'weak to strong' kind of character. He is a fucking idiot and perverted (ofcourse!) and surprisingly he is not that dense. On the other hand talking about girls my favourite is Akeno (biased opinion) not beause she has the largest bust (102 cm) but because of her teasing nature. I love how Issei is most uncomfortable and embarrased around Akeno.

The things that I don't like about the lightnovels is how small the sentences are and the english is too simple which sometimes make me believe that if it was written by any middle-schooler. The novels are comparatively very small with approximately 200 pages (A4 size) per volume. Also I don't like the illustrations. They are just too bad, I 'm sorry I just can't accept them.

Overall Highchool DxD is a very very light read where you can glide through pages easily digesting everything. The anime does not adapt the light novels fully faithfully but if you like the anime you will love the novels.

If you don't know what High School DxD is about, one I recommend you read/watch it right away, and two its a fairly basic Ecchi Harem series. Well I say basic but the story here does focus heavily on the Battle Shonen part of it. The story as well is quite good to what I would expect. Now during this review I'm going to be comparing it a lot to the DUB of the show of the same name. I do plan on watching the SUB eventually but as of now that is all I have seen. I am also reading official Yen Press translations, I have read and finished up to volume 2.

One thing I particularly liked about the light novel that I believe is done much better than in the anime is it has the right to take itself more seriously. The anime, while being one of my favorite shows, was certainly not the most in depth story wise story. It was just about someone's love of breasts and the whole show seemed to role off of that and that was it. The light novel however comes off as more of a real story, like even without the ecchi it would still be a fairly good story. Not to say that it would be top tier, but it would be good. Whereas the show would be kind of terrible without the ecchi, as it relies heavily on it. Another major thing that differs between the anime and the light novel is the relationship between Issei and all of the girls. With Asia it is even more clearly shown how the relationship(at least up until now) is much more of a brother wanting to protect his little sister kind of relationship. And with Rias as well the relationship moved much slower. I'll try not to spoil anything but in the light novel, the relationship between the two seems much more real.

Now admittedly I am coming into this loving the show, but I do sincerely believe this light novel is amazing. It has made me question how good the anime really is and is making me wish it took itself in a way the light novel did.

(SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD)
Now while I say all this praise of the light novel that is not to claim there are no faults. One thing I disliked is how when Risers pawn hit Issei, Rias simply stood there and was like whatever. Based on everything in the story I was sure she would rush to help, but she was no where to be seen. This could be because I watched the anime which did have her do that.

Right now I am excitedly waiting for the next two books. I plan on reading them by the shows season at a time, until we are all caught up, so I'll be waiting till July. Until then I will make sure to watch the SUB and read the manga, so next time I can use all its media to compare.

If you watch or read Ecchi content, you have most likely acknowledged with Highschool DxD. It is the series that started the Ecchi era in the 2010s anime, in my opinion.

I won't be rating individual categories like Story, Art, Character, Villains. Instead, I am going to talk about every aspect and tell you my impressions. Without further ado let's get into the review.

Small warning: I'll try to write this review without any major spoilers, but I can't guarantee it.

Let's begin with the Story:
Issei Hyodo is killed by a fallen angel (no spoilers, he said) and made into a devil, so he decides to be a harem king. To accomplish it, he must become a high-ranking devil. Through his time with his new friends, he fights and defeats many enemies and learns about his comrades' past. That's the basic premise of Highschool DxD. Now, I'll begin with the aspects I like.
1, I like character development. I think that it has been done very well, considering it's an Ecchi. I'll probe into this a bit more in "characters"
2, I think story pacing is pretty good, making it easy to read. I remember I was bored of waiting for a new DxD episode to come out, so I started reading. I loved it. It was easy to read. I did finish reading one DxD volume every three days.
3, I like side stories. They give more depth to our main characters or even side characters. One good side story, in particular, is about Issei helping a character named Rizer Phoenix. I won't spoil anything, but it is one of the finest side stories with good story and comedy aspects.
4, I like Issei Ecchi's intercourse with his harem members, but that's also one big negative.
What I don't like:
1, Ecchi intercourses became way too repetitive and boring. Autor isn't allowed to write sex scenes into DxD, but I think it can be done in a 'civil' way. These intercourses are an issue with DxD and have become way too repetitive. Issei is constantly cockblocked by his harem members resulting in a cringy scene. You will like it at 1st, but it will start to bother you as you continue reading (or might not).

I'll take art very quickly:
I like the illustrations. I think they are pretty good. Some sexy stuff, some cool stuff, not much else to add. Maybe, I would like extra two or three illustrations, but that's a nitpick.

Now, Characters:
DxD has quite interesting characters, there are cliches, but overall it wasn't bothering me much. I liked most of the characters. Some of the characters are artificial Aholes (Written to repulse you, they are meant to be hated), but it was minor, and it won't play much of the role. What I like:
1, Interesting characters, there is a variety of personalities within DxD, coming from timid, kind personas to arrogant, cruel characters. I mean, every girl from Issei's harem has some unique trait, persona and he has quite a lot of girls in volume 25 and later Shin DxD.
2, Quite a good character development. When it comes to ecchi, a character's development sometimes feels either bland or just cheap (give a boring person a tragic backstory to make us feel sorry for him/her). I think DxD character development has done well, there are some things I dislike, but overall I think Ishibumi (author) did a good job.
3, There are few characters with a tragic backstory, but it isn't overdone, much to my luck. I hate when a show or book is trying to make someone we don't care about or hate a likable character due to 'tragic' backstory, DxD has some tragic backstories, but it's not overdone.
What I dislike:
1, The fact author isn't allowed to do sex scenes is screwing character development in the relationship and intimacy aspect. Sadly it is not his call, but it is the publisher's call, so we can't blame Ishibumi for this. It does hurt DxD a lot. Even though I don't desire DxD to become hentai, I would appreciate some intimacy advancement as DxD becomes a stalemate on that level. It goes into the Issei cockblocking cycles. That is probably the biggest flaw of DxD.

And now the weakest link in DxD, Villains:
Villains are the major setback to DxD. To put it simply: Villain appears, does some evil things, fights MC, Villain is on top, MC finds a miraculous way to defeat villain, MC defeats the villain. Something like this repeats a lot in DxD. The villains get boring quite quickly. After meeting one super strong character, soon to be replaced by another villain. I became bored with the villains. 1st villain was a good introduction, no masterpiece. She was decent, but she should have lasted 3-7 volumes or more. DxD villains follow quantity, but I think the quality would fit DxD way better.

Highschool DxD earns 8/10. If DxD had gone the quality villain route and had some sex scenes (it doesn't have to be full on Brazzers hardcore stuff) or something else than 100 same Ecchi intercourses, I would have given 9. If you like an Ecchi with an actual story, I can recommend you DxD.