جادوی ِ خاطرات
هر کسی از ظن خود شد یار من ... از درون من نجست اسرار منجادوی ِ خاطرات
هر کسی از ظن خود شد یار من ... از درون من نجست اسرار منHigh School DxD Hero - Episode 2 [Review]
https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review/130795/hs-dxd-hero-ep2.jpg
High School DxD Hero - Episode 2 [Review]
Visits to Kyoto never happen in supernatural anime series without some degree of trouble arising, and in this case we only needed half an episode before the inevitable happened. The result is the beginning of what I'm assuming will be a multi-episode story arc involving the fox girl shown prominently in the opener and a senior goddess who has been kidnapped by the Chaos Brigade.
It remains to be seen what purpose this would serve the Chaos Brigade, although I can make an educated guess. The famed Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto is the head shrine of the Shinto goddess Inari, so it would be the logical place for her to reside. Removing her would be a significant blow to the stability of the Shinto pantheon, although I have to think that there's more to it than that; on its own, this seems petty compared to the scale that the Chaos Brigade normally operates on. Regardless of where the ultimate plot may be going, it makes sense that the shrine's protectors would get jumpy when a being like Issei shows up in the wake of a kidnapping. So the whole incident serves a twofold purpose: finally bringing the curiously absent Shinto gods into the picture and providing an avenue for yet another girl to get sucked into Issei's harem.
On other fronts, we're introduced to a new aspect of Issei's Sacred Gear when we learn how the previous hosts of the Red Dragon Emperor are still present within it to some degree, and that Issei will have to come to an understanding with them in order to gain power equivalent to the Juggernaut Drive without the overwhelming side effects. That also brings the new mature-looking woman from the opener into the picture as the Gear's most powerful former female host. I was delighted to see that the “Boob Dragon” thing has impact even here, and I'm curious to see what consequences that association will have, beyond the random acts of perversion that start popping up around Issei. We also get to see more of Rossweisse – a lot more, if you know what I mean.
This brings me to the major problem I had with this episode. High School DxD has always been a fanservice-heavy franchise, and normally it does a solid job of working its excuses for fanservice into the story, however paper-thin they may be. However, this episode's scenes were forced much harder than normal, resulting in an awkward narrative flow. The bath scene involving Rias, Akeno, and Koneko felt like it was just going through the motions rather than genuinely trying to be sexy. For a series where salacious nudity is so central to the appeal, that's troubling. I'm also still not thrilled with the character design tweaks and the inability of the show to stay on-model; I'd swear that Asia's bust size fluctuated significantly throughout the episode again. On the plus side, at least the background art did an excellent job replicating various Kyoto sites; I've been to the Fushimi Inari shrine and walked through those seemingly endless rows of orange Torii, and I remember it looking much the same.
So as strange as this is to say about High School DxD, I am optimistic about the story so far but trepidatious about the fanservice going forward.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQqBkHBp3z8
High School DxD Hero - Episode 1 [Review]
https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review/130554/hs-dxd-hero-ep1.jpg
High School DxD Hero - Episode 1 [Review]
Note: DxD Hero's episode 0 was covered here for our Spring Preview Guide. Ratings for that episode can be made on that page.
After the part-replay, part-retcon episode 0, this first episode is about as stereotypical for the DxD franchise as you can get. Take generous doses of fan service-laden harem shenanigans and mix them with action sequences and a wonky interpretation of metaphysics from across various mythologies (Valkyrie devil school?), and you more or less have the High School DxD experience. The episode opens with a practically obligatory fan service scene in Issei's bed that starts with one girl and winds up with all of the main love interests, but since they all have their clothes on, it's bound not to make much impression in a franchise that's previously opened seasons with rampant nudity. Issei later gets more individual snuggle time with Koneko as part of his healing from using Juggernaut Drive, reinforcing that keeping other girls off Issei is practically a full-time job for Rias these days. He does get some naked time with Rias later, in a scene that's more suggestive than most previous instances of them being in bed together.
The bulk of the episode to follow is a low-stakes fight scene, with Issei matching up against the powerhouse Sairaorg, who was previously described as the most powerful young devil, and he's Rias's next opponent in the Rating Game. As a prelude to that, Sairaorg challenges Issei to some “light” sparring, which results in surprisingly dramatic back-and-forth combat; some of the serious fight scenes in previous installments aren't as crisp as this one. It's a good match-up for both, since they have similar fighting styles. More importantly, Sairaorg isn't the arrogant blowhard that most of Issei's diabolical opponents have been in the past. The writing does a good job of showing that the two could easily be friends if they weren't on rival sides, and Issei certainly seems to have more in common with him than with Gaspar or Yuto. But it looks like some action is going to take place in Kyoto first – because isn't there always trouble when characters in supernatural anime go to Kyoto?
As I noted in the preview guide review for episode 0, the change in staff has resulted in some tweaks to the character designs. While this isn't a big problem, I'm still not comfortable with Rias's visual update, as she seems to be lacking some of the imperious air she's always had. A softer portrayal of Rias just makes her feel like any other busty anime girl, rather than the dynamic leader she's supposed to be. Asia also looks bustier than normal in a couple of shots, which would not be a welcome change since she's long filled the niche of the more modestly-proportioned girl in the cast. It's also possible that the artistic inconsistency problems which plagued the third series are already starting to show here.
On the whole, the series is settling in nicely – if also unexceptionally – for its fourth season.