Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. What is with devils and fanservice? I mean you got Shinmai Maou no Testament and today’s anime Highschool DxD. Definitely the front runner and new standard for fanservice animes today, Highschool DxD has been going strong over the years with its compelling story, characters, and fanservice. After the second season got done airing back in 2013, TNK remained quiet about the production of the third season which many starting to doubt if a third season was going to happen. But at the end of Kenzen Robo Daimidaler (I did a review on this, check it out), TNK announced that Highschool DxD would return and in the spring of 2015 and we got to see Issei and his harem of beautiful devil girls again in the season called BorN. Now since I reviewed the second season with Seras it’s only right that I ask her to join me for this review. But she’s gone MIA on us for some reason.
*Corbin is in the basement and opens up a closet door where Seras has been duct taped entirely to the door with her mouth duct taped*
(Corbin): What the?
*Corbin removes the duct tape from Seras’s mouth*
(Seras): Corbin!
*Corbin reattaches the duct tape to Seras’s mouth*
(Seras): Lehtb meh ouwt beforth I bill ywou!
(Corbin): I assume you’re saying “let me out before I kill you” but you have to understand I’m in a rare position of power here. So, I’ll only let you out if you admit to everyone that you find me hot.
(Seras): NAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
*Seras begins to shake violent*
(Corbin): I know that makes you angry but it’s the truth and you-
*Seras manages to get one of her hands loose and grabs Corbin by the throat*
(Corbin): But, I’m willing to compromise.
*Back with Nitsuj he gets done putting away a role of duct tape*
(Nitsuj): Oh well, looks like I’m flying solo. Let’s boost forward and take a look at Highschool DxD BorN.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “BLESS YoUr NAME” by ChouCho and thought it was good. It’s definitely a change from the previous openings. It feels more light and less dark than the other openings. I like the singer too. She sounds great and very emotional throughout the song. The ending is “Give Me Secret” by StylipS. This time instead of having the girls dance for us, they go for broke and end with them about to attack Issei while naked (lucky bastard). It also has it’s cute moments as the girls each have a moment where they’re thinking about their feelings for Issei and how much they care for him. The song is good as well but I think the second ending from the second season is still my favorite. This comes in as a close second though.
Episodes 1-4
The anime starts off with Issei having a dream with all of the occult girls naked right in front of him (the anime just started and I already got a barrage of breasts in front of me. This is my favorite season so far). As Issei is having this dream he sees that fallen angel bitch (forget her name) who killed him in the first season (well that’s a boner killer). He wakes up from the dream where he’s sleeping with a naked Rias and Asia sleeping beside him (O_O I hate you so much right now Issei) and Akeno is on top of him to greet him (I really hate you so much right now Issei). We quickly see that Issei’s house has been complete renovated. What was once a 2-story building has now become a 3-story mansion complete with a spa, a training facility, indoor pool, nice kitchen, and a bigger bedroom for Issei and his harem to sleep together (I would show you the bedroom but it’s a little messy from last night). At school we find out that summer vacation is around the corner and they’ll all be going to the Underworld for training and to participate in a meeting to determine plans on how to deal with the Khaos Brigade. As they ride the crazy train to Hell we see that Koneko is quite troubled with something but won’t open up to the others (she’s in mating season). We also see that Rias is upset that Issei calls everyone by their first name but he continues to call her president instead of Rias. When they reach the Gremory family’s district the train makes an emergency stop and they all get attacked by a dragon (so we’re not gonna stick to the source material huh? Alright, I’m watching you guys closely). Rias is nowhere to be seen so Akeno assumes control of the field as the group fights the dragon where their attacks don’t harm it at all. Azazel and Rias come out to stop the dragon from attacking the group and it gets revealed that this was all a test to measure their skills and the dragon they fought against is Tannin a former dragon king who died and was reincarnated as a demon. After the fight they all bathe in some hotspings where Azazel enlightens Issei on breast and tells him to try and poke Rias’s nipples.
Episode 2 starts with the group arriving at Rias’ family mansion. Once inside we meet Millicas, Rias’s nephew and Rias’s mom Venerana (so Rias inherited her mother’s beauty and her father’s red hair. Not a bad deal). The next day they each go off and do their own assigned training for 20 days. Issei gets trained by Tannin, Rias works on better strategies, Akeno trains with her dad (who she hates) into accepting her fallen angel powers, Kiba and Xenovia keep training with their swords, Gasper has to face his fears and walk in public, Asia works on her healing skills, and Koneko does basic training while trying to unleash her hidden power (cut to everyone training montage). After 20 days they all meet back up where they prepare for a grand banquet to meet the other future devil leaders like Rias. Before that though Rias tells Issei the truth about Koneko. It turns out Koneko is a nekomata who is one of the last two remaining members of the most powerful nekomata clan (wow so Koneko is a catgirl. She just got cuter). The other member was her older sister Kuroka who was turned into a devil but one day her hidden powers went berserk and she killed her master becoming a runaway demon. The rest of the demon clans were scared by this power and wanted to put Koneko down to avoid this happening again (so you wanna kill her for something she may or may not do? Makes no sense to me). However, Rias’ brother took her in, gave her to Rias (here sis I heard you wanted a kitten) and has kept her under watch this whole time. Koneko is now afraid that she’ll go down the same path as her sister and not only kill Rias but everyone else she holds close to her. The next day comes and they go to the banquet where we get to see Ravel again the little sister of the asshole phoenix Riser who Issei humiliated in the first season (good times). After Issei defeated Riser he went into a state of depression and locked himself away in his room (man you broke him good Issei). Ravel then became a free bishop piece meaning she can serve anyone she wants and apparently, she seems to have developed a crush on Issei (wow Issei should crash weddings more often. Just from that one wedding he got three girls to fall for him completely). Koneko runs out on the banquet and gets followed by Issei and Rias where we see she’s gone to meet her sister Kuroka (http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/highschooldxd/images/b/b7/Kuroka_full_body.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150405034738. Damn Koneko’s sister is hot! If this is what Koneko’s gonna look like when she gets older than we’re in for a treat).
Episode 3 starts with us meeting Odin the representative from Valhalla and an old pervert. We also meet his lovely assistant Rossweisse a beautiful Valkyrie who remains single because of her serious nature. After that we return to Koneko and her sister Kuroka who wants Koneko to join the Khaos Brigade with her (they have catnip~). Of course Koneko refuses and Issei and Rias are there to back her up where they get told the Khaos Brigade has partnered up with Loki who is against Odin forming a peace treaty with the devils, angels, and fallen angels (http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/highschooldxd/images/6/6c/Loki_appears.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150418164958, what the fuck is wrong with your hair? Man, and people make fun of Yusei and Yugi). He attacks the peace summit with his pet Fenrir (which surprisingly isn’t as scary as I thought it would be) while Issei, Rias, and Koneko fight against Kuroka and Bikou where old dragon Tannin shows up to face Bikou leaving Issei and the others to fight Kuroka. Kuroka unleashes a poison which begins to effect Rias and Koneko (I guess the poison only effects those with boobs) making them weak. Issei finds out from Ddraig that he can enter balance breaker mode thanks to his training however he needs a great catalyst for it to activate (Rias flash him). Sure enough the catalyst Issei needs is to poke Rias breast and she’s willing to do it (I love this anime). He pokes her breast (with Tannin even asking “what in the name of hell is wrong with you!? I spent 20 days of training for this?”) and achieve Balance Breaker mood where Kuroka’s powers doesn’t even phase him anymore (Kuroka: In hindsight, I should have killed him when I had the chance. Seriously what was I just thinking standing there watching?). She’s forced to retreat because Loki has been teleported and sealed somewhere else and everything wraps up safely with no one getting hurt (scene here: https://youtu.be/Nh2nP7XnAtw).
In episode 4 we find out that the seal on Loki will only hold for one day so Rias’ team (minus Asia and Gasper), Irina, Rossweisse, and Sona along with her vice president, and Saji all agree to hold him off until Odin returns with the hammer Mjolnir (which will destroy Loki and his ridiculous hair). They go to Loki where he summons Fenrir along with its children Hati and Skoll and the Midgard Serpant one of the legendary dragons (well the family’s all here). Everybody squares off against Loki’s family where we see that Koneko has learned to accept her nekomata powers and Akeno has learned to accept her fallen angel powers and can now unleash thunderbolt attacks on her enemies (way to level up Koneko and Akeno). They manage to give Loki a run for his money and force him to unleash his god like powers on them which hurts them quite a bit (sort of like the boss in an RPG game. Just when you think you got them beat they unleash some ultimate move that attacks everyone in the party and does major damage). They manage to weather the storm and the hammer of Mjolnir finally arrives but only Issei is strong enough to wield it. As Issei goes for the hammer he gets attacked and bitten by Fenrir very badly (there is literally 2 holes in his chest and one on his leg). The wounds are way too deep for Issei and he dies from them right in the arms of Rias (noooo~! He never got to motorboat them). Actually, in all seriousness Issei’s death is handled really good here. We see the tears of sadness and anger in everyone as they attack Fenrir (this scene shows just how much of an impact Issei had everyone in the anime. Particularly the females). With Rias’s Issei dead Loki has awakened the demon inside Rias who will never forgive him.
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 just as Rias is about to unleash her power and take herself down with Loki a small tablet falls out from Issei’s shirt. The tablet was a gift from Ravel and it was another Phoenix blood (what luck). Rias uses this to revive Issei who then gets back up and uses the hammer to destroy Loki once and for all (scene here: https://youtu.be/9ztsQCGwvCc, well this is going to upset the balance between gods). As for Fenrir he gets captured by Vali’s team and is now Vali’s loyal pet (sell out). In the second half we see that Koneko has become more affectionate with Issei and likes to rest on his lap (wow she really is a cat). Also, summer vacation is almost over and Issei hasn’t finished his summer homework. As he’s trying to do it Akeno comes in and drags Issei on a date where they go to the aquarium and eat crepes (you know for a pervert he sure knows all the right places to go on a date). As the two are enjoying their date they notice that the girls and Gasper (woah even the trap character has fallen for Issei) are stalking them and feeling jealous. Akeno grabs Issei and runs where they wind up in adult hotel boulevard (right next to the adult toy avenue) where Akeno is totally okay with going inside with Issei (https://youtu.be/9rTzJIxBHKc. Scene here: https://youtu.be/g8gNZlf3fCE). But they get stopped by Barkiel the second in command of the fallen angels and Akeno’s father (oh snap Issei is gonna kill you). We see that he’s escorting Odin around town who’s trying to strengthen his bonds with the gods of the east (and go to a strip club). We also see that Akeno really doesn’t like her father so much that she refuses to acknowledge him as her father. We find out in a scene later the reason why she detests her father so much is because he caused the death of Akeno’s mom in her eyes. In the past Akeno’s mom was a Shinto priestess who found and nursed an injured Barkiel near her temple (that was nice of her. Also, the resemblance between Akeno and her is amazing). The two fell in love, got married, and had Akeno who was considered an abomination by the Shinto priests. The Shinto priests tried to kill Akeno but her mother defended her with her life. When her father arrived late to save them Akeno blamed him for her mother’s death and went on the run where she met Rias and became her queen. After hearing this story Issei doesn’t know what to say or do but Akeno does. She wants Issei to sleep with her and make her forget all about her past (no! This isn’t how you want to get with her Issei. She’s confused, scared, and desperate right now. And those aren’t good combinations in a woman). Just when Akeno tries to get Issei to sleep with her, he grabs one of her breast and it reveals her true thoughts about her father. It turns out she really loves her father and wanted to spend more time with him but was too stubborn to admit it. After realizing all of this Akeno makes her dad a boxed lunch before he leaves showing that things are starting to heal between them.
In episode 6 summer vacation is over and school has started up again (so Issei spent his summer in Hell where he got chased around and trained by a dragon, fought a Norse god, almost got killed by a divine beast, got to poke Rias’ nipples, and went on a date with Akeno where she almost had sex with him. Good summer). We see Irina has transferred into the school and has been reborn as an angel who now serves under Michael as his ace angel (scene here: https://youtu.be/uypncsW9N3o, good for her. Issei, corrupt her). We also see that Rossweisse is staying over at Issei’s place since Odin forgot her and left her behind (he didn’t forget he just wanted to give us the viewers more fanservice characters. Thank you Odin). While Issei and Asia are out shopping they run into Diodora Astaroth heir to Astaroth after his older brother Akuja who is the current Beelzebub of Hell. Diodora reveals himself to be the devil that Asia healed a long time ago which resulted in her getting kicked out of the Church. Diodora now wishes to marry Asia saying that he’s in love with her (why do I find that hard to believe? And what the hell is with your fake smile? What are you planning?). This actually worries Issei a little bit because he’s afraid Asia will seriously leave and go with him (oh come on Issei, sure he’s good-looking, wealthy, strong, and has a promising future but he doesn’t have your perverted-ness. And that is one thing nobody can beat you in). As Issei worries about this he and Asia practice for the three-legged race for the school sports festival where Xenovia tries to have an affair with Issei and Asia in the gym storage which she believes will help strengthen their bond and allow them to get better at the three-legged race (there are so many things wrong with that logic but I love it). At the end of the episode Rias tells everyone there’s going to be a rating game tournament between all the new up and coming devils and their opponent for the first round is Diodora.
At the start of episode 7 Diodora wants to trade bishops in order to get Asia (fuck you! Now leave). Rias of course says no and is actually a little mad that he came to her to demand something like this (I don’t blame her, I’d be mad too. I probably would’ve attacked him). He takes the hint and leaves but he vows to make Asia his one day (sure you will. And Issei will stop being a pervert). The night before the game Issei and Koneko are riding back from a job when Kuroka and Vali approach them and warn them to be wary of Diodora (scene here: https://youtu.be/ZCSSDU_QBMg, so he’s working with you guys? They couldn’t be more obvious). Once they arrive back home Akeno, Xenovia, Asia, and Rias dress up in sexy revealing outfits as a way to thank Issei for everything he’s done for them (https://youtu.be/ilfQf71T-y0). The next day it’s time for the rating game where they find out it was all a trap setup by Diodora. He’s with the Khaos Brigade (big shock I know) and he’s sent their forces to kill Rias and her family. He captures Asia and goes into the nearby temple leaving the others for the foot soldiers where Odin shows up to provide them cover while they go after Asia (if Odin pulls some Yoda shit and I’m not around to see it I’ll be very mad). Azazel predicted this was going to happen and the whole area has become a battlefield between the Trinity alliance (as I like to call it) and Khaos Brigade.
Episode 8 is one big battle between the Rias’ household and Diodora’s household. The group gets split into two teams and have to fight against Diodora’s household (which is entirely composed of nuns, sisters, and holy saints. Starting to see why he wanted Asia so much). Issei, Koneko, Xenovia, and Gasper fight one group of fighters while Rias, Akeno, and Kiba fight another group. Issei uses his dress break on the girls but they continue to fight not being embarrassed or a shamed by their bodies (what trickery is this?). It turns out Diodora did his homework and cast a spell on his girls so that they wouldn’t feel any embarrassment from being naked (that bastard! You’re breaking the laws of ecchi. When an anime girl has her clothes destroyed or ripped off she must feel some amount of embarrassment. That’s common law). Issei counters this problem by using his new telekinesis power which allows him to hear the inner thoughts of his opponents through their boobs (he calls it booblinguel but I like to call it The Boobing). With this power Issei is able to defeat Diodora’s chess pieces (check). Back on Rias’s side of the fight they seem to be having trouble that is until Issei tells Akeno that if she wins her fight he’ll go on a date with her (this would have had more impact if you didn’t go on a date with her in an earlier episode. It works in context in the light novel better). This of course makes Akeno extremely happy and Rias extremely jealous (hey if she’s a third wheel I welcome it). Their magic powers begin to rise as they argue with each other ignoring the opponents in front of them until they finally get annoyed by their presence and defeat them (scene here: https://youtu.be/J4CFlJVen0E, a woman’s love for a man is a dangerous thing). They all reunite and head to where Diodora is but before they can reach him they have to deal with Freed (just how many times do we gotta take this guy out? (Mira): Once would suffice). Freed has become a monster and reveals that Diodora has a nun fetish (yeah, we kinda figured that out already) who enjoys finding nuns, sisters, and holy saints and dragging them down into despair to make them his (you sick fuck). In fact, we find out that Diodora was originally planning to make Asia his. He setup Asia to get exiled from the Church and get killed by Raynare. His plan was to swoop in at the last minute, save her, and make Asia his (that is so messed up). Luckily, Issei was there and we all know what happened after that. He beat Raynare and Rias made Asia her bishop to save her life. After hearing all of this Issei is pissed and ready to go off on Freed but Kiba steps in and tells him to save it for Diodora (yes, save it for the bastard who deserves the beating). Kiba takes on Freed and slices him up easily like a wet piece of paper (glad to see Kiba be badass again). They reach Diodora where he mocks them and tells them he plans to kill them all to make Asia experience more despair and then rape her right in front of Issei (okay, kick his ass Issei he deserves it). Issei finally hears enough and just goes berserk on Diodora overpowering him and everything (scene here: https://youtu.be/91jPMseoRIU, it may have been a short fight but it was a satisfying fight to see Diodora get the beating he deserved). Once Diodora is defeated Issei frees Asia and reunites her with everyone. Before leaving Asia decides to say a prayer where something happens to her and she vanishes right in front of them.
Episodes 9-12 and OVA
In episode 9 we find out that the reason Asia vanished into thin air was because she was killed (again? Man, this girl can’t catch a break) by Shalba Beezlebub a descendent of the real Beezlebub (I don’t care who you are, do you have any idea what you’ve just done? You’ve doomed us all). He kills Diodora for being weak and calling him part of the old faction (he deserved it) and Issei sad and angry by Asia’s death goes into rampage mode and enters juggernaut drive a form even more powerful than balance breaker and even more dangerous because in this mode Issei is slowly draining his life. With juggernaut mode Issei easily defeats Shalba (actually the correct term is destroyed because Shalba didn’t even stand a chance against Issei) and he just keeps unleashing his power upon everything around him. Soon Vali and a few other members of the Khaos Brigade show up with Asia who they saved from going into the dimensional gap. Alright, we’re going to pause right here to explain exactly what the dimensional gap is as well as shed some light on the Khaos Brigade. Basically, the dimensional gap is a gap that exists between Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld. It’s considered the void because nothing can survive in the gap without magical protection for long. Anyone who enters it without magical protection dies within seconds exposed to the nothingness of the gap. The only creatures who can survive in the gap are Great Red, the true dragon, a dragon of unbelievable power that is said to be the strongest of the dragons and the one Vali wants to fight against. The other creature is Ophis, the infinite dragon god and leader of the Khaos Brigade (and she’s a loli). Originally Ophis lived in the dimensional gap but somehow was pushed out of the gap. Ophis admits that she has no interest in our worlds and just wants to return to the dimensional gap but everyone is afraid to let her return because they’re not sure what she’ll do once she’s in there. That’s why she created the Khaos Brigade, in the hopes that she’ll find some way to return to the gap and in the process the old faction can use her powers to reclaim the underworld (everybody wins. Well except for the current faction but no plan is perfect). Anyway, back to the anime. Rias goes by herself to confront Issei and tell him that Asia is okay and Vali hearing the pleads of the others goes to help her out (so he does care). Once Vali diminishes Issei’s powers Rias tries to snap him out of it but her words are being drowned out by Reynare. Yeah, apparently Issei is still haunted by her and can you really blame him, Reynare was the first girlfriend Issei had, he was prepared to treat her like a goddess and yet Reynare stomped on his feelings. She played with his heart and killed him without hesitation (what do you think that does to a guy, mentally?). Reynare keeps blaming Issei for Asia’s death saying he wasn’t strong then and isn’t strong now which is why he couldn’t protect her until finally Rias’ voice is able to reach him (that and her marvelous naked body) and he returns back to normal (scene here: https://youtu.be/W99nL81nEsY). Once he and Asia wake back up they see the Great Red flying over them (Great Red: Check me out bitches~) and Issei thanks Vali for everything he’s done and they fist bump each other. Vali takes his leave and Issei faints in Rias’ arms (what is with all the death flags this season?).
In episode 10 we find out that Issei has entered a coma due to his incomplete juggernaut form which actually took a few years off of him according to Ddraig. In order to save Issei, Asia uses her healing not to heal him physically but mentally and she manages to save him (about time she saved him for once). Asia then confesses her feelings to Issei kissing him and everything making Rias a little mad. It’s not because Asia saved him it’s the fact that she couldn’t do anything for Issei and is unsure about her feelings for Issei and where she stands with him (deep psychological problem caused by the fact that the boy you love is a pervert who somehow got a bunch of hot girls falling for him left and right). Issei also seems to be going through his own psychological problem with his true feelings. He doesn’t doubt the feelings of the girls who show affection towards him, he’s just scared of what they really think of him (they think you’re a pervert. I mean you’re a good guy and everything but dude you’re a huge pervert and the fact that you have all these girls falling for you is mind-boggling). A few days pass and they return to school. While Issei and Asia are practicing for the three-legged race we see another Issei (which I like to call evil Issei) go to Rias and make her his (wow he’s an asshole). This evil is part of a curse Loki put on Issei and Rias before his defeat. The curse fed off their deepest thoughts and took form resulting in an evil Issei who has manipulated Rias into being his. Why? Because Loki wants to start Ragnorok and with Rias that might be possible (how a high school girl is going to destroy the world is beyond me but hey I’ve heard of crazier plans). When Issei and the others arrive at the club and see this they try to save Rias but she instead attacks them and leaves with the evil Issei to the dimensional gap. With no other choice Issei asks Koneko to call her sister so that she can setup a meeting between Issei and Vali.
Not much happens in episode 11. Issei and Koneko go to meet Kuroka where Vali shows up and he willingly helps them go into the dimensional gap (he really does whatever he wants). Once in the gap they all have 1 hour before the force field around them expires and pulls them out of the gap. They find Rias and fight where we see just how strong she is (you know this whole mess can be solved with Issei saying 3 simple words: I love you). Their voices manage to reach Rias for a second but she goes into Balance Breaker mode which looks like Issei’s. Issei finally realizing that the only way to save Rias is to fight her goes Balance Breaker mode as well and fights her. The others are pulled out of the dimensional gap because of their power and the episode ends with Issei and Rias fighting.
In the final episode Issei continues to fight against Rias (force to fight against the person you love. Fate can be so cruel). The fight is pretty much one-sided as Issei just can’t bring himself to hit Rias so Issei calls out to her one last time this time using her actual name and it wakes her up (alright, Rias is back in the harem). But before they can celebrate their victory Issei must defeat the evil Issei who has transmutated into a version of Issei’s balance breaker. Thanks to a few adjustments made to his evil chess piece Issei’s powers have been enhanced and he now has twin barrel rail cannons (time to bust out the Dragon’s roar) and fires on the evil Issei destroying him (scene here: https://youtu.be/hTgFk9k8nC8, no harem for you evil Issei). After defeating the evil Issei, Issei and Rias get swallowed up by the vortex of the Dimensional Gap where they get saved by Great Red (Great Red: What’s up bitches~) who shows them the way out (Great Red: Get out of my dimension ya freeloaders). They get transported to a safe area where Rias expresses that all she ever wanted was Issei to call by her first name (again this is a big deal in Japan. If you go by their first name that implies that you guys are close) and how even though it was a small desire it was wrong of her to make a big deal out of it (no you have every right to make it a big deal out of it. He calls everyone else by their first name except for you. What’s up with that? If it had been me I would’ve kicked his ass). But Issei makes it right, calls her Rias, and they kiss (scene here: https://youtu.be/npLPohjPgao, way to go Issei). They return back to their world where they don’t remember the kiss (cockteasers) and continue on with their daily lives. As the episode nears the end Rias makes a proposal to Rossweisse to become her second rook. After seeing all the benefits of becoming a devil she accepts the offer and becomes Rias second rook as well as a history teacher at the school (she’s gonna give the boys so many wet dreams). Also, Issei has become an icon for children in the underworld with his new hit show the Oppai Dragon (he even has his own song and everything).
With this season as well as past seasons we get an OVA. In the OVA Ravel has asked Rias and the others to help get Riser out of his depression. Issei agrees to help out Ravel and they go to the Phoenix mansion (which is a serious safety hazard. Everything’s on fire) and meet Riser where we see the once proud asshole phoenix we were trained to hate in season 1 has now become a self-pitying coward who’s afraid of Issei (how the mighty have fallen). In order to get Riser into shape, Issei asks Tannin to train him where he takes Riser into the snowy mountains and has another dragon train Riser by chasing him around the mountain while Issei goes with them to keep Ravel company. Issei joins in the training a little bit and even chats with Ravel a little bit showing once again that she has affection for Issei. At night, Issei tries to sneak away from Riser so that he can spy on Rias and the others who are relaxing in the hotsprings (it wouldn’t be DxD without boobs) but Riser gets the jump on him and has headed to spy on Rias and the others himself. Issei manages to catch up to him and the two fight in the sky where Issei manages to beat him and gets his reward by seeing everyone’s breasts. Along with the OVA we also have some short specials which are good as well so if want to see more plot check them out.
Final Thoughts
So that was BorN and yeah out of all the seasons so far this may probably be the weakest one. That doesn’t mean it’s bad there are a lot of good things in this season. I do like how the emotional baggage of our characters is explored. Such as Issei still being haunted by Raynare and afraid to fall truly in love again, Rias wanting to have a more intimate relationship with Issei that’s different from the others, Akeno straightening out the issues with her father, and Koneko being afraid of her own powers. Stuff like this is good and one of the highlights of this series as it’s so great to explore and develop these characters who we love so much. The series still maintains that level of charm, comedy, drama, fanservice and seriousness that we’ve come to love over the seasons so there’s no need to worry about that. The addition of new characters such as Kuroka, Tannin, Rossweisse, Odin, and Loki along with the return of other characters such as Ravel and seeing other characters get the beating they deserve is satisfying and a joy. The main downside with this season is that the story does seem to be going all over the place and a large reason for that is because they show the events from the novels out of order and try to fit 3 volumes into the season instead of two like the last seasons. As a result the storytelling takes a huge downfall, some events are rushed through, and we never have a chance to catch our breath and take everything again.
The animation is similar to the last seasons which is still good and pleasing to the eyes. Music maintains that distinct and lovely sound to the ears, and the action is a huge step up from last season. If you guys were disappointed in the lack of action the last two seasons you’ll get your fill of it this season as you’ll get some in almost every episode and it’s all great. I enjoyed seeing Issei giving Diodora that beating. That was probably my favorite fight this season as it shows just how powerful Issei is becoming how he’s at a level now where he can hold his own against strong opponents without getting desperate or winning because of dumb luck.
Is it better than the other seasons
In terms of action, yes. But as far as story, pacing, and reaching you on an impactful level like the previous seasons, no. While BorN covers a lot this season, the pacing of it could have been better.
Final Score
The final score for BorN is a 7/10. Slightly lower than the first season but I still consider this a good season nonetheless. It had good action, explored the characters as well as introduced new characters, and while the storytelling could have been done better this was still a milestone in terms of progressing the story forward. If you’re a regular viewer to the DxD franchise you’ll like this season a lot and if you’re a novel reader like me you’ll like it as well just not as much as the regular viewer. DxD is still a great anime series and it’s already been announced that a 4th season is in the works. Will it come out this fall? I hope so. If not, there’s always next year and the production team said they’ll go back to following the novels more faithfully. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
*Nitsuj gets up and goes to the kitchen to get a glass of water where Seras is there waiting for him*
(Nitsuj): Ah, you escaped the duct tape cocoon.
(Seras): Yep, that was a pretty dirty and smart trick.
(Nitsuj): Thank you. So, how do you plan on getting your revenge on me?
(Seras): Well I thought about it and rather than beat the crap out of you like I did Corbin, I think you reviewing this anime will serve as a more suitable punishment.
*Seras slams down a DVD case on the counter*
(Nitsuj): Oh please what fanservice anime could cause me suffering?
*Nitsuj looks at the DVD and sees it’s Nanatsu no Taizai*
(Nitsuj): This anime? I mean it’s ecchi but I wouldn’t exactly consider this a title for the Fanservice arc.
(Seras): Move your thumb.
*Nitsuj moves his thumb and sees that the title of the anime is sin Nanatsu no Taizai*
(Nitsuj): Ohhh~ this anime. 00O Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh~!
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Thanks for reading, as always feel free to leave a comment, feedback, or request in the comment section below or send them to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com