WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. Today I am starting a review series for High School DXD with Season 1 Episode 1. Overall, I loved the episode and found it to be an excellent start to the series. Looking at the plot, the show laid much of the groundwork quickly. Clearly, the show is hitting the ground running. For one, the episode was loaded with intrigue. We got lots of little hints without making it clear where they lead. Given how mysterious and confusing the episode and its events were, it definitely makes the viewer wonder what is going on and where all of this is going. So far, I am liking how the plot is developing.
Another positive is the episode was loaded with tension. For instance, Issei was in danger multiple times in the episode, which makes it seem like this will be a series loaded with suspense, thrills, and tension throughout, which is a good sign. In addition, the episode ended with a big cliffhanger, which helps to build intrigue for the next episode.
On another bright note, the episode had extremely impressive visuals. For one, the show had lots of beautiful imagery. In addition, the animations were very elaborate and clearly had lots of work put into them. The intro shown at the end of the episode was very nice and felt very exciting. I am also liking how the episode was so openly sexualized. Clearly, the show is willing to engage in its sexualization in ways that would be too extreme and taboo for other shows, which is a huge positive. DXD is openly mature and is fully embracing that maturity. Though we did not see anything super explicit, we had plenty of strong sexual content throughout.
The thing that strikes out about this is that the show is openly embracing its sexual aspects to a very strong extent, which opens up lots of possibilities. This approach allows DXD to embrace its mature elements more so than shows that do not openly embrace such topics. Other shows instead try to downplay, shy away from, and run away from such material, which hurts their ability to take advantage of it.
As for the characters, Issei is certainly a pervert. He doesn’t seem to have a whole lot going for him entering the show and is clearly not on top of things. Clearly, Issei is a flawed protagonist. This isn’t because he’s evil, though his pervertedness does make him seem morally flawed. Instead, he seems like a wimp who doesn’t have his act together. Of course, this can be a positive, as he has plenty of room for growth later.
Looking at Matsuda and Motohama, they are both clearly perverts. They seem pretty unintelligent and it appears they may be comic relief characters.
Regarding Yuuma, she comes across as a total jerk. It is unclear why she wanted Issei dead, but she clearly does not seem to be up to any good.
As for Rias, I am liking her as a character. She seems intriguing, determined, intelligent, calm, and collective. Rias clearly is helping Issei, but she also says she’s a devil and that she’s Issei’s master which is very intriguing. It seems she she may be helping Issei, but not necessarily for righteous reasons. Instead, she may be trying to use him to further her own goals. Then again, it is possible she is not evil and this show embraces the idea that devils are not necessarily evil. This would be an interesting and welcome twist away from the standard role that devils and demons are evil by default. It will be interesting to see how this goes, and I am looking forward to reviewing the rest of the series.
High School DXD. Funimation, 2012. Web.