WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. I really liked High School DXD Episode 3. It greatly raised the stakes for the show. It definitely felt quite serious and emotional in nature. In addition, there was quite a bit of action. There of course was some fanservice and sexualization as well.
The plot advanced substantially during this episode. An especially important plot development was meeting Asia, who seems like a very interesting and fun character. This also raises intrigue that Issei if becoming friends with a member of the church, which could spell a lot of trouble for him later. Another major plot development was the psychopath Freed Sellzen showing up. The guy seems crazy and Asia is still in his hands, which raises intrigue as to what will occur later. It’s nice we get a villain who is crazy to the brim, as crazy psychopathic villains often work quite well in media. Despite being a psycho, the guy still seems pretty dangerous and not one to take lightly.
This episode also had lots of character development. Issei is being tested over and over again. Though he is struggling, he is clearly becoming better, stronger, and is showing he is actually quite brave. He helped save Rias in the episode and put his own life in danger in order to do so. Issei tried to save Asia. He is showing himself to actually be a very caring individual deep down, something that was not clear until now. Issei also showed himself to be quite friendly and actually acted like a gentleman when he first met Asia. He’s also showing determination after finding out he is a pawn. He seemed disappointed, but is using it as motivation to work harder to succeed.
We also clearly got to see Asia’s character. She seems super friendly and also quite brave and caring. She was even willing to put herself in harm’s way to save Issei, and got treated horribly for it. It makes me wonder what a sweet and caring nun is doing with a psychopath priest and the fallen angels. We also are seeing how caring Rias can be, as she clearly cares about standing up for the weak and also cares about Issei’s wellbeing. She actually apologized to Issei after he ended up in this mess.
Looking at the other parts of the episode, High School DXD Episode 3 was more action filled than other episodes in the series. The action is fun and exciting as well as tense. There is plenty of suspense as to how things will play out. It is also nice that they make the action scenes sexualized, as this makes them more fun and adds to the fanservice.
The emotion in this episode was also well done. It felt very emotional seeing Issei confess the truth to Asia and see Asia stick up for him despite him being a devil. The episode also felt emotional as Issei tried to save Asia but failed. It makes me feel sympathy for Asia that she is facing such a horrible situation.
There is one other part that stuck out about this episode: the moral gray areas this show is toying with. In the episode, the group hunted down a stray devil and demanded that devil go back to her master or else they threatened to kill it. The devil was doing the wrong thing by eating humans, but the idea of devils being forced to follow their masters or face death seems like slavery. Their actions remind me of slave catchers from the 1800s. It’s great that this show is embracing many moral gray area decisions and has its characters walking a fine line between good and evil. This builds intrigue and makes the viewer really think about the moral implications and what is really right and wrong.
Looking forward, after the major plot shakeup in this episode, there are plenty of paths the show can follow from here. The plot is clearly in a state of major flux, so it will be interesting to see how things turn out when the dust clears. I am looking forward to reviewing the rest of the series.
High School DXD. Funimation, 2012. Web.