WARNING: SPOILERS ALERT. High School DXD Episode 5 was utterly fantastic. It was loaded with tension, excitement, thrill, suspense, sadness, emotion, humor, and triumph. The character’s personalities and true selves were fully displayed.
This was clearly an action-focused episode, and the action was outstanding. It was nice to see the groups of characters each facing various challenges. The action scenes also had a strong focus on teamwork with the different heroes doing their parts. In addition, the action was very exciting. Many characters had their lives in peril in this episode, which added to the sense of excitement. It was thrilling to see Issei be a true hero; he helped to save Asia and defeated Yuuma even while severely injured during their showdown.
By far the best part of High School DXD Episode 5 was the incredible roller coaster of emotions. The scene with Asia dying was especially beautiful here. It honestly felt very sad and emotional to see Issei try to cheer up Asia and comfort her as she lay dying. It was also painful to see Issei in denial about Asia’s death. When Yuuma added salt to his wounds with her words, Isssei’s anger and emotions were super vivid. The show did a good job displaying these emotions and connecting them to the reader. I believe I even got teary eyed during the scene with Asia dying (and I hardly ever cry).
Another incredibly well-done aspect of the episode was Yuuma’s status as a villain. Her villainous nature was very clear and she kept torturing Issei both physically and emotionally all the way to the end. The fact that she took her human form and tried to apologize to Issei right at the end actually strengthened her status as a villain; it caused her to torment Issei even more when she was in peril. Depending out how Issei handles it, Yuuma may very well haunt, torment, and torture Issei from beyond the grave for quite some time. It’s possible Issei may have a hard time recovering from what she did to him and Asia.
As a result of the events in the episode, we got some incredible plot and character development. Obviously Issei has developed and has now proven himself as a hero. He also realizes how much potential he has and that he has not even come close to reaching his full potential yet. Issei also seems much more confident now.
The other big development and fallout from the episode is Asia becoming a devil and joining the group. She seems like she will be a fun addition to the group and I definitely love her personality. Still, I have to feel sorry for her that she’s in such a precarious position of being a devout follower of God while also being a devil. It seems nice that she is staying optimistic and doesn’t have any regrets with becoming a devil.
Yet, I wonder what this means for her soul and her faith, which is obviously very important to her. I feel that even if she’s better off in the short run, her soul may be damned for what has transpired. I don’t know for sure how mechanics like afterlife determination work in this anime, but it may be part of the plot going forward and is interesting to consider nonetheless.
Though Issei, Asia, and Yuuma got most of the focus, the other characters also had their personalities shown and got some nice development. We got to see just how much confidence Rias has in Issei and how much she cares about him. We also got to see how much Koneko and Kiba care about Issei. They showed incredible bravery in helping Issei despite the fact that they haven’t always been on the best of terms with him. Akeno showed herself once more as being fun loving, optimistic, and cheery even in dark situations.
Going forward, there are plenty of ways the anime can go from here after emerging victoriously during the big showdown. Having Asia along for the ride will certainly make the show more interesting and fun. Many of the characters have obviously not yet shown nor necessarily reached their full potential. Additionally, we have yet to learn about the backstories of many of the characters. I am curious to see how all this unfolds.
High School DXD. Funimation, 2012. Web.