Table of Contents

Story Characters Enjoyment Art Final Verdict

TAGS : Action, Romance, Shounen, Ecchi, Harem, Comedy, School

STATUS : FINISHED



STORY – 8/10

I, Hyoudou Issei, am a 2nd Year High school student and my age is equal to the number of years I haven’t had a girlfriend. And, someone like me got a girlfriend! I’m sorry buddies, I will walk the path of becoming an adult before you guys! —That’s how it was supposed to be, but why did I get killed by my girlfriend!?

I still haven’t done anything yet! Are there no Gods in this World!?

And, the person who saved me is the most beautiful girl in my school, Rias Gremory-senpai. I learned the shocking truth from her who isn’t a God but a Devil. “You have reincarnated as a Devil! Work for me!”

Lured by Senpai’s breasts and treats, my life as a reincarnated Devil began.

So the “Academy×Love Comedy×Battle Fantasy” starts here with just aggressive and worldly desires!

That’s the synopsis for Highschool D×D that most of you are familiar with. If you want to read my reviews about the anime, they are here : Season 1, Season 2, Season 3!

So, let’s cut to the chase, and start off with how the story plays out.

First of all, we meet Issei – a perverted teenanger who hangs out with his friends. Then he dies at the hands of his date. Then he is reborn by Rias Gremory – the most beautiful woman Issei has ever seen. He joins the Gremory Peerage and does his job as a devil – flyers, contracts and all of that to raise up in the ranks of the Underworld. Oh, and he also wants to become a Harem King. If that doesn’t interest you, hear me out, there is more.

The story and the plot lines are executed really well, albeit driven by the Ecchi+Comedy combo, they deliver upon that front magnificently. When the characters are in pinch, and they are called Issei and Rias, expect some breasts popping up and touching being involved. The stories told in the novel itself are fairly entertaining, set in a very..veeery interesting universe – that one, where Devils, Angels, Fallen Angels, Norse Gods, Greek Gods, Dragons, Magic and items known as Sacred Gears invented by the God from the Bible himself exist. What’s not to like about it really? It’s not like the main dude is going to beat them all up..or is he? Well, that’s for you to find out after you dive deep into the story!

I mentioned Sacred Gears, and I think they deserve their own remark. They are “items” that grant the user different powers, from Boosted Gear gauntlet which boosts the power of the user every 10 seconds, to something like Twinkle Aegis, which is basically a Sacred Great invented for defending, and there is a lot more types to cover. Think of a cool power. You got it? You know exactly what it is you thought about? Cool, D×D probably has it in form of a Sacred Gear!

Alright, now, this is the time where I talk about the Ecchi + Romance + Harem combination. The series is not a hentai, meaning you won’t be reading about characters just banging each other left and right, though the author said in many interviews that if not for his editor, that would be the case. The Ecchi is a strong 10/10, it does what it’s supposed to do very damn well, and it’s a good comedy relief after some more serious story lines, about which I’ll talk in a minute. The Romance + Harem actually works well. Issei does indeed pick his girl, and does so in a manner that doesn’t ruin anyone’s dreams. The girls that are falling for our main boy do so because of certain reasons, not because “Oh hey look he is the main guy, let’s fall for him because that’s why”. One could argue that the constant cockblocking is irritating, but hey, that’s also one of the aspects of the harem! Learn to love or it to live with it!

The serious story lines this series has are really well executed, though one very big minus in my opinion is that even though events seem pretty serious, the comedy boost will be right up there in a second. It doesn’t happen all the time, but there are times where it completely ruins the mood, at least for a quick moment, or makes it that much more enjoyable. But, I’ve drifted away, let’s go back to the topic at hand. The series deals with world threats and mythologies really well, sometimes maybe a little bit over dramatizing, but when the storm hits, it hits like a tsunami. The fights are carefully and thoughtfully narrated, helping you to imagine them just that much more. The stories told are in the upper echelons when it comes to this type of novel, from alliances between religions to an all-out-war against Gods or other beings, even humans.

However with all that said, the series is by no means perfect. It has a lot of flaws, and shit-ton of plot armor, but that’s the Shounen trope for you. Other than that, maybe the constant “oh you beat X, I was behind him!…but wait, you’ve beaten me? Look! There is someone above me as well!” and it may appear to you as something really stupid and lazy, but the villains themselves are really cool.

Well, onto the characters we go then!

Characters – 8/10

I’ll have to apologize in advance, but the characters will not be having their pictures displayed as I talk about them in detail. I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is. Also, spoilers from the Volume 1 are unavoidable, as the characters that appear here are relevant towards the rest of the story, so saying nothing about them would do us no good.

Alright, with that out of the way let’s talk about characters in general. They are enjoyable, and as the story progresses they leave the archetypes they were based upon, or do something good with it. They receive more than a fair share of development and everyone gets enough “screen time” to make us either love or hate them. The dialogue is also amazing, although somewhat boring at times (Yea, I’ve said it, come at me). The high score on the characters is mostly due to the side characters and villains, as they are exceptionally well written for such novel (Let’s face it, how many novels similar to D×D has such an amazing side characters). They have their own personalities that just fit their characters, and if they were to be replaced, this series would suffer a great deal.

Speaking of villains, they are fantastic. Be it a Fallen Angel, a Devil, to a God sometimes. Their designs and personalities are somewhat based on what you can find in various mythological sources, but they do have different twists to them. They motives are explained rather clearly, even though some of them may have been ridiculous.

Issei Hyoudou : The perverted teenanger and a devil servant of Rias Gremory – Pawn, whom he adores. He loves boobs, and he is called The Red Dragon Emperor, as a host of one of the Two Heavenly Dragons – Ddraig. While perverted, he is very brave and always wants to protect the girls. He also wants to become Harem King.

Rias Gremory : High Class Devil and the master of Ise. She is the Occult Research Club President, as well as being one of the school most adored girls. She is very confident in her and her servants, and acts without mercy to those who dare to threaten them. She has a very lovely and jelous personality.

Akeno Himejima : A devil servant of Rias Gremory – Queen, as well as the one of the school most adored girls. She is a very kind and somewhat fragile girl, but she also has a hidden side to her – a sadist. She likes to punish her opponents, enjoying it immensly. She is called the Priestess of Thunder, and tends to tease Issei a lot.

Yuuto Kiba : A devil servant of Rias Gremory – Knight. He is the prettiest boy in school, as well as the other male in Gremory Group. He is very polite, and cares a lot for his comrades. He is the calm and composed one of the male duo, with Ise being more on the impulsive side of things.

Koneko Toujo : A devil servant of Rias Gremory – Rook. She is the loli mascot of the school, and has a very kind, yet cold personality. She is usually the one to jab at Issei’s perverted thoughts and actions. She usually doesn’t show any emotions, She is the one to care the most about comrades, willing to lend her strength to her friends when they are in trouble.

Asia Argento : A devil servant of Rias Gremory – Bishop. She is former nun, and joined Rias’ peerage at the end of volume 1. Asia is very sweet, and a very fragile girl. She claims to love Issei, as he is her first friend in Japan. She is also very kind, and wants to help anyone in trouble, regardless of their race or mythology. She is a very shy and innocent girl.

ENJOYMENT – 8/10

Personally, Highschool D×D is one of my favourite novels. As such, the scores of this review may be a little bit higher than they’d normally be, for example story is 8, however I’d say it’s 7.75, but since I use 0.5 scale, I decided to give it 0.25 more, to round up at 8. However, it’s not like it doesn’t deserve an 8 in your eyes. It’s definitely a good one, and especially good considering what’s it about.

With that said, the enjoyment you’ll be getting from this series will vary depending on your tastes. If you like something mature, you may not like everything this novel has to offer. On the contrary, if you like yourself some Ecchi and tons of action and comedy, you’ll probably like it regardless. The concept of mythologies helps elevate the series among it’s competition. Yeah, sure it’s perverted. And yeah, on paper it’s nothing new. And yet, after all is said and done, this series does stand out. Also ,the series doesn’t rely on “accidental boobs grabs” or “oh shit I tripped, here, main character, catch my boobs and me with them!”. Everything perverted that happens within the series is stimulated by different things, not on accidents. And I think that’s really damn cool.

The story, told from the FPV (First Person View) is very interesting, and changes the narrator from time to time. You’ll see some chapters from the perspective of Rias, Kiba and Azazel, but mostly it’s all from Issei’s POV. And it’s really well done. I don’t think the series would be as popular if it was told from the TPV (Third Person View), as that’d take away a lot of thought process behind certain actions.

ART – 8.5/10

The art of the series is amazing, and it’s the base for the one used in anime. The characters change, and so do they art. While a character may be skinny in Volume 1, if they train, they will be bulkier in later volumes. It’s very detailed, and the girls are drawn beautifully. No jokes here, the girls look fantastic. So do the males, and the designs of various Sacred Gear and armours. One thing to remember with the design of weapons is that the series is set in a very fantasy-like driven universe, so the weapons, by default, have to look fancy to be powerful – it’s an unspoken rule, you know? So yeah.

Besides that, the full-colour pages are great, as you could see throughout this review. I honestly don’t think I can say any more about it, It’s just great.

FINAL VERDICT – 8/10

Highschool D×D – a perverted action story about a guy who wants to become a Harem King while doing his work as a devil. The series does deserve an 8 in my eyes, and while I can see it’s flaws, as it’s no-where near close to being perfect, it accomplishes one major thing – it provides entertainment. And oh boy does it provide a lot of it. It’s comedy revolves around every little detail about the characters, from Issei being not that smart, to baby-making jokes, it’s all there. The action is stellar, and while some things would be better off without the comedy aspect added onto them, it’s precisely this that makes this series enjoyable.

And that’s it from me regarding D×D franchise for quite some time, untill the yet-unannounced Season 4 ends. Thank your for taking your time to read it, and I hope you enjoyed it! Give this franchise a try, it totally deserves it!