Table of Contents

Story Characters Animation and Art Soundtrack Final Verdict

TAGS : Comedy, Demons, Ecchi, Romance, School, Harem

STORY – 7/10

Teenanger named Issei Hyoudou is one hell of a perverted young man. Along with Matsuda and Motohama, they are called The Perverted Trio. All three of them are attending Kuoh Academy, a school which most of the student body consists of girls. Our MC is rather unlucky, being a second year he’s never got a girlfriend, nor had his friends. One day, a girl from a different school appears before him, asking him out. You can imagine the joy Issei had when he happily replied “Yes!”. He plans the first date very carefully, almost to a point where you could call it a perfect date. Right when it’s about to end, the girl, Yuuma, calls out to him to asks him to die. As it turns out, she is a Fallen Angel, and her goal from the very beginning was to kill him! Issei dies on the spot, recalling the one girl from the Kuoh Academy that he admires, a Crimson-Haired Lady. Much to his suprise, she arrives before him, and makes him a Devil. Now, Ise has to live his life serving under the girl he loves. What he doesn’t expect, however, are the troubles ahead of him.

The story of the first season of Highschool D×D isn’t all that complicated, being that this is the entry season. It seems pretty straightforward, and not to deep. It is, however, very interesting all things considered. It is an Ecchi with Demons and Romance, which is pretty common, but it’s done very differently. It toys with the concept of Mythology, showing them in very amusing and peculiar light. The show also uses Chess Pieces in a very interesting way. In order to make someone a Devil, you have to place [Evil Piece] inside of him. Each [Evil Piece] corresponds to a Chess Piece. One [King] can have up to 8 [Pawn] pieces, 2 [Bishop] pieces, 2 [Knight] pieces, 2 [Rook] pieces and 1 [Queen] piece. It adds a lot to the show, differentiating it from many others. The romance of the show isn’t very touched upon, and if there weren’t any follow-up seasons, it’d be pretty lacking, although it had its sweet moments. The part that is most neglected in the first season is harem. We don’t really see girls falling for our main character left and right, which one would consider strange, but like I’ve said, the follow-up seasons are there. Ecchi is the most shown part in this particular season, and in my opinion, there is a little bit too much of it. However, Highschool D×D shines in an ecchi aspect in a way any other show doesn’t. While any other show would have accidental trips and boob grabs, this show has none, and if there are some, the girls do not react the way you’d expect. It drives on its aspects, and not tries to do everything in a very cliché manner. Moving on, the story of the first season doesn’t really have that much to offer. While it is interesting, it’s nothing spectacular and nothing to write home about. It’s good for what it is, and if you like mythology, especially shown from a different side, you’ll most likely like the show a lot.

CHARACTERS – 8/10

Issei Hyoudou : A 17 years old boy of an average height and brown hair with brown eyes. He is a second year in Kuoh Academy. He is very perverted, yet very compassionate and caring about his friends. He becomes a Devil [Pawn] under the service of Rias Gremory, the woman he admires. He is very straightforward with whatever he does, and doesn’t bother thinking about his actions before hand. He is very emotion-driven, meaning that if he gets angry, he won’t be able to stop himself. He dreams of girls’ bosom, but isn’t very knowledgable about how to handle them.

Rias Gremory : A Crimson-Haired lady, appears to be in her late teens. She is a third year in Kuoh Academy. She is very beautiful, and admired by most of the school, Issei included. She is a High Class Devil, containing a [King] piece, and the master of Issei Hyoudou. She is very caring about her servants, never wanting any of them to get hurt. She is the president of the Occult Research Club. She is very proud and powerful. She is rather calm, unless something happens to her servants. She uses The Power of Destruction – a demonic magic with so much power, it leaves no traces of the target when hit.

Akeno Himejima : Black Pony-tailed third year of Kuoh Academy. She is the [Queen] of Rias Gremory. She, along with Rias, is also admired by most of the student body. She is very seductive, and possesses a sadistic side, which she usually shows in the battle. She is like a sister to Rias, being with her all the time. Akeno likes to tease Issei, being that she is his senior. She is also very caring about her friends, while not being very forgiving to the enemies. She uses Thunder as her primary source of attacks.

Yuuto Kiba : A very handsome man, the [Knight] of Rias Gremory. He, as well as his comrades, is very compassionate about his friends. He is very polite individual when it comes to his manners and personality. At first, he was disliked by Issei because of the fact that girls are falling in love with him all the time. He has a short blonde hair and gray eyes. He fancies swords and speed traits, forgoing any kind of defences.

Koneko Toujou : She appears to be 15 years old. She is very small, you could say she is a loli. She has white, short hair. She is the [Rook] of Rias Gremory, and primarily uses her fists and legs as her damage source. She dislikes Issei’s perverted tendencies, always pointing them out and putting them to a halt. She cares deeply for her comrades and always strives to do better than a minute ago. She is rather cold and quiet.

Asia Argento : A 16 years old nun. She meets Issei by an accident, and considers him her love because he helped her much more than anyone else. She is very innocent and shy girl, having troubles with social skills. She has a long blonde hair and green eyes. She doesn’t know much about Japan in general, and relies on the rest of the group. She is also someone Issei sees as a person to protect, which deepends her love for him.

Overall, I think the characters in Highschool D×D are very well written. They don’t fall into your stereotypical archetypes.You definitely will not be seeing a Tsundere character in this season of the show. They are all very fun to watch, their interactions differ depending on who they are talking to, and they are able to create fun comedic gags when it matters. The downside of them, however, is they do not get much development in the first season. If there was no follow-up seasons, I wouldn’t give an 8 for characters, simply because they are not developed enough. Unless you like characters that you know nothing about, you won’t be able to appreciate Koneko or Yuuto, simply because they don’t have enough screen time. That aside, they are all pretty good and there is no “fifth wheel” character.

ANIMATION AND ART – 7/10

The art of the show is rather pleasant to look at. It’s rather typical, with girls’ breasts being larger than the law allows you to have, and big eyes. With that said however, it’s not bad. I liked it for what it is, because it fits the show really well. The animation is really good when it matters, but only good most of the time. It’s not outstanding, but it’s not bad either. It’s decent enough, and it won’t make you turn the show off because of how fights look like still images. The spell particles are done relatively well. This show uses Magic Circles, so if you don’t like them in a show about magic, you’re gonna have a bad time. Overall, it’s not bad, it’s above average and I think that’s what you’d expect, given that show is focused on the ecchi aspects a bit more than it probably should.

SOUNDTRACK – 9/10

This is the part I really love about this show. The music it has is absolutely stunning. From the opening that is so catchy and awesome, to endings that are fun to listen to. Both of which are complemented really well with great visuals. The OST put in the show is also worth noting, as it does not only complement the show, it adds a lot to it. Many songs you’ll find yourself listen to on their own, because they stuck in your head. I’d definitely say the soundtrack department is one of the show’s biggest assets.

The show is also dubbed by Funimation. While I prefer subbed version of the show, the dub definitely has it’s own merits. It portrays characters in a little bit of a different light, but if you don’t like to read subtitles all the time, you’re free to watch the dub. It’s not bad and does it’s job relatively well.

FINAL VERDICT – 8/10

With all that in mind, I’d rate this show 8/10. Yes, the story isn’t extraordinary, and yes, the animation isn’t always the best, but the characters and soundtrack really make up for it. It suffers from the ecchi syndrome, which consists of too many of it, but if you’re going to cry about perverted stuff in this show then you’ve obviously arrived at a wrong place. If you’re not a fan of perverted shows with big boobs and panty shots, then you may want to skip it. If you, however, don’t mind all that, and come here for some interesting plot, you may find something to your liking.