Anime: Highschool DXD (Seasons 1-3)

   When it comes down to it, one of the major reasons I started this blog was to give me somewhere to go "Here's the cool thing I just discovered. Let me tell you about it." especially where anime was concerned.

 So...

This is something cool I've discovered. Let me tell you about it. 

Picture originally sourced from http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/

 Teenage perv Issei Hyudo has finally managed to get a date with a cute girl and it's been going great so far...

Right up until she rams a glowing spear through his chest. 

  Dying, Issei's last thoughts are of the beautiful redhead he saw that morning.

The next morning Issei finds himself alive and unharmed.

After a confusing day that involves being stabbed again, Issei awakens unharmed as before, except now he's naked.
So is the redhead lying next to him.

 Her name is Rias Germory, she is a Devil and Issei is now her servant.

  One night I found myself Youtubing Anime Vines (Short, funny vids usually with inappropriate audio tracks) In the process I began thinking "Hmm. Wonder what that anime is..it looks fun. So does that one...WTF is that?"  Which in turn  lead to me going away with a short list of anime to check out. 

 I'm trying to remember exactly why I decided to start with Highschool DXD.

Oh yeah. That would be it. 

  I ended up watching all three seasons in the space of a week because it turns out that while this particular anime might be heavy on the fanservice, there's lots of other stuff to like as well.  

  I'm not exaggerating about the fanservice. The opening credits start with the female cast butt naked, for crying out loud. I'm also convinced that the guy who drew the eyecatch panels (that bookend the commercial break) thought he was working for a porno anime because they go well beyond the usual anime cheesecake to the point where it gets uncomfortable.
   On the positive side, the hero's obsession with boobs leads to him developing some "special attacks" that have to be seen to be believed.

If that hasn't put you off, we'll move on.

  As Issei gets used to his new life, he meets the rest of the Gremory household (also devils) and develops his latent powers. It turns out that our slightly-depraved protagonist has a dragon-spirit living in his arm which enables him to do all sorts of spectacular attacks. In traditional anime fashion, as the series progresses, Issei gets more and more powerful. The rest of Team Gremory aren't exactly pushovers either, being either powerful magic users or superpowered.
 Which means epic anime fights. You know the sort of thing - lots of powering up, plenty of wilful property damage and, alright, female characters getting their outfits shredded.

 It never seems to happen to the blokes, for some reason. Whatever. 

  One of the things I did really like about Highschool DXD is the characters. For a series set in a school that could be described as part fighting anime, part harem show, I was amazed that everybody is likable. 

  Issei is overly dedicated to boobs but other than that, he's easy to root for being neither a cocky wanker, a doormat or a sex-assault waiting to happen.

  The other thing that annoys me about certain anime is female characters treating their male associates like disgusting human beings - even people they're supposed to be friends with - and resorting to violence three times an episode. (What? You said something I didn't like? Let's beat you bloody. Oops. Turns out it was a misunderstanding. Too bad.)

   So it's a refreshing change  Rias and the other girls seem to be quite fond of their newest member, which is where the "harem" bit starts to come in later on.  It starts off with a two-way rivalry between rias and ex-nun Asia, then Rias's lieutenant Akeno gets in on the act once she gets to know Issei better.
   The thing is, you can sort of see where they're coming from. Remember what I said about Issei being likable?  He gets some really nice character moments with the rest of the team.

 You know, for a bunch of literal devils, The Gremory household are a sweet bunch. Rias is probably the most pleasant demon-princess in anime history.
 Up until you hurt one of her gang, at which point you discover why she's got the tag "Crimson haired Ruin Princess"

 Everybody gets an interesting backstory, everybody has a function in the series. While the storyline  and battles revolve and Issei, it's not entirely The Issei Show. I like that.

I also like the show's approach to mythology - you get devils, angels and fallen angels, Norse gods, dragons and Church warrior-nuns all thrown into the mix with regular school politics. Boring it isn't.

Animation quality is servicable rather than spectacular but they do remember to animate the fights and usually quite well. 

  

  Summing up: I enjoyed this series a lot. I cannot, in all fairness, describe Highschool DXD as groundbreaking, clever or ,particularly deep. But it does have a lot of entertainment to offer.

    You might want to be careful watching this anime around other people though...

 As you've probably worked out by now, I'm quite a big fan of Ms. Gremory. Here's an AMV somebody did that might explain why. .

That's all folks.