High School DxD New – 05 and 06 [NSFW]
Rias has an interesting reaction to getting Issei’s ‘power’
I didn’t want to write a post just covering the first half of this epic battle, so sorry if you were expecting one last week. But this week we have the conclusion, so how do Rias and her group do against Kokabiel? I’ll apologize in advance for the long post length, but there’s a lot of pictures, too!
Two Battles in One
First we deal with Freed
This battle really was in two parts. The first fight was to deal with Freed’s Excalibur and Balba’s fusing, which would release enough energy to level the town, no matter what barrier Souna and her peerage tried to keep up. And of course, Kokabiel is going to benefit from all this energy, so he’s all for it. Plus, his goal is to start a war, and break some stuff anyway. So what does he care if this little town gets leveled.
Rias isn’t giving up
Rias is adamant that she wants to take down Kokabiel, even though by all rights, her group is outclassed, pretty severely, by Kokabiel. This is basically the second most powerful fallen angel, and even with help from Xenovia, he’s way out of their league. Akeno does realize that this is probably not something they can handle, so she calls Sirzechs, Rias’ brother (and the current leader of the demons), but ~hand to forehead~ “ara ara, they won’t be here for an hour, whatever shall we do?”
Kiba gets help from his friends
But the first part of the fight is the time for the focus, like him or not, of this whole story arc. Kiba wants to exact his revenge on Balba, but isn’t doing particularly well, especially when he learns that all the pain and suffering he and his cohort went through was for naught, and Balba has just used them to synthesize holy ability, discarding the ‘materials’ that he used. Yet, that holy power, crystallized, allows Kiba to commune with his departed comrades learning that they still support him, even if they didn’t survive. And as Ddraig informs Issei, it allows Kiba to reach his “Balance Breaker” ability, the merging of the Holy and Demonic swords.
Even Durandal doesn’t guarantee victory
But not to be outclassed in the “I’ve got a cooler sword than you” competition, Xenovia turns out to be the wielder of Durandal, a more powerful holy sword than even the pieces of Excalibur, and so uncontrollable that it’s kept in another dimension. Using these weapons, Kiba finally puts the hurt on Freed, but before he can kill Balba, Kokabiel does it for him, more interested in the power of the Red Dragon in Issei.
Big Boss Battle
Issei’s not going to give up
By the time Rias and Issei walked out, hand in hand, to face off with Kokabiel, I think it was pretty obvious there was a mismatch in power, with almost no chance for an outright win. But they do have The Determinator in Issei, who rallies them multiple times when they’re feeling out of it. Even so, the only licks that they get on Kokabiel is when Kiba uses a really kooky ‘3rd sword in his mouth’ trick.
Just a bit cheesy…
But Kokabiel’s not gonna be satisfied with just wiping them out, he wants to start a war. And since he’s starting a war, he doesn’t really give a crap anymore what Azazel (leader of the Fallen Angel faction) wants, so he spills the beans on the big news from the last war: God is dead. Yep, killed in the war that killed so many of all three factions. Hearing this news pretty much takes Xenovia and Asia out of the fight, having something so much a part of them suddenly taken away.
The news hits Asia hard
But just like he did against Riser Phenix, Issei picks this moment to show his growth. And, well, his lack of growth. Keeping his eyes on the prize, he declares that he’ll save everyone, because he’s gonna be the Harem King. Oh well. At least now he’s getting to the point where he does the right thing for the wrong reasons, rather than the wrong thing for the wrong reasons. Tempted momentarily by Kokabiel’s suggestion of joining him, he’s quickly brought back in line by Rias, who offers a counter proposal, firing up Issei even more at the thought of, well, let’s just say “taking a lead off second base”, even though Rias’ attitude is more like walking the batter to allow a force-out at third (to take this silly baseball metaphor a bit too far).
Akeno thinks it’s amusing, for sure
And part of the irony here is that if Issei hadn’t continually acted like a dope, he’d be way past what he currently wants to do with Rias. But as Akeno says (as she realizes that she’s in love with Issei, as well) “That is what Issei is all about.” Sounding terrible when he tries to be cool, doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, but ultimately being that guy who won’t give up, who won’t let his friends down, who won’t throw in the towel ever. And those are really the qualities that all the girls like about Issei.
He also has quite the punch
“I’ll just finish up here.”
However, Issei’s potential heroics are cut off at the knees by the arrival of someone very important to the story. We heard from Ddraig before that eventually the holder of the Welsh Red Dragon would be destined to fight the holder of the Vanishing English Dragon. And having had enough of Kokabiel screwing around, Azazel has sent Albion’s, that same English Dragon, owner to bring him to heel. It just happens that Issei and Ddraig are there. I know when I first encountered this scene, I thought that what Ddraig had said before about fighting the Vanishing Dragon would mean that they’d have to fight any time they were close by. But here they just kind of give a wave and a nod, along with a ‘see you later’ kind of thing. Which is good, because as underpowered as Issei was to Kokabiel, Kokabiel is to Albion. What kind of fight would that have been anyway? So Albion is content to mop up Freed and Kokabiel and just give a passing conversation to Ddraig, along with an encouragement to Issei to get stronger.
Akeno sees Issei in a new light
So in the aftermath of the fight, pretty much everything goes back to normal. Rias accepts Kiba back into the family, but not until he gets the same thousand spankings that Issei got. Akeno has gone from feeling perversely interested in Issei just because Rias wants him (that was the thing that was left out in the first episode this season, that Akeno started coming on to Issei with the idea of having an affair, only to learn that Rias and Issei still hadn’t done anything, to Akeno’s surprise. I figure since LN 3 is now finished that they’re not going to put that in the anime). We’ve also surprisingly learned that Akeno is the daughter of Baraqiel, who is the 3rd most powerful Fallen Angel, but she’s certainly not particularly proud of her lineage.
We can always have more Akeno pictures
But we’re also not done with surprising revelations there. Having committed the greatest sin of heresy, learning that there is no God, Xenovia is split (maybe even excommunicated?) from the church, and has, in her words, “begged” Rias to allow her to join the Occult Research Club and all that entails, to which Rias gladly agrees, gaining another knight of equal strength to Kiba as well as the wielder of Durandal. I especially liked her introduction as part of the club, with that quick flash of wings, cause I thought that was pretty stylish. It was also funny when she makes the same mistake Asia has made countless times, praying to God, only to get zapped because she’s a demon. She’s also learned some humility with respect to Asia, now having gone through something similar to what Asia did.
The new member introduces herself
Rookie mistake
And even that’s not the end (for everyone who watched past the end of the ED this week). Issei has finally gotten back to that client he had to ditch a few times, the rich guy with the painting. The rich guy who turns out to be Azazel, the leader of the Fallen Angels! As Kokabiel mentioned before, Azazel is 1) not interested in fighting a war and 2) very interested in Sacred Gear. So being interested in Issei, even though he’s a demon, is probably not going to be too bad. I also find it funny that Azazel is voiced by Koyama Rikiya, who also does another character this season: Momoi-Usaginuigurumi-Kachou from Servant x Service. And now after hearing him say “akuma-kun” I just keep imagining Issei talking to a pink stuffed bunny, the leader of the fallen angels…
Maybe the bunny needs the wings?
Whew, a lot happened in just two episodes. Sorry for the long post, and thanks for getting all the way through it! We now move on to light novel 4, which I actually haven’t read, but I’m confident that the story will continue to be very entertaining. I was really pleased with how LN 3 was adapted, and thought it made for the right mix of fanservice, character development, action, and fighting, as well as helping fill out more details of the world. I really think that DxD is firing on all cylinders, setting the gold standard for an ecchi show that doesn’t just need to show boobs and panty shots to keep you interested, but uses them as an additional bonus.
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 175 comments
well at least 1st half of season aka the kiba show is all check in & now ready for 2nd half of show.
give to expect in 2nd half white armor, issei’s client is fallen angel, etc.
yet by time to see IF white armor vs issei’s red armor is like pair of iron man fighting each other (yea issei armor sorta like iron man).
& wonder how s2 dub will be since finish watch s1 dub on it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Kiba definitely got more tolerable towards the end of the arc, when it was less about being emo and more about trying to kick some butt. And as far as I know, he’s kind of back on the sidelines for a while.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 175 comments
well give by time s2 dub come i’m sure make it more showing to watching.
besides saw s1 dub is worth the watch give they have some new names dub for akeno & kiba yet worth the hearing give there new names yet there potential in the next era of dubs.
back to s2 itself with wonder any ideas for 2nd half?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Given how faithfully they’ve adapted the LN’s (1-3) so far, and that the after-ED scene was from LN 4, I think it’s right into LN 4. Of course, I haven’t read that one yet, so it’ll be new to both you and me!
I personally find I’m just not interested in dubs. For whatever reason, they don’t sound right, and they always seem to have an audio quality that the voice track is just ‘laid on top’, rather than being mixed as an integral part. But if you like ’em, enjoy them!
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 167 comments
More like Lancelot VS gurren
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
i agree, it does look a lot like guren vs. Lancelot…
the difference is that Issei sucks and Kallen is awesome
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
That’s a great one-two punch, HWY.
I have to admit, that the dragon armor is as cheesy as all get out, even more than the Third Sword. But it bloody works. Sacred Gear should be that awesome.
So, this is the sort of place where the Almighty isn’t all that? And where his immediate subordinate can nearly take the place? Hmmmmm. It looks like faith can still move mountains. So, there is that.
Sadly, this show still needs much more Koneko…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
And after I put that screenshot in just for you! If I got self-indulgent (well, more) it would be more pictures of Akeno, maybe even no-pantsu Akeno.
I thought the dragon armor was actually pretty good, like a manlier version of Silver Crow (I also think Sugane’s Gatchaman armor was pretty good, and also described as a manlier version of Silver Crow, but in a different way). It definitely made me think “dragon”.
I kind of like the idea of a ficton where God is unthinkably powerful, but not immortal. But it’s kind of interesting that the Demons and Fallen Angels have a method of succession, where Sirzechs can become “Satan” for instance, but the Holy side doesn’t have the same thing. If Michael can keep things running, that’s good, but they implied that it could be problematic in the future.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
No pantsu Koneko is more win…..and thank you.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
no-pantsu akeno *q*
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
NO NO NO> No pantsu KONEKO. This is truth….
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
you can have koneko, i’m happy with akeno*q*
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
While you can dream about no-pan Koneko, we actually did get no-pan Akeno.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The loli is all yours but we get the hot chick instead and we’re more than grateful for that.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
She’s more petite than LOLi.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
no-pantsu Rias and/or Akeno, please! 😀 Oppai for the win!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Well, I must say the latest episode sure threw some dumbfounding surprises. Akeno being the daughter of a fallen angel was a lot to cope with being as erotic as she is but Xenovia becoming a demon was something I never even began to consider.
Now that the group has another member, I have to inquire as to how that’s possible because from what I remember last season, Rias had no remaining chess pieces since she used all eight pawns on Issei to revive him because of his Sacred Gear.
Xenovia’s fall from grace throws the biggest amount of karma imaginable right in her face after she bashed Asia for being a demon while asking if she still believed in god. Really, what goes around comes around but as sweet as Asia is, I knew she wasn’t going to bear a grudge. At least both are now on equal grounds and to me, Xenovia didn’t seem all that faithful. It was like she did what she did because it was required of her for where she alligned herself especially after hearing how she begged Rias to let her in.
Because of this development, for a moment, did anyone start to imagine a possible outcome where Souna would have been forced to turn Irina into a demon in a last ditch effort to save her life? I mean, if one fell, what makes the other an exception?
I knew that guy recently hanging around Issei had to be important but the reveal of him being Azazel after all this time was anticlimactic for me. It would have made a greater effect if he was kept out of the OP. That was the major spoiler.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Rias’ peerage at this point is:
King – Rias Gremory
Queen – Akeno Himejima
Knight – Yuuto Kiba
Knight – Xenovia
Bishop – Asia Argento
Rook – Koneko Toujou
Pawns (8) – Issei Hyoudou
The only one who took more than one piece was Issei. For now, Rias still has a Bishop and a Rook free to use. So it’s possible that Irina could become part of Rias’ peerage at some point in the future, although she doesn’t really fit either the Bishop or Rook piece characteristics at this point.
I don’t think Akeno is in any way incompatible with being the daughter of a Fallen Angel. We already saw Reynare (the Fallen Angel who killed Issei in the first episode) and she was not above using eroticism, seduction and wearing teeny amounts of clothes. In fact, Akeno really isn’t that far off of Reynare, just on the right side. Both are rather sadistic, and enjoy toying with others. Akeno’s just a good guy instead of a bad guy.
Xenovia certainly seems to recognize the irony of the situation, and I thought her apology to Asia was sincere. I do think she was faithful before, she just had the incontrovertible truth thrown in her face. But she was strong enough to not completely break, as she mentioned during the fight.
I thought they handled Azazel’s introduction pretty well. It was plausible that he was just a usual client, especially as Issei was so desperate to make a contract. It’s kinda sad for Issei tho, the only guy he can make a contract with is someone who was already going to be interested in him.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 167 comments
Bishop is taken. The demon is in the forbidden room of the Occult Club.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Yeah, this actually won’t come off as a spoiler as the Bishop existing was actually mentioned in vol2 of the LN, before the Rating Game started. The anime didn’t mention it IIRC. Shan’t say more than that for now.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Ah, I didn’t catch that in the LN, but we did see the sealed off room briefly.
But Rias does still have a slot open for someone, I just doubt it’ll be Irina.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
True. I remember briefly seeing that room in one of the extra episodes for the first season. There must be a problem with that one if Rias felt it necessary to have the demon sealed.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
maybe he’s more perverted than Issei?
or like Freed?That would be awesome *-*
Issei really has no L-U-C-K
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
Why so serious 🙂
POWUH: iLurker with 10 comments
Why does that guys dragon armor looks so much like Lancelot. I was like “WTF, when did they bring in lancelot to the show” when he appeared.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 167 comments
creator is known to be a CG/Scyred fan???
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I recently noticed there’s an almost similar pattern in the animes this season. In High School DxD New, God is somehow able to die so he no longer has a presence and in Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi, he has no presence because he apparently abandoned the world. Strange how there always manages to have animes with similarities playing in pretty much the same time frame.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 167 comments
Kami nomi zo shiru sekai, Katsuragi is GOd!!!