High School DxD BorN – 02 [NSFW]
Time for training, Issei!
I need to figure out some other shows to blog, but until I do that, I’ll keep myself busy with DxD BorN. Continuing with the “Hellcat of the Underworld” story, we’ll finally get to see a little bit more of Rias’ home life, or what it was before she came to Kuou Academy. This episode was pretty straightforward, but it really moved fast, so I am going to try to fill in a little bit of the odds and ends and details that had to get cut out
Feeling a Little Out of Place
Yes, this would be a bit distracting for Issei
Issei, Xenovia, and Asia are getting their first taste of what Rias’ family is really like when they finally arrive at (this) Gremory Castle. Yes, there are more Gremory Castles, and one of the things they didn’t mention is that as their Master, Rias has the privilege of gifting parts of the Gremory land (an area as big as Honshu, the main island of Japan) to her servant devils. So Xenovia, Asia, and Issei all now have a sizable chunk of land in the Underworld. Lord Gremory’s magnanimity even extends to Issei’s parents, as he laments that he couldn’t give them a castle (as if a giant 6+3-story mansion isn’t enough of a castle) and 50 maids. Thankfully everyone else realizes what a bad idea that would be for Issei.
Millicas and Grayfia
The introduction of Rias’ family was handled nicely, I thought, again with a good look for Rias’ mother, Lady Venerana. I really liked the choice to make her pretty but a little plain, in a rather understated dress. Milicas was also a cute little prince, and I liked the little easter egg they put in with Issei’s question about who his mother, and Sirzechs’ wife, is. Even though they don’t explicitly state it in the books until another later volume, Show ▼
I don’t know if I’d even consider that a spoiler, but I’ll tag it that way anyway (you know you’re going to click it).
Mom, you’re embarrassing me!
One of the things that I find the funniest about the encounters with the Gremory household is that they drop hints like anvils in a Warner Brothers cartoon. From Lady Venerana calling Issei a ‘suitor’ for Rias, to Lord Gremory telling him to address him as “Otoo-san” (father). The ‘procedure’ that Lady Venerana mentions is less something that Issei needs to qualify for and more that despite all the hints lying around on the ground, they all want Rias to make her feelings for Issei plain, something that it’s obvious she hasn’t done yet, since 1) Issei never picks up on the hints and 2) Rias gets so cute when she’s embarrassed about it.
Isn’t flustered Rias just so cute?
But the family is moving on as if it’s a done deal, and something that was left out of the anime was a lot of instruction on being a high-class devil for Issei, or even a beginner devil, as he takes some tutoring alongside Millicas on things like devil writing and history of devils. Issei tends to think it’s because he’s a new devil, but at least he questions why Asia and Xenovia don’t have to do it. It does give him another chance to impress Lady Venerana, however, who praises him for his hardworking attitude. He even gets to take a break from his training with Tannin to take dance lessons with Rias’ mother, who rather impishly tries to drop a few more hints. She also hits on that same dilemma that we’ve been talking about since the first episode, that Issei shouldn’t call her ‘Buchou”. From Venerana’s perspective, it’s more of a pragmatic thing, that it’s just not a proper address for her, so she encourages him to call her ‘Master’, but tells him that he needs to decide what to call her “in private”. They might put this in next episode, but they’ve moved a few things around, so who knows what it would follow. But it would fit one of the themes they’re using for this arc.
Training Time
Akeno faces someone she hates
But the main reason for bringing everyone to the Underworld isn’t sightseeing, or fiance-seeing. It’s training for the Gremory Group. And the way they divided up the training montage worked very well, rather than just having Azazel talk about it in front of everyone. Not only are the members of Rias’ family working on getting stronger, some of them are being made to face their personal weaknesses. Gasper’s fear of, well, everything. Akeno’s hatred of her heritage. And Koneko’s fear of becoming like her sister, whose story is relayed to us by Rias. Kuroka was once a powerful servant devil, but her power grew too strong, and she eventually killed her master and became a stray devil, one capable of killing whole hunting parties (you might remember that Rias’ group did some stray devil hunting in the first episode of DxD New). And now she’s become a member of the Chaos Brigade, specifically of Vali’s team with Bikou.
No, she’s not going to go “nyaaaa~~~” for you
Koneko is faced with a worrying dilemma. She’s feeling like she’s holding back the Gremory Group by being weak, but she’s too afraid of hurting the others if she were to accept the power of a nekomata that lies within her, given how it corrupted her sister. But she also wants to protect her comrades, since that’s her role as a Rook. That’s why she runs out of the Young Devils gathering to follow the presence she feels, leading to a showdown with Kuroka. They’ll definitely get to that next episode.
Young Devil Introduction
Go Lion!
They also moved some stuff and condensed it regarding the Young Devils’ reception. I’m thinking they’ll probably get back to it after the showdown with Kuroka, but if they don’t, I’ll explain more about it next week. The important person we’ve already been introduced to, even though Issei didn’t know who he was the first time they met. Sairaorg Bael is currently the heir apparently to the Bael family (although that’s a somewhat fraught situation that will be a couple seasons away, if the show goes that far). He’s notable in that his body is tremendously strong, so I thought it was a little amusing that they made him look like a shounen hero, or maybe an 80’s space robot pilot, like Voltron. But again, the character design was great. I don’t think there’s ever been an official drawing of Sairaorg, and he even showed up at a time that wasn’t in the book, during Issei’s training, but to me the character was instantly recognizable, just like Tannin was.
Of course we need a drill-haired tsundere
Another recognizable character was the return of Ravel Phoenix, who made her first appearance in the first season. But although she found Issei creepy and awful at that time, since Issei beat Raiser and took Rias back in such a chivalrous manner, Ravel’s definitely warmed up to the idea of the Sekiryuutei, even if he is a commoner. We probably won’t have a lot more to do with Ravel for a while, but this appearance was more to show that Ravel doesn’t hate him, and to put a little bit of a knife in about Raiser, who had a breakdown after being beaten by Issei.
It’s always good to remember your motivation
Wow, thanks for sticking with me through such a long post. I hope that I’m adding to your experience watching DxD BorN, and it’s a story that I think works really well. They are moving quite a few things around, for instance in the books they had the Young Demons get together before training, and then another reception where Kuroka appeared afterward, so they’re saving some time here by condensing those two parties into one. I do hope that we’ll see some more of the things that happened in the first Young Devils gathering, and we’re definitely going to see what the point of the training everyone went through is. I also think it’s worth pointing out that there’s a bad guy that we saw in the episode, but it’s probably not anyone you’re thinking of. I did have one disappointment tho: I hoped that they’d draw Issei a bit beefier after his training with Tannin. He’s described in the story as having filled out and become much stronger through his multi-week ordeal, and I hoped they’d show that. But then they didn’t even make Sairaorg very muscled at all, and he’s much stronger than Issei. Oh well. See you next week!
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: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I need to figure out some other shows to blog.
What about Sidonia Season 2, The Legend of Arslan or Seraph of the End? I don’t think anyone else is covering them yet.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
We’ll see about Sidonia, it’s a possibility if Sumairii’s schedule is problematic. The other two are nope. Seraph would be me complaining about various things, like Attack on Titan would have been. That will probably be covered by someone who is much more sympathetic to it. And Arslan I watched the first episode, but probably not any more. The lesson here is “I’ll watch a spoiled princess go into the woods to find herself and her purpose in life (and some dragons), but not a nicely progressive prince do the same.” 🙂
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
My perception of reality would’ve been shattered if you actually blogged that.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Hopefully it would bring you into a better version of reality. 🙂
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Not likely but I’d commend you for trying. 😉
The factor of not being a fan of vampires aside, you have a pattern I’ve noticed for some time. Issues with Attack on Titan you, yourself, pointed out; not trying out Akame ga Kill! at all, bailing on Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis and apparently doing the same with Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works.
With that in mind, I can already predict how you watching Seraph is going to end up so I wouldn’t count on you blogging it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I have seen all of F/SN: UBW that’s aired so far, and it hasn’t been bad. With that one, it’s more that I just don’t see the greatness that other people do, but it’s not a bad series itself (the more Rin, the better it is). My reaction to AoT is partly due to me being an ass (hey, I have to call it like I see it, even if it’s about me) about it because so many people like it when it doesn’t deserve it, and partly because there are so many technical faults in the story that there’s no way I can suspend my disbelief. Akame ga kill, if Sumairii can make a whole post just showing pictures of blood, I’ll skip it.
I’m just not much for those shows that other people think are “great adventures”. I want more character development, less rollicking action. So a show like Bahamut, which other people think is ‘fun to watch’ (and that’s fine), I think is missing the train to Interestingland because it’s not telling me anything, or at least as much as I want. Shows like Cross Ange or Parasyte, they have a better balance for me, because while they have some action, they’re much more about the people in the action than the action itself.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
And as far as Seraph goes, so far “vampires” could be replaced with “thugs” or “Fashion victims” or “completely generic bad guys”. It’s interest to me isn’t held back because of Vampires, but because the MC is pretty terrible. Much like Absolute Duo and Tor, at this point a story about any other character in the show would be better than the one about Yuu.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That over only two episodes… Very nice… *sigh* *facepalms*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
And Parasyte, as I look back, was a let-down for me on a handful of reasons. Which was why I said it didn’t make me sad seeing it go.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, I did say at this point. But the issue is that they should be focusing on the main character. And so far all the traits they’ve given Yuu are “Brat”. I would say that he didn’t even make a friend to meet Guren’s condition, he got a friend made that he was tangentially a part of, just kind of there for (while still acting amazingly selfishly). That’s not exactly screaming ‘character growth’ to me. So I consider that whole thing a missed opportunity to actually provide some character growth, where it seems Yuu just kind of skated out of it by luck.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I will say I’d be interested to hear what the pattern you perceive here is. I try to not be completely predictable, and as I’ve said above, I think the reasons for being critical or not watching those shows mentioned are pretty varied. If the pattern is that I don’t continue to watch a show that I think isn’t giving me enjoyment, then that’s definitely true. But if there’s some other common thread, I’d be interested in examining it, perhaps as an avenue of self-improvement.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s that, if you ask me, you put a little too much expectation in some shows and nitpick about the simplest of things. Things most would easily overlook. It’s not like every anime has to be a masterpiece or character has to be perfect. Because that’s how it seems.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I will say that I will nitpick on the simplest of things, because they are the simplest to get right. I’ll admit that I feel a bit of disrespect from a show if it doesn’t bother to even examine the world that it’s in to make sure it’s either consistent or gives the viewer an out. For instance, AoT: The physics do not work. At all. Ever. You wouldn’t have a troupe of heroic fighters, you’d have a pile of broken shredded meatsacks, after the impulse from their gear broke their backs and then dragged them along the ground or smashed them into walls. And yet, that didn’t stop me from watching the show. It just lessened my enjoyment. Likewise, the Gravity of Convenience in Valvrave isn’t what caused me to stop watching the show, but rather the risible villains and obvious impending downer ending.
I will admit that a lot of what I comment on about shows, especially ones that are so popular, is stuff that I find problematic. This does make me seem like the downer guy, but if everyone else is pointing out things that make the show good, there’s certainly less of, if any, reason for me to restate the same things, unless I feel I can expand on it. But my pointing out issues I have with a show shouldn’t be considered to be the same as disliking the entirety of a show. Rather, they are things that I would like to see improved, either in the show, or in subsequent works. skylion has pointed out that I do “go forth” a lot, which is only half of ‘back and forth’, so I’m aware that my critiques can sometimes seem overly critical, especially if they are things that don’t bother other people. And that those critiques can give the impression that I thoroughly dislike the entire work, when the truth is nowhere near that.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
@Hwy: You don’t like AoT, Valvrave or Fate/Stay UBW, but you are totally fine with magical clothes appearing out of nowhere, dragons from other worlds and super OP immortal dudes from Cross Ange thou? Those seem like something you wouldn’t like.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Man, what’s with you guys saying I don’t like UBW? I said I didn’t finish watching Fate/Zero (and will probably never watch it). I’ve watched a lot more of UBW than Aldnoah Zero or Nanatsu no Taizai or Tokyo Ghoul or shows like that. I haven’t stopped watching UBW, I don’t even delay it.
And to me, it’s not the presence or lack of fantastical elements. It’s their congruity with the setting. AoT’s problem is that it purported to be Earth, but then the physics didn’t work. Valvrave had an out for stupid stuff with “SPAAAAAAAACE!” Magical girls have magic. If they say the magic can do something, then it can do that. Why should I disbelieve that?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The one thing I see with that is that you’re applying way too much real world rationality to a story that’s already out there, possibly with other shows as well. It’s talking about fighting against giants for survival and giants don’t exist. That already into account, what reason should there be to have everything grounded to physics and other forms of realism?
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Then what about shows say from… Moeblob Animations?
I have to agree with what Fosh said and add what you see as character development, some see as facepalming character development. In the end, she’s still a ‘damsel in distress’ heroine rather than the independent heroine I expected.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Hard to say how Seraph could turn out. Besides, the author is highly involved in the anime production, so perhaps it won’t go south like Tokyo Ghoul did.
The author’s also writing an LN prequel concurrent with the manga that fleshes out backstory for some of Seraph’s characters.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Huh… Though the second half of Tokyo Ghoul was helmed by the manga’s author after he was apparently displeased with how the first half went. What were your thoughts on that? Out of curiosity.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
It was OK, but I know a lot of people were angry with the ambiguous ending.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It was alright with me but what I didn’t see coming was Hide’s death. Really unexpected. At the same time, the finale felt open-ended.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I suspect the ending was made to coincide with the manga sequel, Tokyo Ghoul re. It’s set a few years after Tokyo Ghoul’s finale, and features a new MC, Show ▼
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Go south? More like crashed and burned! Because that easily describes the entire second season! It was terrrrrrribleeeeee at least to me.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You’re right, “at least to you”.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Speaking of Akatsuki no Yona, I see you’ve yet to make a comment on the final post. Still brainstorming on final impressions?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
No, I just don’t really have anything to add to it. It was a very nice show to watch, and I’d like if there was more of it. But it wouldn’t kill me if there never was.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
The manga’s got a lot of developments going on, so if you’re interested you should pick it up. I believe the mangaka’s covering Je-no’s past in the latest chapters.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Sairaorg has had an illustration in volume 10 actually. I imagined him to be someone like Guile in Street Fighter before that volume but I like his look really. Fun fact: he made a cameo in the last episode of season 1, hence his comment about the engagement. Pic related.
Had the same complaint as well about the post training look of Issei. It didn’t even look like he got stronger at all or even looked like he lived in the wilderness for quite some time while dodging by a hair’s breath the fireballs of a legendary dragon. Would have been nice as well to see some parts where he was able to put up a fight against Tannin. The others didn’t look like they trained hard as well.
They’re definitely mixing up and rearranging events here. From what I’ve been hearing, the next few episodes will definitely change the order of events a lot. We’ll just have to see how that goes. Personally, I don’t mind them. They’re definitely setup for later. Akeno’s meeting with her father isn’t for later but it’s a decent part to add here. I’m just hoping some of the missing events that they skipped with Issei would get delegated for later if that’s possible.
I guess this is because they’re trying to cover 3 volumes for this season instead of the usual 2. Vol8 was a side story volume so pairing it with vol7 doesn’t seem right. For season 4, they could do the last chapter of vol8 and cover vol9 and 10. That is, if they’re going to do another one. This seems pretty profitable enough for the studio according to the average sales of season 2 and the predictions of this season.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Ahh, I couldn’t have picked Sairaorg out of a lineup if he had arrows and labels back in season 1. I like the look as well, but like Issei, I wish he *looked* stronger. It’s kind of disappointing that the books make a fairly big deal, right after training and throughout the rest of the story, about how Issei has gotten hunkier and more manly and more attractive. They just kept him as the same old goofball. They could have made him a bit different without going overboard, and I think it would have been good.
I don’t know if changing the events around is as much about trying to do 3 volumes as it is trying to get rid of some redundant stuff. Combining the Young Devils introduction with the second reception where Kuroka appears is a good choice, I think, because we don’t really want to waste time with two of those. I hope they do more of the Young Devils introduction, tho, especially the part with Sona (although they really should, given the way the rest of the 5th book goes). I don’t know how many of the “Society Training for Issei” items will be included, but I don’t think they’re that important, although it would be nice if he talked with Venerana more.
What would also be nice is if Rias could get him to at least button up his shirt. It’s kind of jarring that they’re talking about “Don’t embarrass us at this function” and yet they let him show up in his slapdash version of the Kuou summer uniform. It would also give the right feel of Issei trying to do his best for Rias.
Same opinion about Akeno’s meeting with Barakiel (although I was trying to not say who he was 🙂 ). They can introduce him here, and get to more of their trouble later.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Why does it always seem like there’s trouble from people who part of families instead of those from the outside? The thing about that kind of aspect is having ties that can’t be severed if things go awry and since there are families about, some are sure to have one or two black sheep causing a ruckus.
That aside, in general, it continues to baffle me how all these people are “devils”. Most I see are good-natured and some misguided if anything else.
I already find Saiaorg to be cool guy, unless I’m jumping the gun here.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Why do devils have to be bad people? In fact, that’s a major theme of the whole work: Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels have been antagonistic for thousands of years, but now they are trying to have peace between them. Why would we as humans think that devils are bad? Perhaps because the Abrahamic God and Angels faction, which has had the most influence over the people in the west, has poisoned people against Devils and Fallen Angels.
But among all the groups – not just the Devils, Fallen Angels, and Angels, but the whole of the pan-theistic ficton that the story is told from – there are “good guys” and “bad guys”. Some of them are minor bad guys, like Raiser. But as the story continues, we’ll get to badder and badder bad guys.
(I’ll also add that I LOVE pan-theistic fictons. I love the possibilities that exist when you can have things like Norse gods interact with devils and legendary dragons and angels)
And Sairaorg is a good guy. I don’t think it’s going to lessen the suspense of the rest of the story, or even make any difference, to say that now. Note that Rias called him her cousin. That’s not because all devils are cousins, it’s because Lady Venerana is from the Bael family. She married Lord Gremory, and is mother to Sirzechs and Rias. Which incidentally is one of the reasons the two of them are so strong. The Power of Destruction is a Bael family trait, brought to the Gremory by Lady Venerana.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Perspective is important, as is culture. If you were an outsider to two cultures, and you asked one, first, what the other was called, it usually devolves to “A bunch of jerks we don’t like”. But if you asked that first culture what they are called it’s always something like, “The bestest people evar!”
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Speaking of volumes, how many volumes of DxD are there at the moment? Enough for several more seasons?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
There are currently 19 High School DxD LNs. They could probably do another 4 or 5 seasons just with what’s out, and there would be more by then. And in my opinion the story doesn’t fall off at all in quality.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
With so many LNs left over, it tempts one to wonder why High School DxD didn’t get the decision to be made into a long running series like Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail and so forth. I mean, World Trigger is still ongoing from its Fall 2014 premiere and has to meet its 50 episode mark.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Also, TNK is not a big studio, they have very few productions they are the lead on. It’s unlikely they could support an indefinitely continuing series. And you don’t want the audience to get fatigued of your show.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hmmm… Fair point. I’d imagine it not taking long for people to get tired of the fanservice, even from the hardcore fans at that.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m hoping they shy away from too much of the “what is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh” Gothic aspect of Koneko’s character arc. It’s not that I don’t find the trope appealing, it’s that it has always had limited direction.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, I’ve kind of hinted that the ‘character arc’ part of the series is usually pretty weak, or at least not the main thing. And I don’t think they’ll go too far with Koneko. I think it’s very similar to what Azazel (edit: It was actually Barakiel saying this to Akeno in the anime) was saying to Akeno about her refusal to use the power of light that is her birthright. As a demon with the power of thunder, she’s powerful. If she adds the power of light, which she currently hates (for very teenager reasons, I’ll say), she becomes almost exponentially more powerful. They didn’t say it in the show, but at that point of the book, Azazel is actually pretty hard on Akeno, for getting smoked by Raiser’s queen, because she is intentionally handicapping herself. Akeno should have beaten Yubelluna in a walk, and narrowly lost to her because of this.
With both Akeno and Koneko, it’s really less of “your heritage determines your future” and more of a “you have abilities that you fear the use of. You should master them instead to become all you can be.”
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Re-reading that last line, it occurs to me that what he’s saying is the opposite of “you are what your blood says you are”: Your abilities don’t define you, you define you and bring your abilities along.