High School DxD BorN – 12 [END]
Good Morning to you
And so we’ve reached the end of another High School DxD series. Let’s take a look at how they finished off the season, and what was good and bad throughout. And also find out if the anime original storyline was a good choice.
Is This A Boss Fight?
This was about the only shot that wasn’t a blurry mess
Even if we were set up for a battle between Issei and Possessed Rias, it turns out that Issei can’t bring himself to actually fight back against her. Instead, we’re treated to (forced to endure?) a clip show of past memories of Issei and Rias, going all the way back to their first meetings, as Possessed Rias beats the crap out of Issei. Granted, the clip show parts were better than the ‘fight’ parts, which were just blurry cam panned stills. Not that TNK has ever really brought the goods for fighting animation, but this was pretty dubious. There were a few times it looked like he’d actually fight back, but never did in any effective way. Eventually he wins by calling her name, the thing that we started the series with (and even were wondering about from last series), pulling her out of the possessed state. But they still have to beat the imposter Issei, at which point Issei pulls out his first Transformer move, which appears to be part of his Triana coming later in the series. Not much of a fight, just “My Kamehameha is stronger than your Kamehameha”. There’s then some futzing around in the Dimensional Gap until they’re led out by Great Red.
Megatron’s got nothing on Issei…
But reminiscent of the place where Akatsuki and Shiroe have their talk while dead, Rias and Issei have a chance to talk in another dimension on a shore. Conveniently, it’s a chance for Rias’ confession that the reason for her weakness was her selfishness in wanting him to call her Rias, which he does, plus a great kiss between the two of them. Of course they don’t remember any of that when they get back to the real world. Convenient, that, don’t you think.
A well-executed kiss
The rest of the episode was pretty much all fanservice, of one sort or the other. Some naked boobs, Asia being told that she’s part of Issei’s family (and Rias’ although we already knew that), the negotiations to get Rossweisse as part of Rias’ peerage. It was cute they way they sprang the teacher bit on her, but the pragmatic reasons for becoming the last rook were nicely done for Rossweisse’s character (she does become known as the “100-yen Valkyrie”). And they finally roll out the Oppai Dragon song… as well as Issei’s TV show. Don’t discount it as just a stupid lark. It’s stupid, but it’s certainly an important thing.
Asia’s family
Series Wrap-Up
Two offers Rossweisse can’t refuse
So how did this series go? I have to say that it was not as good as I’d hoped. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the series. The fanservice was there, the characters were there and nobody really betrayed their own nature. But I can’t really say that the amount of chopping up the three stories in volumes 5, 6, and 7 improved the story, and neither did the inclusion of the anime original last storyline. Some elements were better than their portrayal in the novels, for instance the use of Rias to break Issei out of the Juggernaut Drive, rather than the Oppai Dragon song. And some of the character designs were excellent, particularly Tannin and Sairaorg. But there were some that just didn’t work, like Fenrir, and Loki himself was a bit underwhelming.
This just struck me as so stupid. Why would you go sit in an uncomfortable chair in the middle of a huge dark room?
They managed to hit most of the high points of the stories, and get most of the girls character development in, with Asia, Koneko, and Akeno all getting focus time to work out some of their hangups. I think that Akeno’s was probably handled the best, especially considering how much they had to move around since they got rid of the main fight where Akeno comes to understand her love for her father (and where Issei is approached by the Chichigami (“Goddess of Boobs”), which for all intents and purposes they left out as well). Asia didn’t really have much ‘development’ to go through, even in the novel, but her full acceptance of her status in both Issei’s and Rias’ families was handled well. Koneko is the one who got the short end of the stick as far as time, especially because the fight that she shone in was completely left out of this series (a rating game between Rias and Sona). That also robbed Saji of his big scene as well, but he’s not that important, I guess.
Even if they don’t do the fights well, I really like Rias’ character look
I mentioned TNK’s iffy fight animation, and for the most part they hide it well, but there are times that it just can’t be missed. That’s been a fairly standard part of the show for all three seasons, so it’s not exactly something that was unexpected. This season didn’t have a great ED like the previous two did, although Give Me Secret is a catchy enough song. ChouCho’s Bless Your Name is a good song as well, and really blows away a lot of songs recently in the “convert it to a full song” category. I also really really like the B-side that came with it, Hello Hello Hello. If you get a chance, take a listen.
I think that kids should wear these clothes all the time
I couldn’t decide between this one and the first picture, so you get both bookending the post
So I think this season was ok. It wasn’t as good as DxD New, but it certainly fit in fine with the series, and was adapting what are probably the three weakest novels in the series. The wrap up of the final storyline had a little bit too much “Never mind” for my tastes, with Issei and Rias forgetting their moment of closeness, but overall I think there was a lot of good closeness and interaction throughout, and that’s what the main draw of the show is. I certainly got what I was looking for as a fan of Akeno and Rias, and I think the Koneko and Asia fans did as well (sorry Gasper and Kiba fans). It certainly seemed like they’re inviting a fourth series with the way it ended, and I think if we get that, we’ll get two of the strongest stories in the series. I’ll definitely look forward to that.
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: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
To paraphrase Yoda, “This is why you fail”.
Yeah, I agree, New rocked much harder than this outing, as that always had something going for it. Born felt a bit too much, hurry up and wait. It got to some good moments, but few and far between. I could have used more Asia as well, and I rather like their foundling stories more than the others.
But, onward and upward, as they say. That was one weird kids show….
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I can see why they left out the Rating Game with Sitri, especially because it’s a situation where, yeah, the Gremory group wins, but not nearly as well as they “should”. There’s also that [Reverse] ability that is used and then banished out of the books, never to be used again.
There were definitely good parts to this, and I think that it handled a lot of the themes of the relationships pretty well. But there was a bit too much distraction due to the story cut and paste, and some of the parts that I think are more important in the overall scheme of things (such as the family’s assumption that Issei isn’t just the guy Rias has a secret crush on, but that he knows that he’s intended to marry her).
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
No matter how I put it, the continuation of the sentence is: “Issei, I’m not pregnant after last night~ <3"
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*now pregnant, not not.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
“Oh honey, ain’t most times nothin’ happen at all…”
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 110 comments
well at least s3 DxD is done sure issei’s iron man armor now got double shoulder cannon.
also rias also make ross buy in to join team rias.
indeed everything all fine now wait for s4 (oh s3 dub of funi still going on)
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
DxD 4 will be: DxD Harem War.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
The LN readers have been flipping tables left and right over this adaptation, I hear.
So how many more seasons can be generated from the source material?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
In general, the people who whine and moan on the internet are the proverbial squeaky wheel. One shouldn’t let the fact that others don’t like it prevent them from enjoying something, but at the same time one shouldn’t be blind to the shortcomings pointed out. We have some LN readers here, including me, and while I think the adaptation could have been a bit better, I don’t think it was too bad. The anime original stuff was not out of character, the changes that they made to the timeline and all were not out of character, and while they cut some things, it wasn’t like they cut out anything that was particularly essential to any particular character. I would have liked to see the Sitri / Gremory Rating Game, partly because we’ve never seen a proper Rating Game in the anime. I’d also probably have preferred the big set piece against Loki to finish out the series, but I can see that they would want to fit in some Issei x Rias time, which in these LNs is kinda scarce. We’ll see how the sales go, but I also think that this was the stretch of the weakest LNs (Particularly Diadora and Loki, imo), as far as cool things happening, so I can’t fault the production for trying to punch it up a bit.
There’s more material now than there was after the last series. You could consider that they have adapted through volume 8 (which was a side-story book with things they mostly moved into the first series), and now there are 19 LNs. So they adapted 3 this series, and there were four more added since the beginning of the previous series. I would think that if they were going to do a couple more seasons, they’d put 9 and 10 together (because 10 would be an awesome end to a series) and 11 and 12 together (because 12 would be a good end to a series and 11 would… not). They could also bring in the last story from volume 8, as well as some of the stories from volume 13, which is another side-story volume, to fill out the two series.
In other words, there is plenty of good material, definitely better material than they adapted here, left in the series.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Making Rossweisse a teacher at their school and a boarder at Issei’s house was a good way to integrate her into Rias’s family and the harem. And I like that she joined as much or more for a better benefits package than because Odin ignored her. That was a nice, humorous touch.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Rossweisse is closest to a ‘normal’ reason that people join up with a devil among Rias’ servant devils. Almost everyone else was literally ‘saved’ (Issei and Asia had mortal wounds or were killed, Kiba was abandoned and cast out into the wilderness, Koneko and Gasper were probably going to be killed by their previous groups, and Akeno was self-destructing. Only Xenovia wasn’t under fear of a likely death among the others). But Rossweisse is ‘practical’ to a fault (you might go as far as “cheap” – The 100-Yen Shop Valkyrie) so that’s definitely the pitch that would work with her
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
“Practical to a fault” actually fits the Viking sensibility. I’m reminded of an incident I read about that took place in Viking times. A young woman had to chose between two suitors–a young man and a middle-aged one. She chose the middle-aged one and gave as her reason that she knew what she was getting with him, but the young man could turn out to be anything in time.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…and middle aged men are awesome…
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I hear Rossweisse is so cheap, her bra’s a few threads away from becoming a wardrobe malfunction! Forget Dress Break, even a small breeze will rip the whole thing apart!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I love DxD but I gotta admit this third season wasn’t as great as the previous two because they spent too much time on everything else besides Issei x Ria’s getting together and finally figuring out that they are meant to be! However the last episode gave me what I wanted <3
Any idea why Asia got a mini arc? I thought her story was wrapped up in season one? I guess she must be a popular character or something...
7/10 for me now we shall wait for a possible fourth season or some OVA episodes?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
LN 6 (Holy Behind the Gymnasium) is primarily focused on Asia after Issei (all the books are focused on Issei first, and then someone else a distant second). This connects the dots between why she’d been cast away from the church and where she is now. Plus, Asia is pretty much the second most popular character (my preference for Akeno notwithstanding), so more story for her is fine. She kind of disappears for 6 or so novels after this, tho.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Akeno is my favorite character as well.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
There’s an OVA coming out on December. And I believe the BDs will have some 5 minute fanservice specials.