Coming off of the success of the previous season would be a very difficult task to accomplish. After all, it’s in the second season where most harem anime go to die hard without any vengeance, eventually fading into obscurity, so managing to actually deliver a second season of this show that was just as good would be a great sign, and probably enough for many people. Though, High School DxD did not deliver the same enjoyment and quality the first season brought. “Why is that?,” you might ask, and it’s simple, really. High School DxD New went above and beyond any of my expectations and turned into something truly great. This review is going to serve as my reasoning for why I would say High School DxD New is amazing.
The art and style of the show remains mostly the same as the last season. It’s very reminiscent of any shonen battle show or mecha show of the era, and that’s not necessarily bad. The fights are well animated, the characters have interesting designs, and the ecchi is done very well, which is probably the main draw for a lot of people. The amount of ecchi and fanservice for this season is turned up to the highest it’s ever been, both in terms of quality and quantity. There are more bath scenes, suggestive actions and humor, panty shots, scenes of visible nudity, and general lewd happenings typical of the High School DxD series so far. Again, I can at least appreciate how the series is true to itself and how it decides to go about things. There’s no point in just acknowledging the meta, so why not just go completely over-the-top with it and break the ecchi meta as a whole, right?
The original voice cast from season one reprise their roles for this season, thankfully. Yuki Kaji as Issei, Youko Hikasa as Rias, Shizuka Itou as Akeno, Ayana Taketatsu as Koneko, Azumi Asakura as Asia, and Kenji Nojima as Yuuto return, but we’re also introduced to a few more characters for the season. The new cast come in with Risa Taneda as Xenovia, Maaya Uchida as Irina, and Ayane Sakura as Gasper. There are actually two opening songs and two ending songs this time around, with each song pair being used for the first and second six episodes respectively. Both opening songs are great to listen to. The first one is “Sympathy”, and it’s done by the same group that did the amazing opening song that was “Trip -innocent of D”. The next opening song is my favorite of the two, and it’s “Gekijouron” by a different group called ZAQ. To me, the two ending songs, “Houteishiki wa Kotaenai” and “Lovely ♥ Devil”, aren’t very noteworthy in terms of music, but they’re very well animated and sung by the female cast of the show. That’s to be expected for a High School DxD ending song, especially after “STUDY x STUDY” from the last season.
This is where the real enjoyment of the season comes in. After the events of the previous season, we’re reintroduced to our main cast, and that begins our new story arc, “Excalibur of the Moonlit Schoolyard”. This section of the story is pure hype, especially if you’re a fan of Yuuto. If not, you probably will be one after this arc, since it all centers around his backstory and his growth. This arc introduces us to Xenovia and Irina, as well as the concept of Holy Swords. We get more insight into Yuuto’s story and his path of revenge against Valper Galilei. Genshirou Saji, Sona’s pawn from the student council, becomes a protagonist for the arc, helping Issei and the gang on their mission to destroy the Holy Swords. The overall quality of this arc is above anything the previous season had—both the “Diabolos of the Old School Building” arc and “The Phoenix of the School Battle” arc. This arc is also home to some frightening revelations, especially to the characters of Asia and Xenovia, as well as an interesting plot twist towards the end of the final fight. This arc is full of tense moments, ecchi moments, exciting battles, character development, and a good resolution.
The second arc of the season, “Vampire of the Suspended Classroom”, is just as much good. First of all, Xenovia becomes more relevant to the story, which means more opportunities for some fun harem shenanigans. While season one may have been a harem by definition, I feel that this season is really where that aspect comes into fruition. We also get introduced to Gasper, Vali, Serafall, and Zeoticus, as well as get more scenes with Azazel and Sirzechs. Gasper is the titular Vampire of the Suspended Classroom, and he’s Rias’ other bishop who has the uncontrollable power to stop time. Oh, he’s also a femboy, which is very epic. The first portion of the arc is dedicated to getting to know more about Gasper and Issei training him, allowing for some bonding time between Issei and another club member that isn’t overtly lecherous, albeit with lecherous intent. Akeno also has a really good scenes in this arc, which turned her from a good character due to my onee-san bias, into a genuinely good character. The big battle with the magicians was cool to see, but the best fight was definitely Vali and Issei. That fight was wacky and fun, Issei bringing most of the best moments.
The characters of High School DxD remain interesting as usual. Issei, our protagonist, is expounded on further. We’re shown more of his pervy exploits, as well as his genuinely good moments. His camaraderie with Yuuto, his resolve for Gasper, his acceptance of Akeno, and so on and so forth. Time and time again, Issei is put to the test with problems that affect more than just himself. Time and time again, Issei has the strength to keep on trying until he finds a way to win. After all, he can’t back down until he achieves his dream of becoming the Harem King. He’s a degenerate, but a good-hearted one at that. We’ve already gotten glimpses into the real characters of Rias and Asia in the last season, so this one decides to go deeper into some other ones. Yuuto gets his own story arc, Gasper is introduced and developed, and Akeno has her own important moment. Some characters like Xenovia are interesting in their own right, as their backstories can be viewed as a parallel to already existing ones. Not to mention her fun scenes with Issei; those were pretty good.
Though, not every character is that great. Irina, for example, is a character I would have enjoyed seeing more of. She isn’t involved for the majority of it due to story reasons, but I would want to see her and Issei get involved in some funny harem scenarios, especially since she has pre-established history with him. Koneko, too, is a bit of a let-down. She remains basically the same as the previous season—a loli kuudere cat girl who’s really strong, calls Issei a pervert, and gets her clothes destroyed a lot. I would have liked to learn more about her, since Issei himself wondered if she had a backstory like him and Asia. Though, this may just be foreshadowing something for a future season.
High School DxD New is leagues above the original season in terms of quality, while still retaining all the charm it had. It’s fun, emotional, humorous, and just a good time. I loved to see more development for the already established cast, as well as the antics of the newly introduced ones. The plot progression is well done and easy to follow, making it easy to consume each twenty-six or so minute episode in either a single binge-watch or a spaced out schedule. This show isn’t peak harem anime, but it’s definitely close, in my opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed this season, and am very interested to see where the show will go from here.
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