After having spent the last week or so binging this entire series from start to finish including all of the OVAs, I can unequivocally say that Highschool DxD Hero is arguably the worst installment of the series and let me down in every aspect of what I had previously enjoyed from these sorts of animes.

It starts off okay enough with Senko-san (I can't be bothered to remember her name right now, that's how little of an impact her entire story line played and her mythology was used), and then entirely turns into a pile of hot steaming dogshit once it reaches the Ratings Game with Saoirg. Holy fucking flipping christ. If I have to read another review gaslighting me into liking it because it's closer to the LN, I will actually start pulling my hair out. Under TNK's direction, I felt there was still nuance and subtlety in the relationships between characters, and this entire season makes Rias Gremory, the "Ruin Princess" look like some run-of-the-mill, damsel in distress that is un-fucking-bareable in any erotic or hentai and is someone you skip because her dialogue is that atrocious. I liked the ending. Decent closure on a romantic sub-arc being played out over multiple seasons, but this entire arc of Issei "leveling" up felt like completely unnecessary and downright disrespectful and cringey comparatively to what S1-S3 was. Hell, even the 3 minute OVAs hit home more then whatever the fuck this was.

And don't get me started on the animation. I know it's difficult to transition entire franchises to a new studio, and granted, Ishibumi is entirely in his right to want his work adapted in a manner he's okay with. But this is such a 180 of what everyone loved about Highschool DxD, it's no wonder it didn't get picked up for a Season 5 right away despite having a completed LN. Studio Passione tried something, but that does not fit the scope of what Highschool DxD was and should be. And respectfully, why the fuck the insistence on using children in an anime that literally has pervert tropes and breasts? Like, are you okay brother? Seriously. I'd appreciate more of a return to what TNK was, even if it was just an animation and tonal shift. I get that some arcs are boring and not as good as others, but serve a useful purpose for worldbuilding/character building. But this wasn't it. With a three year gap coming off the heels of the end of BorN, instead of improving the series in a meaningful way, it felt degraded, lackluster and too serious for something that is inherently the opposite.

Also, whoever wrote the jokes for S4 needs to get fired. I quite liked the slapstick comedy Issei brought in the previous seasons, but his interchangeable use of F-bombs as euphemisms and how his dick-jokes turned into what would be playground insults for first graders, please, if a Season 5 ever happens, hire a better comedy writer.

If you liked DxD up until BorN, including the OVAs, I promise you this change is so jarring it will leave a foul taste in your mouth. Avoid it if you can, but don't stop halfway if you start. The ending is worth it, albeit annoying how it was interrupted.