Highschool DxD Episode 9 - Episode Review
Beware when Rias sets you up for special training.
What They Say:
Issei and Asia undergo a special training camp with the other household members to get ready for the upcoming Rating Game. Issei struggles to figure out what his own special characteristic is. Rias explains more about devils and the Gremory family.
Issei and Asia undergo a special training camp with the other household members to get ready for the upcoming Rating Game. Issei struggles to figure out what his own special characteristic is. Rias explains more about devils and the Gremory family.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the series having worked a good balance of serious material and humor, it’s welcome when the show just chooses one or the other. It’s done good in blending the two but it has a bit of special fun when it just picks on and runs with it. This episode opts for the humor nad fanservice side as it has Rias taking the group off for a special training camp where she’s going to work them hard. Well, they’ll get training but it’s Issei that’s going to get worked hard physically since he is the pack horse of the group and Rias definitely makes him aware of it. It’s kind of charming how she plays up the elegant side of things while making sure he’s doing all the heavy lifting.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the series having worked a good balance of serious material and humor, it’s welcome when the show just chooses one or the other. It’s done good in blending the two but it has a bit of special fun when it just picks on and runs with it. This episode opts for the humor nad fanservice side as it has Rias taking the group off for a special training camp where she’s going to work them hard. Well, they’ll get training but it’s Issei that’s going to get worked hard physically since he is the pack horse of the group and Rias definitely makes him aware of it. It’s kind of charming how she plays up the elegant side of things while making sure he’s doing all the heavy lifting.
With the Rating Game coming up and a lot at stake, getting the newer members up to speed and making sure the existing members are on top of things makes a lot of sense. Issei’s pretty cute as he does his best as often as he can, even when it comes down to cooking, but his mind is so caught up in pervy thoughts that it gets to be overwhelming. Which is good for the viewer since we get lots of cutely obscured fanservice scenes as he often thinks of everyone stark naked. That also doesn’t stop them from getting naked on occasion as there is a hot spring here after all and if you’re a young woman, you must spend time in it. The steam here is a pretty big part of censoring but there are some overly whited out areas too, which just reinforces my desire for a high definition version of this series.
The episode does have a lot of fun with things but it also spends some quality down time with some tender moments that are actually a bit of a surprise. Where it gets really surprising is when Issei runs across Rias in the middle of the night and the two have a rather good conversation about things, from the Rating Game itself to how Issei does truly like her, and going by his tone, respects her as well. For Rias, it’s a really good moment that shows her with a sense of warmth and personality that isn’t always there since she has her game face on while leading the club and dealing with those that are part of her charge. It also gives us some good time where Issei realizes his place fully in serving her and the way his desire to truly serve her has become stronger and more important to him as time has gone on.
In Summary:
Serving more as a setup for what’s to come, Highschool DxD has a lot of fun here in the first half as it works through the fanservice, silliness and hot spring sequence. It has some action to the end of the second half that makes it clear how dangerous the Rating Game will be, but more of what it deals with is the growing (platonic) relationship between Issei and Rias. And I really like that they’re not forcing a romantic triangle here since I do think Issei and Asia are well matched and putting Issei in a strong servant mode with no ulterior motives definitely makes for a more engaging watch. This series has just found the right balance to work and leaves me smiling and enjoying it week after week, both for its silly side and for the serious side.
Serving more as a setup for what’s to come, Highschool DxD has a lot of fun here in the first half as it works through the fanservice, silliness and hot spring sequence. It has some action to the end of the second half that makes it clear how dangerous the Rating Game will be, but more of what it deals with is the growing (platonic) relationship between Issei and Rias. And I really like that they’re not forcing a romantic triangle here since I do think Issei and Asia are well matched and putting Issei in a strong servant mode with no ulterior motives definitely makes for a more engaging watch. This series has just found the right balance to work and leaves me smiling and enjoying it week after week, both for its silly side and for the serious side.
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