Alright, let’s talk about High School DxD — not from the surface level most people stop at, but the way it actually feels to watch. I’ll be honest: when I first heard about High School DxD, I thought I knew exactly what I was walking into. Ecchi comedy, over-the-top fanservice, a story that was probably paper-thin. And yes, all of that is there. But somewhere along the way, I stopped watching ironically and started caring — really caring. That shift surprised me. It’s easy to laugh at Issei’s ridiculous pervy antics, but what caught me off guard was how much heart sat beneath all the chaos.
First, Issesai is the type of a protagonist you hate to see. He is loud, he is horny and he carries the desires on his sleeve. However, after some time I knew that is one of the reasons that makes him so real. He is not trying to seem good or even to pretend that he does not care about the things that he clearly cares about. And beneath that there is this dogged allegiance, this desire to defend the people who are close to him despite not knowing the bigger conflicts he has become involved in. I was effected at watching him pass out of an unsuspecting, altruistic adolescent into the man who would sacrifice his own life to rescue those of his friends.
And then there’s Rias. She looks like the dream of every fanboy on the surface: beautiful, powerful, mysterious. But the more I looked the more I perceived her layers. She is not only a leader; she is vulnerable as she is not always so demonstrative, but a bearer of the burden of being born in the world of demons, politics and expectations. The little scenes between her and Issei were what actually drew me in not the glamorous, sexy ones but the quiet little ones, the almost sensitive ones. The manner she places her trust in him, how he enables her in his turn. Their romance was less of a dream and more of two individuals as they were each drawing towards one another, imperfections and all.
And yet after watching High School DxD, the most interesting thing about it was not necessarily the fanservice (although, again, we cannot neglect it) but the family life of the peerage of Rias. Every character, Akeno with her elegant smile that conceals pain, Koneko with her rough honesty and even Asia with her sweet innocence, they were not side characters. They joined a selected family. And watching them fight, bicker, laugh, and risk everything for each other gave the show more weight than I ever expected.
I had times that gave me a gut-punch. One is the arc of Asia - her isolation, her requirement to belong, and her despondency. The initial occasion she smiles it is her heart that she belongs to the world of Issei and others, I tell you I choked. And then there were battles in which the stakes were so great not alone by the flashy powers but by the very virtue of knowing what these characters meant to each other. When somebody was hurt, it was not a plot point but it hurt me as well.
And of course, I laughed — a lot. The humor behind High School DxD is insane, unashamed, and other times so ridiculous that you can just not stop loving it. The pervy one-liners of Issei, the ridiculous circumstances in which he finds himself- they injected the seriousness thereof in a manner which never allowed the show to go too heavy. That is the combination of absurd and sincere that makes the series a success.
I had finished when I understood that High School DxD is not only about demons, angels, and fanservice. It was concerning tolerance, devotion and solace in the relationships you establish. It brought me to the point of laughter until I felt it in the stomach, it brought me to the point of feeling something I did not expect, and it helped me to side with a group of characters that were stereotypes but evolved in some way.
So, yea — High School DxD pleasantly surprised me. It is sloppy, it is absurd, it is shamelessly extreme. Nonetheless, it is also heartfelt, funny, and on some occasions, it is very touching. And that is why it kept on playing in my mind even after the credits were over.
Thumbnail is designed by me on pixelLab and other images are screenshot from the movie