Highshcool DxD BorN (Season 3) Anime Review

Damn guys! I know it has been a long time since I posted my last review. To be honest I am a little bit lazy writing since it’s the holidays. On the bright side, I finished a lot of anime recently, which means I have a lot to write about in the future. Now, let’s get our attention back to Highschool DxD BorN.

Highschool DxD BorN is the third season of the renown anime Highschool DxD. It once again continues with the story of Hyoudou Issei and his journey of becoming the Harem King and a High-Class Devil. The third season follows the events recorded in Volume 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Light Novel. It addresses the conflict teased by the previous season and adds in additional material from volume 8 and well, the animators.

From the get go, it is kind of obvious that this season is the most disappointing season of Highschool DxD. The previous seasons of DxD adopted 2 volumes of Light Novels for each season while season 3 opted for 4 volumes with an additional original content. This is, truth be told, rather suicidal.

What do I like about the anime?

I like the fact that I can still find the enjoyment that previous seasons of DxD gave me. It is still fun to see how Issei interact with the rest of the crew and it is fun to watch them grow with time. The fight scenes are also as awesome as ever, with the insane DxD power up remain present throughout. In fact, they follow the theme almost perfectly so much so that it feels that nothing wrong has been done for the season. 

What do I hate about the anime?

I hate the fact that they divert away from the source material, and I am not talking about small details rather huge plot that could have sold the anime. This season is pretty much filled with fillers which I firmly believe none of the DxD fans ever want. To be honest I believe that they make this season with the idea that they will discontinue the series entirely. 

The anime is incoherent. The pace is too fast to comprehend and there are plot that did not even make any sense. Many attempts are made to emphasise on the “cooler” aspect of DxD but due to this attempt, it sacrifices character building and the story entirely. It is truly a disastrous work of art. 

I really hate this season because it makes non-readers believe that this is the real story of Volume 5,6 and 7, which is far from true. In fact only half of volume 5 is covered in this season and the entirety of volume 7 is done disastrously. I am going to emphasise this more later!

Judgment

While the season still lived up to the spirit of Highschool DxD (that is echii and action), its plot is haphazard and disastrous. I am giving this season a C-, before I read the novels.

It is however a D- after experiencing the Light Novels. This season of DxD is an embarassment to Highschool DxD fan like myself and is a disgrace to Ichiei Ishibumi’s work.

Now let’s head to the section where I will burn this anime.... so from this point onwards, SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Plot

First Arc: Adapted from “Hellcat of the Underworld Training Camp”

Yea, so remember one of the strengths Season 2 had was that they developed secondary characters and give them more highlight. It did not happen this time round. Volume 5 of DxD, as the title suggests, is meant to develop Koneko Toujo more as a character. The anime instead, breezes through Koneko’s story instead of putting the detail and attention they had given to Kiba. They cut through the chase by giving Koneko the power up she deserves but the story behind it left me with a unsatisfactory impression. I believe that her story and struggle with Kuroha in the past should have greater impact on the emotion and would serve a great story. It was instead wasted. Hey at least they still include that moment Issei achieved Balance Breaker by poking Rias’s breast.

The anime also discarded the second half of Volume 5 which was actually a RATING GAME between Rias’s peerage and Sitri’s. I mean COME ON! YOU SKIPPED A RATING GAME! Rating games are always enjoyable to experience in the world of Highschool DxD as it is full of action while at the same time provides us with a power check (and thus character development check) for characters that are involved. The omission of this storyline heavily impacts the Sitri group especially individual like Saji who possess great power. He was actually one of the few supporting characters I really like and thanks to this, he is reduced to just a mere supporting cast in the anime.

Second Arc: Adapted from “Ragnarok After School”

You know things are going wrong when they skipped Volume 6 and start doing volume 7 materials right after volume 5. Alright first of all, the battle with Sitri is skipped as I previously mentioned, despite the promises made in the anime. Instead we found the Norse mythology to appear in the series by crashing the party event between the young devils. Then the season rushed off by commencing the event of Ragnarok (yes the one recorded in Norse Mythology). Instead of Rias fighting Sitri, we have the Rias and Sitri group to fight Loki instead. The entire story is squeezed into 2 episodes. 2 DAMN EPISODES! It is clear that the plot makes almost zero sense. We have Loki, a god from the Norse Mythology to appear to a party for young devils out of nowhere and start wreaking havoc. Before I read the novels, I am utterly speechless, because it does not make any sense. It is true that the anime hints the existence of other mythologies besides the bible, but for a god to randomly attack without a clear motive feels weird. In fact the only motive there is was the fact that Odin is present. 

Another thing of concern is similar to that of Koneko’s in the previous arc. At the beginning of the season it is hinted that at least 2 members of the Gremory family is having some problems of their own, particularly Koneko who is sick due to the fact that it is her mating season. Another character is Akeno who has family issues. Akeno’s revelation as a devil and fallen angel hybrid occurs in the previous arc when supposedly, it happens when Rias fought Sitri. But since it never happened in the anime, her power up is squeezed in this arc which means that once again, her history with Barakiel isn’t well explored just like Koneko’s history. This is a major downgrade compared to the treatment they gave Kiba in Season 2. 

Third Arc: Adapted from “Holy Behind the Gymnasium”

So, after Rias and Sitri group defeated Loki, the story decided to start on Volume 6 which consist one of the best moment in DxD. To be fair, this arc was done fairly well compared to the rest of the season. It stayed true to the novel and the clear plot is apparent compared to the rest. So yea, particularly this arc, I have nothing much to say but to look forward to it. There are major power ups going on in this arc which serve as one of the anchor point for Season 4. Probably my only concern for this arc is it is coherently bad, but it’s not because of the plot itself, rather the state of the other two arcs presented in this season. 

Fourth Arc?

This is a completely new arc made for the anime. It tells a story about Issei and Rias and it is triggered due to the curse Loki gave to Issei back in the second arc of the season.

To be honest with you, this arc would be ok speaking in the sense that the script makes sense to some extent. It manage to fit itself well into the story and it does provide us with some cool scenes not written in the books. It would be even better except for the fact that this arc feels as if the studio is trying to CANCEL and DISCONTINUE the series entirely. The ending of the arc feels like the studio wanted to stop DxD anime entirely, giving it some kind of a closure. When I first watch DxD (before reading the novels) it left me wondering if it is truly the end of DxD and if there will be more. After I read the Novels I became kind of pissed due to the fact that they divert so much from what originally is intended. Moreover by ending the story there, a lot of great story arcs from DxD won’t be animated, and it is truly such a shame.

Characters

Normally I would go on and write something about Issei, but this time round I want to talk about Koneko and Akeno first because the two characters has the most issues in terms of development this season.

Toujo Koneko

So we knew Koneko all the way back from Season 1. After the epic Kiba arc back in Season 2, I was hoping for some character development for Koneko which we actually get but, not executed in a good way. Koneko has a dark past with Kureha, her sister, for which she loved dearly but feel in a dark path. Due to the actions of her sister, Koneko herself became despised and pushed away from the society. That is until the Gremory family found her and adopted her. She then grew to despise herself as a Nekomata, as she wanted to reject her sister's existence with all her heart. Due to this rejection, she also grew to reject her own powers. While the story is kind of short, I still believe that it deserve more screen time than what we currently have in Season 3. It does add in some development for Koneko but I don't think it justify her character, considering the fact that she is one of the characters we were introduced from the beginning of the series. Her story finishes with her acceptance of the fact that she is indeed a nekomata, and she chooses to not follow the path that her sister had walked. This allow her to unleashed her original powers, magical powers known as Senjutsu. Oh, and it gives her cat ears and tail for people who are into those.

I kind of feel that her story and acceptance would be a great story arc. However it was, once again, never fully developed. In fact, I kind of blame the light novel and not only the anime on this section. Koneko's arc, despite the entire book being titled based on her, is only dedicated half an entire book unlike Kiba who got an entire book for his development instead. Furthermore, the fact that Issei unlocked a method to unlock his Balance Breaker at will in this arc somewhat overshadow Koneko.

Himejima Akeno

Another similar pointers should be given to Akeno as well. However it is much worse for her case. Akeno has a complex relationship with her father due to the fact that he is a Fallen Angel. Her story would explain why Akeno hated the Fallen Angels a lot more than the others in the group and of course how she met Rias. I also feel that her story is one of the darker stories among the others and it would make a great arc. But now here comes the problem, Akeno's story is not really covered deeply until Volume 7, along with Loki's arc. However, volume 7 was just breezed through in the anime. It easily ignores the fact that Issei and Akeno did go for a date promised when Issei fought Diadora's army, where most of her story was revealed. The result of this development was the fact that Akeno now gain access to Holy Lightning due to her nature as a Fallen Angel, being able to access the power of light. In the anime, we only caught a glimpse of it when they fought Loki, if I recall correctly.

Hyoudo Issei

Let's talk about Juggernaut Drive. In the anime, Issei once again undergo various power ups, first being the fact that he poked Rias's breast to attain Balance Breaker and second is how he unlocked Juggernaut Drive when Asia is presumably killed by Beelzebub (the Old Maou). So the Juggernaut Drive is kind of the next stage after Balance Breaker but it is reserved only for the Two Heavenly Dragons. There are versions of Juggernaut Drive for the other Longinus and it will be revealed later in the story. This season, Issei received the standard development he had been getting from the previous seasons. In fact I believe that the anime only focuses on his development instead of the others. Particularly on that part I feel that it is rather unfortunate.

Regarding the extra arc, it is actually redundant. It is an attempt to replicate one of the greatest moment in DxD that happened later in the story, but I am not allowed to say it yet because it is actually covered in Season 4. In this arc, Issei did not receive any power up or in fact anything whatsoever. The fact that this extra arc adds no value in for the characters made it feel as if that they are trying to discontinue the anime entirely because the way Season 3 ended feels that way.

Coherence

The main problem for this particular season is both plot and coherence. This is of course due to the fact that they omit most of Volume 7. One thing that does not make sense is the fact that the anime told us that there will be Rating Games among the young devils. However, there are no further mention nor is there a glimpse of a rating game actually happening between them. So it makes you wonder whether it is happening or not. What about Rias versus Sitri? Which is literally the embodiment of brawn versus brain? 

Another part that feels incredibly choppy is the entire Loki's arc. There are just so many questions like, what's the point of Loki initiating Ragnarok now? Why is there so many things going on at the same time? And how the hell did Saji get that strong? Many of these questions emerges due to the fact that they ignored the battle between Rias and Sitri which consists of a lot of development for many characters. 

And then there's the extra arc.... just why???

Effects

Once again, I have nothing much to say. They keep their formulas and that is actually a good thing! Yet due to the extra arc, I feel that they are losing passion for the anime. An extra commendation for TNK is the fact that they adhere a lot to the original artwork presented in Ichiei's books. It actually brings those memorable characters to life and I am truly grateful.

Emotions

Emotional wise, there are some moments where it hits me pretty hard even before I read the Novel. One particular section is when Asia is presumably killed. The reaction from Issei is worth noting and it is rather powerful. Oh yes, and of course, Juggernaut Drive, for those who really love a main character chanting powerful words before they unleashed their power... This is definitely one of the best you can get.

By the way, dear Studio TNK, if you really think that your extra arc can replicate the amount of emotions that was recorded in Volume 10, I have to apologise. It did not work. The extra arc feels so incredibly weird and out of place that I have no particular emotion about it.

To conclude everything, Highschool DxD BorN, is still a memorable ride because it hinges on some important moments in Issei's life. However, it adds in some unnecessary stuff that reduces it value by a lot. Look forward to Season 4 because story wise, it is gonna be one of the best, and I do have high hopes for Studio Passione which will work on the new DxD.