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「若手悪魔、集合です！」 (Wakate Akuma, Shuugoudesu!)
“Young Devils Gather”
Training time comes and goes, flanked by flirty fun, and leading into the Koneko-chan focus we’ve all been waiting for.
Training Time—Aaaand It’s Over
Training arcs are tricky. Sometimes they can actually be very interesting, both in that they’re a good excuse to throw out exposition, show character growth, and pit characters against themselves in a way they can actually lose (as compared to most life-or-death struggles where we know they’re not going to lose too much, at least). They can also be flippin’ boring. DxD neatly skirted the issue by telling us what each character was going to work on—Issei on his endurance/durability, Rias her strategy, Akeno her Fallen Angel abilities, etc.—and then skipped straight to the results. They even managed to introduce Akeno’s antipathy for her father, Barachiel (Inada Tetsu), and hint at a mystery swordmaster helping Yuuto, which has me really curious. It still feels like they did the storytelling equivalent of “yadda yadda, moving on!”, which felt rushed.
Stop Being An Ichika, Issei!
Okay, that’s unfair—short of a complete character rewrite, Issei will never be as bad as Ichika. There were a few moments that made me lament his temporary denseness. To go from realizing how prudent Rias was to deny him fifty meido (damn!) to not knowing why Lord Gremory (Hayami Show) was telling him to call him otou-san (and why Rias’ mother was talking about the “proper order”) is just … okay, yeah, he’s more a perv than anything else, but guuuuhhh! Him not realizing that Ravel Phenex (Nishi Asuka) is totally ready to enter his harem, on the other hand, was not in the least bit cringe-worthy. I would describe it as equal parts jealousy inducing and tsun(dere)tastically adorable. C’mon Issei, get tea with her! I’m sure you could use another kawaii Bishop at some point. Dooooo it!
Looking Ahead – Koneko-chan’s Past
We’re moving along nicely into the Koneko-chan focused part of this arc. I accidentally spoiled myself on her nekomata origins, so I can’t act surprised there (though when I first read it I wasn’t surprised either), but the showdown with her older sister, Kuroka (Takahashi Minami) is the perfect chance for Koneko-chan to unlock her sealed potential and become even more powerful-nyan. Plus, maybe add the final female member of Rias’ family to Issei’s harem, ufufu~!
tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Training comes & goes, flanked by flirty fun. Now it’s Koneko’s time in the spotlight #haremking s3e2
Random thoughts:
- Issei, don’t think about Gasper when you have two cute girls in your bed. Though I suppose that shows Issei really is a good guy, even if Gasper is just fine.
- Speaking of Gasper, I think he got the hardest training of all. Not that getting attacked by a dragon for twenty days isn’t pretty rough.
- The Koneko haremette capture became priority number one as soon as her nekomimi came out. The kawaii catgirl must be captured-nyan!
- Stilts note: Expect DxD posts to usually come out on Sunday. Thank you.
My first novel, Wage Slave Rebellion, is available now. (More info—now available in paperback!) Sign up for my email list for a FREE sequel short story. Over at stephenwgee.com, the last four posts: Cut away the boring bits, Sheet music, Wage Slave Rebellion is officially in print, and From LEGO to author.
Full-length images: 10, 29, 33.
Preview
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tsun kitty and tsun birdy spotted
https://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%20Large%20Preview%2001.jpg
and the New “Harem Girl” is getting introduced, well she appears in the ED together with the Kindergarten Friend Church Girl taking Notes. So she must be from Michael faction
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Stilts edit: Mark and tag spoilers please.
https://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
This little birdy is quite the addition to the harem.
Probably one of my favorite eye catches in the entire series so far.
Those eyebrows just accent everything even more.
Nekomimi Koneko spotted! Quickly Issei, capture her
virginityheart! 😉~Tsun tsun dere tsun dere tsun tsun~
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Aside from the fact that they’re gearing up to skip 60% of vol.5, this was good, if just a bit rushed. Lot of corners cut from the LN, and the main event won’t be happening, which I’m fine with me since it means we get to skip one of the worst over-endorsements of a side-character I’ve ever seen. Besides, next episode has all the good stuff!
The first time through was a bit confusing since they’re shuffling lots of the order stuff happens around, but it was pretty good for a training episode. They kinda got rid of the reason why they needed to train, though… oh well, getting stronger is good all on it’s own.
My one complaint is that for some reason anime-Rias isn’t as “dere” as LN-Rias. The anime missed out on a lot of adorable spoiling by Ise’s crimson waifu that I would’ve loved to see. One change I won’t forgive them for is the omission of what I think is one of Rias’s greatest lines:
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Actually, Show Spoiler ▼
Power-level wise, that… makes absolutely no sense! 🙁 Damn it…
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I’m really not looking forward to Koneko’s arc. I hope it’s better than what I’ve heard, but if it’s really Show Spoiler ▼
Feel better.
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I guess that’s better, but
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If it helps Show Spoiler ▼
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Stilts edit: Please mark MORE spoilers than you did, lol
And personally, I’m waiting for…
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Oh, sorry. I thought it was obvious, considering the harem genre, so I didn’t bother spoiler tagging it.
Sure, it skipped some, but…hey. It’s sexy time. ;D
I’m amazed that there would be people going after Koneko considering what Issei is knows to have done TO A PHEONIX!
https://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2006.jpg
50 meidos!
My favorite Phoenix Girl has arrive!
#TeamRavel!!!
Definitely rushing through the material. :< Too much IMO. To be honest, I liked vol. 05, and seeing so much cut out isn't very satisfying to watch. I feel like I'm being given 5 minutes to eat a meal. I'm sure having read the LNs makes a difference, but even without being spoiled, the rushed, summary type pacing is noticeable, and it's hurting some of the original story's depth. Given that the past two seasons were both good enough to warrant another season, I have to wonder why Season 1 & 2’s pacing was abandoned. Been awhile since I read the LN (particularly vol. 05-07), but I don’t recall anything in vol. 06 which warrants, let alone mandates, including vol. 07 this season.
That’s not to say Ep. 02 was bad, but for me it was a noticeable step down from the previous two seasons’ presentation. I also think the anime is being a bit too ham-fisted with Koneko’s plot line setup. Even without reading the LNs, I think it’s pretty clear to viewers that “something is bothering her” without repeatedly showing that so much. I little more subtlety would work better. To be clear, it wasn’t a huge issue, but still to the extent that it stuck out while watching. On the plus side, I’m glad that they didn’t cut Ravel’s scene with Issei. I’m not a huge tsundere fan, but I do like Ravel. 😀 I also liked how they handled the training rather than pad it out (though pacing dictated doing so). That kind of mirrors the LN since the training focus was all on Issei anyway. Then again, unless memory fails me, I don’t understand why the anime felt it was necessary to add Sairaorg literally popping in during Issei’s training for a line of dialog.
So far, HS DxD S3 is still pretty good. Certainly watched worse (some much worse) adaptations lately, and have no plans to drop this. Still, it’s hard for me ignore the solid, quality adaptation standard set by the past two seasons. :/
I’m the opposite. Even in the LN I couldn’t wait for vol. 5 to end after the match began, and I found vol. 6 to be well-done because it had some nice tension and I couldn’t wait for the rofl-stomp you could just feel building up throughout the entire volume. Then a certain switch gets flipped and… yes. Show Spoiler ▼
I feel that vol. 7 beats them both overall, though(proud Akeno fan!), so I’m sad that it feels like that’ll be the most rushed. Like you said, the pacing set by the first two seasons was good. There was plenty to fill 12 episodes without three volumes.
Well, everyone has their own particular favorite volumes (i.e. to each his/her own). I thought vol. 05 was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the match quite a bit. Vol. 06 was OK, but not as good IMO. Vol. 07 was good, but not above vol. 05 for me. Regardless, I think we can agree that that HS DxD anime Season 3 would be noticeably improved had they stuck with Season 1 & 2’s slower pacing.
As for your spoiler…Show Spoiler ▼
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“Definitely rushing through the material.”
Ugh, I can’t help but fear it’s going to be Date A Live II all over again… (Please prove me wrong, DxD BorN!)
– i’m looking forward to seeing issei’s reaction when he sees kuroka for the first time…….
– as for the story being all out of place, as long as it’s well executed and doesn’t stray from the original story too much, then it doesn’t seem like too much of an issue
– unlike the denseness of most, if not all harem leads, which seems to come out of nowhere, the reason behind issei’s denseness has been pretty well established up to this point. his one meaningful experience with someone of the opposite sex resulted in him being deceived and nearly killed, you can’t expect him to suddenly be capable of understanding the feelings of multiple girls after that.
Ravel is so cute as always…Marry ME 😀
And she’s the most helpful among all his haremettes when she finally joins the Hyoudou residence. I always like her scenes with Issei in the LN.
No one really waited for Sairaorg san? The manliest of men? I love you Sairaorg-san!! (I’m not gay BTW)
https://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%2018.jpg
Milicas!!! I’ll protect you so don’t cry!!!
Hehehehehehttps://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
The novel said that Venelana-san looks really like Rias except that she has brown hair… So I knew she would be hot… but still… She IS HOT
https://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%2003.jpg
Koneko’s neko mode is cute.
BUT THAT IS NOT HER BEST LOOKShttps://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%2024.jpg
No one really knows what Barachiel really hides in that facade of his…
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhttps://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%2015.jpg
Kuroka is hot as always. I LOVE YOU KUROKA!!!
https://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%20Preview%2002.jpg
I love this part
https://randomc.net/image/High%20School%20DxD/High%20School%20DxD%20BorN%20-%2002%20-%20Preview%2003.jpg
I Thought it’s the best episode today…
Then I see the person that I hate most…What has me at shock is its been 3 or so Seasons, and Issei is STILL a virgin?
Do you really want to know the answer? (I have read the novel so it’s up to you
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If you look skin-deep, then yes, it’s shocking. He goes to bed every night with a naked Asia on one side and a naked Rias on the other, both of whom the audience can tell are clearly willing to go all the way, so how can he not pounce?
The answer depends on how deep you want to look. You can just say he’s dense, or go deeper. He’s legitimately traumatized, even with the affection the girls show him. The sad part is that from the LNs, you can tell how much thought Issei has put into deluding himself, especially with Rias. Rias was going to end up in a political marriage, but he saved her, so she spoils him. Akeno finds his reactions amusing, so she teases him. Asia is his little sister, so he has to protect her from all men, including himself. He makes up multiple justifications like this with all the girls Show Spoiler ▼
He also doesn’t really register the changes that occur from when they were legitimately teasing him, to when they got serious about him. Basically, he thinks they see him as harmless, so they can express their literal naked feelings with him, but if he ever took a step too far, he thinks they would shut him down hard and things would get awkward. He actually tries to friendzone himself in his own head.
Sorry, I’ve thought about this too much because people assume it’s the typical “harem lead has no balls”, and it really isn’t. Akeno is forever my favorite girl because she’s the first to figure this out.
Issei is Akeno’s pillar of support. Her reaction…
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Still #TeamRavel!!!
Not to mention the fact that his first girlfriend tried to kill him left him with relationship issues.
@michaelman90: Right, hence being traumatized. Wow, somewhere in that rant I forgot to mention the main reason for the trauma and why he needs justifications at all. Epic fail = me!
While all that makes a lot of sense, keep one thing in mind: you don’t get credit for the words you don’t write. Or in this case, show on the screen, because an adaptation ought to be able to stand on its own.
To an anime only viewer, the light novels functionally do not exist, so while it’s interesting to hear how it’s done differently in the novels (sometimes), it’s still a failing here. And it’s not about reading enough into it, because they haven’t shown him going to such great lengths to justify the lack of sexy time, even if they have hinted that the first girlfriend situation still bothers him.
tl;dr – Anime only viewers can read as far into Issei as the anime is showing us, and reasonably come to the conclusion that his continued virginity is weird. They’re not showing us enough, unlike the girls themselves.
@Stilts: yeah, it’s always the ecchi series that suffer the most when adapted(Kanokon, Rosario+Vampire, IS, etc). Great for fanservice/comedy, not so much for interior thought/depth. The Monogatari Series does it best, and even that is missing a fair amount from inside Koyomi’s head(which ironically would’ve made some scenes sexier).
I would have to sincerely disagree with Stilts. Season 1 and season 2 actually did a really good job showing how much he friendzone himself from other girls. The first episode from this season also does foreshadowing how he really care for Asia and want to protect her. This case is really similar to Arita from Accel World, where he see himself as not worthy for the other girls’ love for him, thus leading to him constantly deny it. The true reason behind it is supposed to be kept hidden imo for the element of surprise, this case is completely different from Mr. pu**y Ichika-kun and I think that it is unfair and unsatisfied whenever people compare Issei to be a typical male lead which in fact he’s not as pretty clearly showed in the anime itself, not the LN.
So should Issei learn from Araragi Kiyomi then? By the end of season 1, he have already did the deed with Senjougahara. Probably multiple times already.
Oh, in how the World had fallen.. Maid = Sex slaves… Oh yes… well, in Issei’s fantasy they are there to please him. And what i read here and there, tourist’s think it is normal to sexual harassment Females in Train and such
Umm, I think you’re over-analyzing. Issei is a pervert, the show never shies away from this. Of course he thinks of maids as sex objects, he thinks of everything as sex objects. The interesting, and somehow redeeming, thing about Issei is that in some way through his sheer honesty about how perverted he is he goes all the way around to the other side and treats them more as people than the average harem lead does when he’s desperately ignoring all sexuality. It’s an odd balance, but never forget rule number 1; he is a pervert.
As for your second thing, that’s a much bigger issue and has little to do with this. I don’t know about TOURISTS specifically sexually harassing females on trains, it’s the Japanese that do it themselves, though I guess it’s possible they’ve tried to pin it on foreigners. It’s definitely a problem, but they have been taking steps to combat it such as female-only train cars and so on.
the last part, how many Nippon peoples are watching here this Site? it is more Tourists. That was just an Example in how to many JAV and Hentais has poison their mind. In thinking this is normal there. Like visiting Thailand for the Message Salons…
So, this comment was more directed for the Geijins about thinking the Females there are just for them to please.
I know I’m a supporter of the Issei-Rias-Akeno threesome (though Irina and Asia are likeable too), but oh my goodness… Ravel is so adorable!
Looking forward to seeing Rossweisse, as well as…
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Just further goes to show that this is pretty much the best harem out there. All the girls in this series are made of win!
ok, young devils seem to be almost as much trouble as human teenagers…
Issei for a self-declared pervert has been outrageously bound by status quo tyranny…
Rias, get your act together and solidify your claim on Issei, it seems your family are shippers on deck.
Issie is a billion times better than Ichika!
Wow… they really cut out a lot of comedic gold in this episode….
The first meeting between Issei and Rias’ mom was suppose to be much funnier
Issei’s training was also suppose to be much more entertaining than this…
oh well, the series is still 2 episodes in. I hope it gets better
Koneko was a catgirl all this time? Why am I not surprised lol
I’m just wondering why my version is censored while the snapshots taken here are uncensored?
Might want to look for another source then, the one I watched was uncensored. Censoring the glorious oppai of DxD is blasphemy!
ep 03:
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7/10 from me