Forum - View topicREVIEW: High School DxD New (Season 2) [Limited Edition] Blu-Ray
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CrownKlown
 Posts: 1762 |
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Anyone that thinks DxD is one of the worst portrayls and /or offensive shows to Christians has seen one show, High School Dxd.
Its not even the most offensive show about Christianity within the last few years, let alone of all time. Go Nagi probably has those claims, and then you have stuff like Index or like someone pointed out Qwaser etc. What makes those worse they are played straight while Dxd is a straight up goofball comedy. But there are literally hundreds of works manga/anime that probably have a much worse representation. |
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Fedora-san
 Posts: 464 |
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Just look at it this way, Japan loves to use and pervert Christian figures and Gods the same way America loves to use and pervert Norse/Greek/other figures and Gods. Those respective cultures don't practice it in widespread so it can make interesting fiction.
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Trypticon
 Posts: 80 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
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I actually finished watching High School DxD New a couple of days ago and I want to start off by saying I found it most entertaining and I consider it very good in terms of its quality as an anime despite some of my criticisms for it, however; I want to address something first. Forgive me if I drop any spoilers.
Understand that this is merely my humble opinion, but I have to go ahead and disagree with you here when it comes to these types of shows. I strongly feel that the original Queen’s Blade series is overall better from a narrative and thematic standpoint in comparison to High School DxD. I felt the characterization was not only better, but most of the development and individual catharses contributed to the thematic concepts Queen’s Blade was dealing with such as self-actualization and duality. Overall, I felt it was tighter in terms of its writing, thematic concepts, characterization and overall story execution. As for the overall aesthetic and character design, that’s even more subjective and for me, I liked the warmer look of Queen’s Blade to High School DxD with both shows providing intricate, detailed backgrounds. Both are great for well integrated, daring fan service for those who do like that sort of thing and more importantly; has a plenty of substance beyond the superficial aspect of ecchi. The music on both compliments each show by reinforcing the atmosphere for any given scene, is well composed and sounds beautiful whether it accompanies the visual medium they belong to, or on its own. Basically, Queen’s Blade is on my top favorites list with High School DxD in a strong position one grade below. So it comes down to the fact that I happen to like both shows a lot, but prefer Queen’s Blade for reasons I have stated. As for High School DxD New, I agree with the review overall in that there was some good fleshing out and even some development for the supporting cast which is well connected to the main story line. For example, how the back story for Yuto is tied into the arc about the holy swords and his development as a character that occurs. While the characterization may not be as in depth as some of the apparent “criterion” anime, or even certain similar shows ( wink wink, nudge nudge) it’s still pretty damn good despite that it’s a more action/comedy series with loads of ecchi content. The bottom line is that I’m able to empathize with the characters and understand their motives. This characterization also helps create a great dynamic, not only for drama, but with a lot of the comedic ideas employed on High School DxD in how the ensemble cast plays off of each other with reactions, or the snarky commentary by one of the more cynical female cast members. I also like the fact that the protagonist has parents, with actual speaking lines and actions that influence the other characters; this is something not often seen in anime, especially with shows like this; and it does set up some great comedic situations. On the topic of humor, I strongly feel obligated to bring up one of my favorite lines on this series: “In that case you want to threaten people from other religions so they’ll give us money? Since they won’t be with the church god will totally forgive us. Probably” The story is exceptionally well structured with where the narrative starts off and ends up and as mentioned, how some of the characters’ back stories contribute to the arc that the series is dealing with at a given time. I found the major story arcs transitioned nicely into each other with a pool episode being a good buffer between them. The climactic battle was well earned with a good build up and establishment with the introduction of new antagonists such as the white dragon with a sound and logical conclusion. As a sequel series it succeeds in that it expands upon what was done on the first season with more myth and world building, characters continuing on in their goals and paths as well as together as a group forming a stronger dynamic. Of course, like any good sequel, the stakes have been raised, but it’s not done out of an obligation just to be bigger with action or more salacious with the fan service than the previous season. My only issue here, and this ties to the characters as well is how some of the other antagonists that seem to randomly show up, could have been established and set up better; even some sort of foreshadowing in passing dialogue would have sufficed. The animation, character designs and backgrounds are colorful and inviting, making for an easy show to get into. The music, which I've already touched on earlier, works beautifully to compliment the series at every turn, especially the classically based patterns during some of the most salacious scenes; which I found pretty cute and funny. The overall execution makes for what is essentially a really good shonun action series that has some ecchi content and comedy in it. The only drawback is that it suffers what I call the “shonun curse” where there’s excessive dialogue during battle scenes, another series I happen to favor, Inuyasha does this plenty as well. More importantly though, I did get a little cynical at how High School DxD New constantly forces exposition by having some of the characters explain everything, which makes for upwards of four or five times. This isn't a huge issue for me as both Fullmetal Alchemist series do this as well and they too are top favorites of mine; in FMA’s defense though; it is spread over longer time duration. I will admit, it does have a bit of that “male power fantasy” flair to it as well, but understand; this isn't overdone to the point where it’s a dominate factor in the series, so, it’s a minor issue. Lastly; what is up with those weird boob sounds? They sound like a water balloon being rolled against a rubber floor or something. I mostly found this humorous because of how over the top and ridiculous the sound effects are and yeah, boobs don’t sound like that. What I got from this series allegorically may bring on the accusations that I “read too much into it” but I don’t care, I’m all about the interpretations. Thematically, it’s obvious that High School DxD New is visiting themes such as forgiveness, persistence, friendship & family and even confidence. If I tie that into how I feel about the entire devil concept and think about the age of a majority of the characters; teenagers and the angst of adolescence, it has greater thematic depth. That they are the damned and, of sorts abandoned by god, which is what the sort of emotion the loss of innocence adolescence can bring on, with god being how things change for a person at that age. Even the idea of Issei drawing his power on his lewd mentality could be interpreted as raging teenage hormones; and where is his boost glove? On one of his hands of course, so some allegory similar to Parasyte with that motif. Looking at the constant flux of teenage angst, the premise of the abandonment of god, that is how I look at the significance of the “devil” label assigned to the main ensemble cast. Interestingly enough, I found Gasper's social anxiety fascinating in not just in how he developed it, but how it links to his ability to stop time. This can be looked at as allegorical for people who have suffered social anxiety, or any type of anxiety for that matter; time does, in a way "stand still" for people, at least in my experience when I dealt with combating severe anxiety. High School DxD is a series that has a good balance of action, comedy, drama, fan service, characterization and story development and for the person who is either fine or isn't bothered by all this; I would recommend checking out this series. As for people being offended at it because it utilizes Christianity for mythology along with the fact it that it’s loaded with frivolous nudity, I’m not one to tell people what they should and shouldn't be offended at. Just so long as people don’t do it to me by trying to guilt or shame me from watching and liking something they dislike, disagree with or are offended at, which I see every now and then in the anime community. I agree that there are certain things out there that I consider objectively bad in their sentiment with their subtext and context, but when it comes to anime I've watched, enjoyed and favored, whether it has ecchi, violence or whatever; it’s pretty harmless with some aspects I seldom disagree with. That’s not to say that there have been some shows that have offended me in some way as well; even the exceptionally rare occasion where I've actually liked an OVA episode of a certain franchise narratively, thematically and structurally, but disliked an aspect of the execution because I found it offensive. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18223 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Boy, I just love people who like to make thoughtless blanket generalizations. 
Qwaser of the Stigmata absolutely has more potentially offensive content in general. However, I was specifically referring to DxD being potentially offensive in a religious sense. If you're a devout Christian and don't see it that way, that's fine. Maybe I'm making more of an issue out of it than it is, as anime/manga fans - even those who are deeply religious - do tend to be a more tolerant bunch than average. However, the way I was raised tells me that this is more edgy than most on its religious interpretations. And DxD is not "a straight-up goofball comedy." While it definitely has its goofball content, there are plenty of aspects that it takes more seriously, and the metaphysical structure of things is one of them. trypticon: As someone who's watched pretty nearly every minute of animated Queen's Blade content, I would still take DxD over it - though admittedly by only a slender margin. That's partly a character design preference (there were a few characters in QB that I simply did not find attractive, but I can't say that about anyone in DxD) and partly because I thought QB was, at times, outright exploitative. |
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Trypticon
Posts: 80 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
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I think it's good that you're bringing it up as a point that some people may find it offensive; it conveys to me that you're being considerate and empathetic of those people. As I mentioned before, It's not my place to tell people what they can or can't take offense to or how they interpret what they watch. Yes, I may disagree, and on the rare occasion when I come across an interpretation I find outrageously disingenuous, such as FLCL is just a random mess, or Queen's Blade has no characterization, or some condescending sentiment telling me I won't "get it" or "fully appreciate it" due to personal biological factors I just shake my head, brush it off and move along. But I digress, the idea is that if people want what they say to be respected, they must be prepared to respect others opinions, that includes what people are offended with. With High School DxD, just because I wasn't offended about the Christian aspects put in there or the excessive fan service, that doesn't mean everyone else is going to see it the same way; I'm aware that some people will be offended at this series and they have every right to be. After all, my perspectives and opinions are not absolute truth; perhaps more people need to learn this.
There are some pretty heavy, compelling scenes especially with some powerful religious allegory on both seasons of High School DxD; while I respect other people's opinions on these matters, I can't help but feel that referring to High School DxD as more or less just a silly, goofy series is disingenuous.
Oh, your entitled to your opinion, and I agree that there are characters on Queen's Blade; two in particular that I thought were overtly "loud" in terms of their design. The first is Cattleya; a good character in terms of her role and development as a character, but I felt that her design could have been toned down a little aesthetically. I have some of the same issues with the second, Melpha, however; I thought her abilities were crafty, and quite funny, and her role in the story carries some good merit to it as well. I like High School DxD quite a bit, as expressed in my post, but, I have to stick to my guns about how I feel about Queen's Blade. We each like both with different preferences, so it's pretty much opinions, agree to disagree, that sort of thing. As for the "exploitative" aspect; I'm of the mind that neither High School DxD or Queen's Blade really fit into this, but they redefine the meaning of frivolity for sure. I do feel that High School DxD has more fan service and is at times more salacious; but that is in no way a knock or even a small criticism towards it; I think it's a great show. In the case of Queen's Blade with fan service, everything is pretty crafty and clever but it's the Vanquished Queens OVA's I have an issue with. You see, I too have watched pretty much the entire Queen's Blade collection and that includes most of the Vanquished Queens episodes. In the same manner that the Beautiful Warriors OVA's are more episodic and situation based where there's outstanding characterization that is used to contribute and convey the theme of the episode; Vanquished Queens is the same. Unfortunately, and why I feel Beautiful Fighters is better, is because the fan service on Vanquished Queens takes a more mean spirited, torture porn S & M direction. Where this really gets to be an issue for me is on episode 3 of this series; it's a prequel to Queen's Blade: Rebellion that sets up pirate Captain Liliana, it introduces the Swamp Witch as an actual character and how Leina gets cursed with her sleeping disorder. It was this episode, I like what's being done theme, story and character wise, but the execution of the fan service on it came off cruel and what I consider exploitative in comparison to how it is done on all the other seasons/series. One could argue that the tribulations the characters go through on those episodes gives their resolutions that much more of an impact, but I think that the torture porn aspect could have been shaved right down and the conclusion of the character arc wouldn't lose any potency. Yes, I understand that the original series has the odd sadomasochistic scene in it; but the point is that it doesn't dwell or linger on those scenes for too long for them to become problematic. Vanquished Queens feels as though it took a page out of the Wanna be the Strongest in the World book of how to do fan service. So, to sum up, I like the ideas, plot lines and character arcs of each Vanquished Queens episode, but I wasn't too partial to how the fan service was executed on them. Oh yeah, and the omake shorts that come with the original TV series sets; yeah, those kind of suck. They're poorly animated and don't really do anything at all for the series, I watched a little bit of them and got bored with them. The ones for Rebellion were okay, at least they were a little funnier, but pretty much irrelevant. Understand, this is just my opinion and how I feel about all this stuff, and it is nice and refreshing to communicate with someone else who also likes some of these shows, takes them as seriously as I do and even looks at them from a somewhat similar perspective. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13567 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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For the person doubting that Chloe Daniels is a separate person from Leah Clark,do a facebook search for "Chloe Daniels Voice Actress".
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18223 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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^
Yeah, we do have pictures in the Encyclopedia entries for both of them, and the pictures don't show the same person. I would definitely forgive someone for thinking Chloe and Leah are the same person, though, as their voices are very similar. And for the record, I also wish Chloe would do more dubbing. Her performance of Asia in the first series was one of my Honorable Mentions for female dub performance in 2013, and I probably should have mentioned her for 2014 as well for this season. trypticon: Yeah, Vanquished Queens was primarily (though not entirely) what I was referring to with my "exploitative" comment and Cattleya and Melpha were the two biggest offenders on the character design front for me, too. (Frankly, though, I'd also take Koneko on appearance over any of the more loli-type characters in QB.) |
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Trypticon
Posts: 80 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
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Can't say I'm really into loli-type characters, but I'll admit that Ymir was downright hilarious on Queen's Blade the way she always tried to force her merchandise on others. That scene where she fights Leina and just starts plugging her axe in the middle of the fight is comedically brilliant, especially with Leina asking what she's doing and Ymir responding with shut up, I'm working now. I also think Konkeko is cool too in that as a loli-type character she's cynical and stoic. I also like that her power is superhuman strength, and her character design is charismatic as well. |
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Zuwaiss
Posts: 59 |
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So, can I come to the conclusion from this review that Funimation still hasn't fixed "Sir Zechs" to the way it should be, "Sirzechs"?
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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As an observer I would like to say that it is nice to see an intelligent, respectful discussion about a subject that is usually dominated by emotional reactions and insults. Since I am a big fan of fan service shows I found this review to be very informative, and this forum discussion made it even more helpful. The talk about Queen's Blade was an added bonus for me because I have not bought the latest releases of that franchise, "Rebellion" is the most recent that I have. Money is a bit tight and I might have to make a decision between High School DxD and Queen's Blade, and possibly some others, so this is very useful. |
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CrownKlown
Posts: 1762 |
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With all due respect clearly your original point is a thoughtless generalization. Do you honestly think any Christian, especially "devout" is going to care about what some niche cartoon from Japan does? And my point remains, spoiler[God being killed and/or anything less than fully omnipotent/omniscent] is common place. Also with due respect, from a religious standpoint, its a lot easier to laugh off something like spoiler["killing" God, where by the very nature of the religion its absurd, versus some of the other ones mentioned where they kind of mock or bastardize the people themselves.] Its a lot easier to brush of an attack on an entity you hold to be all powerful and above everything, but an attack on the people and practices themselves is another matter. I mean have you actually seen Index, if I was actually cared, as a Catholic or Anglican I would be pissed. The only decent Catholics are generally almost killed and then convert/join the Anglicians. The Catholics are the token "bad" Christians, while the head of the Anglicans is a manipulative little brat. Btw I don't really care, its done unintentionally percent of the time, and certain groups are easy to portray as big bads, and are at least well known enough to make easy characters and plot elements to gain broader appeal. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18223 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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CrownKlown, whether you agree with my points or not, you don't get to ignore forum standards for using spoiler tags. Please keep that in mind in the future.
And yeah, Index is a pretty screwed-up portrayal of Christianity, too. Still, from my viewpoint, DxD is potentially worse. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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They're both pretty bad. But IMO a Christian would have to be very foolish to take any of it seriously -- certainly not seriously enough to get upset over it.
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18223 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I think you underestimate truly devout Christians. I have personally been involved in numerous cases of such individuals getting bent out of shape about things that are at least vaguely religious-related that I (and I'm sure many, many others who aren't devout Christians) would consider trivial, such as using the word "damn" in class.
Now, I'm definitely not saying they're all like that, but people that sensitive definitely do still exist, and in much larger numbers than you'd probably imagine. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Unfortunately, as with humans in general, some people simply *love* searching out things that offend them. Some Christians do this so that they can feel more "devout" and as if they're better Christians by riding around on their high horses. IMO, such people tend to lack humility, to say nothing of emotional stability. Personally, they aggravate me far more than whatever the current cause they're railing against, nor can I imagine that God is particularly thrilled with their behavior... but that's between them and God, I guess. I consider myself a pretty serious believer, but I guess my views on what it means to be a Christian are different than the sort of people you're describing. To me, God isn't concerned with such petty things -- petty people are. Others can view it however they want, of course. I'm just giving my own opinion here. |
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