Highschool DxD New Episode 6
What They Say:
The Occult Research Club fights Kokabiel and learns some shocking truths about the power struggle between the angels, fallen angels, and devils.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As we hit the halfway mark of the second season of the series, we’re thrown right into a lot of action. The series has never been shy about being about the action and doing it well, with plenty of strong personalities to work it in a way that keeps it engaging. And, of course, it also knows how to throw plenty of fanservice as well. Who can forget the clothes breaker move that Issei created in the first season and used to good effect? He doesn’t get to use that here, but going up against the devil they’re facing now, even the power of the group that Rias has put together doesn’t stop Rias from losing shreds of her clothes along the way and having plenty of sexy poses. But none of it detracts from the fight against the devil they’re facing.
Kokabiel certainly plays up the part well as a dangerous opponent and calling out all the power that the group arrayed against him does possess makes it clear he’s not unaware of what he’s facing, but rather that he feels they’re not going to be a real threat against him. And we do get a lot of that as the fight gets underway and he’s able to not only push back against them fairly easily, but makes it clear that he can do some damage to them as well, which is good considering the numbers involved here. But when he does start taking a hit or two, it gets him to get a bit more serious, though there’s still that edge of crazy to him. A crazy that gets him to reveal a new truth that in the previous war, God himself had died along with those Devils that fell in the fight. And that hits the core of all of them since balance is an important part in the larger picture.
There’s a lot to like with all the reactions that comes from this since they’re all so invested in the battle which is now pointless, if Kokabiel is to be believed, and those of the angelic side take it even harder. But it’s welcome to see the less connected Issei take the lead here as he just sees everything as threatening his future harem and he proceeds to soundly kick some ass and actually lead in the fight, which is both fun and cool to see. The episode doesn’t really surprise with the result of the fight of course, but it’s welcome to get a bit of an epilogue within the episode itself as we get a few minutes worth to see how everyone attempts to come back together after the difficulties of the fight itself. Dealing with the fallout from the revelations is also a part of what happens here and it’s certainly interesting to see the way the group reacts to it, especially those who didn’t hail originally from the devil side.
In Summary:
The revelations here are obviously something that can be disputed within the show and I suspect will be a part of the larger narrative in the second half of this current season. What those revelations do is to throw pretty much everyone into a state of confusion and that helps to shake things up a bit as the war between the sides doesn’t make the same amount of sense anymore and it leaves them all questioning their own beliefs and other things as well. The action side of the episode is strong, even if it has a bit too much exposition in it, and the epilogue aspect helps to clean up from it all in a good way while not just wasting time with action that doesn’t do much. Issei again continues to impress and this episode really lets him shine nicely.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.