High School DxD BorN

Episode 30

The first and most immediately noticeable problem with episode 30 is that its artistry is well short of its usual standard. While the artistic caliber of the franchise has fluctuated a bit over the course of the series, rarely has it had problems with looking unrefined or even off-model for more than a brief scene at a time. Here, though, it is a problem throughout much of the episode, especially in the first half, with characters routinely looking rougher and slighter than normal. The artistry recovers somewhat late in the episode, and it never really affects the fan service scenes – the animators of the franchise know exactly where its bread and butter lies, after all, so those would be the last scenes to suffer from shortcomings on time or effort – but as a whole the episode is a couple of grades below normal artistically.

The story does not do anything all that remarkable, either. Unsurprisingly, Irina is joining Issei's school allegedly to help bolster its defense against any future attacks by the Chaos Brigade (although we all really know that it is just an excuse to have her around on a more regular basis). Rossweise is not joining the school but is (as expected) also going to be a regular hanger-on at Issei's new mansion, as she was left behind when Odin returned to Asgard, a reality which mortifies her. Ddraig is also mortified – though Issei is delighted – when they learn that TV specials about Issei have been airing in the Underworld which proclaim him as the “Breast Dragon Emperor.” Meanwhile Koneko is going into full cat mode by contentedly sitting on Issei's lap at every opportunity and Asia gets a marriage proposal from the young devil Diodora Astaroth, who turns out to be the devil whom she got into trouble with the Church for healing years earlier. A lot of fondling ends up going on (some intentional, some not) during the preparations for an upcoming sports festival, where Issei and Asia will be paired in a three-legged race, and the gang learns that they will be facing that self-same Diodora in an upcoming cycle of Rating Games.

So after muddling around for nearly two full episodes, the story finally provides a clearer direction for where it is apparently going next: back into the Rating Games. This is a welcome turn of events, as Rias's team is far stronger compared to the last time and the potential added conflict between Issei and Diodora over Asia – whom Issei is still at least trying to regard as a sister (in the familial sense) – should give it some potential added juice. Issei also confirms that he is still at least trying to think about Asia as a sister in the familial sense, and so is being protective of her in that regard more so than as a rival suitor, though he has yet to indicate that he thinks anything about Koneko's recent dramatic change in behavior. The uptick back to previous levels of purely gratuitous fan service is also welcome, and should at least help distract from Rossweise's whining. The series has yet to explain where it is going with the flashbacks to Yuma/Raynare, though.

Overall, this is not so much a bad episode (except for the artistry) as an ordinary one. The whole thing with Issei being the Breast Dragon Emperor is rather funny, and it does have its sexy antics, but that's about it.

Broadcast dub Episode 26: Those who played lesser roles from earlier series – such Adam Chandler as Lord Gremory and Brittney Karbowski as Ravel Phoenix – are back to reprise those roles. Amongst casting selections for new characters, Monica Rial using the deeper side of her range is an interesting choice for Rias's mother, and Aaron Dismuke being one of the young devils could probably be expected; not sure that the more suave-seeming Diodora was the best fit for him, though. Unlike with most other scenes, the more hip dialog for Koneko at the end of the episode does not feel quite right. Josh Grelle has settled into Issei's role quite nicely, though, and Funimation has firmly established that he and the recasting of Akeno were unavoidable rather than merely practical changes, ones that would have happened regardless of whether or not Funimation had waited on the dubbing, so hopefully that will cause the controversy that has sprouted up over the changes to simmer down. Overall, the dub is not a spectacular one so far but not significantly worse than what has been done with the previous two seasons, either.

Episode 6 Rating: C (B- if artistic problems are factored out)

High School DxD BorN is currently streaming on Funimation.