Highschool DxD Season 5 release date (Highschool DxD Hero Season 2): High School DxD manga/light novels compared to the anime’s story arc
Highschool DxD Season 5 should be a good anime adaptation now that anime studio Passione has taken over the series from TNK. The new art direction left some fans divided, but it’s unquestionable that Highschool DxD Hero has been following the source material much more closely.
The Highschool DxD light novel series by writer Ichiei Ishibumi and illustrator Miyama-Zero first began being published back in 2008. The story actually finished with Volume 25 in March 2018, but publisher Fujimi Shobo is scheduled to release a sequel series called Shin Highschool DxD in the summer of 2018. (For more details about the book series’ sequel, please see the relevant section down below.)
Unfortunately, an official English translation of the Highschool DxD books has never been licensed by an international book publisher. The good news is that there are multiple fan translation projects, which are almost done with Volume 24.
Starting in 2010, mangaka Hiroji Mishima started serializing the Highschool DxD manga adaption of the main story. There are also multiple spin-off manga stories created by different manga artists, although Ishibumi is always the original story writer. The good news is that 10 out of 11 manga volumes have already been translated into English by Yen Press and Volume 11 is scheduled to release on November 13, 2018. The bad news is that the manga is behind even the story of the anime.
This article provides everything that is known about Highschool DxD Season 5 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
High School DxD Light Novels Compared To The Anime Thus Far
One of the biggest challenges facing the anime adaptation has been the pacing. The first two seasons adapted a combined total of four light novels, whereas the third season, Highschool DxD BorN, tried to squish Volumes 5, 6, and 7 into 12 episodes. Besides rearranging plot elements, studio TNK also committed the devilish sin of finishing with an anime original ending.
Episodes 10 through 12 of Season 3 had Issei fighting a mind-controlled Rias and featured an incident with Loki and the destruction of Kuoh Academy. The third season even had Rias and Issei confessing their love for each other only to retcon that moment by conveniently having their memories wiped when they were transported back home.
Studio Passione responded to fan outrage by retconning those original story events out of existence by opening Highschool DxD Hero with Episode 0, a recap of prior events which followed the story of the light novels and showed the activation of Issei’s Juggernaut Drive and the defeat of Shalba Beelzebub. Passione also returned Hero to the pacing of the first seasons, adapting only Volumes 9 and 10.
That leaves audiences in the third part of the Heroic Oppai Dragon arc, which means the fifth season (or Highschool DxD Hero Season 2) will likely finish off the story arc with Volumes 11 and 12. Unfortunately, the next story arc is nine books long, so Season 6 or one of the sequels will probably need to be faster-paced and adapt three books in one single-cour season again.
Highschool DxD Season 5 Release Date: Could The Sequel Be A Split-Cour Highschool DxD Hero Season 2?
As of the last update, Passione or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Highschool DxD Season 5 release date. Nor has the production of a sequel been announced. Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information. In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the High School DxD Season 5 premiere date will occur in the future.
The sequel seems likely to be renewed considering that Blu-Ray sales predictions for Hero have it doing well. Sales are even projected to be better than even My Hero Academia Season 3 and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online (check out the Gun Gale Online Season 2 spoilers).
However, the financial picture is not completely rosy since sales figures for each new Highschool DxD season have been declining in comparison to the prior season. Season 4 is estimated to only sell about half the number of copies that the first season sold in its first week. That’s not to say that the anime is in any trouble since during that time period the anime industry as a whole has been transitioning to streaming revenue becoming the most significant financial factor.
Assuming that Highschool DxD Hero Episode 12 announces the continuation as coming up very soon, it’s possible that Season 4 could be considered a split-cour anime. That’s when a single season with multiple cours takes a broadcasting break for a short amount of time. If that’s the case, then the “fifth season” would be more appropriately labeled as Highschool DxD Hero Season 2 or Part 2.
High School DxD Season 5: Spoilers From The Light Novels
The fifth season could definitely be called “Highschool DxD Hero Season 2” simply because it will finish off the Heroic Oppai Dragon story arc. Similar to the Negima manga, the Highschool DxD light novel series slowly goes from being an ecchi/harem story to a full-on shonen plot. If you’re just watching for the “oppai oppai oppai” then you might be disappointed when there are multiple episodes in a row with no blatant fan service, but other fans believe the shonen battles are the pinnacle of the anime TV show.
The story starts off simply enough with a visitor to their house. But it’s not just any visitor, it’s Ophis, the shapeshifting Infinite Dragon God who currently chooses to appear as a young lolita girl. Ophis wants to observe Issei go take the promotion test to become a Middle-Class Devil since he’s been experiencing an unusual growth in his powers.
The test turns into an ambush by Cao Cao and Georg, who are both out to steal Ophis’ powers using the Dragon Eater Samael. One battle leads to another and team Gremory finds itself facing a legion of grim reapers. During this deadly encounter, Koneko shocks everyone with a surprising request, asking that Issei make her his bride in the most awkward of ways. The action only heats up further when Ophis is kidnapped by Shalba Beelzebub and 13 giant monsters are unleashed on the Underworld.
And all of that action will happen just in the first half of the season. The highlight of the fifth season will definitely be what happens to Issei during his fight with Shalba. This article won’t ruin the plot twist completely, but let’s just say that Issei and Meliodas of The Seven Deadly Sins share something in common. The repercussions of the fateful battle with Shalba will shape Issei’s future and Ophis will be part of him forever.
Shin Highschool DxD Light Novel Series Is A Direct Sequel
The upcoming book sequel called Shin Highschool DxD (which translates as the “Real” Highschool DxD) may technically be a new series, but in reality, it’s more of a continuation since it does not focus on new main characters or feature a major gap in time. In the afterword of Volume 25 written by Ichiei, the author explained that he was resetting the volume count because his publisher wants a “new” series. Ichiei, on the other hand, wanted to continue the main story beyond the final story arc.
Warning: The ending of this article contains major spoilers for anime-only watchers and readers who have not read Volume 25.
Oddly enough, the first book series ended in the middle of the Azazel Cup, a tournament where competing mythological figures can fight in proxy wars. The tournament was only halfway over at best, so the new series will be immediately launching into more shonen-style battles.
Otherwise, the biggest change for the new series is the introduction of a new type of enemy. So far, the gods, angels, devils, and dragons have all been contained in one multi-dimensional universe. Way back in Volume 7/Season 3, Issei used his Pailingual/Booblingual spell to peek into a completely different dimension that was unknown to the gods and dragons. Shin Highschool DxD expands the conflict to span entire universes when a race of creatures called the UL (Underworld Lifeform) invade from another dimension.
That’s not to say that the plot is only about fighting. Considering that this story is an ecchi harem series it probably seems a foregone conclusion that Issei will marry his harem. After all, the story of High School DxD EX featured Issei’s future children traveling back in time 30 years to help him defeat Loki. While Issei becomes engaged to Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima in Volume 22, and proposes to Asia Argento, Irina Shidou and Xenovia Quarta in Volume 23, the ending of the first series did not feature a big fat Harem King wedding. So, Shin Highschool DxD still has plenty of room for harem hijinks.
Of course, a Shin Highschool DxD anime adaptation probably won’t happen for many years. Even assuming that Highschool DxD Season 5 comes quickly, the first light novel series has enough content for six more anime seasons. Audiences will just have to wait and see what happens next over the years. Stay tuned!
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Your article is awesome . Pls notify me if any news comes along ! I am dying to know the future relationship of Issie and Rias ❤
ReplyDeleteKeep it up!