High School DxD

Lore & Background

The series centers on Kuoh Academy, a former all-girls school that has secretly become a meeting ground for angels, fallen angels, and devils. Issei Hyodo, a lustful second-year student, is killed by his first date, the fallen angel Raynare, but is revived as a devil by Rias Gremory. His deepening relationship with Rias proves dangerous to all three factions. The light novels are grouped into five story arcs, beginning with 'The Life of a Devil' (Volumes 1-2) and ending with 'Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth × White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star: The True Dragon(s) of the Kuoh Academy.'

Reader's Guide

High School DxD is significant for its blend of ecchi comedy, battle fantasy, and mythological references, becoming a popular franchise in the light novel and anime communities. The series was written by Ichiei Ishibumi, who shifted from horror to a school-life love-comedy battle genre, with the protagonist designed as lecherous at his editor's request. The anime adaptation by TNK aired four seasons from 2012 to 2018, with the first season licensed by Crunchyroll outside Asia. The series' legacy includes a sequel, Shin High School DxD, starting in July 2018, and multiple manga spin-offs. Its influence is seen in its long-running serialization and dedicated fanbase, though it faced censorship on some networks.

Did You Know?

• The author Ichiei Ishibumi previously worked on a horror series before writing High School DxD.
• The concept of Balance Breaker was inspired by Super Saiyan from Dragon Ball and Bankai from Bleach.
• A bonus story called 'The First Errand: Ophis Edition' was released with the July 2012 issue of Dragon Magazine.
• The anime's AT-X airings were uncensored, while other networks heavily censored the content.

Creative Origins & Mythological World-Building

Ichiei Ishibumi's path to High School DxD was not a straight line. Two years before the series debuted, he had been working in the horror genre, but he deliberately pivoted his voice toward a blend of school-life, romantic comedy, battle, and fantasy. A key editorial decision shaped the protagonist: his editor specifically asked that Issei Hyodo be written as a lecherous young man, a choice that became central to the character's identity. Ishibumi also structured the supporting cast with intention, positioning Rias Gremory as the second lead and heroine while giving Asia a parallel heroine role. The supernatural world he constructed draws on a wide range of sources—biblical figures, non-fiction references, Norse mythology, and Japanese youkai—yet he set the story in a post-war era where the great conflict among angels, devils, and fallen angels has already concluded and many legendary beings no longer exist. His power-up mechanic, Balance Breaker, was consciously modeled after familiar anime transformations like Dragon Ball's Super Saiyan and Bleach's Bankai, giving readers an instantly recognizable escalation of ability.

Narrative Architecture & the Five-Arc Structure

Ishibumi organized the twenty-five-volume light novel run into five distinct story arcs, each with a title that reflects the series' irreverent tone. The opening arc, The Red Dragon Emperor's Awakening, spans the first two volumes and establishes Issei's death at the hands of a fallen angel and his subsequent reincarnation as a devil under Rias Gremory. The second arc, Birth of the Breast Dragon Emperor, carries through volume six, while the third, The Heroic Oppai Dragon, stretches across volumes seven through twelve. The fourth arc, The Legend of Oppai Dragon and his Lively Companions, is the longest, covering volumes fourteen through twenty-one. The final arc, Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth × White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star, closes the series from volume twenty-two to twenty-five. Between these main arcs, Ishibumi inserted side-story collections at volumes eight, thirteen, and fifteen, plus a standalone bonus tale about Ophis's first shopping trip in the human world. After volume twenty-five, he announced a direct sequel, Shin High School DxD, whose first volume appeared in July 2018 and had reached four volumes by early 2020.

Multi-Media Expansion & Global Reach

High School DxD grew from a single light novel into a sprawling multimedia franchise over roughly a decade. The original series, illustrated by Miyama-Zero, ran from September 2008 through March 2018 under Fujimi Shobo's Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation by Hiroji Mishima followed, debuting in Dragon Magazine in July 2010 before moving to Monthly Dragon Age in March 2011, and concluded in February 2018 with eleven collected volumes. The anime adaptation, produced by TNK, premiered on AT-X and other networks on January 6, 2012, and ran through March 23 of that year. Three subsequent seasons extended the animated run: High School DxD New in summer 2013, High School DxD BorN in spring 2015, and High School DxD Hero in spring 2018. Crucially, Crunchyroll secured licensing for the anime in regions outside Asia, giving the series a substantial international audience beyond its Japanese origins. This layered rollout—novel, manga, and four anime seasons—allowed the story to reach readers and viewers across multiple formats and continents simultaneously.

Production Philosophy & the 'Embarrassing' Shounen Identity

Ishibumi was acutely aware of the tonal tightrope his series walked. He intended High School DxD to be a shounen-style light novel that teenage readers would feel a bit embarrassed purchasing, yet he worried the content might trigger an age restriction from the publisher. This tension is visible in his afterword sections, where he repeatedly references the word 'oppai' and openly notes the moments he deliberately pushes characters toward more erotic territory. The setting itself reinforces this duality: Kuoh Academy is a recently co-ed former all-girls school whose student body secretly includes angels, fallen angels, and devils alongside ordinary humans. The inciting incident—Issei's first date turning into a murder attempt by a fallen angel named Raynare, followed by his resurrection as a devil servant—blends slapstick romance with genuine supernatural stakes. Ishibumi's goal was to keep the comedy and fan-service surface layer light enough for a young audience while the underlying battle fantasy and factional politics provided the structural backbone that carried the series through twenty-five volumes and into its sequel.

Gallery