User blog comment:B214/High School DxD BorN Episode 9 Review/@comment-26209278-20150531103025

Unf. What an episode. My favourite of the season.

We start off with Shalba arriving, and the ORC lamenting over Asia. Diodora tries to team up with Shalba, but calls him the "Old" Mauo. Shalba doesn't like that, and kills him. Rias starts getting angry at Shalba, but then sees Issei trying to find Asia in his state of shock. We also see Creuserey confront Azazel.

'''Unf, Creuserey and Shalba look perfect, they're even better than what i imaged they'd look like. And the VA for Issei, it really expresses his sadness.....'''

The ORC start breaking down once they see Issei, with Xenovia going berserk and attacking Shalba, only to be blocked off and hit with a barrage of attacks.

'''Again, the voice acting is amazing. I can feel the passion.....'''

Issei tells Rias he can't find Asia, where Shalba tells him that he sent her into the Gap, and her body would be destroyed by now. Hearing this, Issei fills with rage.....

OH BOY, THIS IS GOING TO BE GOOD.

Creuserey and Azazel are about to engage in combat, but then Sirzechs arrives. He then basically annihilates him within a minute of arriving. Cold blooded annihilation. Once the deed is done, Azazel notices that Ophis is here, watching them.

'''I mean, yikes, that was cold, but still awesome. He didn't even try talking to him, they just made him destory Creuserey and get it over with. I mean, it's not important to the plot, but it feels like they whacked it in just so they covered it....'''

Issei stumbles towards Shalba, and Ddraig warns Rias to leave if she doesn't want to die. He continues walking to Shalba, where Ddraig tells him "he made the wrong choice". Issei explodes into BB, knocking Shalba away. Rias tries to run to him, but rubble collapses, blocking her path. Issei then starts chanting for JD.

'''Holy hot damn that is so cool. Nice and faithful to the LN so far. But damn, the JD chant. It's amazing. Amazingly eerie yet still epic. But i kinda expected him to shout a little at the end of the chant, similar to how the chant is written on the forum. But anyway, it's still overpoweringly cool.'''

Azazel says defeating Ophis would bring peace, but (she?) counters it saying they could not defeat her. Sirzechs asks why she is leading Khaos Brigade, where she answers that she wants to return to the Dimensional Gap. Vali, Arthur and Bikou are travelling in the gap, where Vali feels Issei enter JD, and heads toward him.

Issei, in JD, having destroyed the building, attacks Shalba, tearing off one of his arms. Shalba launches a large light attack, but JD use's Divide to turn the attack into nothing. He launches another beam at JD, but gets another arm torn off with a large Dragon Shot. He tries to retreat by teleporting, but JD uses Gasper's eye's to cancel his teleport, holding him in place, and starts channeling Longinus Smasher. The ORC retreat, having to drag Rias away. JD unleashes his Longinus Smasher, utterly wiping Shalba away.

'''Holy hot mother of maryland. That was epic. I mean, it was pure literal destruction. The animations were great, and the fight was perfect. Couldn't get any better really. I love the screaming he does as well, helps convey his animalistic rage. And the Longinus Smasher, that was just so cool yet utterly overpowered. Holy mother.'''

Issei, still in JD, unleashes attacks around him while still enraged. ORC are blocking the attacks, wondering what they can do. Vali arrives, noticing Issei entered an incomplete JD. Rias asks if anything can be done, where Vali says it's possible, but also possible he'll use up his life force. Arthur arrives, holding Asia.

Rias says she'll tell Issei Asia is alive, hoping it would make him change back. Vali says it wouldn't work, but he won't stop her. Rias flies off, while the ORC beg Vali to help. He decides he will, and transforms into BB.

'''Damn, that animation for entering Divine Dividing was fucking awesome. And i'm not too bothered about the whole "cliche" of them finding Asia. Yes, it's weird, and yes, very coincidental, but eh, can't kill off Issei's #2 now call we....'''

Albion reminds Vali he has to touch his opponent to use his ability, and won't be able to in Issei's current state. Vali chants for JD, transforming into his complete JD. He tackles Issei, where they brawl for a minute, before Vali knocks Issei down. He reverts back to BB, and uses Divide to lower Issei's power, giving the rest of the job to Rias.

'''I like that they made the JD vs JD fight, it looks pretty cool. Also shows the power difference between Issei and Vali, which is nice, and also the difference between incomplete and complete JD's. The incomplete one looks more animalistic and berserk than Vali's. which looks like a more badass verson of his BB.'''

Rias arrives at Issei, but he knocks her back, still in his rage. He starts seeing visions of Asia's first moments with Issei, then a hallucination of Reynare, taunting him that he still couldn't protect Asia. While he continues to rage, Vali notices that his energy signature isn't purely dragon as it should be, where Ophis says "something" is in him. Rias tries to get Issei to notice her, but he strikes her away. He continues seeing visions of Asia, where Reynare taunts him again. He grabs hold of Rias in his hand, still raging. In his visions, he manages to hear Rias call his name, and starts to be released from the hold of JD.

Rias pours her heart out to Issei, saying her life is meaningless without him, and she'd kill herself to be with Issei. One of her tears hits Issei, which starts reverting him back from JD, where a version of Rias in his visions hugs onto him, breaking the JD curse. Issei reverts from JD, where Rias continues to cry. Vali notices something in Ophis' hands, which is the "thing" that was inside of Issei, most likely the curse from Loki.

'''Unf, got sucker punched right in the feels. It was pretty heartfelt, and nice to see Reynare continuing to haunt him. Glad to see they're playing more on the relationship between Rias and Issei. Wonder if the curse is now fully gone, or if it'll play more of a part. If that was the only thing about the curse, I don't really see the significance of the whole thing.....'''

Issei wakes up from his transformation, with the ORC surrounding him, glad to see him back, where Issei see's Asia. Issei awakes Asia, but before he can say anything, is pushed away by Xenovia who pours her heart out to her. Vali tells Issei to look on, where they see Great Red break into the Underworld, who explains what it is to Issei, and revealing Ophis' intentions; to defeat Great Red to return back to the Dimensional Gap, and Vali's own dream; to defeat Great Red and become the White Dragon God Emperor. Vali asks if Issei wants to beat him, where he replies with yes. They have a little bromance scene, which is unexpected, and everyone returns home. Vali reflects on what has happened, such as the Old Mauo heirs deaths, and how they should of lived. Bikou asks him why he saved Issei, replying with "it was on a whim". He flashbacks to the "thing" from Issei, saying maybe everything isn't over yet.

We go back to the ORC, where Issei apologises for causing trouble. Rias blushes as she says he is the best, but then changes, saying he is the best servant (Damnit). As he replies, Issei faints, with some strange mutation affecting his left arm....

'''Unf what an amazing episode. The JD chant was amazing, it was even cooler than the LN i think. The Shalba fight was overpowered yet still cool, and the JD vs JD fight was great aswell, nice little addition. Interested in how the Loki curse will play out, as well as this Mutation on Issei's arm.....'''

'''Interested in next week's episode, wonder what is going on between Issei and Rias. And it also seems like Loki's return. Can't wait...'''

Ratings:

'''Animation: 10/10. Great animations, loved JD chant, the fights, Vali's BB, everything!'''

'''Plot: 9/10. It was awesome, nice and faithful to the LN. Kinda sucks Sirzechs destroyed Creuserey without hold, but eh, was still cool. Interested to see how the next episode plays out.'''

'''Fights: 10/10. Holy hot damn it was just overpowered.'''

'''Fanservice: 7/10. Not much, but still got to see boobs and panty shots, so i guess it satisfies peoples needs. Although the Xenovia panty shot was kinda weird. They kinda force a lot of these random ones....'''

'''Overall: 9/10. Great episode!'''