Everything You Need To Know Before ‘High School DxD’ Returns

The new anime season is fast upon us, and there are so many new offerings every season that fans often do not have time for a proper refresher of their favorite shows before the new entries premiere.

The Spring 2018 offerings are especially packed as not only are older series returning with brand new entries, big properties are receiving new adaptations, hot series are returning for a sequel season, and many dominating series are continuing on from the past season.

Luckily we have you covered with a new guide with everything you need to know about the returning season of High School DxD, High School DxD Hero.

Read on for everything you need to know before sitting down for the first new episode!

What Is ‘High School DxD’?

Originally conceived as a series of light novels by Ichiei Ishibumi with illustrations provided by Miyama-Zero, High School DxD began serialization in 2008 as part of Fujimi Shobo’s Dragon Magazine. The story follows a boy named Issei Hyodo who is best known for his perverted ways. After being asked on a date, the boy is killed when the girl turns out to be a fallen angel. Issei is revived by a busty classmate of his named Rias who is a devil herself, and she contracts the boy to become her new pet as she reincarnated him into a devil during his resurrection.

The series has become well known for its blending of a shonen series action and setting with copious fan-service from its harem of titillating characters. The fourth season of the series will feature the returning cast of Yuki Kaji as Issei Hyoudou, Yoko Hikasa as Rias Gremory, Azumi Asakura as Asia Argento, Shizuka Ito as Akeno Himejima, Ayana Taketatsu as Koneko Toujou, along with many other of the series favorites.

When Does It Premiere?

Fans of High School DxD has been waiting for the fourth season of the series for a long, long time. The third season of the series, High School DxD BorN, last aired in June 2015 and the fourth season was not even announced that it was in production until 2016. Even then after it was announced, the series did not even give any new details to fans until late 2017. 

So the fact that the fourth season, officially titled High School DxD Hero, is finally set to premiere April 7 is definitely a weight off of fans shoulders. Fans of the series have plenty to worry about going into the Spring 2018 anime season. 

What Will The New Season Be About?

Fans are especially curious as to how the anime adaptation will handle the fourth season, as the third season very loosely adapted three volumes of the light novel series and ended with a completely original story. But there’s less reason to worry as author Ichiei Ishibumi confirmed that High School DxD Hero will adapt the ninth and tenth volume of the original light novels. These volumes wrap up the “The Heroic Oppai Dragon” arc of the series.  

The production team behind the series has completely changed hands as well. Yoshifuma Sueda (Rail Wars!, MAOYU) is directing the series for producer Passione (Rail Wars!, Hinako Note). Kenji Konuta (Blood Lad, Servamp) is composing the music for the series, and Mokoto Uno (The Qwasar of Stigmata, Rail Wars!, and Love Hina) will be designing the characters of the series. So fans should rest easy knowing there’s a better chance at staying faithful this time around. 

Are There Any Trailers?

Unfortunately as of this writing, there is currently only one main teaser trailer for the series made available (which you can find here). But although the series is short, it does much to tease the upcoming season and story arcs. Not only does it reveal how the fourth season’s new character designs look in motion, it also reveals that Sairaorg will play a major role in the upcoming season. 

This was teased in the second and third season as Issei slowly trained to become stronger and felt how much power Sairaorg had back then. The two had vowed to fight, and it seems like they will finally get their wish. Along with this, this also teases a new and sensual look for Issei’s group of “supporters.”

How Many Episodes Will There Be?

Although the series has not confirmed how long the series’ fourth season return will run for, most fans are expecting High School DxD Hero to last the series’ traditional 12 episodes. The first three seasons of the series were 12 episodes a piece, and there’s no reason for the series to suddenly change things here. 

Though some fans do wish the series would take more of its time to develop its characters, as many character changes seem to be made on a whim, but the brisk pace at which the series gets through its arcs (only taking about six episodes each per arc) often lets fans experience as much of the characters as efficiently as possible. So the series can be successful with a shorter episode order if necessary. 

Are There New Characters?

As evidenced in the first teaser trailer for the season, the series will feature Sairaorg in a prominent role. Much like the rest of the cast, he’s look has gotten a complete overhaul and basically seemed brand new if someone wasn’t paying attention. But the more interesting prospect comes at the end of the teaser trailer, as a mysterious man stares outward toward a lake. 

The man’s name is Cao Cao, and he leads a new faction introduced to the series, Hero, which is composed of legendary figures in fiction and through history (think along the lines of the Servants from the Fate/stay night series). So if his inclusion is any indication, fans could expect to see more from the Hero faction. 

Where Can I Catch Up?

What if you wanted to catch up before the fourth season premieres on April 7? Luckily, there are plenty of ways that you can do so as the series is available for quite a few streaming platforms. The series is currently available in its native Japanese with English subtitles on Crunchyroll, VRV, and Hulu, and the English language dub of the series is now streaming on VRV, Hulu, and FunimationNOW. 

While acquisition of the series’ license has yet to be announced by Crunchyroll or Funimation, most fans are expecting the fourth season to be available on one if not both of those streaming services given how popular the series is and how long fans have been waiting to see it. 

Now you know all you need to before jumping into the fourth season of the series, High School DxD Hero. Let us know about your hype in the comments!