High School DxD (Episode 12) – I'm Here to Keep My Promise!

Rias lost the Ratings Game and is now to be married to Riser Phenex. However, Issei isn’t about to give up just yet. He may have one more trick up his sleeve… literally!

High School DxD (Episode 12) – I’m Here to Keep My Promise!

What happened?

Issei woke several days after his battle with Riser Phenex to discover they had lost. Now, Rias would have to marry Riser and there was nothing he could do about it. However, Grayfia appeared before him offering him the chance to intervene and possibly win Rias’ freedom. He jumped at the chance but not before making a deal with the Red Dragon Emperor.

Riser was keen to show off his latest trophy and had Rias wear a wedding dress to the announcement party. She wasn’t too happy about the whole situation, and that made things worse. Then, just as the party was getting started, Issei burst in and started causing trouble. Koneko, Kiba, and Akeno quickly backed him up.

Finally, Rias’ brother offered Issei the chance to fight Riser one-on-one with the winner getting whatever they desired. Issei just wanted Rias back so the fight began. Only this time, Issei’s deal with the Red Dragon Emperor allowed him to be able to use his full power. Of course, his body wasn’t ready for that so he would only be able to sustain it for ten seconds. In exchange, Issei gave his arm to the dragon.

This proved to be the turning point in the fight as his dragon arm was able to hold a cross which is deadly to devils. He used it on Riser, stopping him from regenerating. Just when he was certain of victory, Riser’s sister jumped in and forfeited the match. Issei won! Rias was overjoyed.

High School DxD Uncensored Episode 12 Rias hugging Issei

What did you think?

This is a great conclusion to the season and thankfully, everything came together and made sense. There has been plenty of foreshadowing of things like crosses and holy water. We’ve seen glimpses of the Red Dragon Emperor so it was nice to spend a bit of time with him and see what Issei’s future holds for him. He may not be able to use the full armour right now for very long, but it’ll be great when he can.

One thing this season has done well is to not make Issei too overpowered. Sure, he just beat the head of one of the three remaining great devil families, but he earnt that victory. Riser, however, has been quite underwhelming. In the Ratings Game, he didn’t do much other than take a bunch of hits from Rias and then punch Issei a bunch of times. He certainly wasn’t as entertaining as Raynare.

There’s always something exciting about watching the underdog rise up and win, especially against an overly arrogant asshole who talks about themselves in the third person. In the end, Issei won and got the girl. It was a great way to end things.