Issei and the crew head to the Gremory Estate for summer break training and bath time hijinks!
Creative Staff
Comic: Hiroji Mishima
Original Story: Ichiei Ishibumi
Character Design: Zero Miyama
Translation/Adaptation: Caleb D. Cook
What They Say
Summer’s here, and before anyone knows it, the rating game between the Gremory and Sitri houses is scheduled to take place in the devil realm! Issei and the gang jump right into some hellish training, but something’s not right with Koneko-chan…?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Contains nudity.
While Akeno and Rias have sort of formed a truce over their fight for Issei’s affections, that doesn’t mean the matter is settled. They just aren’t trying to kill each other anymore. Both girls know their squabble is petty in light of everything going on in the devil underworld and the upcoming Rating Games between the devil royal houses. The King of Hell knows his little sister Rias needs all the help she can get, so he appoints the fallen angel Azazel as their team coach. Rias isn’t too happy about the idea, but Issei quickly warms up to it when Azazel wows him with tales of all the harems he’s had over the centuries. Boobs are why Azazel fell from Heaven’s grace after all.
With Issei’s harem master training running along a side-story throughout the volume, the major focus is on specialized training focused on each individual in Rias’ peerage. Each of her chess pieces gets a focused regimen that they must follow to the letter. The problem is Koneko and Akeno push back against Azazel’s plan for them to unleash their sequestered powers. Both girls are carrying a lot of family baggage and are hiding parts of their powers inherited from their lineages. Where Akeno hates her father, Koneko is afraid accepting her powers will cause her to go mad like it did her older sister. These deeper examinations of the side characters motives are a great aspect of this series. It is what keeps this series from spiraling into a mindless story about boobies.
While those girls struggle with their inner turmoil, Issei is left struggling with a dragon! It makes sense, who better to train Issei to use DDraig’s dragon power to battle the White Dragon than another dragon. Dragon Tannin was one of the six master dragons, but he was killed and resurrected as a devil. Tannin will have to be careful he doesn’t accidentally kill Issei. The problem of Issei’s weakness may not be solvable since the White Dragon is already 10 times more powerful and experienced than Issei. As the Red Dragon, Issei may be destined to lose the final battle between dragons.
In Summary
Instead of the summer trip to the beach, we get the summer trip to hell! Funny thing is, hell is a pretty nice place on the Gregory Estate. Beautiful forests, a massive palace with huge bathing rooms, and all of Issei’s ladies. Should have been a great trip, if it weren’t for the fact that their visit is focused on hardcore training to make everyone stronger for the upcoming Rating Games. It turns out to be hell for Issei as he’s forced to train with a dragon that could kill him at any second if he fails to hold back his power sufficiently. This volume also has some chapters that unfold differently than the anime adaptation, giving fans some new material. Not much character development in this volume, but plenty of ecchi hijinks and hilarity make it another fun volume.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: August 22, 2017
MSRP: $13.00
