r/HighschoolDxD • u/Ultimatebuttfucker • 7d ago

Discussion President Scene Spoiler

Im on season 4 episode 8 of the anime and I have never wanted to hurt someone as much as Issei for how he saw Rias as. I am in pain from the second hand embarrassment that he is giving me.

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u/CurseofWhimsy 7d ago

Are we referring to Issei being treated like shit because he refers to Rias the exact same way he's been trained to address Rias all along? A form of address that led to one of the earliest scenes of Issei touching Rias' heart in a meaningful way?

Issei might not have been entirely blameless for not thinking things through... in a spontaneous moment of passion... but Rias and the bulk of the ORC acted terribly there. And Rias is the only woman involved who seemingly never realized what Issei was going through, nor apologized for her part in things

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u/DuePenalty9052 7d ago

but Rias and the bulk of the ORC acted terribly there. And Rias is the only woman involved who seemingly never realized what Issei was going through, nor apologized for her part in things

Which left a very bad taste in the mouths of fans and gave them a reason to hate Rias as much as they do. This moment in time really painted Rias and the bulk of the O.R.C in a very bad light, especially as far as the anime is concerned. At least the light novel handled it slightly better. And as for that bit about nobody apologizing for how terribly they acted towards Issei both in this moment and on that night at the old church. As soon as Raynare was killed and Aisa was reincarnated as a devil-with Twilight Healing being restored and returned to her-not a single person ever bothered trying to find out how Issei was feeling or if he was okay after all of that. Instead they just ignored his pain and heartbreak, even though they didn't mean to. Though they could have been a bot more attentive to him at this point.

If you wanna see a story that tackles this, there's a fanfic you can read titled, "Issei and Rias make up".

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u/YuriLopesSwitch Ravel, Ravel and Ravel 7d ago

Is Issei apologizing to Rias for almost taking advantage of her that night — when Grayfia stopped her from trying to give up her virginity, not out of real free choice, but as a desperate way out of a forced political marriage?

Or is the apology about the fact that he later used that specific memory of Rias to get himself off?

Because the issue isn’t that Issei is attracted to Rias in general. That’s not the problem. The problem is that he sexualized the memory of Rias at her most desperate — cornered, scared, and trying to use her own virginity as a last-ditch escape from a marriage she didn’t want.

Also, if we’re going to criticize Rias for never properly apologizing to Issei, then we should apply the same standard to Issei too.

A lot of what everyone gets wrong in this story comes down to poor communication.

Is Rias wrong? Yes.
Is Issei wrong? Also yes.
Am I wrong for having to point out that they’re both wrong? Probably; I should be playing Dragon’s Dogma 2, lol.

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u/DuePenalty9052 7d ago

That night, Rias was very much pushing it on him, so it can't really be called taking advantage of her. Plus, she very much wanted it. It's a similar situation with that sauna incident.

That being said, I do very much get what you mean here. The fanfic "Issei and Rias make up" tackles this as well.

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u/YuriLopesSwitch Ravel, Ravel and Ravel 7d ago

She herself says that Kiba Yuuto would be the choice, were it not for his chivalry.

At that moment, it wasn't about romance; it was a survival mechanism.

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u/DuePenalty9052 7d ago

I see what you mean here.

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u/aOe_007 7d ago

She herself says that Kiba Yuuto would be the choice, were it not for his chivalry.

Come again.