@WyrmSpawN
Oh, for sure. It’s just that the OVA was quite the departure from the actual series. The OVA was Highschool DxD levels of lewdness.
So…it was nothing but basic exposure shots on repeat? Because that’s all DxD ever did. Context was irrelevant because 80% of it’s fanservice was “clothes dissolve -> oh look a nipple” and the remaining 20% went no farther, it just didn’t use fucking clothes dissolution as the setup. It reduced everything it approached into exactly that, too. It somehow made a tentacle scene seem basic. That’s so reductive that it’s impressive.
DxD is only going to look lewd if you’re a 14 year old who’s never watched porn or seen a tit before, and is probably the main reason ecchi has so many of the bullshit stereotypes that it does. Unfortunately, I’m 24. I’m way too old for it, and honestly, most people who hoist it up as the pinnacle of ecchi are too old for it as well. There’s legit great stuff out there. To LOVE-Ru, KissXSis, High School of the Dead, Magipoka, Umishou, Yosuga no Sora, Zero no Tsukaima, Maburaho, fucking obscure ass old OVAs like Buttobi CPU! and Dream Hunter Rem. There’s such a dearth of great ecchi content out there and this is what people try to prop up. I really hate that.
Where the fuck did this impression of DxD even come from? I know it’s the popular take, but to my eyes and ears it’s like painting SAO or Naruto as peak narrative masterworks. It’s not good, especially if you go further down the well. It’s accessible, especially if you’re uncomfortable with fanservice. It’s very tame and defanged in how it uses ecchi and it grounds the viewer in the most common and accessible narrative structure out there, e.g. Battle Shounen. It’s baby’s first ecchi.
Anyway, Omata is a great director. Aside from Kaguya, he also directed my personal favorite anime adaptation in Sankarea and Rakugo, which also kicked ass. He has a way of making series bleed personality and atmosphere that not many other directors have, and he’s really flexible in the types of tones he’s able to convey, i.e. Kaguya is nothing like Sankarea which is nothing like Rakugo.
Before he became a big shot TV anime director, he was a hentai director and most of his body of work is hentai. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took a satire of ecchi and played it straight with that in mind, but people in H&E also say it’s still a satire, so fuck if I know who’s right or wrong there. Or care, for that matter, since Iunno if I’ll ever continue Kaguya.