Passione's redesign splits the room, but the ones who stick with it get a season that finally lets the comedy breathe without the previous studio's stiffness getting in the way. Issei's actually funny here instead of just horny, the side characters have room to exist as people, and the action sequences move like they're drawn by someone who watched the fights instead of just reading about them. This is High School DxD remembering it's allowed to be good at more than one thing.

Issei and his second-year classmates finally catch a break with a school trip to Kyoto, a chance to relax away from their usual supernatural chaos. The problem: they're separated from Rias and the powerhouse seniors who normally carry the weight of their battles. While touring a temple, the group is set upon by local youkai, and afterward they learn that the nine-tailed fox guarding the city has been kidnapped and that someone has pinned the crime on them. Now Issei, Kiba, Asia, Xenovia and Irina have to defend Kyoto without their strongest allies. Back in Tokyo, Rias waits with Akeno and Koneko, uneasy about leaving Issei alone with the other girls and wrestling with feelings she has been struggling to name. This fourth season mixes action, comedy, romance and fanservice.