High School DxD Light Novel - Volume 21

[Chichiryuushintei]

I think (keyword being "think") Boosted Gear is just the katakana on top of the kanji that mean that other part. At least a lot of powers in anime work like that, japanese kanji with katakana in a different language for cool factor.

@Saeba: Gods aren't necessarily good (a lot of them are dicks actually) so I don't think that's it. Besides, it's a recurring theme in the series that Devils aren't inherently evil either.

[DragonOsman]

But Ise himself isn't evil, and the God of the Bible also wasn't evil in this series either.

As for the "katakana above the kanji" thing, yeah, I think you might be right on this. But one clarification: the word you're looking for in this context is "furigana". The furigana is most written in hiragana, but can also be written in katakana, and it's placed above kanji to show the phonetic reading of said kanji.

Here's the full explanation from http://chromlea.com/japanese/japanes...ing-system.php (it's a site to learn Japanese writing systems and all):

Furigana (振り仮名)

Furigana is most often written using hiragana, but is sometimes written using Katakana. In a small font, Furigana is written on top of a Kanji character to provide the phonetic reading of the Kanji.

Depending on the reading level of the text, the amount of Furigana can change. Text written for young or novice readers often includes Furigana above of each Kanji. Text written for older students or intermediate readers, includes Furigana over the more difficult Kanji, while text geared toward adults will only include Furigana if obscure or rarely used Kanji are present.

So yeah, the furigana are the little words above certain kanji, but they actually can be written hiragana, too, but are sometimes written in katakana.

If it's really that the furigana reads "Boosted Gear" whereas the kanji reads "Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet," then that means that the actual name for the Sacred Gear, as you said, is what's written in the furigana above the kanji, in this case "Boosted Gear". It's the intended phonetic reading for the kanji.

[Ariel_Saeba]

@Osman from a DxD (amateur) translator's standpoint, the Kanji stands for the item/person's title, a.k.a what is actually meant of the thing (form and origins), while the kana is the "official name"/ nickname of the item in question (mostly refers to its function/power) (like Boosted Gear, the "Gauntlet of the Red Dragon Emperor" refers to what the item actually is, while Boosted Gear is the name used to call the Sacred Gear as well as its main power).

EDIT: Yeah, it is furigana, but Ishibumi meant it like I explained above since he combined Japanese with Western sounding (if he uses the original Japanese sounding it would not make it more recognizable, not to mention longer wording which will take up space ).

@Chichi as one quote said, "Light is not always good, and dark is not always evil". For now, both Ise and Vali have good intentions (despite having jerkish moments), but the path that they take in-story is a bit different (Ise takes the spotlight like a "God" (as gods always have the spotlight in religious stories despite how jerkass they are) while Vali stays in the shadows, "Satan" (as he is mostly working behind the scenes until this volume).

[DragonOsman]

The Furigana is supposed to represent the actual phonetic reading intended by author, right? Like the link I mentioned (as well as the quote I brought from it). The Kanji reads "Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet" but if the Furigana reads "Boosted Gear," then that's what it's supposed to be read as and called. So that's why it's translated as Boosted Gear in English by our translators. Am I right?

Anyway, yeah, I think Saeba's right on the "light and darkness" thing.

[Chichiryuushintei]

I didn't say Ise is evil. I meant that the title of God or Devil mean nothing. They are just that. Titles. Gods, Angels, and Devils are just like people. Some are good, some are douches, some are neutral, everyone is crazy tho. Vali never did anything more Devil-like than Ise did. Hell, both of their modes are called Diabolos Dragon. Riz called Ise a Dragon Devil King. Apparently Ise becomes a Maou.

[Ariel_Saeba]

@Osman Yes, in a general sense. However, the difference between the kanji and furigana reading in DxD (and possibly other series as well) goes more on rule of cool (like Chichi said), along with the DxD naming convention like I said above (in addition of the furigana being a gratuitous English and bilingual bonus).

EDIT: @Chichi My bet on future Ise is that he will become like Great Red, moving around the world similar as GR swims around the Dimensional Gap (but unlike GR, Ise will always stop by to help around and visit his world-stretching family

[DragonOsman]

@Chichi: Yeah, in DxD, those titles are just titles and mean nothing. We can all agree on that. About Future Ise, though: going by EX, it seems like Saeba's right, but I'm not sure if he really became a Maou or not. Rizevim probably just meant that he's strong enough to be a Maou (except that even Rizevim himself really believed he was stronger than even that and was really Super Devil tier powerful (but now that Diabolos Dragon G has been nerfed, it might not be Super Devil level anymore)). <-Even then, though, it'll still go back to being Super Devil level after he raises it back up to full power which will also require stabilization, tuning and mastery of the Cardinal Crimson Queen; so it's mastery of Triaina -> tuning, stabilization and mastery of Cardinal Crimson Queen -> power-raise and mastery of DxD G. DxD G is an expansion of the Cardinal Crimson Queen, so once the latter is mastered, the power of the former will be raised back to what it's supposed to be.

Sorry, I went off on a tangent there.

@Saeba: I just hope Ise gets to spend more time with his family, too, in the middle of all that moving around and helping all those people from the other factions.

On the naming: yeah, you're right on the "sound cool" part. I've also noticed that.

[Variabug]

Well, Issei was supposedly able to beat Apophis with DDG and he is supposed to be stronger than Rezivim. So he probably still is Super Devil, just not OP Devil Tier.

[Hakai]

He did that in the original DxD according to the current spoilers.

The one he's going to use from now on is going to be the nerfed one.

If it's at least as strong as EJO(which I reaaally hope it is, because it's Vali's second strongest armor now) I'd consider him Super Devil tier.

But idk if it's going to be, Ishi has been really stingy with Ise's power level for a while.

[BladeMancer]

Originally Posted by Cake-Carrot

He did that in the original DxD according to the current spoilers.

The one he's going to use from now on is going to be the nerfed one.

If it's at least as strong as EJO(which I reaaally hope it is, because it's Vali's second strongest armor now) I'd consider him Super Devil tier.

But idk if it's going to be, Ishi has been really stingy with Ise's power level for a while.

I'm curious as to why you want DXD to be as powerful as Vali's second strongest armor. That would mean that Vali would be once again one step ahead of Issei again.

[Hakai]

I don't want DxD(nerfed) to be as strong as EJO, I hope it's at least as strong as EJO

Because DxD G being weaker than Vali's secondary armor just wouldn't feel right.

[DragonOsman]

Yeah. It should be stronger than Vali's Emperio Juggernaut OverDrive, and maybe as strong as or stronger than his DxD L, too.

@Variabug: Ophis nerfed DxD G when she was fixing the drawbacks and other bad things done to him by it, including his perception for big breasts (i.e. the perception came back). This happened after the fight against Apophis, so actually, that fight was before he got nerfed.

[Chris38]

Since we are already taking about Ise's DxD G mode ... personally I believe that it's probably as strong as Vali's DxD L mode ... even if it wouldn't seem to be the case.

After all .. Vali and Ise are portrayed as friends rivals, so I believe that overall the power ups that they gained is going to be kept at a more or less similar level of power.

The reason why it doesn't seem to be the case ... is because Ise tends to take more time to draw the full potential of his powers, compared to Vali who is portrayed as the Instant Expert character archetype,

I also believe that Ise's DxD G mode nerf is only temporary ... because he still hasn't unlocked the full potential of CCQ mode yet and it is something that DxD G depends on ... and once he does that the road to reaching ( and maybe surpassing) the level of power that he demonstrated during the events of volume 21 and 22 - without it's negative effects is going to be once again opened.

Of course this theory is still my speculation, since there isn't any evidence that hints something like that yet.

[DragonOsman]

Actually, DxD G is an expansion of the Cardinal Crimson Queen. Just look at the full name that Ddraig gave it (Cardinal Crimson Promotion - Diabolos Dragon [DxD]). So the thinking that to raise its power back up, Ise would have to master and raise the power of Cardinal Crimson Queen first, makes the most sense. I've also been saying this for a while now. But it's just that it currently being nerfed doesn't sound good, even if it is temporary.

[Hakai]

DxD G being equal to DxD L would mean Ise would be Heavenly Dragon tier, I don't think Ishi will give him that level of power yet which he can use casually.

And it'd make sense for it to be weaker tbh, Vali's specs are significantly higher in everything, base/bb/Silver mode so his version of DxD should be stronger as well before Ise rises the level of his Crimson mode.

[Variabug]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me.

Well, it probably is a good idea that DXD G is being nerfed because we still have at least 8 volumes left and DXD is the last upgrade Issei will get in the series. That being said it may be possible for Ophis/Issei to temporarily un-nerf DXD G if necessary to unleash it's full power. But that is getting into hypotheticals and again, Issei working on Triana and CCQ will also enhance G's strength until it returns to its full power at the end of the series. Also, it means that Queen won't be rendered useless like Triana.

Also with Vali being stronger than Issei again, well, Vali is usually stronger than Issei at max power. He is better in most respects due to his blood and innate talent while Issei has grown strong through his new body and hard work. While eventually Issei may become stronger than Vali when he masters his body (if EX is anything to go by) having him just curb stomp everything now wouldn't be fun. And besides, all of Issei's other rivals PALE in comparison to him, so having Vali continuing to be a goal for Issei isn't a bad thing.

[Ariel_Saeba]

Putting the Scale Mail upgrades aside... I actually wanted to see how far Ise uses his Dragonification perk as the result of having a body created by Great Red. We do not have chance to see how far that perk can go in the main story aside from that Volume 14 stint (putting EX shapeshifting aside).

[KnightShade]

Originally Posted by Variabug

Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me.

Well, it probably is a good idea that DXD G is being nerfed because we still have at least 8 volumes left and DXD is the last upgrade Issei will get in the series. That being said it may be possible for Ophis/Issei to temporarily un-nerf DXD G if necessary to unleash it's full power. But that is getting into hypotheticals and again, Issei working on Triana and CCQ will also enhance G's strength until it returns to its full power at the end of the series. Also, it means that Queen won't be rendered useless like Triana.

Also with Vali being stronger than Issei again, well, Vali is usually stronger than Issei at max power. He is better in most respects due to his blood and innate talent while Issei has grown strong through his new body and hard work. While eventually Issei may become stronger than Vali when he masters his body (if EX is anything to go by) having him just curb stomp everything now wouldn't be fun. And besides, all of Issei's other rivals PALE in comparison to him, so having Vali continuing to be a goal for Issei isn't a bad thing.

sairougue stay getting slept on...

[beast 666]

I would say that vali on its DXD L mode is more strong that issei on its DXD G mode, because issei doesn't have its full power in that State, issei can only use a little part of its power, therefore only with training issei can use all your power, However vali in their state "Lucifer" may be more stronger than issei.

[Aijaz_md]

Originally Posted by beast 666

I would say that vali on its DXD L mode is more strong that issei on its DXD G mode, because issei doesn't have its full power in that State, issei can only use a little part of its power, therefore only with training issei can use all your power, However vali in their state "Lucifer" may be more stronger than issei.

Well I do agree that Vali maybe stronger than Issie at this point and i do think that it is better that he is as it will be balanced state for the series as Issei chases to his power adn tries to overpower him.

Issei has yet to msater the training that he was given by Wu long. And if his body becmes accustomed to that training and he masters he would be able conserve lot more stamina and demonic power. So i think in next he will be going on from basics just like Kiba did before the Rating Games.

So I really look forward to the next arc and new rivals that would be as strong as the MC.