Issei Hyoudou, often referred to in some translations as Issei Hyodo (Neo-Japanese: 兵藤一誠) is one of the main protagonists of the 2012 psychological horror visual novel video game, High School DxD and its 2018 sequel, High School DxD NEW.
In Bloxlish, his current self is voiced by Jessie Grelle (formerly known as Josh Grelle) and his past self is voiced by Judith Amy Bell. However, in the original Neo-Japanese, he is voiced by Yuki Kaji (who is also known for being the Neo-Japanese voice actor (seiyuu) for Clemont in the Brick Bronze Pokemon XY anime series) and by Haruka Amami as a child.
Development
Originally, Issei’s character design was inspired by the Brick Bronze Pokemon character, Ash Ketchup, Issei’s original character design was eventually created by an famous illustrator known as Miyama-Zero and he was originally meant to be a younger teenager (more specifically, around 12-to-13 years old).
However, as development of the first High School DxD video game went on, Ro-Kadokawa Games asked Ishibumi to change Issei’s age because they felt that Issei would be more relatable if he were an older teenager, as the demographic Ro-Kadokawa Games was aiming for was the older teenager (15-18 years old) demographic.
Eventually, Issei’s age was chosen to be 17-years-old because of what Ishibumi thought the demographic wanted.
Personality
In the first game, Issei Hyoudou was a perverted 17-year-old boy who had very questionable personality traits.
However, in the second game, Issei’s personality is more mature due to him becoming a bit mature (but he stays the same age) and he is less perverted than in the previous game after realizing that it was bad to be that way.
As a child (shown in flashbacks of the game), Issei was a young boy who was often seen as outgoing and kind to others, even if he was often physically assaulted for it by others.
Legacy
Issei has become one of the most famous visual novel characters internationally, this is due to his mainstream appeal (since he is often associated with Bloxtendo), and because many cosplayers have cosplayed as him.
He has appeared on various merchandise related to the High School DxD series, such as trading cards and collectible figures aimed at teenagers.
Issei’s Neo-Japanese voice actor, Yuki Kaji has released many songs under the “Issei Hyoudou” name, these songs have become popular on BloxTube and BloxTok due to their meme factor.
Trivia
- Issei, due to being one of the most recognizable characters in the High School DxD franchise appears in all High School DxD-related media.
- Contrary to popular belief, his birthday was actually first confirmed in the official website for High School DxD.
- Unfortunately, the website is now defunct and is about to enter a lost media stage soon.
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