The Rising of the Shield Hero Review — Unnecessary Hate On the Net
The Rising of the Shield Hero Review
The Rising of the Shield Hero ( Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari ) is a Japanese Isekai anime based on the light novel written by Aneko Yusagi. It is a dark, action anime. I have recently finished the anime and will now give you my opinions about it. For starters, I have only watched the anime and have not read the light novel yet. Hence, my review is based only on the anime and the anime itself.
The Rising of The Shield Hero Plot
Naofumi Iwatani and three other people are summoned to another world as the Four Cardinal Heroes to fight the inter-dimensional wars called Waves. Each of them has a special weapon exclusive only to themselves. Naofumi gets a shield which he detests as it is a defensive tool and cannot support him much in the fights. The other heroes get much better weapons — a bow, a spear, and a sword as compared to him. As the other heroes are given comrades to fight along with, Naofumi gets a single comrade named Malty. Later on, Malty betrays him and steals his money, belonging and accuses him of rape and sexual assault. Naofumi then gets very discriminated against and hated upon by the people of the nation for something he never did. Now, with a mountain of hatred and distrust in his heart, Naofumi sets on a journey to strengthen himself so that he can fight the waves and get back home.
The plot itself is quite admirable, not going after the same righteous MC one. There are no major plot holes and you will rarely find one. The fact that as soon as the heroes are summoned, they adapt to the situation right away like it’s normal to be summoned to another world feels a bit strange. It is not normal to be summoned to another world out of the blue. Although, this could be me nitpicking. As I progressed in the story, I started to sympathize with him and you would most probably also. In the whole anime, you will see many moments and scenes which give you so much feels and thrill that you cannot leave it be. The fights are splendid and as the story begins to unfold, more mysteries are created which makes me more curious.
Characters of The Rising of The Shield Hero
The Rising of the Shield Hero follows the story of Naofumi Iwatani who gets summoned to another world to fight the Waves. At first, he is an otaku, gullible and a childlike person . After a major incident, the character development of him takes a massive turn as he goes down the dark path. His companion, Raphtalia also gets enough spotlight to make sure she is an important character. She is first to receive Naofumi’s trust. Her story has also been given quite light. Where she came from, her past, and her feelings also have been given quite a bit of attention. The other characters,uptil now, have also been quite fun. The other Cardinal heroes, although get less attention, still prove to be quite good side characters. A major part of the attention is given only to Naofumi and his team and little is given to the other heroes. But, since Naofumi is the main character, this was but obvious, although a bit more attention to the other heroes and their character development would indeed help the series.
Animation of The Rising of the Shield Hero
The animation of this series is not the best like that of Fate or Your Name, neither are they in the bad spot. The visuals are suitable for the Isekai genre with nothing extra special about the animations. The animation of the fight scenes is quite good and does not fall into the spot like of Seven Deadly Sins scenes. You will be quite satisfied with the visuals if you do not expect them to be on the level of top-tier animated anime like Violet Evergarden or Demon Slayer.
Verdict
The Rising of the Shield Hero feels like a good Isekai anime like the others. Although the storyline is a bit flawed and rushed with a few plot holes, it is nothing that major. The characters are fun, the animation is sufficiently good and something that is like a cherry on the top is there’s a second and third season. Either way, if you are looking for a decent dark anime that does not follow the usual good MC, then I would suggest you give it a try. If you can look past a few storyline errors, then this anime would be quite fun for you too. It certainly does not deserve the online hate it gets. It is a very good anime with a lot of feels and excitement which is delivered effortlessly. The fact that it was criticized vastly for the first episode is something that I cannot comprehend. I could not find anything for which it could be criticized that greatly. If you are looking for a good action anime, then go for it. It would surely be worth your time.
In India, you can watch The Rising of The Shield Hero on Crunchyroll. Although, overseas much more variety of streaming services are available like Funimation, etc. If you want to watch The Rising of the Shield Hero on Netflix, you could use a VPN and change your location to Japan.