Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero
After watching The Rising of Shield Hero, I was left satisfied, but a little disappointed. The first few episodes were like something I had never seen before, and they were by far the best episodes of the series. They led me to expect that Shield Hero would surpass the generic isekai anime of the past (which I admittedly did and still do enjoy) and become a staple of the genere, a must watch along the lines of Re:Zero, revealing the darker side of a fantasy world. However, the show slowly but surely left behind it’s bleaker portrayal of the world, becoming a standard isekai witha touch of harem by its end.
The first episodes stand out mainly for their bleak atmosphere, believable chain of events, and sympathetic protagonist. From Naofumi's first moments in his fantasy world, the dynamic between him and the other heroes seems a bit off. Something about their interactions is extremely believable, with Naofumi seeming off sync with the rest of the heroes, leading to realistically awkward interactions rarely seen in anime. The world generally seems against Naofumi for no clear reason, allowing the viewers to sympathize with his plight and feel more invested in him as a character. While we don’t know why the world seems against him, it never seems like the odds are stacked against him to an unbelievable degree. People seem to hate him due to the connotations of being the shield hero, and so they act against him in a believable enough way. As an outcast, Naofumi acts more like a villain than really any other isekai protagonists, and because of what happened to him, he can still garner sympathy and investment from the audience even as an anti hero. His journey to fight a forced fight in a world that loathes him is very compelling, and if the show continued like it started, utilizing a more slow and methodical rising of shield hero, it would’ve had the potential to get a 10/10 from me.
In the latter half of the show, however, things go a bit downhill. Naofumi acts more and more like a standard isekai hero, losing the anti hero persona that made him really interesting, while the other heroes seem to act dumber and dumber as the show progresses. Character interactions in general also feel less unique, as almost everyone in the main cast ends up worshiping Naofumi, understandably so, as it seems like he is the only individual doing anything remotely heroic. In essence, the show shifted over time, starting out as the story of a man moving forward in spite of the world around him, and eventually becoming the story of a man which the entire world moves around.
It might sound like I’m being hard on Shield Hero, and that’s less because it’s some atrocious show, and more because it could’ve been so much more. As a whole, the show is just a slightly above average isekai anime that was admittedly enjoyable. The thing that frustrates me about it is that if it lived up to the massive amount of potential it showed early on, it could’ve been one of the best isekai anime out there. Naofumi definitely needed to rise up from being viewed as the lowest of the low, but his rise felt too fast and drastic. It’s like at some point in the story, the writers thought, "it’s time for Naofumi to be recognized as a hero," and then, all of a sudden, his suffering just about halted and he rather quickly became a standard protagonist. The Rising of Shield Hero was generally a decent, well made anime, but it’s bogged down by its promising start that showed it could have been so much more.