Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

Even before its airtime, Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (The Rising of the Shield Hero), was like the new kid arriving to class. It had people’s attention, looked like something new and fresh in the bunch of ordinary stuff, and was shrouded in a certain amount of mystic. Like the new kid in class, it held the potential to be the new exciting thing this year. Because just like a normal high school class, where almost every character and stereotype are known, just as known are the tropes and clichés in the isekai genre. But with each new contribution, there is the hope that itwill be something fresh and different from what you watched/known before. So, how did TnYnN preform as the new kid in class? Well, many things was like most other seen and known before when introduced, the news got old fast and everyone had seen most of it before, but some was creative and freshly used and defined it as it own, and actually made it stand out in the crowed in a good way. So, let´s talk about what TnYnN did right and wrong.

For starters, I loved how self-aware TnYnN was already from the beginning. It completely assumes that you are familiar with the most common tropes and wastes no time for unnecessary explanations, it just throws them at you. Like the first part of the first episode where we have our typical MC for this kind of show (enclosed, unemployed, nerdy male in his late teens) going out to get some fresh light novels so he can entertain himself the rest of the week. At the library he´s looking at a LN and actually points out how stereotypical it is for a LN, with heroes being summoned from another world to fight evil. He even points out that the princess seems like a bitch (he was right). And then suddenly he gets sucked into the book and transported to said other world where three other guys already have been summoned. Even here, Naofumi (yeah that´s our main guy), thinks about how typical this is for a LN. That´s how you use clichés and get away with it. But here TnYnN starts to differentiate itself from most isekai. Because, you see, our Naofumi doesn´t get the most powerful weapon like the sword, spear or bow, no he gets the lame as shield, the least regarded hero weapon in this world. He also looks the same as before, while the other heroes being self-centred pretty boys. So, he basically starts out as the underdog, which seldom happens in this type of show where the MC often is OP from the start. That he gets epically betrayed and shunned pretty quickly as well only further establish him as the underdog. This makes him angry and bitter and turn him in to a pretty harsh and rueful guy, which is one of the best things with the show according to me. I´m so fed up with the nice hero type guy who is going to save all that he meets with a gracious smile. Naofumi will help you too, but for a price and no smiles. Nothing is free, and he takes all he can get. That he actually buys a slave as his first party member was just awesome, zero f*cks given.

Which brings me to the second isekai trope that is used with such assurance and self-evidentness that you just sit there with your popcorn and like “I buy this”. I´m referring to the you-are-in-a-game trope, with levels, EXP´s and unlocking abilities. Yep, that´s a main thing, and it is as natural as breathing in this world. So, a large part of the show is dedicated to Naofumi and his little party (back to them later) to level up and upgrade his shield. This part could´ve been condensed though, it ate a huge chunk of the running time. I would have liked more focus on who the enemy they were fighting was, their reasons for invading, why they only could invade short periods of time, and where they come from instead. But hey, that´s probably what season 2 will provide (if we ever get one, the track record of isekai seasons 2 doesn’t look good).

And as for the third big trope used in TnYnN, the loli-harem aka. The Shield Heroes party, I have mixed feelings. On one side I like them all (Raphtalia, Filo and Melty) as characters, they have personalities, development, a significant role in the party and are cute as candy. On the other hand, why most they all be underaged girls at age ten? Why do all of them have to have a crush on the much older Naofumi? That he has no such feelings back is relieving, but it still leaves me with an unsettled feeling and thoughts of what the hell the author was thinking there. What´s wrong with grown women if you are going to mix love in the picture? I don´t mind a kid or two in the group, it could be a nice dynamic, but come on, let the kids be kids.

As for most of the other characters, they do a good job of provoking feelings. Princess Malty probably will come down as the biggest and most hated bitch in anime history, oh what I wished for her punishment. The other heroes are thick as the largest trees, and most times you just want to shake them senseless, especially the spear hero, and the king is trash bent on messing up Naofumi´s life. There is some light in this darkness though, as the blacksmith Elhart who supported Naofumi from the beginning and the Queen (when she well shows herself), who sets things straight when needs be.

Kinema Citrus has done a good job on the art and animation. Even though the character designs are a bit generic, they keep it clean and nicely coloured. The backgrounds look nice and often properly detailed, and when they want even really pretty. The animation is more than decent, with fluid and coherent motions, good and varied facial expressions, and pretty well executed fight scenes. The magic is displayed detailed enough and never looks out of place, it even has the proper umpf behind it, no complains here.

Honestly, I haven´t noticed the soundtrack that much, which could be both good and bad. I would guess good in this case since nothing has irritated or bothered me. Both the OP´s are suitably generic but good, it fits the show and the atmosphere it has. The VA´s are well matched with their characters, and they preform their role well, no complains in that department either.

I enjoyed TnYnN for the most parts, much to my surprise actually since isekai isn´t my favourite genre and are so overused these days. But the self-awareness, the less than generic MC, and decent story building made this enjoyable. I actually really hope that this wasn´t just a teaser for the LN and Manga, but that they for real are going to dash out a season 2 in the near future.