Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

The better SAO and I can even say that with SAO being the first anime I've watched. With that said even comparing this to SAO means its not very good in my eyes. Before getting the the negatives Ill talk about what I liked first. The animation was generally pretty well done, nothing outstandingly good nor does it have a unique style. But the incorporation of CGI that at times is wonky but mostly good with 2D is always a welcomed mix in my mind. The music is pretty immersive and makes you feel like you are in the environments the characters are in, once againnothing that stands out or is a banger but its a positive. World building is definitely a plus to these MMO animes as its easily presented throughout the show. And there are pretty decent themes and messages sprinkled in the show that I haven't entirely seen anywhere else yet (i've only watched very few animes so). The one scene that specifically did surprisingly hit me hard was the jail cell scene.

That's all I had to say that was positive so now onto the negatives, wtf is up with this harem bs? I'm not saying you cant have girls in your story but what are the fucking odds that all members of your party are girls??? Here let me do the math, 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/16 = 6.25% FUCKING CHANCE. Granted I would be 100% fine with this but of course they gotta add some SUS SHIT. SLAVE PACTS??? Then the (of course) loli and (nekko?) girl fighting over "Masters" love??? Such a generic overdone character dynamic that doesn't evolve into anything different than what's been beaten to DEATH. And I mentioned themes earlier being present here. Well one of the themes is "Justice can often make one blind to their consequence" which is absolutely uncommonly applicable in real life. 90% of things heroic people do in order to help or for justice don't cause harm. The main character naofumideeznuts doesn't even build up satisfyingly in season 1 he goes from being hated to being hated/respected? i would've like it better if it took longer for the redemption of character but I will say the moment he got redemption felt good but felt flat and unimpactful in the rest of the show, just that one episode. Most people don't like training arcs, but in my opinion its a greater opportunity to build character and establishment. In this show they went "XP BONUS EVENT LOOOL" and THIS FUCKER ROSE 30 LEVELS in 1 EPISODE. IT TOOK HIM 20 to GET 40!! on that same topic this show had soooo many convenient points to it just to drive it forward, out of money? heres money! need to level up quick? XP EVENT!!!! it would've been so interesting to see how the characters would've portrayed the possible harsh reality of that game world struggling through and prospering past it but no we just zip through that shit EASY. Next topic exposition drops EVERY OTHER EPISODE, it rips my immersion of the world or should I say drives me deeper into it as it really makes me feel like i'm playing a FUCKING VIDEO GAME. And are the constant annoying flashbacks and callbacks to thing that happened literally last episode or 5 minutes ago needed? Half the shit I came to my own conclusion already but the show had to explain in for several seconds of which COULD'VE BEEN USED TO DRIVE CHARACTER CONNECTIONS FURTHER. Overall this show is everything I am biased against in anime with some exceptions and good highlights, which is a shame as nearly every anime ive watched through was very enjoyable and nice so far. Makes sense though as I only watched this because I lost a bet. L