Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

Disclaimers: There are some very minor spoilers in this review. Also, I'm not a professional reviewer or good at giving critiques. This is my first one, so you can take this review as you want. I'm just trying to provide my honest opinions on this show. Also, I'm not the most familiar with this sub-genre of anime and manga. The only other isekais I have under my belt are the first two seasons of SAO (Bleh after Aincrad), the bizarre, but somewhat interesting Drifters and That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime, which I didn't finish after 19 episodes when I realized that the protagonistwasn't likely to be in any way challenged any time soon.
You could also argue that Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNICLE is an Isekai, but after a certain point that aspect is barely relevant to the plot, so I don't think it's a valid argument. And finally, there is Re:Creators, an inverse Isekai with an interesting concept but so-so execution. (I might get around to reviewing this at some point soon) Other than these five examples, I have little experience with with Isekai shows. Keep that in mind for this review. Now, if you've gotten this far, let's begin.

The Rising of the Shield Hero is a solid show. The premise is interesting enough to get you invested till you get to the meat of the story. The animation is more than sufficient and even far superior to most of it's peers. The sound design, voice acting and soundtrack have some high notes (figuratively and literally), and the characters can feel realistic. Most of the time. I enjoyed this show, but I can see the faults easily enough.

Let's start with the story and world building. This is arguably the strongest aspect. It isn't groundbreaking by any means but it's consistent. The world itself is pretty standard, although there is an odd aspect in that anything that requires some skill or talent (that we see) has a kind of leveling system, which also seems to apply to some of the races in this world. (To be honest, this aspect is not especially well executed, especially when a character seems to take a bad wound, something that would put you in the hospital, only for us to see that less than 1% of their health bar is gone. This isn't something that will completely ruin your immersion, but the more you think about it, the less consistent it is.) The world is also shown to have many different factions and governments, and a lot of things happen outside of the main character's control. While his presence and that of the other three heroes is important to the people of the world, things still happen without their input or knowledge. And for those who enjoy underdog, redemption and arguably revenge stories, this is a good entry. You have to deal with seeing the MC struggle through a lot of bad situations, but he still pulls through, and proves to everyone that he is worth their respect. If nothing else, you watch this show because you want to see the people who organized his fall from grace get their just desserts.

However, the pacing can be rough. Personally episodes 6-7-8 are not especially important to the plot, and after episode 13, while the story and goals of our characters are the same, there are a lot of detours. Not to spoil anything, but if I remember right, right before episode 20, an entire episode takes place within the same 100 or so feet. The important characters barely do anything in this episode, and it really just drags along. There are a couple of good episodes after this till the end, but the second half of the season is undercut a lot by these slower episodes. I gave the story aspect an eight. While it is pretty boring for a few episodes, when the characters actually progress the story, it's strong. And even when it's slow, it's still more interesting than other shows I've seen.

On to the animation. For the most part, It's excellent. Better than it had to be. I won't say that the action scenes are the most dynamic or flashy I've seen, but they still hold up. Character designs, scene direction and compositing are well done. Studio Kinema Citrus did some great work with the art work in this show. However, like the story, it suffers somewhat in the second half. Characters sometimes go off model, a corners are cut, with little character animation used at some points. One example is when a couple of characters try using a combo attack, but to show that they are using a combo attack, they are just moved into the shot from either side of the frame as if they were on conveyor belts. This feels pretty cheap, but I can understand. 25 episode series are difficult to direct, and luckily for us, they mostly cut corners in relatively unimportant scenes. I give the animation a nine. It wasn't let down by the moments where the animation was worse than the rest of the show, more from the fact that while good, it wasn't as inventive as it could've been.

I don't have much to say about the sound design, to be honest. The voice actors were good in the original japanese dub. They found the right voice actors for the characters. Objects, creatures and special attacks sound like they should. The soundtrack isn't something to complain about, but it isn't really a standout either. Kevin Penkin composed some very interesting songs for Made in Abyss, but it feels like because this show is more familiar to us with its setting, the soundtrack didn't need very exotic songs, and therefore, nothing that caught our attention. The are a couple of songs here and there, but I haven't really gone out of my way to listen to them outside of watching the show. I give the sound a seven. It wasn't bad, but it didn't stand out to me.

Special mentions to the Openings here. The songs by MADKID for both openings are great. They're exciting, and do a good job of getting you excited for the episode. The animation is also on point, as you'd imagine. Fluid movements for the most part, but there are some really striking visuals that really help them stand out. However, there are one or two inconsistencies in both OPs. It's only for a second or two, but the fact is, you'll likely notice, though it won't make you think less of the OPs. There were other shows in the two seasons this show aired that had better OPs in a lot of ways, but these are still great.

The characters of the show, much like the story, are consistent. For the most part, the motivations they had in episode 1 are the same ones they have at the end of episode 25. The main character, for example, is someone who wants to do good before anything else, but he was thrown in to the cold embrace of reality when he was framed for something he didn't do, and adapted accordingly. He is not a bad person, but rather someone trying to manage in some bad situations. He's surprisingly down to earth, and is probably one of the most consistent characters in the show. And there are several characters like him. The other heroes, companions (with one exception), side characters, allies and enemies alike, act and think the same way throughout the whole show. They don't really do anything out of character. With a some of exceptions, and it might just be my opinion, everyone acts the way you expected them to when some new challenge or obstacle is presented to them.

That being said, that doesn't mean I have to like them. Now, there are some characters in this show that you are supposed to hate, no matter what happens to them. They are just written that way, and that's fine. However, the main characters second companion was not someone I could find myself liking, and it's likely because she feels out of place compared to everyone else. I'm not sure if it was the fact that she seemed good at everything immediately, even outperforming another companion in most ways, or that her motives didn't seem to add up. She feels pretty hollow, to be honest. Her motives don't seem to operate on any logic. She just goes from place to place, reacting to situations when they pop up. And unlike other characters, while I realize that she is just a child and acts accordingly, I'm sure even a child can experience some amount of hesitance or fear when facing a powerful opponent. As an example, a scene when the main group goes to deal with a dragon. While the other two party members are uneasy and serious about the task at hand, she just eats berries and comes to help them as if it's nothing. The best way I can describe it is that, while eveyone in the show has a pretty realistic existence and mindset, she lives in an ACTUAL dream world where she does as she pleases. It's like nothing can affect her, and that doesn't make for an interesting character. Nothing challenges her, and her character suffers as a result. In the end I give the characters an eight. Most of them are relatable, make decisions that we can understand, and don't have sudden changes of character that breaks what's been established. But some characters seem to live in a different world, and not in the good way. Their actions are odd, sometimes incomprehensible, and no situation seems to affect them in any way that would make sense. These characters are few, but at least one of them has enough screen time to lower the score.

In the end, I'm glad I experienced this show. Once it comes back for a second season (which I think it will) I will watch it. I don't watch things expecting them to be perfect, or so I can rip into them. I just want to experience them. But I can safely say that I enjoyed this experience. Some people will disagree, of course, and there's nothing I can do about that. Hell, if you even see this review feel free to disregard it entirely. Your opinion is your own to make, and I don't intend on changing that. This is just what I thought of the show, and you can take away whatever you want from my opinions.