Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

I sort of feel like I shouldn't have ranked this anime this high, but I really liked it? The Rising of the Shield Hero went way beyond my expectations, so it gets what it gets. But let me tell you all about it. So, the art is fire. Well, the monsters were often (I think) CGI based, so that isn't something that I enjoyed looking at, but everything else was beautiful. One of the main things I loved a lot about the art in this anime-- other than the coloring and the overall style-- was the outfits. The pieces of each characters' "uniform," so to speak,really brought them to life and made them feel unique and special, so I was pretty happy with how everyone looked. The music wasn't something that blew me away 100% of the time, but there were some areas of BGM that I liked a lot.

The story premise itself was written nicely, for the most part. The main storyline of the Shield Hero becoming this symbol for those who weren't able to protect themselves was lovely. I'll talk more about that when I discuss the characters, but I like the story aspects, and I'm excited to see the pieces come together in the future. However, the pacing was a bit strange. There were areas where the momentum slowed down, and the events that were happening didn't really keep me as interested as I could've been if the pacing were sped up or used differently, etc. So, yeah, at times it felt a bit weird to watch, but it didn't bother me all that much.

Okay, characters. I could harp on the unique personalities of certain characters, and I will say that a few of them had nice development that I enjoyed a lot, but the thing I want to highlight the most as far as the characters go is the main character himself. He's very much an imperfect protagonist, and I think the story did very well to make that a defining feature. He doesn't come off as an immaculate hero that saves people because he's pure of heart and virtue. He's gritty and crass, he doesn't do things for free, and he's kind of an ass sometimes-- and that's what makes him great. Again, writing a protagonist like that is genius. Of course, though, the flip side is that the supporting cast felt a bit redundant. Not the main character's companions, but pretty much everyone else. Their stories seemed to circle each other a lot. There were a couple times it felt like certain characters were learning and changing, but the next time I saw them, it was like they forgot everything. So, it did get a bit repetitive. The payoff of the development finally sticking in the end didn't feel that great either since it took so many roundabout ways to get there.

This anime isn't perfect, but I can't say I didn't completely enjoy it. The fighting sequences were done very well considering the game-like aspect to this world, and the characters' relationships to each other made it very heartwarming to watch. I'm excited for what's to come because I think it'll be something truly special. I look forward to the next chapter.