Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

I think it’s clear that the Rising of the Shield Hero is intended to be a male power-fantasy isekai. There are lolis running around everywhere and the main character was just an average male living a normal life in Japan who gets transported to another world. However, I don’t think that’s all this show should be chocked up to. The Rising of the Shield Hero unexpectedly subverted my expectations for the stereotyped genre of isekai, and I’m honestly glad it did. While there are numerous lolis throughout this show, I’d argue that none of them are sexualized by the framing or animation of the show,but most importantly by the main character. Naofumi, while a perfect candidate to sexualize the younger female members of his party, doesn’t once view any of them in this light. This is extremely refreshing as anime tends to oversexualize their female characters, older and younger alike, to a degree that can be tiring to watch and experience over and over again.

With complex characters and a well-developed plot, Shield Hero avoids the pitfall that many power fantasy shows fall into. Both Raphtalia and Filo are developed in ways that feel natural to their character and their relationship with Naofumi aren’t ever creepy or something they shouldn’t be for a fantasy anime. Raphtalia’s backstory is heartbreaking and fleshes out her character extremely well, something absolutely integral to female characters in anime. Shield Hero also has the advantage of an intriguing world. While Naofumi isn’t the strongest protagonist narratively-speaking, he still has a defined character arc and his character still serves a purpose within the world. There’s a good balance of character development that goes along with world building, as Raphtalia, Filo, and Naofumi’s characters are all important to the development of the world and its functions.

I think it's worth noting that the anime starts out a bit rough. After Naofumi purchases Raphtalia, there are instances where he forces her to fight because she’s scared and inexperienced, and this is definitely hard to watch because in the context of the story, Raphtalia is still a child. Raphtalia is later understanding of why he makes her fight and thanks Naofumi for this, but this action alone feels a little bit weird. As the plot progresses, Raphtalia has a lot of agency and is a character independent of Naofumi. This is a clear improvement of her character and something that definitely makes Shield Hero easier to watch, but it is hard to ignore these implications to the show as a male-perspective power fantasy at the beginning of the show.

That being said, there is still undeniable substance to The Rising of the Shield Hero and I do believe it is worth the watch if you enjoy the isekai genre. And if you don’t, the fantasy elements of this show are developed extremely well and create an universe that distracts from the fact that it is an isekai. There’s also an appropriate soundtrack and relatively nice animation, so it’s a solid show that I think is a very good example of a modern, well-done isekai.