Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4

Let’s start with the basics: this part of the story (light novel) on which the anime is based is not exactly the best. We can all agree that, starting from the second season, the quality of the plot dropped significantly, and the direction taken by the animation studio was rightfully criticized for both its animation and direction. That said, both the third and fourth seasons show a slight improvement compared to the previous one, preventing the anime from sinking as low as season two. Still, this doesn’t change the fact that, overall, the story is far from great. In my opinion, the Silvelt - Q’ten arcis one of the weakest in the entire series, and not even the animation work can save it.

The Silvelt section, which doesn’t add much to the main plot, dragged on unnecessarily for five dull episodes. In contrast, the Q’ten part was more engaging, with the final episode’s fight being the highlight of the season. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the new characters, who feel like empty shells (just like in the light novel).

The Rising of the Shield Hero ends up being a series that introduces thousands of characters, only for them to have sporadic relevance without any real development.

That being said, I must point out once again that it’s difficult to create a good show out of source material that already has so many flaws.

The only positive thing I can point out is that what’s coming next in the story is among the best parts of the novels (compared to what we’ve seen so far). Whether the anime succeeds from here on will depend heavily on the animation studio’s work.