Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

I don't know whether to call The Rising of Shield Hero NOT cliché, or TOO cliché. This show was entertaining and mold-breaking at best, but dragging and face-palm inducing at worst. For the most part, however, it still does deliver due to its decent execution of a concept that's been slowly gaining traction as of late: the anti-hero. I believe that this show is a result of the rising popularity in recent years of what is known as the "anti-hero." In the twentieth century, the classic "Superman" stereotype used to be all the rage: Luffy, Natsu, and Goku are products of this archetype. And indeed, thesewere the heroes of the series that sold millions back in the day. But over the years, there came a shift of perspective and popular opinion. Slowly but surely, the fanbases of characters such as Batman, Zuko, Lelouch, and Levi grew exponentially larger. People started getting tired of the usual hyperactive, optimistic lead -- they began searching for different, more intriguing personalities that did not possess conventional "heroic" traits.

As such, Shield Hero is one of the first few anime that finally placed such a character at its forefront -- in a shounen action anime, no less. There have been some previous attempts to inject the anti-hero as the main character in other series, but they usually belonged to slice of life anime such as Hachiman from Oregairu, or they are a main character but not THE central character, such as Levi from Attack on Titan. Meanwhile, Shield Hero takes the brooding, pensive, pained Naofumi and places him front and center as the most-hated, yet most heroic character in the entire show.

Unlike most heroes who begin with honor, support, and power, he was stripped of all of these in the beginning and was stuck with the worst weapon. And yet despite all the suffering he went through, he managed to overcome these on his own without seeking external validation and praise from his peers. He just did his own thing, in the most ordinary, least flashy way possible. And when he was flashy, it would always be uncharacteristic of the typical hero who embodied "light" -- all of his powerful techniques were dark, violent, bloody to the point of suicide, and even beast-like. This would have been blasphemy in other shounen action anime, but this show is able to demonstrate that this doesn't have to be the case. "Heroism" is not about someone's personality or likability, but about his/her heart and actions.

This is the series' main strength that does deserve praise. From start to finish, you can't help but root for Naofumi, this unlucky underdog whose kindheartedness shines through his insults. His characterization was quite consistent throughout the show, and that includes his dialogue, behavior, and decisions. And although it felt a little too blatant at times, this characterization was supported by the personalities, actions, and dialogue of the other three heroes, who embodied the stereotypes of heroes in other anime.

*Beware of spoilers ahead*

My favorite episode would have to be Episode 21. Although Naofumi's saving the king and princess was expected in itself, the thought process that went through it, along with the reactions of the other characters, was executed quite outstandingly. The episode ended with his character arc coming full circle: he had restored what he had lost in Episode 1, and even gained more on top of that.

However, the show definitely has its fair share of flaws, mostly regarding its plot and its world-building. The setting is a world that works like a game, but personally, I would have preferred it to strictly be a fantasy world, since the game aspect was mostly for the sake of convenience. I also didn't get invested in any of the other characters aside from Naofumi. They were all alright, but very standard.

My main complaint is that there were way too many times when the audience just has to ACCEPT what happens even though there was no decent explanation or rationale provided. For example, the show TRIED to give an explanation for the waves, but it wasn't justification enough, really. I was forced to think, "Oh okay, whatever." In addition, things would happen all of a sudden without much build-up, such as the Pope nearly killing them in an all-out battle, or things WOULDN'T happen for convenience's sake: aka Fitoria CONVENIENTLY forgetting the past and allowing the heroes to live despite their deaths being the most efficient choice. Another peeve I had was with his harem (granted, this show was based on a light novel) which once again felt too contrived. Weird how they're all loli's except for Raphtalia since she's the main girl.. but what should I have expected lol. I could go on about all these narrative flaws to be honest, but that would spoil the entire show already.

The animation and sound are pretty much expected from a series of its kind; nothing unique, rather standard. The animation has its moments I suppose.

Overall, the show does a great job of presenting the anti-hero, but a "meh" job at almost everything else. To be fair, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit despite its flaws because it was a chill, optimistic, easy-to-digest show that didn't require much analysis. I still recommend this to anyone who is into a decent shounen.