Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

I honestly find it amazing that most of the top reviews for this anime gave it scores between 3-5, and what's more astonishing is LOTS of people agreed with said reviews. Now I've read the top reviews, and my review isn't really meant to bash or argue against the negative reviews. I think some of the lower scoring reviews made fair points that people who rated the anime very high might have overlooked or didn't think about while watching the show. I was one of those people. I say this openly because I personally don't really analyze an anime to such a fine point, andsome things I might consider trivial or minor, that I don't feel it's worth addressing. Sure, it might bring down the quality of the anime overall to some people, and I'm not saying it isn't worth addressing, but as an individual some things don't bother me like they do others.

Alright, now onto the actual review.

To start off, I LOVED this anime. Was it the second coming of Christ? No. I haven't watched a TON of Isekai, so obviously I don't have the experience that other people who reviewed this series have when it comes to Isekai anime.

Story: I actually really enjoyed it. I did. I wanted to know what was going to happen to Naofumi and see how he would progress and adapt to this strange new world. To me that was the bulk of the story and it was something I was looking forward to as I watched the anime. Were there plot issues? Sure. Will I point them out? Not really, only because I personally didn't think they were worth addressing.

Art: Not much to say here, but I thought the animation was solid, of course some spells and abilities looked worse than others or better than others. Overall the anime looked fine to me.

Sound: MUSIC WAS AMAZING! Not a single bad opening or ending, and specifically the openings were straight fire. Again, that's just my personal taste/opinion in j-pop and anime openings. You might not like the techno high paced music. Maybe you'll think or you thought it was bland, repetitive, and cliche. Depends on your taste and what you are into.

Characters: Alright, now this category does rate lower and I can at least say that the characters were not very well done in the series, and it does bring the overall score down. Now, a lot of people didn't like Naofumi. He was "bland" and "unoriginal" as an MC. People said he had "no personality" and I suppose to a certain extent they're right. Naofumi is basically a walking edgy MC, but HE HAS A REASON for being this way. Naofumi at the start isn't really an angry or violent person. He smiles and seems excited to be in a new world, of course being ACCUSED OF RAPE and earning the ire and scorn of your peers and the citizens of the new world would make anyone degrade into a psychopath or angsty person. I just don't think people were seriously looking at Naofumi's degradation as a character. Now of course things start to look up for Naofumi, but obviously his personality never grows or changes, which is a problem. He is constantly on pins and needles and doesn't really trust many people. Being a wanted criminal and hunted down will do that to you though, and of course we see Naofumi cry and contemplate the struggles of bearing such a burden. Was he a masterfully written character? No. I do think some reviewers were a bit too critical of him though.

Now let's talk about the REST of the characters. Raphtalia? Super cute and overall a great character, but people didn't like that she was instantly smitten with Naofumi, of course being a slave and having someone feed you, teach you, and rely on you would make anyone fall in love with their owner. Naofumi doesn't really even treat or view Raphtalia as property, she chooses to follow him and support him. We even see some intimate moments with them, such as Naofumi breaking down in rage and Raphtalia bringing him back to reality while holding him. I don't think their relationship is a slave and owner paradigm. Some people seem to think this, but I don't see it that way. Is Raphtalia a bit too clingy or protective of Naofumi? Yes, I do think so, but there is a reason her character is like that. Do you have to like the reason, or like it in general? No, but there is an obvious reason for the way these characters behave.

Alright, now the thing that really PISSED me off. The other "heroes" in the show. Complete retards. I'm sorry, but they were. I HATED all the other heroes in this anime. I hated seeing them on screen. I hated seeing them talk. From the very get-go they were rude as hell to Naofumi and very smug and arrogant. They don't even believe or support Naofumi at all when he is accused of rape, of course nobody supported him, but still. Of course they all have their own personalities, but they're all flawed and upsetting in their own ways. One of them is a loner type who thinks he can just do everything by himself, like a professional player but with a god complex. Motoyasu is a MASSIVE womanizer and idiot who basically can't do anything right. He's very arrogant as well, but so are all the heroes to a certain degree. Malty, the girl who accused Naofumi of rape, ends of joining Motoyasu's little band of morons and cheers him on by flirting with him and seducing him. Also I won't go into Malty's character, but she's WRITTEN to be HATED, so don't feel bad. You're not suppose to like her. The author clearly wanted the audience to hate her and he did a splendid job with it. That can be said for most of these characters. You're not meant to like them. They're all arrogant assholes and you're suppose to see them as such. Now why are they written this way? I really don't know, but I guess it's to make Naofumi seem more human and superior to them.

Itsuki the Archer hero wasn't nearly as bad as Ren and Motoyasu. Only because towards the end it felt like Itsuki stared to believe Naofumi and somewhat support him, and I guess the same can be said for Ren and Motoyasu. They both hate Naofumi still, but they start to "warm up to him" toward the end of the first season. I still hate all three of them with a passion, but a little less than the beginning of the anime. Ren is literally a "Sasuke Uchiha" character to the letter. And that's why I hated him. I hate Sasuke written characters and you see them a lot nowadays, it's a staple character type. Some people LOVE characters like that, but trust me, you won't like Ren. You won't like any of the characters in this anime except a handful. Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo, etc. Really just the main band of characters. Why the author made like 90% of the characters unlikable arrogant smug moronic assholes, I'll never know.

So yeah, my overall enjoyment was high. 9 or so, but the beginning will piss you off. It pissed me off. The characters will work your nerves, they worked mine. And that's okay, because I felt like they're written to be hated. I loved seeing Naofumi's progression and I enjoyed pretty much the majority of the anime.