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Season 2 #9

It's somewhat forced, but at least they're reunited with Filo. They're lucky they had fast travel as well, had they delayed any further they might have lost her for good.

The pacing is still ridiculous, but they're getting better at weaving the exposition into the presentation while everything is speeding along. There are more snippets on the differences between worlds and what effects those have on visitors who aren't completely compatible. In addition, we find out more about the different hero types, if only by name. Since the Katana Hero is next week's episode title, he's bound to important in some way. I'm not expecting another disappointment like the Sword, but the person escaping is big news in Kizuna's world and viewers should find out why.

Naofumi slowly losing control to his rage is another aspect which I thought the animators did a decent job at portraying. The quick snapshot of the demon inhabiting the wrath shield from season one is a memory-jogger, as is Naofumi's increasing devolution to his post-betrayal personality. Filo's rescue has stopped the rot somewhat, but he won't recover fully until he regains both of his core party members. Still, he's got some nasty tricks with his repertoire of shields. Kizuna's throwaway comment about the post-interrogation fate makes light of his punishment.

Raph-chan is cute, so it's probably the comic relief for now to keep viewers from being sucked into Naofumi's increasing desperation.

I was actually surprised that Filo can still turn into a humanoid state. I thought that it only happened before because he had so many levels, just like how Raphtalia returned to a child body. Although, now that I think about it, Raphtalia didn't revert back when the slave contract was broken earlier.

Season 2 #10

Still short on details due to the extreme pacing, but this episode somehow pulls it off by distracting viewers with enough action scenes. I personally think the party members haven't had to work too hard for their rewards, but they need all the help they can with the time limit they're under and the adversary they face.

Although Raphtalia knows what happened to L'Arc and the others when they jumped through the portal, the anime-only audience does not. Perhaps it wasn't too important in the grand scheme of things, but with the four reunited by chance it didn't take long for them to escape and make a move. The Katana feels like a real Deus Ex Machina moment to further propel things along (with the unexpected side-effect of returning Raphtalia to her pre-warp stature).

A bit more exposition on the Katana would have been nice. All I could tell was the kingdom suddenly decides to open it up to potential candidates (namely one extremely arrogant and self-entitled sorceror) and the sentient Katana outright objected and chose Raphtalia instead. It doesn't speak, so we don't know why it chose Raphtalia of all people. On the flip side, she gains a massive repertoire of cool Samurai-inspired techniques which she uses to full effect.

The whole party has reassembled, so what air-time remains will be the hunt for Kyo before the timer runs out. If the action scenes are done as well as they were in this episode, I'll be less miffed at the extreme pacing and lack of exposition compared to the previous airing.

Post removed. Please be relevant.

Season 2 #11

Kizuna lives up to her name; she tries her best to fond bonds with others no matter what others might say or act otherwise. Unfortunately for her, it looks like conversation with Kyo to work things out peacefully was never an option to begin with. Thanks to the pacing, there's enough time to pack in a showdown against Kyo and deal with the aftermath in the final episode of this season.

Despite the crazy pacing, one interesting tidbit was thrown in about Kizuna's world. Turns out she and the others were summoned to defeat one very powerful monster. I don't think it's the same one she killed to earn materials for the gear they received midway through the episode, but if the world they're in is one big game then there shouldn't be any reason for them to enter Naofumi's. Regardless, Kyo appears to have learned something over the years and is trying to force it to his advantage.

Unfortunately because of the way this season is structured, I don't think viewers will ever know what it is since he's not the type to talk about his motivation and life story while fighting to the death. I hope I'm wrong, since more exposition is always good for this particular franchise.

Did anyone not familiar with the source material work out who L'Arc really was? I doubt many would have, since he doesn't fit the stereotype and personally dislikes being treated like royalty. Having him as an ally is even more important now, since his status and treasury bring a lot to the table in addition to his combat prowess.

Too bad Kyo's childhood friend Yomogl won't get much screen time. Her hands and her experiences with Kyo mean she has more to tell, but I don't think we'll get enough screentime to develop this aspect.

Next week and the week after should be the last opportunities for the animators to show off their action chops. I hope I'm not disappointed.

Last edited by Harleyquin on Tue Jun 28, 2022 8:59 pm; edited 1 time in total

Season 2 #12

I know there's another episode next week, but I'm 99% sure that's the round-up episode which the previous season had since there's nothing more to add for this arc.

Although I'm pleased this season was finally given the chance to air, I'm not too happy with the end-product. The first season with its two quarters did a much better job at telling the story, thanks to the added air-time. This season for whatever reason has squeezed two big story arcs into just one quarter, with predictably rushed results. Not that it's a complete loss, but a prime example of what could have been if the budget and time were given to it the same way the first season turned out.

Yes, the action scenes are still worth watching. But they're not enough on their own to redeem the sacrifices made to story exposition and the extremely rushed pacing required to squeeze everything in within a quarter. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot changed between the source material and this adaptation because of the time constraints.

As for this episode, the big showdown between Kyo and the Shield Hero's party ended up as viewers expected it would. The payoff isn't as satisfying as the first season's big battles against the Pontifex and Glass, nor is the satisfaction from seeing Kyo get what he deserves equivalent to Malty's trial in the first season. It's still an ending, and one that is necessary for Naofumi's story to continue. Unfortunately given the end-product I'm extremely pessimistic that a third season will be green-lit, even though I've heard the source material is essentially finished.

To be fair to the animators, they've tried their best to work with the constraints they're under. I did not expect Kyo to be another visitor in the same vein as Naofumi, although their disparate backgrounds have a disproportionately huge impact on how they've approached their new lives. Kyo did hit Naofumi with an uncomfortable truth: he's playing the role that was forced onto him too well and has most likely forgotten that he's not a native to Raphtalia's world and one day will have to make a choice if he completes his original mission. That end is far off though, and interested viewers will want to pursue the source material to see what other adventures Naofumi and company have to participate in before the final Wave is bested.

It's a huge cast assembled at the end of this season. Despite the horrendous pacing, viewers probably won't forget who the newly introduced characters are if a third season ever rolls round. Kizuna stands out despite only debuting in the second half, while Rishia goes from rabid fan of the Bow Hero Itsuki to a natural fit into Naofumi's core party. How Kizuna's world interacts with Naofumi's now that the two sets of Heroes have reconciled is not something anime-only viewers will get to see though.

For fans of the first season, this season is disappointing but at least it got to air despite all the delays. Casual viewers probably didn't see this through to the end despite a decent start, which is a shame since the franchise established in the first season is a solid one. Probably best to go through the source material after this, since it's highly unlikely a third adaptation will be green-lit.

The death of the voice actor playing Neofumi brings up some ethical questions . It·s clear that the series lampshaded what happened by having Naofumi create a hollow of Raphtalia , and yet the clone came out depicted as a Tanuki , not a Beastperson . When Kyo "resurrects" the purple-haired guy , it isn·t a 1:1 resurrection , it·s clear that there are consequences - often grave , irreversible ones - for toying with death . The three warriors come out of their tubes as krases , as hybrids . And then there·s Ost Hourai (wasn·t there a Copyright issue there too?) , who one would assume would be the background music playing during the fight scene , and even the vocalist singing on top of the music sounds flat and uninspired .

Clearly , there are consequences to Playing With Death , and whether one is an actual human or a fictional character or even an avatar representation of a non-human concept doesn·t seem to change the lack of fidelity that comes with making drastic changes in the face of such a force .

In this essay ,

Yeah, I can see that the end result of the 12 episodes that it feels like they forced something that would likely been meant for twice its run. Like the story was meant to have foreshadowing here, and give more weight to things there, which really additionally give it much room to breathe. It tried, but there was likely only so much they could do with given 12 episodes, and told to adapt the material they did. I did like the start of the last episode, where it gave us a comparison between Naofumi and Kyo, how they were in their old world, and how they are now. Character growth of Naofumi, how it could go backwards and forwards, has been one of the strongest parts of this series, so good that it took a big part of the finale.

I don't think I could even put my finger on what was not quite right with this season, but the realization of the limited episode count, made it more obvious, that for instance we don't get a whole lot of exploration of Raphtalia's new power. And I think that there was more than normal having characters actually explain what something meant, rather than something a bit more organic. I don't think it was all awful, but just compared to before a bit of a letdown.

My rating will be Good (7/10), perhaps if it was a different series I would have put it a bit higher, but at its speed, it kind of relies a bit on what the first season brought rather than itself.

S2 #13 End

I was wrong, this week's episode isn't a recap. But it's very peculiar as it's an afterword to what has happened before with several scenes from the previous episodes replayed as memories. It does fill in a few gaps which were rushed through during this season, most notably what Kizuna was doing after she'd been trapped in the Infinite Dungeon off-screen (the reference to Cast Away is something I wasn't expecting).

The recaps are Raphtalia's outfit for Kizuna's world, Kizuna immediately after being thrown into the Infinite Dungeon and the chat between the ladies at the army camp prior to taking on the Tortoise. To be honest, they could have skipped 1 and 3 and put a bit more time at 2 and it would feel like an easier watch. The first one felt like cheap fanservice tacked on, while the third one (ostensibly because Ost was in it which made it more memorable for the girls) simply revealed Raphtalia as much more emotionally immature than her physical age from levelling up.

The episode needs these reminiscences because it's nothing more than Naofumi and company paying their final respects to Ost after returning to their world successfully. Since that takes little to no effort to animate and isn't much of a story, the memories help pad up the episode. Although it's a symbolic act for the cast, the way the previous week's episode ended it would have made little to no difference except for viewers already familiar with the source material.

As for Kizuna and Yomogl, it's honestly nice to see they kept their friendly relationship going even after Kyo had been defeated. It makes Kizuna much more genuine as a person, instead of someone like Kyo who would dispose of assets once they were no longer of use to him. Again I feel rather sorry for Yomogl, one for being enthralled by the scum that was Kyo, and the other that the one happy memory she could dredge up to remind herself of what he looked like other than his death laugh was an experience so lame even Kizuna's Shikigami was slowly recoiling from a mixture of pity and disgust.

In some ways, the episode sums up this season. On its own merits, it's in an awkward position of being ok to watch for fans but not being relevant as last week was set up so that it could finish the arc with a conclusion. Although the episode has considerable symbolic value for the cast, casual viewers would have wondered what the point of it was when it could have been better to use the extra episode to squeeze in more narrative and world building. But that's the problem: one extra episode doesn't help much and this season need one more quarter, not one more week of airtime. So the animators did the best they could within their constraints, which ultimately doesn't look like it was up to standard despite their efforts (especially compared to the first season).

i think that if i were ever making an anime using prefab character models , if something like the voice actor died ,
i would probably think to consider changing the plotline .

S3 #1

I'm surprised a third season was greenlit, the second one had its moments but was far too curtailed to make an impression the way the first one did with its longer airtime. Kadokawa aren't giving the franchise up yet, and it looks like the formula established in season two is being continued even though the production team has been changed up.

Narrative is kept to a minimum, viewers are given a brief into what Naofumi and company are up to this season and then it's straight into the action. Considering the last season aired some time ago, a lot of viewers will probably have no idea what the deal is with the slave market collapse in Naofumi's resident kingdom. Regardless, he needs manpower to deal with the next wave and he'll buy up slaves from Raphtalia's home village to resolve it, which has the additional benefit of pleasing Raphtalia as she reunites with more companions she lost before season one.

It appears the big showdown he had with Kyo has had lasting implications. As is typical of his most powerful moves, Naofumi pays a heavy price every time he uses the "forbidden" techniques which need his compatriots to physically restrain him before he completely loses control. This time round he and his main party members are stat debuffed, which is made up by his newest team member being underlevelled but curse-free. For fights like this underground colosseum he and his party will win without difficulty, but he's planning ahead for the next Wave when he can't afford to be handicapped.

I've always liked the world setting for this franchise, so if nothing else I'm watching this to a conclusion with zero expectations. I'm not expecting the season's best show, but at the very least I have to derive some entertainment watching this when the season is so packed and there's only so many shows to watch before fatigue sets in.

The biggest issue with the second season were several times/episodes where they wandered off pretty far from the source material and wrote themselves into a corner. They eventually kind of got out of it, but it was anything but a coherent season and had several wtf moments. It was not horrible, yet did not come close to the first season.

The start of the third season is a good one. We get a reminder of the previous seasons and are made clear that a lot of work is to be done. The phoenix will wake up in a few months, the other heroes are missing (not that they really did much of anything), the mc and his party suffer from a debuff and more people are needed to strengthen his land. The kingdom is also still not a friendly place to the shield hero and demi-humans, things take time.

The episode looks good and the OP is nice, maybe the third season will come close to the first one quality wise.

Welp, I can testify that you don't need to have read the source material to think that season 2 got stuck in the weeds. I hated the whole Raphtalia getting kidnapped and de-aged scenario, and I can't remember if the tortoise plotline was confusing because it was hard to pay attention to, or hard to pay attention to because it was boring.

Either way, I thought the first episode of Season 3 showed some signs of getting back on track. I haven't really forgiven the show yet, but I'm willing to employ my highly developed powers of pretending bad seasons never happened if it gives me a reason.

S3 #2

An action-packed episode, but it doesn't hide the fact the series has taken the same path as season 2 and this will be a whistle-stop tour through several books of source material. As a viewer who isn't versed in the novels, the way Nadia is introduced is extremely forced, as is her motivation for fighting in the arena in the first place. It is a surprise, but it's completely out of the blue and all of a sudden viewers find out the Shield Hero has another powerful companion from Raphtalia's village, more slaves bought legally and more trouble from visitors originating outside of their world.

Nadia was in episode one giving tips to Naofumi about the arena, so for her to progress to being an antagonist, a brief partner-in-arms and then an antagonist again is whirlwind pace. Considering how short this season is supposed to be, I suppose I can give the producers credit for doing the best job possible at cutting fluff and going straight to the next stop. That's another character in the OP animation ticked off, and the white tiger beastmen kids are next up on Naofumi's list of season allies to recruit.

The narrative pacing aside, the series has certainly put its budget into the action pieces for this season. One of the better set pieces this series has had in a while, and there were a few in season 2 despite the rapid pace. The clinching spell being something viewers have never seen before and for the target being completely unexpected shows this is something for the novel readers to enjoy; anime viewers just have to go with the flow and enjoy the spectacle. No idea where Naofumi acquired the spell expertise from, considering he admitted he'd only seen it cast once in the previous season.

The pit stop to purchase slaves is almost over, so what will the Shield Hero and his entourage do next with the allotted time remaining to them?

Having a brisk pace through the source material is indeed a tricky thing for an anime. The previous season had crazy pacing and because of that they tried to be creative with certain plot points and that did not work out at all. So far this season functions a lot better, but it is a bit jarring with the amount of surprises/characters that are popping up out of the woodwork without any real introduction. I just hope that it stays mostly coherent/logical and does not require novel reading to make sense of it all.

That aside, the fights looked and sounded great.

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