Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Rising of The Shield Hero Season 2
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Sariachan
 Posts: 1494 Location: Italy |
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Thanks for the info, this is probably the reason (or more, one of the reasons) I've not be liking this second season at all and I decided to drop it. By the way, does Rishia wear that ridiculous costume in the novels, too? |
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2Old2Care
 Posts: 12 Location: California |
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I've been finding season 2 to be very enjoyable. I'm not sure why everyone appears to want the story to have a single arc or even a single character. I would think it adds to the depth of the world that's being built.
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2524 |
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AQuin1904
Posts: 266 |
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On the one hand, you could say that Rishia's arc feels rushed because it happened over 6 episodes instead of two books. On the other hand, not really. This was an abrupt transformation in the book too, and what you miss in the anime is basically just more details on how she got kicked out of Itsuki's party, plus a longer explanation of ki at the start of an aborted training arc straight out of a shounen manga. I guess it might stand out less because that fight with Kyo is more drawn out in the LN, with more people involved and more shifts in momentum, so Rishia's power up is just the second to last in a long line of people revealing new moves or hidden powers (especially Kyo, who seems to give a speech and reveal a new power in response to absolutely anything). I can't say that trimming it down was a bad idea, but some minor details like Kyo dodging before Rishia breaks his barriers and no one being around to rescue the unconscious heroes end up inconsistent in this version.
If Naofumi has an arc in this part of the LN, it's about coming to genuinely trust Ost. Without his internal monologue, you don't see much of his initial distrust, and you also lose an extended sequence where just the two of them have to hold out until help arrives, which was the big turning point. Honestly, as much as I don't care for parts of this adaptation (mostly writing decisions), these two books (especially book 6) were still the weakest part of a story that's never great (although it can be entertaining). The next two books still don't really advance any of the plotlines from books 1 through 4, but they at least have a lot more going on in them. Fingers crossed that the adaptation makes for an entertaining watch.
Yes. More often, if anything. Naofumi keeps joking that he thinks she just has a kigurumi fetish. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 11370 |
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This episode probably felt the closest to the quality of season 1 even if it didn't feel like the moments were near as earned enough for audiences to buy/invest in them.
I love how even Kyo realizes the Three Stooges are useless save for their weapons. Oh hey, Fitoria! Maybe she can give the Three Stooges a talking to when they wake up. Not that the show bothered to show what happened to them after the Spirit Tortoise faded away so for all we know they all fell from the sky and died... So The Vassal Weapons actually...talk to their users? And told them to help fend off Kyo? I guess that's one way to differentiate them from the Cardinal Heroes. Rishia finally becomes competent and serious Rishia is...actually pretty hot. Ost gives Naofumi a Spirit Tortoise upgrade to his shield so now he doesn't have to use the Wrath Shield anymore...I mean, an upgrade is cool and all, but that's a potential source of drama they just wrote off. After all the fakeout deaths it's hard to know how to feel about Ost's sacrifice. Heck, I had a hard time feeling like Naofumi bonded enough with her for the moment where he can't attack to really hit, but whatever. I did think it was a nice touch that the Spirit Tortoise' death ended up enriching the land after having taken so much away. Kyo is such an effective villain that he's already won by the time he loses. Looks like we're getting a double Isekai moment now that Naofumi and co. are traveling to Glass and co. world. Hopefully that will spice this season up a bit. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2524 |
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Third are the Vassal Heros, once such a threat that they almost destroyed SH's world and forced him to consider having to sacrifice himself which conflict spanned about half of S1. Glass herself has nearly unstoppable. Now, second episode after their reappearance they team up as "buds" with SH to get the laughably cartoon villain Kyo who even delivers the unintentional comedy dialog (paraphrased) "well, you're here to destroy this world anyway, so where's the problem in taking a bunch of people's souls?" to L'Arc's "well, yeah but...our weapons say that's icky!". Props to Kyo's VA for really delivering all the cackling, maniacal laughter and ham-acted lines though! And don't get me started on the out-of-place upbeat/jazz music behind the battles now. At least we agree on one thing, self-confidence is the best aphrodisiac and Rishia has it finally (maybe?)... |
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jdnation
Posts: 2004 |
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It definitely can, but in this case the execution is flawed. There are too many new characters just tossed out there and none of them gets time to be developed. It actually could've been better if they cut out the development of the other characters to move the story along, at best, only Rishia was necessary for bit of development. Ost really wasn't and would've been better treated as a disposable extra plot piece, and then tied up this arc in fewer episodes so the pacing could've been better. |
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Covnam
 Posts: 3666 |
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Yeah, not too great. In addition to the mentioned issues, Rishia just leaves Itsuki behind without a word. So is she over him now or what?
Also annoying that they don't try to free the other heroes to take out the barrier, even if they're doing it just to weaken their foe instead of save them. Maybe that was something just cut for time? |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5839 Location: Virginia, United States |
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I don't think that was the case. The other three heroes are considered useless baggage. They are not taking their training seriously, and even when the Queen asks for their help, they turn her down cause they don't want to work with Naofumi. If you think about it another way, Naofumi (who actually wants to live) can't afford to let any of the three heroes die, no matter how pain in the neck they are, because the Waves will get much harder with the death of any hero. So in a way, having the three other heroes safely imprisoned by the enemy, prevents them from dying in battle. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2524 |
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Ep7-Well, the show has compounded it's poor writing by getting our heros out of the "Infinite Labyrinth" with a giant bean-stalk seed Kizuna fabricates (how and from what?) based on Naofumi's instruction (based on what?) as if that's totally obvious based on presumed "game logic". If someone has an idea, I'd like to hear it because this turn of events was incomprehensible. It had better not be a case of "don't know? Read the manga!"...
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jdnation
Posts: 2004 |
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Alright! Best Raphtalia is back! And that annoying bird is gone... the show just got better!
Yeah, this seems odd. I figure Naofumi assumed that this was a constructed world within a world and the walls were literally like that of a box, so the best way to get out was to make something big that would break the wall and follow the path out. I'm guessing in game logic, he caused a crash by overloading that area. But that's just how I'm rationalizing it as the episode didn't explain it at all... maybe it'll be explained at the start of the next episode? It'd better! But even then, that's just poor writing to save the mystery for next time when it's better explained in the moment it's occurring. |
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AQuin1904
Posts: 266 |
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Well, that was an interesting departure from the source material. I suppose the anime decided that Raphtalia was too important to its dynamic to have her gone for multiple episodes. I wonder how that will effect upcoming events.
Liking how the show is handling Kizuna so far.
IIRC, it's been less than a year since her village was destroyed, and rapid level ups + magic shield modifiers effectively caused her to go through rapid and early puberty. The LNs, as far as I read, have a weird running gag(?) going on where Raphtalia keeps coming on to Naofumi and he keeps failing to notice while also pointing out that she's still a child. I can't imagine anyone looking for romance finding it an appealing dynamic.
Hate to break it to you, but it's 50% "Remember that episode from season one?" (where Naofumi got those seeds and learned how to modify them with his shield) and 50% "Read the light novel," where lengthier exposition about the labyrinth provided more reasonable clues for characters to piece together. I'd expect more equally abrupt payoffs at the rate this series is going. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 11370 |
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I feel like this new arc is off to a better start than the Spirit Tortoise arc, especially with Kizuna.
So jumping into another heroes' world is basically like starting a new game from scratch in terms of levels and skills (so not a New Game+). And Raphtalia gets reset to Smol!Raphtalia (which makes me really wonder about her mental age in relation to how she looks now and her adult form). Is Filo back to being an egg? No better way to start off a new game than the old RPG staple of waking up in a jail cell. Kizuna seems like a really cute and energetic girl, which Miyu Tomita plays well, and Naofumi finally meets someone from the other side that is officially from Japan like him. And she's the Hunting Hero so her weapon can seemingly turn into any kind of hunting utensil. I'm kind of curious about why she was locked up and her relationship with Glass and L'Arc since she seemed close to them. Also, she's a hugger! And a bit of a loli.
I don't know if it was as present in the 1st season of the anime but I definitely remember a few times where it seemed like she was being a little overt with her feelings for him and he daughter-zoned her. Particularly when she tried to show off her swimsuit to him and he then promptly stuck her in a penguin costume. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2524 |
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^^Holy Cow, AQuin1904, Ep7! Thanks for the reminder, good memory. But rewatching made me realize at least one reason S2 has seemed sub-par and it's the lack of character interaction and development. The story then was about their relationships and how they were developing against the backdrop of the waves and other challenges. Now the story is about random problems and Naofumi and crew solving them. Raphtalia hardly says anything other than "...Naofumi-sama..." anymore.
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Cryten
 Posts: 994 |
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That can be a problem with pure characters. After they get to know each other there isnt really much friction left. Leaving them to run on enthusiasm and vocal ticks.
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