Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Rising of The Shield Hero Season 2
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Covnam
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Some thoughts: Where did that 3rd Kazuki follower come from?
Shouldn't Raphtalia have been summoned by the wave like the others were? So, did Raphtalia just take one of that worlds weapons with her?
I don't remember if they had any party members in season 1, but if you hadn't said that I wouldn't have even known they had any based on season 2. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18182 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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While I wouldn't grade this episode quite as harshly as the reviewer did, I still empathize with this statement. That was about as underwhelming a season closer as I've seen in any series in a while, as it landed very little of the effect that it was aiming for. (And yes, I do absolutely agree that the episode was trying to show that Kyo was what Naofumi could have become without Raphtalia and Filo around.) It also closes out a season that is, overall, mostly a major letdown compared to the first season. It leaves too much unexplained and too many holes/ About the only thing about this season that I did truly like was the Raphtalia-focused episode and how that results in her now being able to stand beside Naofumi as an equal rather than as a helper. |
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Foranoda
Posts: 23 |
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The only ones being summoned to the wave are the Cardinal Heroes of that specific world, and the members they assigned as "Allied Party". We see an example in the first season, when the small group of soldiers who kept hounding Naofumi are being transported with him to wave #2. If all Vassal Heroes were summoned, too, it would have been impossible for any of the Vassal Heroes to "go missing" like the Mirror Vassal Hero in Kizuna's world. |
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Covnam
Posts: 3644 |
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Ah, that makes sense. I thought the vassal heroes got summoned too since Glass was summoned, but if it's just because she was in the party, then that clears it up. |
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AQuin1904
Posts: 264 |
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Reflecting on the character development (or lack thereof) got me thinking—Shield Hero is written a lot like a gacha game. Characters show up, have an arc to get you invested in them, and then spend volumes being static in the background while new characters get introduced. Occasionally someone gets a big turning point moment later, but a lot of characters seem to just stay on one trajectory even during story arcs that they're theoretically at the center of.
Anyway, I mostly have a soft spot for Shield Hero because some of the blu-ray extras were one of my first jobs in the US anime industry, but even I think that it has way more to offer than was on display in this season. Some of the script choices, like cutting the first 150+ pages of volume 6 and the whole middle of volume 7 but still giving them as many episodes as more-or-less complete adaptations of volumes 8 and 9, were utterly baffling. Maybe they didn't want to cut Ost's screentime because of how often Naofumi remembers her later, but they didn't end up making her that memorable, so I really don't think it was worth it.
They got introduced in episode 20-something, at the post-pope-slaying banquet (although they were around in the background since episode 1). Kyo was supposed to give a big mocking speech about spoiler[how each party self-destructed when they tried and failed to fight the tortoise, exemplifying the ways in which each hero was dysfunctional,] but the anime couldn't be bothered. |
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AnimeFlyz
Posts: 366 |
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Isnt there an Episode 13? Pretty sure this isnt the Season finale yet.
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jdnation
Posts: 1996 |
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Very disappointing season.
The only hook for the next one is that they are back in the old world and hopefully we never see anything having to do with this season ever again. But I guess some of those characters will come back in the future. I'm still willing to give the next season a shot, and frankly what can we really take from this season? That Raphtalia has a new sword and Naofumi a new Shield power? Really? This must've been one really long side-mission... |
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Covnam
Posts: 3644 |
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Ooooh, you were talking about the spear/bow/sword hero's parties. I thought you were talking about Glass et al before they were captured. Forget what I said before then lol |
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zunderdog24
 Posts: 362 |
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How many times are you gonna make this mistake old man?! This isnt the season finale. Theres still an episode left.
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MFrontier
Posts: 11145 |
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I feel like I enjoyed the season (relatively) more than most but I can agree this was a major step down from season 1. Like despite it's writing issues season 1 felt like it had more of a point or driving arc for the characters and story, which I never really felt here even though the Kizuna arc was much better than the 1st half.
I figured Kyo was from Japan and they were deliberately making him a foil for Naofumi, but they never really did much with it. They never even discuss it out loud. Was there really any point to Kazuki and his retainers getting transformed into soldiers for Kyo when they're dealt with so easily? I guess it separated Naofumi and Rishia from the rest. I don't know where the third bodyguard came from or why these girls even cared about a piece of trash like Kazuki. Kyo felt like he was talking for the fans in complaining about the Slave Crest. And Naofumi when he started complaining about Rishia. I kind of wish we had gotten to see Naofumi actually let loose with the Wrath Shield, but Power of Friendship strikes again. Oh, and Ost, since we needed to bring this full-circle although I can imagine some people genuinely forgot about her. I wonder what Kyo was so certain would screw them over as he died? Did Kizuna fall for Naofumi? She seemed to get surprisingly emotional at his departing. They really breezed through that ending montage. Seems like business as usual for the Three Stooges. And Naofumi is a viscount now, so...cool? Melty cameo. Also that slave trader still doing business and Naofumi will probably partake in said business again (ugh). This felt like such a finale that I don't even know what they're going to do with episode 13. |
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2862 |
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well, i am back for a last rant of WN vs ln.
the usual expectation is that the ln polishes the bought edges of the WN and we 3nd up with a. better product, but sh proves to be the exception to the rule. imho it overpolished the edges and made the plot pretty flat. in the end kyo was too cartoonish, which to be fair has always been the author's problem, the WN had a great villain that only needed some justification, but that villain was turned into a joke in the ln( eventually). WN spoilers spoiler[to keep that continuity, there should have been a girl at kyos side, enabling him into doing what he does. the WN later reveals that both world have had one girl creating trouble for the heroes, looking like a minion , she is the actual mastermind that kept the plot going, that idea was dropped for the on] next episode should be a recap according to my sources so this is effectively the season end anyway. |
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AQuin1904
Posts: 264 |
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Haven't read the WN, and I'm not fully caught up on the LN, but in the most recent volume I read, it seemed like spoiler[there was an interdimensional conspiracy of scheming background women propping up an army of indistinguishable egotistical dudes stealing magic weapons, of whom Kyo was the first the main cast encountered.] Have I got that right? |
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2Old2Care
 Posts: 12 Location: California |
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I do agree that the 2 second season is a step down from the first, but I don't feel it should be down rate to this extent. I still find this amine very entertaining and a better anime series than most.
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Thesarum
Posts: 402 |
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So EP13 was just kinda... odd? Bit of a weird directorial decision to tuck some small side stories in at the end there. They were pretty sweet (well, 2 of them were, Kizuna suffering alone to the point of considering suicide can't really be described as sweet, but I suppose it adds another layer to a character that was mostly bubbly optimism), but they'd have been better elsewhere, wouldn't they? And the focus on Ost again... maybe she comes across as a more significant part of Naofumi's journey in the novels, and we're supposed to know that. She seems to have an impact we've not really seen her earn. Though I think she probably is Naofumi's first loss. Has anyone he's got to know personally actually died previously?
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2512 |
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^I'd call Ep13 "lame". If they had taken that material and put it with the episodes they were associated with instead of here, they might have made the story a little more relatable and cohesive. Honestly, they needed a LOT more of this sort of character interaction to make a tolerably OK show. Instead, here they just make for a few lame and uncomfortable exchanges, like the "girl talk about boys" that no one but Ost "gets" and the "Oh, you don't know how funny Kyo is (when he's not trying to annihilate the world and treat you like sh*t)".
You're right, I don't and it's not endearing or funny. Actually, Kyo as the cackling overdone cartoon villain with pithy commentary one-liners on his own was funny if only ironically and horribly out of place for the atmosphere they were trying to cultivate. And then there's Ost-Ghost back like we care when the show didn't do other than have her as a cardboard cutout character that they can "tragically" kill off to generate emotion. Sorry guys, that didn't work either... So they get another shot with S3. I might watch the first Ep or two but if they can't do better, they will wind up killing the franchise deader than Haruhi Suzumiya... |
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