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The Rising of The Shield Hero Season 2
Episode 7

by MrAJCosplay,

How would you rate episode 7 of
The Rising of The Shield Hero Season 2 ?
Community score: 2.8

Finally, something to keep me intrigued and invested! After an arc that felt like it was defined by missed opportunities and poorly planned-out payoffs, it was actually nice to see the story focus on something far more simple. So at the end of last episode, our heroes jumped into a magic hole that would transport them to the world of the other cardinal heroes. However, not only is the crew split up, but it seems like being transported to another world effectively reset all of their states to level one. This means that they are incapable of using some of the more versatile abilities, and it also means that some characters have to suffer inverse side effects like Raphtalia being reverted back to her child form. Admittedly this does remind me of a previous issue I had back with the show's writing in season one regarding how level correlates to age for some of these characters. This doesn't seem to apply to humans, but apparently the beast people's age and physical appearance are tied to their level? It also doesn't seem like a direct 1:1 ratio – like just because you're level one doesn't mean that you're one years old or anything – and all it does is make me question how old Raphtalia is technically supposed to be. Because as far as I can tell, she doesn't seem to mentally evolve or regress when her physical body changes. Raphtalia is often shipped with Naufumi and in a lot of ways seen to be the poster girl for the entire show, so it's somewhat confusing to have this really weird ambiguity revolving around how old physically and mentally she is supposed to be.

That quick tangent aside though, I did like a lot of the callbacks in this episode because they seemed to show a very understated yet effective parallel to how far Naofumi and Raphtalia have come. Seeing Naofumi tackle the exact same issues that he ran into when he first came to this world with more of a practical, level-headed approach is refreshing to see. He still has his natural suspicions but he does genuinely feel like a team leader that keeps a level head even during mysterious and frightening circumstances. Speaking of frightening circumstances, I really liked the introduction of Kizuna if only because she seemed like one of the meatier characters that we have seen in a while. Her circumstances were unfortunate despite not being the focus of the episode, and I really like how the cardinal heroes of this world seem to have more unique weapons that range from a book to a sword that can transform into a fishing rod. I'm not a big fan of how the episode wraps up, as it seemed a little bit too convenient that there was a way out that only Naofumi was able to solve, but I'm legitimately invested in where the story can go from here and what other unique trials out heroes we need to overcome now that they are in uncharted waters.

Rating:

The Rising of The Shield Hero Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


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