The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4

Episode 5

I wish I had more investment in the climax of this arc. A lot of the pieces are there, and you can tell the show is trying to go for an emotionally uplifting story regarding the tiger siblings. Not only were they able to stop a conspiracy that would've put Naofumi in danger, but they were also coincidentally able to come across the guy who killed their father. They have earned the respect of other beast folk, and they were even able to revisit their old childhood home. Plus, Fohl got a power-up, some new hair, and the respect of his sister, who still insisted on belittling him ever since she got better, even though this boy sacrificed everything to make sure that she stayed alive.

Like a lot of other writing issues that have plagued this entire franchise, I'm only getting the highlight reel of the main story while missing a lot of the key details and build-up that would've made these moments satisfactory. I understand that adapting a light novel to a television series is going to require a lot of workarounds, but the series trimmed a lot of the meat with the fat. Not only that, but it didn't organically build any emotional climax or resolution with the tiger siblings. They came along out of convenience, not because their presence was going to add anything significant to the journey. That makes Atla's outburst during the council meeting feel so out of place because it comes across as if these two ended up hijacking the story out of nowhere.

That could still be satisfying if I got a proper emotional payoff from them taking center stage, but I don't feel it. The attention these two get feels so lopsided. You think the climax is going to be about Atla, but during the fight, it shifts over to Fohl, who is suddenly given all of this importance and grandstanding, despite really not doing anything since his introduction. He gets probably one of the most uninspired power-ups I have seen in a fantasy story, where he turns into a normal white tiger with the ability to move quickly. Plus, I'm not sure how Naofumi triggering the transformation necessarily works or if I even like it as a plot point. It just feels like a forced way to incorporate Fohl's development with Naofumi, right down to the transformation ending up as the main reason why the council is suddenly OK with handing over Naofumi's damn boat?

The potential is here, and I did enjoy the final third of the episode visiting the tiger siblings' original home. The details of how they suddenly came back into possession of it are incredibly vague to an almost bothersome degree. Still, there is a certain level of satisfaction seeing these two siblings get some kind of a happy ending. Unlike a lot of arcs throughout this entire show, this is the first time in a while that I've felt an emotional reaction that wasn't anger or pure bewilderment. But it's because of this that I wish it were handled a lot better. Maybe this is a sign that the series is actually beginning to get better writing, or maybe I'm so desperate to have this be worth my time I'm willing to latch onto anything.

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