(L+CR) Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (The Rising of the Shield Hero) Anticipation

[Haak]

I read a bit of the manga. Not a fan of contrived victimising for the sake of persecution complex stroking but the mc is still likeable in spite of it. The story doesn't overly focus on him either and the side characters are likeable too. I suppose I'm kinda damning this show with faint praise but it's the most I can muster really. Maybe the anime can change my mind and make this the next Re:Zero or something. I'll give it a shot.

[Flower]

I tried the manga for this series as well and ... it's just sorta okay at best for me.

It is considered by a fair number of readers to be one of the better of the "transported to another world" stories out there at present, though.

Not sure this really interests me, though. Maybe we will get a clearer image with the pvs and such in time....

[kari-no-sugata II]

Can someone knowledgeable about the series "sell" it to me? I've read a lot of isekai WNs etc but I couldn't get into this one. Felt rather generic.

By "sell" I mean what's cool/interesting/fun/unusual about it, rather than "what's it about".

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by kari-no-sugata II

Can someone knowledgeable about the series "sell" it to me? I've read a lot of isekai WNs etc but I couldn't get into this one. Felt rather generic.

By "sell" I mean what's cool/interesting/fun/unusual about it, rather than "what's it about".

The main thing is the MC gets stuck with a weapon that's nerfed to the point of uselessness. While the other heroes run off to build up XP by killing monsters, he has to think things through, which leads him to discover that the world doesn't work exactly as was explained to him by the King. But the more he tries to get the other heroes to step back and examine their situation, the more they come to distrust him.

Oh, and because he gets stuck with a bad reputation early on, the only way he can recruit anyone to his party is by buying slaves and forcing them to fight for him.

[BWTraveller]

Alright! God bless all the patron saints of anime.

Already seeing polarization going on here huh. I'd say it's better than the naysayers are saying. Frankly, I like it better than Arifureta. I like the concept of a hero who becomes cynical and jaded and hates the people around him, but not heroes like in Arifureta or Dungeon Seeker where they descend to the level of near-villainous, transforming and literally abandoning their humanity. The Shield Hero doesn't do this; he just finds himself trapped in a world where everyone thinks he's a violent criminal and

Spoiler:

a rapist

at best and

Spoiler:

a literal demon

at worst. He behaves as you would expect of someone who's surrounded by people who have already found him guilty of just about everything they can imagine without even talking to him or obtaining any evidence.

Part of what's cool is stuff like the way the guy shows some actual virtue in this world, the way he gradually heals, the degree to which the world needs him in particular, and just the story overall. I for one liked it and am really looking forward to this.

One thing I hope though is that they come up with a clever way to handle a particular oddity in the early part of the story:

Spoiler:

One of the main characters is a girl named Raphtalia. She's 10 and a tanuki-girl, and like other demi-humans, her growth is accelerated by her leveling. She eats a ton and winds up before long being physiologically around 18. However, Naofumi is initially so hurt by what's happened to him that he's basically shut a lot of what's going on around him out, resulting in him looking at her and still seeing the 10-year-old he started with. The manga and light novel's illustration just had him wondering why everyone talked of her looks and such things while illustrating her in the mature form she had obtained, but this wasn't very satisfying to me. The story was being told through the shield hero's POV and yet we were seeing things the way everyone else saw it. I would like to see some attempt to better demonstrate the way that Naofumi continues to see a short, ten-year-old waif when he looks at her while everyone else sees something different. Maybe have her continue to be drawn in her child form while reflections show an adult, or use any number of common effects to make her appearance waver a bit, something to indicate this odd trait of her appearance...

[kari-no-sugata II]

I decided to quickly read through the available (translated) manga (I have no idea how the WN and LN compare).

Overall I'd say that it's "okay". It has both good points and bad points. Overall, I'd say it's more of a "shonen" series - it doesn't feel particularly detailed and complex. The MC is at least quite interesting and "grey" but there's a bit too much "My anger is justified!" from him. That being said, most of the characters are very black and white - either scum/idiots/fools/nutcases or victims/random nice guys. Because of the number of fools/scum, there's a strong tendency for events to feel similar, unfortunately. Things have improved a little in the most recent chapters though. I do like that the MC makes mistakes, can be wrong etc and genuinely has to struggle a lot, though there is a bit too much "why didn't you tell me earlier!?". The main female characters are okay but I can't say I found them to be too interesting.

The overall setting isn't too interesting - seen plenty of other series where a "summoned hero" (or similar) is treated like dirt... though since the WN started in 2012, maybe this series was one of the first ones to use this theme. I do like the mechanism for the main "demon attacks", since it's quite original. There's also some actual foreshadowing of future events. On the other hand, there's been a number of times where I thought "that doesn't make logical sense".

[bakato]

Originally Posted by kari-no-sugata II

I decided to quickly read through the available (translated) manga (I have no idea how the WN and LN compare).

Overall I'd say that it's "okay". It has both good points and bad points. Overall, I'd say it's more of a "shonen" series - it doesn't feel particularly detailed and complex. The MC is at least quite interesting and "grey" but there's a bit too much "My anger is justified!" from him. That being said, most of the characters are very black and white - either scum/idiots/fools/nutcases or victims/random nice guys. Because of the number of fools/scum, there's a strong tendency for events to feel similar, unfortunately. Things have improved a little in the most recent chapters though. I do like that the MC makes mistakes, can be wrong etc and genuinely has to struggle a lot, though there is a bit too much "why didn't you tell me earlier!?". The main female characters are okay but I can't say I found them to be too interesting.

The overall setting isn't too interesting - seen plenty of other series where a "summoned hero" (or similar) is treated like dirt... though since the WN started in 2012, maybe this series was one of the first ones to use this theme. I do like the mechanism for the main "demon attacks", since it's quite original. There's also some actual foreshadowing of future events. On the other hand, there's been a number of times where I thought "that doesn't make logical sense".

Basically this. The behavior of the villains seem forced at times and honestly a little contrived.

[BWTraveller]

Just one thing I know: the four are supposed to fight together. This means that eventually the jerks are going to have to find some way to improve. Don't know how, haven't read far enough, but redemption must be coming.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by bakato

Basically this. The behavior of the villains seem forced at times and honestly a little contrived.

I could never get past the first arc or so due to the cringe. But ymmv.

For me Shield is in the same lump as Arifureta as "meh, not my taste".

[AB079]

We have PV, but in english wth?

For now it looks good, some QUALITY shots here and there tho.

[LG-MAX 2.o]

very good!

The staff for the anime adaptation includes:

Director Takao Abo (Norn9)
Series Composition: Keigo Koyonagi (Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars)
Character Design: Masahiro Suwa (Chaika the Coffin Princess animation director)
Animation Production: Kinema Citrus

[Stark700]

Kinda weird it's narrated in English. I wonder if we're getting dubs for this in the future.

I wasn't expecting Kinema Citrus to be in charge of the project. PV definitely looks good so far.

[moodie]

Originally Posted by Stark700

Kinda weird it's narrated in English. I wonder if we're getting dubs for this in the future.

I wasn't expecting Kinema Citrus to be in charge of the project. PV definitely looks good so far.

only reason its narrated in English is because Anime Expo 2017 is in LA

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by AB079

We have PV, but in english wth?

For now it looks good, some QUALITY shots here and there tho.

I didn't see much problem in quality overall. Looks really well-made; looking forward to this.

[Valky]

The plot aside, the PV does looks good. It'll be nice if they could manage that level of quality until the end.

[tsunade666]

The animation looks nice. the character designs are also solid, so its good.

[bakato]

For a series that hasn't even announced its season, crunchyroll's already picked it up.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Stark700

Kinda weird it's narrated in English.

It's not unprecedented.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/xryehdJWJZI

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Hopefully this is a better adaptation.

[Twi]

I want to watch it since I liked some parts of the manga starting out, but at some points I just can't tolerate the issue where they dumb-down the antagonists to bolster up the hero and the anger issues. If it wasn't for that, I would be all over this.

[AB079]

Leaving this here, we can see a bit more about the designs.