Tate no Yuusha/Shield Hero - Episode 25 [END] Discussion / Poll

[Kairin]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Tate no Yuusha/Shield Hero, Episode 25 [END].

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[Ichinotachi]

Spoiler for last EP:

This episode was decent but it shows how much they're changing and rushing in the adaptation, yes the studio can't do a 1:1 adaptation but these changes do one single thing and that is ending this with very little chances of a second season. Everything up to drunk Glass was good but a few things that shouldn't be here are the kiss that felt incredibly wrong when Naofumi was only thinking about raphtalia as a daughter a few episodes ago, and that flashback didn't helped either, Spear going full ですぞ, changing Rishia for freaking Lecia, rebuilding the village among other things that feel so out of place like changing the motivations of some characters.

In general, the adaptation started in a really good way but church and Island arcs were a complete and absolute mess, between the changes and how rushed it felt in the second cour. For me this adaptation is a 4/10 and to be honest I don't think there will be another season especially after this last episode.

[BWTraveller]

It didn't look like a kiss to me at least. More like a simple embrace. Especially with the way it showed his view of her shoulder.

And yeah, they cut some stuff pretty bad at the end. Lecia's situation in particular should've been bigger.

[dragonroots]

Yeah Naofumi and Raphtalia did not kiss, and while the village construction finished too fast i can understand why they ended it the way they did. It's open enough for a second season but closed enough for anime only watchers aswell.

[Kanon]

I can buy Raphtalia and Filo being able to fight L'arc since their class upgrade made them a lot stronger, but Melty countering Therese's fire spell with a simple zwei spell when there should be an enormous gap in levels felt like total bullshit even if you assume water has the elemental advantage.

Anyway, a "Our fight has just begun!" ending.

To be honest, I don't really care if they make another season or not. I liked the show, but I don't feel invested at all.

[The Green One]

Therese's fire spell looked to be a barrier type, stationary and doesn't advance, Melty's attack was absorbed by it ineffectively to my eyes.

It was a decent enough showing of the series. There was the inevitable cuts and rushing that's standard in anime, but I was satisfied enough with it. Lecia's depiction was quite rushed and lost a lot of it's impact.

Couldn't help but laugh at Ren's internal monologue about getting stronger than Nafoumi when they're using stock recycled footage of him fighting Orange Balloons which if you remember is basically the Level 1 first battle monster of the series. You're not going to get anywhere with those Ren!

Over all I'm pretty satisfied, but there were some pretty bad parts. LOOKING AT YOU POPE BATTLE!

I don't think I'd ever rewatch the series though. I'll stick to the novels.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I can buy Raphtalia and Filo being able to fight L'arc since their class upgrade made them a lot stronger, but Melty countering Therese's fire spell with a simple zwei spell when there should be an enormous gap in levels felt like total bullshit even if you assume water has the elemental advantage.

If it helps, I'm fairly certain Melty wasn't even there in the manga.

As for the ending itself...

Spoiler for Some vague manga comparisons:

it cut out almost all of Rishia's mini-arc to join the group (which for anime viewers, won't help their impression of Motoyasu or hurt their impression of Itsuki, I guess). Speaking of, I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be the one to come up with the booze bomb idea, not the Queen.

Making Naofumi lord of that area also kind of intrudes heavily on another character who would be in season 2. Hadn't really considered it at first, but this really hurts the chances of a season 2 in my opinion. Not something they can't rectify, but doing this shows they at least did not have any immediate plans to do another season.

Also loved the whole "last episode we teleported, but we aren't now because... FISHING TIME". Like, really? Please try to remain internally consistent at least.

[The Green One]

*shrugs* They were on vacation and were tired of leveling up. There was no rush to go back. Plus since they were going with the Queen and group they would go back on the ship.

[Kinematics]

Had flashbacks to Suikoden while watching this episode. You've built your castle! Time to recruit the 108 heroes that will populate your castle and form your army! (Don't forget to build the bathhouse!)

Anyway, the fight was good, and the denouement felt appropriate — soft, relaxing, but also solidifying Naofumi's will and drive to fight for something, instead of just tolerating things because he had no other choice.

[magnuskn]

This was pretty damn excellent. I really hope we get a S2. Despite the two episode drop during the confrontation with the pope, this otherwise was one really good fantasy series.

But, judging by the reaction so far in this thread, I guess you just can't make many anime nerds happy nowadays.

[The Green One]

It wasn't a bad series. It was watchable and I enjoyed my time with it. I won't try to pretend flaws aren't flaws though.

[Windy]

Being someone who's read the entirety of the webnovel, the LNs up until the current translation point, and the current manga in its entirety...

I had high hopes, really I did. I really love the storytelling of this series. I know animated adaptations cut out more than I'd like but I was still mostly satisfied with the anime up until this point.

THIS episode crossed a line I don't think should have been crossed. I know that a second season could still be likely but they literally cut out 4-5 novels worth of writing there. Its actually pretty infuriating, but I'll wait and see on announcements and plans. For context...

Spoiler for Spoiler for LN Length:

From the beginning of this episode, which covers when Naofumi picks up Rishia (name changes like that can go screw themselves), to the end, which is Naofumi getting his own village.

The beginning is volume 6. The end is volume 10.
So much actual content was skipped it actually makes my brain hurt. It only makes sense if there isn't going to be a second season.

[Twi]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

This was pretty damn excellent. I really hope we get a S2. Despite the two episode drop during the confrontation with the pope, this otherwise was one really good fantasy series.

But, judging by the reaction so far in this thread, I guess you just can't make many anime nerds happy nowadays.

Well, considering that it was an anime adaptation aimed towards us as the audience and we have pointed out the numerous flaws, the pacing problems, and the logical issues, it's a matter of the show itself being lackluster. The adaptation made some changes for the better, but it introduced a lot of issues that didn't need to exist. Honestly, if they'd nipped the pacing issue and cut the series at clearing Naofumi's name or even the battle with Glass it would have been smoother. If they'd even gotten rid of the unneccesary scenes with the Pope and wrapped that up in an episode it would have at least given some leeway.

[Wandering Soul]

It was an enjoyable series. Can't say I'm really invested in whether this gets a season 2 or not as I wasn't that into it.

[Frontier]

I thought this was a pretty solid finale to the series. I've enjoyed Shield Hero all the way through and am a little sad to see it go, but I'm glad it got to go out on a positive note for Naofumi and friends. I would definitely not mind seeing their further adventures together .

So the "Vassal Wielder" is the equivalent to the Cardinal Heroes in Glass/L'arc, and Theres's world? I wonder what else is the same. Four Heroes all taken from different versions of Japan? Although it seems like Glass's village is actually based around ancient Japan .

I guess it is an interesting clash of wills between Naofumi and Glass. Glass is wholly devoted to saving her world and the people in it while Naofumi still has to focus on his companions to find a reason to defend Melromarc. I guess after all he's gone through it would be impossible for Naofumi to wholly love the world he has to defend, but it looks like he's trying to fix that by carving a life for himself in Raphtalia's village and starting from scratch .

Can't say I saw them beating Glass by getting her drunk, essentially .

Thing still end on an ominous note as the Wave ends and the other Heroes return to their world, promising for yet another fight in the future and likely with the rest of the Vassal Wielders in tow. Fighting them and perpetuating this conflict doesn't seem like it'll solve anything, and I don't know if Naofumi has it in him to kill them either, so I think their only recourse is finding some way to stop the Waves without destroying the other world .

Man, poor Lecia. Her Party and almost everyone else treats her like a doormat and then she gets framed for something she didn't do just because she accomplished something on her own. Thankfully Naofumi was there to pick her up and help someone in an eerily similar position to his at the start of the story. And now he finally has a companion who is not a loli or has never been a loli .

The three other Heroes pretty much end the season how they started it. Itsuki's still a self-righteous "savior," Ren is trying to get stronger, and Motoyasu ignores his harem in favor of spending more time with his precious Filo-chan. Well, okay, maybe Motoyasu is more open to Naofumi now but that's not saying much. It kind of makes you wonder if there was any point to what they've all went through together .

So...the queen or her vassals worked with the slave trader to assist Naofumi? And they're helping him with his business? I don't know how I feel about this .

What's Scum up to this time? At least his wife is there to keep an eye on him .

Naofumi re-building Raphtalia's village and taking it over was a nice touch, and it was cool seeing all his allies in Melromarc join him there (except the dressmaker? Or did I miss her ?) .

It was good to see Raphtalia's issues with Naofumi leaving coming to a head, since that's been building up for a while now, leading to Naofumi re-committing himself to the world he's in now. It was just good to see the show end on a strong note for Naofumi and Raphtalia even if the romantic prospects for their relationship is still unclear aside from Naofumi getting embarrassed at being caught in close proximity to Raphtalia's face .

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by Twi

Well, considering that it was an anime adaptation aimed towards us as the audience and we have pointed out the numerous flaws, the pacing problems, and the logical issues, it's a matter of the show itself being lackluster. The adaptation made some changes for the better, but it introduced a lot of issues that didn't need to exist. Honestly, if they'd nipped the pacing issue and cut the series at clearing Naofumi's name or even the battle with Glass it would have been smoother. If they'd even gotten rid of the unneccesary scenes with the Pope and wrapped that up in an episode it would have at least given some leeway.

I'd say this series was aimed at everybody, not just the obsessive light novel/web novel/manga lore nerds (who, like Zuko, are never happy, anyway), hence it tried to tell it's own story. As someone who has read the manga, I actually appreciate how they lightened Naofumi from the complete emo wreck he was there into someone actually more relatable.

[Kinematics]

On the series as a whole:

There were a couple big issues: Primarily Raphtalia's final bit with the noble who had owned her, and the first episode against the pope. Neither was really a problem with events, but rather with execution. The director just didn't seem to be able to pull it off.

There were a few minor issues: Primarily based on the lack of justification for the power difference between Naofumi's team and the other heroes, towards the end. Also the cheap (but funny) excuse for not telling the other heroes about the ways to better improve their weapons. The pacing was also a bit sloppy at points.

I was disappointed in not getting a bit more of a look at the other heroes' teams, as basically the only ones who had any impact were Mein and Mald. It's understandable why it was like that, but still disappointing. I think my favorite of the other teams was the green-haired martial artist on Ren's team.

But by and large I felt that anime did a very good job at telling its story. Naofumi evolved as a character over the course of the show, an imperfect man struggling through an unfair life. I especially liked his talks with Fitoria, as they showed the grudge he was aware of, but wasn't able to let go of just because of a little talk. Coming immediately after Raphtalia being forced to face her past, those two parts really became the anchor for the entire story.


I'd certainly look forward to another season, though I wouldn't cry if it didn't happen. The ending was solid. No one's story is over, but all the possibilities feel hopeful.

[maximilianjenus]

As a webnovel reader; well... the last scene that motoyasu got saved the anime for me, it pretty much confirmed what I wanted to believe about the anime and how it fits inside the franchise.

There were a lot of changes to make naofumi look better than the other heroes, or , more rlatable as said by others; that pissed me off at first but that scene put me at peace with that.

[Schpittfeuer]

Wait was that a kiss or not?

[The Green One]

It was not.