Tate no Yuusha/Shield Hero Season 2 Anime Episode Discussion

[Stark700]

The Rising of the Shield Hero is getting a second and third season according to the official Twitter account and news from the Crunchyroll Expo today. Both are in production.

https://twitter.com/shieldheroanime/...56434926014465
https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-ne...oll-expo-panel

[Frontier]

Naofumi's really settled into his new role of running Raphtalia's village and taking care of everyone there while he prepares for the next Wave...although who is that pink-haired knight lady? She looks cool .

So I see Rishia is now using the penguin costume to train and master her chi manipulation, partially because she feels too embarrassed to be seen in front of people. I mean, I think it fits her, but it's kind of sad too .

So not only does this world have to worry about the Waves, but apparently a natural disaster called the Spirit Tortoise appears, stops the countdown of the Wave for some reason, and unleashes a horde of monster familiars to attack everything. Like Naofumi didn't have enough problems .

Well, no surprise the queen would try to enlist the Four Heroes' help...but the three stooges can't even be bothered. They feel like they're only there to fight the Waves, and nothing else. Some heroes. I mean, maybe they're trying to get a jump on fighting it before Naofumi does, but I can see these three being self-absorbed enough to genuinely not care .

At least the queen knows she can count on Naofumi, especially when his village is in the path of the Spirit Tortoise for extra motivation, and Melty is doing great work in the village .

Bitch really thought Motoyasu could help make her a princess again? Will Motoyasu ever get a clue that she's still manipulating him? Probably not .

Well, at least Itsuki cared enough to ask Rishia how she was doing and if she'd talked to her parents...even though he's still fairly cold and standoffish around her, although at least he told his party member to stop berating her, not that it helped much. Poor girl .

I was wondering how Raphtalia planned to fix Rishia's self-confidence issue...I guess I shouldn't be surprised it involved making her a slave. Like, can we really stop coming back to that guy? Is making Naofumi's entire party slaves really always the answer? Naofumi doesn't even want to do it anymore, but Rishia's so desperate to get more powerful that she just goes along with it. I did think it was kind of funny how Raphtalia seemed like she was about to strip Rishia's clothes off to put the slave mark on .

Party traveling montage! And Rishia really using the penguin costume to advertise Naofumi's wares .

Filo communicating with Fitoria through her ahoge is...perfect .

Well, Fitoria's still ticked that Naofumi and the other Heroes aren't getting along, but it's really not Naofumi's fault at this point. Although it seems like it's going to come to a head with the Spirit Tortoise, so I wonder what's going on ?

Was that guy in the cloak talking about the Heroes being dead Ryohei Kimura? Judging by his placement in the Opening, I'm guessing he's the main villain .

A swarm of monsters attack some fleeing refugees giving Naofumi the perfect opportunity to let loose his Wrath Shield, and also underscores just how important it is that they stop the Spirit Tortoise so it doesn't keep sending these monsters out .

I was not expecting this episode to end on Kana Hanazawa asking the Shield Hero to kill her, but that's a pretty solid cliffhanger .

Wouldn't be Shield Hero without a MADKID Opening! And we've got Naofumi and his party fighting the monsters, characters new and old, and even the Heroes from the other world...are they going to join up to fight the Spirit Tortoise ?

[BWTraveller]

Did they change this? I don’t recall Rishia becoming a slave. I thought Naofumi offered it to both her and Keel but Keel ran away and Rishia simply refused. Maybe I just remembered wrong.

Honestly both would make sense for her character. On the one hand she’s devoted to Itsuki and wouldn’t want to be bound to someone else like that. On the other she’s desperate to get stronger by any means necessary. I’d prefer it if she wasn’t a slave though. Her growing strong without that provides a demonstration of someone growing with their own efforts rather than relying on the slave shield’s cheat. Not to mention that a big part of her is trying to overcome that subservient, self-deprecating attitude that holds her down.

Either way they did alter Itsuki a bit to make him less of a jerk. I do recall originally he’d actually been forced to admit he’d made up an excuse to get rid of her and told her to her face that she was useless, leading to her trying to kill herself from despair.

[stray]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Did they change this? I don’t recall Rishia becoming a slave. I thought Naofumi offered it to both her and Keel but Keel ran away and Rishia simply refused. Maybe I just remembered wrong.

I remember Rishia being a slave but there's substantial changes between WN and LN starting from around this arc so it might be that. The entire scene was kind of weird though, like... we're totally here at the slave trader for no other reason but its totally your call if you want to be a slave!

I slept on Shield Hero for S1 so its nice to watch it as its airing.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by stray

I remember Rishia being a slave but there's substantial changes between WN and LN starting from around this arc so it might be that. The entire scene was kind of weird though, like... we're totally here at the slave trader for no other reason but its totally your call if you want to be a slave!

I slept on Shield Hero for S1 so its nice to watch it as its airing.

I love how Raphtalia was about to take her clothes off without ever actually asking her if she wanted to be a slave .

[SuitUp]

Saw the first episode, not a fan of the bow hero's party reject character, like while the penguin costume was pretty funny and out of the left field, her being like 'ITSUKI-SAMA' every other scene rubs me the wrong way.
Not a fan of making her a slave either, I dont see that power dynamic ending well lol.

[Dengar]

A lot of things were changed to facilitate the ending to the previous season. There's also a lot glossed over probably to get to the action faster.

Tbh, especially after the initial arc is over, the LN got a bit hard to read for me. So maybe all the trimming will be in the anime's favor. But they also might overdo it.

Like, Hengen Muso seems to be just a footnote at this point. But I won't be all gloom and doom. The OP is getting me hyped. And like I said, getting to the action faster might be a good thing.

The slave seal in practice is just a fancy power up now.

[Huh...?]

1st episode of Season 2 wasn't bad.
But the pacing would make WN, LN & Manga reader's heavily confused.

And the OP seems to suggest that, Season 2 (with 13 Episodes) might be covering 4 LN Volumes worth of plot.

[Dengar]

There is a strong chance that it'll go too far in the other direction. But again I just want to stress how boring some of the writing in the LN is. So maybe, just maybe, going fast will somewhat save the story, and end up doing more good than harm.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by stray

I remember Rishia being a slave but there's substantial changes between WN and LN starting from around this arc so it might be that. The entire scene was kind of weird though, like... we're totally here at the slave trader for no other reason but its totally your call if you want to be a slave!

I slept on Shield Hero for S1 so its nice to watch it as its airing.

Which do you remember that from? I only read the LNs.

I just hope they keep her overall development as is, as I thought she was kind of a good answer to the people that complained that the series seemed to suggest the only good woman is a subservient one. In her case, her subservient attitude is treated as a huge character flaw that holds her back in many ways, not to mention something that’s supposed to annoy. Sort of a demonstration that, man or woman, strength comes from being able to stand on your own two feet and make your own decisions. Even if you decide to put yourself in someone else’s power, what matters most is that you yourself are always acting according to your own will.

Also, this would have made more sense if they’d actually included the slave shield in the previous season. There, we knew full well that Naofumi’s shield was able to boost the growth and expand the possibilities of slaves and registered monsters.

[stray]

I'm sort of okay with the speed because most of what I want to see animated comes after the turtle arc. We've got a season 3 guarantee as well so the pacing will take that into consideration. As long as its not Index 3 fast it'll be fine... I think...

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Which do you remember that from? I only read the LNs.

I read a combination of the manga and a few of the LN.

We should see a lot of development for everyone in Naofumi's... stable...? this season. Can't really call it a harem.

[magnuskn]

Well, first episode was solid, although it seems the show needs to find its footing again, presumably because they changed the plot around a bit to make more solid ending to season 1. Of course picked up.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Which do you remember that from? I only read the LNs.

I just hope they keep her overall development as is, as I thought she was kind of a good answer to the people that complained that the series seemed to suggest the only good woman is a subservient one. In her case, her subservient attitude is treated as a huge character flaw that holds her back in many ways, not to mention something that’s supposed to annoy. Sort of a demonstration that, man or woman, strength comes from being able to stand on your own two feet and make your own decisions. Even if you decide to put yourself in someone else’s power, what matters most is that you yourself are always acting according to your own will.

Also, this would have made more sense if they’d actually included the slave shield in the previous season. There, we knew full well that Naofumi’s shield was able to boost the growth and expand the possibilities of slaves and registered monsters.

I think it says something that Naofumi, who is a much better headspace emotionally, got a little terse with her and her self-confidence issues and anime girl noises...although it's still pretty tame compared to how he used to be .

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Question to source-readers (and I try to not ask spoilers too much):
As someone who only follow S1 for the revenge plot, is it worth following S2 & S3?

That's because after Naofumi got his revenge on that b****, I kinda lost my interest with the story. Pretty much the only character I care about is Raph.

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Question to source-readers (and I try to not ask spoilers too much):
As someone who only follow S1 for the revenge plot, is it worth following S2 & S3?

That's because after Naofumi got his revenge on that b****, I kinda lost my interest with the story. Pretty much the only character I care about is Raph.

Spoiler for Not really a spoiler as such but it's LN discussion.:

In general the revenge plot is done and over with. Naofumi has had his run through the mud and has been compensated for what he went through. Although we aren't done with the b*** yet. There are also still a bunch of problems left to solve, such as getting the other heroes to shape up.

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I was wondering how Raphtalia planned to fix Rishia's self-confidence issue...I guess I shouldn't be surprised it involved making her a slave. Like, can we really stop coming back to that guy? Is making Naofumi's entire party slaves really always the answer? Naofumi doesn't even want to do it anymore, but Rishia's so desperate to get more powerful that she just goes along with it. I did think it was kind of funny how Raphtalia seemed like she was about to strip Rishia's clothes off to put the slave mark on .

It’s not really stated in the anime, at least as far as I remember, but in the ln by being Naofumi’s slave, they get massive boosts in stats and exp. It’s one of the reasons Raphtalia and Filo are so overpowered despite not being heroes. Kinda like if a normal party member levels up they might get +1 to a stat but being his slave gives them +2

[Kanon]

I guess that was pretty standard for this show. The other three heroes being jerks, a girl being made into a slave... the usual. The other three heroes are barely in the OP so I'm guessing they're going to be useless once again. Lots of new characters.

[Lex79]

Uhm, I'm so used to harem series that it feels strange to have a new girl in Naofumi's party (going as far as becoming his slave) that is clearly in love with another hero.
Anyway, nice start for this new season.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Dengar

Spoiler for Not really a spoiler as such but it's LN discussion.:

In general the revenge plot is done and over with. Naofumi has had his run through the mud and has been compensated for what he went through. Although we aren't done with the b*** yet. There are also still a bunch of problems left to solve, such as getting the other heroes to shape up.

Thanks for the input. I'll keep it in mind.

Originally Posted by Lex79

Uhm, I'm so used to harem series that it feels strange to have a new girl in Naofumi's party (going as far as becoming his slave) that is clearly in love with another hero.

It's not so strange if you've watched Mahouka. In that show, we have a bunch of girls in the MC's party who are paired with other guys.

[stray]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Question to source-readers (and I try to not ask spoilers too much):
As someone who only follow S1 for the revenge plot, is it worth following S2 & S3?

Hmm.. I mean you can tell from the OP there's going to be a lot of new characters, but if you don't like Naofumi and Filo you're probably not going to have a good time. Though I respect your right to hate watch should you choose. I like Shield Hero specifically because its feels more 'epic RPG' than 'cookie cutter isekai'.

Speaking of new characters, hopefully we get to see Rishia in the chipmunk outfit at least once. They did okay more or less salvaging her introduction though.