Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari

The Four Cardinal Heroes are a group of ordinary men from modern-day Japan summoned to the kingdom of Melromarc to become its saviors. Melromarc is a country plagued by the Waves of Catastrophe that have repeatedly ravaged the land and brought disaster to its citizens for centuries. The four heroes are respectively bestowed a sword, spear, bow, and shield to vanquish these Waves. Naofumi Iwatani, an otaku, becomes cursed with the fate of being the "Shield Hero." Armed with only a measly shield, Naofumi is belittled and ridiculed by his fellow heroes and the kingdom's people due to his weak offensive capabilities and lackluster personality.

When the heroes are provided with resources and comrades to train with, Naofumi sets out with the only person willing to train alongside him, Malty Melromarc. He is soon betrayed by her, however, and becomes falsely accused of taking advantage of her. Naofumi then becomes heavily discriminated against and hated by the people of Melromarc for something he didn't do. With a raging storm of hurt and mistrust in his heart, Naofumi begins his journey of strengthening himself and his reputation. Further along however, the difficulty of being on his own sets in, so Naofumi buys a demi-human slave on the verge of death named Raphtalia to accompany him on his travels.

As the Waves approach the kingdom, Naofumi and Raphtalia must fight for the survival of the kingdom and protect the people of Melromarc from their ill-fated future.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Raphtalia Main

Seto, Asami Japanese

Iwatani, Naofumi Main

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Filo Main

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Melromarc, Melty Q Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Glass Supporting

Han, Megumi Japanese

Melromarc, Mirelia Q Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Elhart Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Melromarc, Malty S Supporting

Bridcutt, Sarah Emi Japanese

Fitoria Supporting

Tange, Sakura Japanese

Amaki, Ren Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Tanaka, Shou Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro Producer

Tokumura, Kenichi Producer

Reviews

May 30, 2024

IkeDerp

Recommended

Season1 is all you need to watch.

A lot of stories, especially animes, are created out of an interesting idea for a plot; but, once that plot has been resolved, fail to continue to tell a good story. Rise of the Shield Hero is a great example for just such a case.

Dropped into another world, the hero is shunned by the entire world to an outcast status and has to find ways to become stronger by only using defensive and shield skills. This, combined with conspiracy plots, plausible cause & effect storytelling and a great soundtrack makes season1 great and really recommendable, go watch it!

However...once you've ... finished season 1, that's exactly where you want to stop. The entire redemption arc, and probably pretty much the main idea of the mangaka behind everything, happens in season 1. After that, the creator clearly had no idea how to continue and it very much shows.

Season 2 and 3 are filled with small story arcs that are so out of place that they feel like filler episodes. New characters with powers that are barely explained appear, act and fight for reasons that often don't fit their character, but the overall plot and drama. You could cut the entire cast down to 1/4th and the story would still work, THATS how bloated and unnecessary most characters are.
It's especially annoying considering the three other heroes: they have pretty much no personality and act solely to drive the story, or later the "filler arc", forward (kinda like a 3 person shaped plot device). I really wished that they'd get some character development, but they're pretty much the same person, just with a different weapon and look.

Watch season 1, that's the great one and an overall closed story, but do yourself a favour and stop after that. Season 2 and 3 are unfortunately really bad. A real shame, but Rise of the Shield Hero is at least a good example of an anime that runs out of ideas after the first season.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 31, 2022

IvanLaptev

Mixed Feelings

The shield hero is a postirony. You can't call it bad, because in fact it is supposed to be bad, and it does its job, therefore, because of its purpose, it is good.
The fact is that the main character ends up in a very bad fanfiction book created to pump money. The hero himself says about this that this book is a passerby. You have no right to call this anime bad, because the anime itself says so.
Naofumi is a simple anime guy, he's not smart, he's not stupid. However, in the anime, he seems to be the smartest person in the world, as the ... antagonists here are the dumbest people in the universe, with teenager-level thinking.
For some reason, in the world in which the hero fell, there are RPG mechanics, as in an MMORPG. This is strange, because the hero ended up in a book, and not in a game, but it's better not to look for logic in this anime. What is the value of Raphtalia's breasts changing their size, for no apparent reason.

I'm sorry. It's a pity.
I love the literary device where a character with a normal reputation accidentally loses it and has to restore it. However, the implementation of this in the anime is very poor.
It would have been much better if there had been an emphasis on Naofumi and Raphtalia's local adventures while revealing the world. Instead, the anime has a lot of bloody pathos for the sake of pathos, stupid antagonists who rule the world, and in general it's some kind of circus. Isekai stories have potential, but they do not use it, as it is not profitable.
This anime is very overrated, but on the other hand, it can entertain for 1 time. I don't know what happens in the continuation of the story, but there are rumors that everything is still 10 times worse.
However, thanks for your attention! I wish you enjoy anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 20, 2024

Belugaboye

Not Recommended

Generic Isekai Harem anime with 1 dimensional characters and a revenge plot without the revenge.

Imagine being framed for the worst crime imaginable and having your reputation destroyed across the whole country while nobody believes you. Nobody wants to work with you and on top of that, you're restricted to only using a shield, but are nevertheless expected to fight off waves of monsters. This helpless, hopeless, rage inducing predicament is what got me hooked at first. An angry protagonist with nothing to lose and a setup for a great revenge narrative? F*ck yeah, let's go! But what I got was one-note characters, tired trope after ... tired trope, a major conflict driven by stupidity rather than any real interesting reason for conflict and a pathetic resolution to the whole revenge saga.

Harem: this is a harem anime, so how does it deliver? Barely. The girls/women have no personalities outside loving the protagonist, no depth, no traits that could make them interesting or fun to watch. Their designs and vocal performances are as generic as they come, you could close your eyes and think you were watching any of the other thousand assembly line harems out there. At least we're spared the flustered bumbling spineless male protagonist trope, since our guy is too angry to for that.

Revenge plot: The setup is there, the anger is there, but the show doesn't have the balls to follow through on this theme. In fact it has a naive child's sense of "justice" when it comes to dolling out retribution. At one point a character who tortures and kills people for fun is spared by his former victim because "killing him would make me no better than him", even though he's STILL DOING IT AND WILL DO IT AGAIN IN THE FUTURE IF YOU DON'T KILL HIM! Give me a f*cking break. Without spoiling too much of the ending, the villains responsible for framing our protagonist & making his life a living hell never get their comeuppance, they get what amounts to a slap on the wrist & get to roam around freely like nothing happened. F*ck off.

The only thing worthwhile is the animation and soundtrack, but in every other regard this show is a major letdown. Don't bother.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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