It was a fresh take on the Isekai genre, with a controversial concept of slavery, but also the fact that the Hero had a pretty good life in the real world and got transferred into a nightmare. I had hopes that this anime was going to continue to be unconventional, but the plot never ceased reverberating back to its originating point of drama; the false accusation and conspiracy plot against him.
For instance, The MC flirted with evil, but it was never strong enough for him to change course. I totally thought this was going to be used, since his allies being slaves could have been exploited here (they feel pain when they disobey his commands). Secondly, the MC also becomes a merchant, and his talent for securing business opportunities almost leans on the side of greed, but we never truly know why he is so eager to earn so much money. It's an RPG, we all know that feel of grinding to buy a new item, but this appeal was never used. Lastly, the MC also dances with the idea of leaving the country, but we just circle the wagons for over 20 episodes.
Essentially, like a shield, the very interesting parts of this anime just get blocked, over and over again. It truly lacks any offensive story telling. If I'm being completely honest, the only thing keeping me going was the potential romance with Raphtalia, but by episode 15 I realized I had been teased long enough since nothing else about the adventure interested me.
Romance was also the one thing Naofumi felt like he was lacking in the real world, so I have to question why it was taking so long from his end to reciprocate feelings. I understand that he took her in as a child so he views her as a daughter, but she developed into a woman quite quickly due to gaining XP and leveling up, and not only that, but Naofumi doesn't seem to love anything else, like revenge, money, or freedom, to convince me that he was truly too distracted from something else to potentially have these desires.
Also, the art isn't very good either. Although I enjoyed the HUD view and "in-game" details that were featured through out the show, there were a lot of awkward CG monsters, and Raphtalia's model can sometimes be inconsistent (she'll randomly sport a bigger chest). It really brought down the quality from average to mediocre. It truly had so much potential, but in the end The Rising of the Shield Hero is nothing more than going on a trip with a bunch of luggage and spending most of it in the hotel, never truly seeing the sights.
