The Rising of the Shield Hero Episodes 1-20 Review

“I am your sword, I’ll follow you through fire and brimstone. I’ll follow you to your end.” ~Raphtalia

Alright, fans, you’ll have to forgive me but I was late to the party on watching the Rising of the Shield Hero anime at first, so to catch up I BINGE WATCHED episodes one to twenty (Not in one day, just several episodes each day till I finally got to second to the latest episode! So I’m about to review Episodes 1 through 20 and bear with me because you’re in for a bumpy ride, so grab your gear, your potions, and map, it’s time to join in on a quest to be a part of the Shield Hero’s journey.

After watching Fantasy types of Animes, films television shows, or reading them; I have to say that The Rising of the Shield Hero does not fall into the line of generic, typical fantasy. In the beginning, we meet Naofumi Iwatani, a slim 20-year-old University student who was in the Library and comes across a book called ‘The Four Heroes Manual‘ that summons him to a new world, after he wakes up in his new surrounding, noticing he had a shield strapped onto his arm; confused, alone he meets with three other men who were summoned, Motoyasu Kitamura the new Spear Hero, Ren Amaki the new Sword Hero and then Itsuki Kawasumi the new Legendary swordsman. The Summoners who summoned the four heroes are taken to the King and are pleaded to defend their world threat from Waves of Calamity, interdimensional portals that open periodically and dump monsters onto their lands and needed the four heroes to stop them. While explaining their situation King purposely ignores Naofumi. After the explanation and picking their Legendary Weapons, that is where things start to get complicated for our Protagonist; a Princess named Malty S. Melromarc befriends the Shield Hero and after everything he had received from the King was stolen. As he was brought forth to the King was then labeled a thief and a rapist thanks to Malty and the King’s lies. Branded a Criminal and as an Outcast, he along with Raphtalia and Filio and Melty Q. Melromarc set out on a journey to clear his name and protect the land from The Waves, where ever they appear.

The Story

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As I have mentioned before, this isn’t your typical Fantasy Anime; the story that is laid out before us is something different than what we’re used to, yes it started with a misunderstood protagonist with not fitting in with the real world, getting transported to another world, everybody disliking him until he proves to be the hero they summoned and the princess falling for him. It is quite the opposite, he got everything stolen from him, his reputation tarnished and being portrayed as the vilest criminal in the Kingdom. But as it progresses we see Naofumi taking in a demihuman, Ralphtalia to train as a swordswoman to act as his Sword while he uses his power to protect her and his party or the other Four Heroes when the time comes. Throughout each episode, we have watched the Shield Hero, Ralphtalia, Filo, Melty Q. grow stronger as the story progresses there is still hate for the Shield Hero but now people begin to see that maybe the rumors aren’t true about him. But with a good show, you have to balance out the action with humor and this show has great humor to add to it.

UPDATE: The Soundtrack is now available on Spotify. Season Finale Review is available now!

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Final Grade:

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