Raphtalia Fan Service

Well, I have to congratulate The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 for having the worst last episode of the season. I complained about Spy x Family’s final episode earlier. But, the final Shield Hero Season 2 episode is so much worse because it wouldn’t even be good not as the final episode.

Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13 should have been an OVA bundled with the physical release of the series. At least then I would have had somewhat of a reason to skip watching and reviewing it. But, instead, here we are.

So, what makes Episode 13 so bad? It’s a fan service episode. And I don’t mean that it’s an ecchi fan service episode. I mean that it’s the girls of the series recounting mundane activities they did in the past that we didn’t see.

The first part of the episode focused on Raphtalia trying on clothes to impress Naofumi. With the help of Kizuna and Rishia, we saw Raphtalia dressed as an empress, samurai, maid, and in a bathing suit. Naofumi didn’t actually get to see any of that, though. At least, not as far as we know.

This may have been the best part of the episode. And, hopefully, from the image above, you can see that even the best part of the episode still isn’t very good. If you’re going to make a fan service episode, you might as well go full ecchi with it.

Since there’s not much else to say about this part, I guess I’ll objectify some anime girls before moving on. Kizuna looks the best in her bathing suit, followed by Rishia, and Raphtalia in last place. Grown Raphtalia in a different bathing suit would have ranked above Rishia, though.

Kizuna and Yomogi Story Time

The next part of the episode was story time with Kizuna and Yomogi. Now, this could have been an interesting part of the episode. We finally got to hear the story of how Kizuna survived for four years in the Eternal Labyrinth. But, of course, it wasn’t an interesting story.

Based on what Kizuna tells Yomogi, she spent the majority of her time in the labyrinth hunting and eating. She attempted to figure a way out a few times but gave up pretty fast. Why try to escape when you could eat grilled fish every day instead?

Kizuna also considered taking her own life at one point. But, she decided not to because she still hadn’t perfected her grilled fish recipe. We actually don’t know why she didn’t follow through with it. And if we got a reason, it could have added to her character development a bit.

What we do know is that Kizuna had her own version of Wilson from Castaway. She had a white ball on which she drew a face. This was her only friend for the years she spent within the Eternal Labyrinth. And, this friend is something Yomogi relates to.

Apparently, Yomogi thinks Kizuna’s and the ball’s relationship is the same as hers and Kyo’s. I don’t understand why she thinks that — and Kizuna doesn’t seem to either. But, this is the segue into Yomogi’s story about the time Kyo didn’t realize his glasses were on his head.

I get that this was a funny story to Yomogi. But, it was a terrible story. Even Kizuna and Chris didn’t seem to find it interesting. Was it supposed to humanize Kyo? I can’t figure out another reason. And that’s a pretty terrible reason to include such a boring story.

Ost’s Sex Education Class

The final part of the episode is how I know the target audience for Shield Hero can’t be very old. Of course, I also assumed this after Myne received her new name in Season 1. This time, we have Ost Horai explaining what sex is to Raphtalia and Filo.

But, why does that imply that the target audience for the series is young? She’s supposed to be saying something scandalous, but it’s so vague that it’s not exciting. There’s the implication of an explanation of what sex is. We don’t even get Ost’s explanation itself.

Now, why exactly the series went in this direction, I don’t know. Is it because anything more explicit would raise the age rating for the series? That doesn’t seem likely considering the series includes slavery and foul language. But, those are also things kids would think are edgy and therefore cool.

At the very least, this scene made me wish Ost stuck around longer. I still don’t think Rishia is a very interesting addition to Naofumi’s harem. But, if Ost was also there, her interactions with Rishia would make Rishia better. Also, it would mean that the harem gets a mature option.

Everyone knows that a good harem has a variety of options to choose from. Right now, we have a child, a generic female lead, and a generic shy female. Melty also exists, but she hasn’t been present all season. And I guess she falls somewhere between Filo and Raphtalia in the harem.

Ost was the perfect addition. She’s an older woman who worked as a concubine; she has experience, unlike the others. Unless the Queen herself joins Naofumi’s harem, I’m not sure we’ll be getting a true replacement for Ost.

Conclusion

Did you watch The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13? If so, what did you think of it? After finishing this episode, I actually lowered my score of the series by a full point. Season 2 would have been better with only 12 episodes.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Key Mochi for supporting this blog at the Heika and Senpai tiers this month. And I’d like to thank Rob, Pepe, and Eban for supporting at the Kouhai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Kyo, the Most Developed Villain

I’ve been saying that Kyo Ethnina was a boring, poorly-written villain from the start. The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 12 put the final nail in his character’s coffin. This was his last chance to redeem himself and be a decent character, at best.

Until now, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t confirmed that Kyo was an otherworlder. Up to this point, every otherworlder has appeared as one of the Cardinal Heroes. Kyo, meanwhile, was one of the Vassal Weapon Heroes. So, I was under the impression that he was a native of this world.

Anyway, with the small amount of backstory we got, there was a chance for characterization. Almost anything would have been an improvement. All we knew about Kyo up to this point was that he’s a bad guy.

There are two huge issues I have with Kyo’s backstory. The first is that it doubled down on his entire character being that he’s evil. He was a loser in his old world, and this new world is his chance to get his revenge on everyone (who isn’t in this world). That doesn’t make him a compelling villain.

The second issue might not be as major. But, did you notice that Naofumi looks the same in his past world and this world? Well, Kyo doesn’t. He was an obese NEET and now he’s some bishounen scientist. You can’t keep the other characters’ appearances the same and only change his.

I get it; his incel appearance and personality in the past are there to explain why he wants revenge on the world. But, what if he had a real motivation instead? He could have been this world’s parallel of Naofumi. That would have been more interesting.

No Dragon Naofumi for Us

Was the last time Naofumi used his Wrath Shield at the very start of the season? I can’t think of another time he used it after that. He might have when they first went up against Kyo, though. But, regardless, he used it again in Episode 12.

Well, “used” is a strong word. He activated it, to be more precise. He never actually used any of its power. And at this point, I’m wondering if he’ll ever use it to its full extent. It’s his most powerful shield. But, it also causes him to lose control, so he doesn’t use it.

There’s also a fire dragon that resides within the Wrath Shield. I don’t remember how Naofumi got the shield, so I don’t know if the dragon was already explained. But, it could turn out to be to Naofumi what Kurama was to Naruto.

At first, Naruto wasn’t supposed to use Kurama’s power sealed within him. He couldn’t control it and it would lead him to hurt those he wanted to protect. The Wrath Shield is the same for Naofumi at the moment. But, eventually, Naruto befriended Kurama and was able to control his power.

If you think about it, a dragon isn’t all that different from a tortoise (which is Naofumi’s spirit animal). They’re both reptiles. And the fire a dragon breathes is the same as the lasers the Spirit Tortoise could shoot from its mouth. It all makes sense now.

While I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to see Naofumi use the Wrath Shield, we did get to see something good. We got to see Naofumi finally put Rishia in her place. I’ve been saying how useless and disrespectful Rishia is for weeks. I’m glad Naofumi feels the same way.

Time to Go Home

After killing Kyo with the power of friendship, it’s time for Naofumi’s party to return home. Will they ever see their friends from the other world again? My money is on yes. At the very least, Kizuna has to visit Naofumi’s world at some point.

Until it came up in this episode, I never considered how they would return home. But, I guess they were under the impression that they had to use the Waves to do so. That’s what L’Arc’s party did, so it makes sense.

The Waves aren’t the only way to travel between worlds, though. Earlier this season, Kyo was able to create a portal between the worlds too. From what I remember, he did this by using the Spirit Tortoise’s power. So, Naofumi could have done the same after defeating Kyo and regaining that power.

But, in the end, Naofumi’s party returned home via summoning. And by that, I mean that their world summoned them back to it after they defeated Kyo. They had a quest to regain the power of the Spirit Tortoise that Kyo stole. And so once it was back in their possession, their quest in the other world was over.

This seems like further proof that all the various worlds are part of the same system or game. There’s been a lot of proof of this throughout this season. For example, the Waves affect both worlds in the same way.

We also know that both worlds have Cardinal Heroes. And both the Cardinal and Vassal weapons can travel between and work the same way across worlds. When Raphtalia returns to her own world, I don’t think she’ll stop being the Katana Hero. It doesn’t matter that her Vassal Weapon is from another world.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 12? Do you think Kyo’s backstory added anything of value? Will Naofumi ever use the full power of his Wrath Shield? And how long will it take for Kizuna to visit Naofumi’s world? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 13 is available now.

Otherworld Reunion

I need to start this review off by commenting on how terrible this episode looked. The animation was horrible. And the fact that there was an action scene in this episode only made the horrible animation stand out more. I would have rather the episode be all dialogue.

But, the animation was also bad for simple things, like lip flaps and facial expressions. Even the parts of the episode that focused on dialogue looked like amateurs animated it. And the art itself was of poor quality in many places. The art didn’t all look bad. But, there were a few points when it was distracting.

Of course, it also goes without saying that the actual content of the episode was trash. But, despite that, I’m going to continue to comment on it for the rest of this review. I can’t think of anything about this episode that I liked other than Filo’s new kigurumi.

I’ll pause my complaints for the rest of this section so I can review the new information about L’Arc’s party. First up, we finally got to see the gem on Therese’s forehead. At least, as far as I can remember, this is the first time we’re seeing it.

And, while we likely saw this in a previous season and I forgot, Therese’s whole color palette changed. Under normal conditions, she has a blue palette. But, when Yomogi showed up and it was time for battle, Therese turned red/orange. Was this ever explained? If not, I hope it will be.

The other big piece of information we got is that L’Arc is actually the king of this country. Does that matter for now? Not in the slightest. But, I’m sure he’ll use his status to help out in some way.

Yomogi Emarl

Yomogi Emarl is the new character introduced in this episode. She’s a member of Kyo’s party. And as we later learn, she’s also Kyo’s childhood friend. She also believes that as his childhood friend, she’s the only person who knows the true Kyo.

This is where Kyo’s character could have become more interesting. Through Yomogi, we could have learned new things about Kyo that added depth to his character. And at first, it seemed like this was going to be the case. Albeit, the path the episode began going down was the most boring option.

Saying that Kyo is actually trying to stop the waves in his own way isn’t interesting. The misunderstood, yet noble antagonist is so overdone. But, then the episode does a 180 and it’s confirmed that, no, Kyo is exactly as we thought he was before. He’s evil for the sake of being evil.

Anyway, back to Yomogi. She trusts Kyo to a fault. At first, she didn’t believe that he would ever do anything to harm her. Our heroes were telling her that the sword Kyo gave her was dangerous, but she didn’t listen. And then, when it turned out the sword actually was dangerous, Yomogi deflected.

“Okay, so it was dangerous. That doesn’t mean Kyo wanted to kill me. That shows that his cause is so noble he’s willing to make sacrifices to achieve it.” Yeah, sure Yomogi. You keep telling yourself that. But, to be fair, Yomogi doesn’t seem like she’s the smartest girl around.

She attacked Naofumi & co. while they were all together. That’s 2 Cardinal Heroes, 3 Vassal Heroes, a bird, Rishia, and Therese. And after picking this fight, Yomogi complains that they’re not fighting her one by one. At least she seemed to be a somewhat competent fighter.

Kyo’s Wave Factory

Yomogi learns that everything Naofumi said about Kyo was true when she sees he’s the source of the Wave. Contrary to what Yomogi believed, Kyo has been researching how to create Waves, not stop them. That’s kind of a big difference.

How did Kyo manage to create a Wave? Well, we don’t know exactly. But, we do know that he didn’t create a brand new Wave from scratch. Instead, he caused the Wave that was 3 days away to show up sooner. So, I doubt Kyo can generate infinite Waves on demand.

One thing that seemed to be part of Kyo’s process, though is a human sacrifice. And there are two pieces of evidence that back this up. First, Kyo mentions that Kazuki failed to “get a body for [his] experiment.” From that, we know Kyo needed a human (or demi-human since Raphtalia was the “body”).

Second, after Kazuki cuts himself in half, Kyo agrees to save him. To do this, Kyo puts Kazuki in a vat within his lab. But, when Kyo summons the Wave, we see everything within these vats drain out. So, it would appear that Kazuki ended up being the sacrifice in Raphtalia’s place.

What I’m still unsure about, though, is how summoning a Wave helps Kyo. Wasn’t it already mentioned that his goal is to amass power? At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what L’Arc’s party mentioned earlier in the season. So, does Kyo have some way to control the monsters of the Waves?

Or, he could actually be the good guy Yomogi is. We could all be wrong about Kyo. He might have summoned the wave early so that he could stop it even sooner. It looks like he’s a real hero after all.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 11? Did you notice how poor the quality of the episode was? Do you like Yomogi as a new character? And why do you think Kyo wanted to summon the Wave 3 days early? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 12 is available now.

Confirmation About L’Arc’s Party

As expected, Raphtalia ends up with L’Arc’s party in The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 10. They’re all locked away in a prison known as the Prison of Exhaustion. Here, the prisoners have their energy sapped away so they can’t escape.

But, the Prison of Exhaustion doesn’t stop prisoners from using their skills. So, Raphtalia is able to turn invisible and grab a power talisman from a guard so the group can escape. I kind of expected it to be more difficult to escape.

Why bother explaining what the Prison of Exhaustion is if we’re going to leave it a few minutes later? I doubt it’s a location we’ll be heading back to now that we’ve left. L’Arc’s party could have run into Raphtalia as she was being transported there and saved her. That would have had the same result.

In this episode, we also got confirmation about L’Arc’s party not being all Vassal Heroes. In my review of Episode 9, I pointed out that it was never actually confirmed that Therese was a Vassal Hero. And in Episode 10, it’s confirmed that only Glass and L’Arc are Vassal Heroes. Therese is a Vassal groupie, I guess.

If you didn’t catch this confirmation, Glass refers to Vassal Heroes like herself and L’Arc. She leaves out Therese, even though she’s present. So, that makes it pretty obvious that Therese isn’t a Vassal Hero.

Both Glass and Therese got some extra characterization in this episode, too. We got to see a soft, timid, and embarrassed side of Glass, which I liked. And for Therese, we got to see that although she has a lot of gemstones (as a Jewel), she doesn’t like to part with them. She also carries them somewhere.

Katana Vassal Weapon Selection

I was under the impression that there was already a Katana Hero. In Episode 9, there’s a wanted poster that says the Katana Hero escaped. But, we now know that the events of Episodes 9 and 10 are concurrent, not consecutive. So the Katana Hero the poster mentioned is Raphtalia.

But, before Raphtalia became a Hero, we got to see the Vassal Weapon selection ceremony. As it turns out, becoming the Katana Hero is the same as becoming the King of England. All you have to do is pull a sword from a stone.

Kazuki, the minor antagonist who was working with Kyo, was set to become the next Katana Hero. Or, at least, he was set to attempt to become the next Katana Hero. But, he never got the chance because the Katana Vassal Weapon selected Raphtalia. She didn’t even need to pull it from the stone — it teleported to her.

What I like about Kazuki missing out on the Katana Vassal Weapon is that it chose Raphtalia, so it belongs to her. It doesn’t matter that Kazuki was “supposed” to be the next Katana Hero. What matters is that Raphtalia is the Katana Hero.

It’s like when people cry about having an NFT stolen. If someone stole your NFT, it’s not your NFT anymore. Sucks to be you. Whoever’s currently in possession of the NFT owns it. And the same goes for Vassal Weapons. Raphtalia owns the Katana Vassal Weapon now.

I guess now’s also a good time to ask, what’s the difference between a Cardinal Hero and a Vassal Hero? Have we actually gotten an explanation for that yet? Are Cardinal Heros all summoned from another world? Are no Vassal Heroes summoned from another world?

The Katana Hero

What are the implications of Raphtalia becoming the new Katana Hero? Does this mean that she’s connected to this world now? Of course, she can still go back to her old world. But will that world consider her an otherworlder now? Will she keep her levels?

If Raphtalia goes back to her own world on a permanent basis, what does that mean for the world we’re currently in? Does that world lose one of its heroes forever? Or will the Katana Vassal Weapon somehow go back to its original world once Raphtalia dies?

It’s also possible that the Cardinal, Vassal, and Seven Star weapons all have the same origin. They might not have a specific world in which they belong. That could explain why there’s no overlap between them across worlds. Like, this world doesn’t have its own version of the Shield Cardinal Weapon.

Another important detail I need to bring up is that Raphtalia is no longer Naofumi’s slave. Does this mean even if Raphtalia wanted to be his slave again, she wouldn’t be able to do so? Is it possible to enslave a hero? I don’t see us getting answers to those questions. But, I’d like to find out.

This also means that Naofumi only has one slave now, Rishia. Forget Kazuki, Naofumi’s the one who lost the most from Raphtalia becoming a hero. At some point, Naofumi’s going to release Rishia too. Losing her as a slave isn’t as big of a deal as losing Raphtalia, though.

Before concluding this review, I also need to mention the best part of the whole episode. Of course, I’m referring to the shrine maiden stripping Raphtalia. I may not like The Rising of the Shield Hero, but I can admit that part was good.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 10? Do you prefer Glass with her hair up or down? Do you think Naofumi’s other party members are going to become heroes? And, should Raphtalia stick with her shrine maiden outfit, or go back to her old armor? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 11 is available now.