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.

Ethnobalt, Wielder of the Boat Vassal Weapon

I went into Episode 9 thinking, “another day of suffering watching Shield Hero.” But, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I was anticipating. In fact, this might have been the best episode of Season 2 so far. Though, that’s not saying all that much.

Anyway, we got to meet a new Vassal Weapon wielder in this week’s episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero. Ethnobalt is the wielder of the Boat Vassal Weapon because why not? At least a boat is more of a weapon than a book — looking at you, Kyo.

But, how many Vassal Weapons does this mean we know about so far? The answer is only 5. And that’s counting the Katana Vassal Weapon wielder mentioned at the end of the episode. I thought we knew of more Vassal Weapons than that.

So far, the Vassal Weapons we know of are the Scythe, Fan, Book, Boat, and Katana. And the known users of the first 4 are L’Arc, Glass, Kyo, and Ethnobalt. Something I didn’t realize — or forgot — is that Therese (L’arc’s and Glass’s companion) isn’t one of them.

Well, that might not be accurate. She could have a Vassal Weapon. But, so far, we haven’t actually seen her use one. From what I remember, she used gemstone magic with a bracelet or something. And at the time, I may have assumed that the bracelet was her Vassal Weapon.

We now know that there’s a race known as Jewel, though. And it seems very likely that Therese is a member of that race. So, I doubt the gemstone magic she was using was a Vassal Weapon. But, if it is a Vassal Weapon, it’s a very fitting one for her considering her (probable) race.

Raph-chan the Shikigami

I didn’t mention this when I brought up Ethnobalt earlier, but he’s a giant rabbit who can take human form. You can think of whatever race he is as being this world’s version of Filolials. And as such, he has some other magical powers (or knowledge).

One thing we see Ethnobalt do is to help Naofumi perform a shikigami summoning ritual. You can think of a shikigami as a familiar. It’s a small spirit with some mystical powers. And in this episode, we’re introduced to 2 shikigami, Chris and Raph-chan. Chris is a penguin and Raph-chan is a tanuki.

Now, there’s something I’m not quite understanding about these shikigami. As Kizuna explains, summoning a shikigami involves requires a catalyst. The shikigami will then know the location of whoever the catalyst belongs to. That’s how Raph-chan is going to help Naofumi locate Raphtalia.

The part I’m not getting is why Chris is a penguin. Raphtalia is a tanuki demi-human. So the shikigami summoned using her hair takes the form of a tanuki. Chris is a shikigami made with a catalyst from Glass. So, shouldn’t Chris be a ghost or something since Glass is a member of the Spirit race?

Is Glass actually a penguin? Would that make her a Spirit penguin? Is that connected to the Spirit Tortoise in any way? I need answers.

Okay, so I wasn’t serious about any of those questions. But, I’d still like to know why Chris is a penguin. Glass uses a fan, so a bird makes sense, I guess. But a penguin?

I also guess that Raph-chan is here to stay. Kizuna and Chris have a close bond, so it would be weird for Naofumi to ditch Raph-chan. But this could also cause a strange dynamic once Raphtalia’s back. What will she think?

The Celestial Maiden

The one who named Raph-chan is none other than the celestial maiden who’s come down from the heavens. Of course, that title is referring to Filo. That’s the name she’s given by the noble who’s keeping her as an exotic pet and charging people to view her.

I know Filo gets this title from her captor, but it’s not a bad title. She should start insisting other people refer to her as the celestial maiden. After all, Filo is royalty. She’s a future Filolial Queen. Though, I don’t remember if that means she’s guaranteed to be the Queen or if she only has the capacity to become it.

Either way, Naofumi, Rishia, and Kizuna save Filo from a fate worse than death — enslavement. You know, because Naofumi would never enslave a young girl and force her to do things against her will. Oh, right, that’s exactly what he did with Raphtalia.

I suppose something I should point out is that Filo has never been a slave before. Raphtalia and Rishia are both currently Naofumi’s slaves. But, Filo is not. If you look at Naofumi’s party on his status screen, you’ll see Filo has a different symbol next to her name.

That’s not to say that if she were a slave that she’d be okay with being this noble’s pet. Even Raphtalia, who seems to think being a slave is great, wouldn’t like that situation. Raphtalia only has a positive view of her status as a slave because she’s Naofumi’s slave.

Oh, and I should mention how it’s odd that Filo now has a different bird form since Filolials don’t exist in this world. If humans didn’t exist, would Naofumi look like a Grass, Jewel, or Spirit now? And, is Raphtalia’s appearance different?

Conclusion

What do you think of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 9? Do you like Ethnobalt? I’d say he’s pretty decent. What about Raph-chan? I don’t care about her much. And, do you think Filo’s change in race is going to matter at all? 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 10 is available now.

New Races

The best part of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 8 came toward the beginning of the episode. We learned about 3 new races that exist in Kizuna’s world, but not the world Naofumi’s party comes from. And, we’ve actually seen two of these races before.

First up, we have the Grass People, or Grass for short. Kizuna describes them as Demi-Humans like Raphtalia. But, as we can see, that’s not a very accurate description. Naofumi instead says that they’re more like Elves, which I’d have to agree with. They have light skin, light hair, and pointed ears.

Second are the Jewel People, or Jewels for short (none of these races have creative names). The Jewels look like humans, but they have large jewels embedded in their bodies. We see one man with a jewel in the back of his hand and one woman with one in her forehead.

What makes the Jewels interesting is that Kizuna reveals that Therese is one of them. I’m guessing she has a jewel in her forehead, which could explain the headband she wears. But, Therese isn’t the only character we already knew from one of these races.

The final of the three races is the Spirit People, or Spirits. Glass is a member of this race. What’s unique about Spirits is that they don’t have levels. Instead, they use soul power (SP), which refills over time. The more soul power they have, the more powerful they are.

If L’Arc is a Human, Therese is a Jewel, and Glass is a Spirit, does that imply Kyo is a Grass? He does have light skin and hair. We didn’t see if he has pointed ears, though. But, I have to assume there was a reason for including the Grass here.

The Fraud Hero

As Kizuna explained, the one weakness of Spirits is that they have no way to restore their soul power on demand. Healing and mana potions don’t work. And magic is less effective on Spirits than on other races, so they can’t swap MP for SP either.

This information gave Naofumi an idea. He remembered that during his fight against Glass, L’Arc gave her some sort of potion. And, I don’t know how, but Naofumi happens to have one of these potions saved within his shield. It’s an SP potion.

Before getting into what Naofumi does with this SP potion, I need to explain an issue I noticed with it. As far as I can remember, SP isn’t a thing in the world Naofumi’s party comes from. But, I should mention that Naofumi has a third bar of something displayed below his HP and MP on his HUD.

But, anyway, that’s not the real issue here. The issue is that Kizuna says SP potions don’t exist in her world. That means SP potions must come from Naofumi’s world. But, as we saw, items have different effects across worlds.

What does this mean? The potion from Naofumi’s world that recovers SP shouldn’t recover SP in Kizuna’s world. We saw Naofumi and Kizuna experimenting with different items and finding this out. So, what are the chances that the SP potion works the same for people in both worlds? It seems a bit too convenient to me.

Plot convenience aside, Naofumi decides to sell SP potions to Spirits to make a quick buck. He can generate infinite amounts of these potions at will with his shield. But, he acts like they’re a rare commodity so he can sell each individual potion for more.

Bye, Raphtalia

At the end of the episode, Kizuna touches the Dragon Hourglass to teleport the party. The plan is for her to teleport herself, Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Rishia to another city. They could have walked to that city, but teleporting is faster, you know?

There’s one little problem with this plan, though. After the teleportation process begins, Raphtalia gets kicked from the lobby. And by kicked from the lobby, I mean she’s no longer getting teleported with everyone else. This is an issue because only Kizuna can activate the teleportation and she can’t stop it once it starts.

Oh, also a group of enemy soldiers is surrounding Naofumi’s party. So once Kizuna, Naofumi, and Rishia teleport away, Raphtalia is going to have to fend for herself. Under normal conditions, that wouldn’t be a problem. But, right now, Raphtalia is at a very low level.

What should be obvious to everyone is that Raphtalia won’t die here. Without her, what does Shield Hero have going for it? She’s the most popular character by far. But, it’s unclear what Naofumi & co. can do to save her. My guess is that they won’t save her — at least not yet.

Upon arriving at their destination, Naofumi’s going to tell Kizuna to take them back. He’s going to want to save Raphtalia. But, there’s going to be some reason why they can’t do that. The Dragon Hourglass might need to recharge, or something. Or, Kizuna will convince Naofumi to trust Raphtalia.

Regardless of how it happens, I’m predicting Naofumi, Rishia, and Kizuna move on. They still need to find Filo and defeat Kyo. So, what about Raphtalia? She may get saved by L’Arc, Therese, and Glass. That would be an interesting development considering what we learned.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 8? Which of the three new races do you find most interesting? Do you have any idea why SP potions work the same in both worlds? And how do you think Raphtalia is going to escape? 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 9 is available now.

Reset to Level 1

All things considered, The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 7 wasn’t very important. The episode established 3 basic things, and nothing else mattered. Well, that might change in the future. But, for now, only 3 things matter from this episode.

The first thing is that all Naofumi’s party members had their levels reset. We saw that Naofumi, Rishia, and Raphtalia were all reset back to level 1. This doesn’t seem to matter too much for Rishia. But, for Naofumi and Raphtalia, this is a big deal for different reasons.

For Naofumi, being level 1 means that he’s lost access to all his various skills and shields. And, the base shield he woke up with is one that he’s never seen before. It’s likely that the stat and equipment reset has to do with being in a new world. I guess this world has different unlockables for Naofumi’s shield.

For Raphtalia, being level 1 means being a child again. In case you forgot, the level of a demihuman affects their appearance. Raphtalia “grew up” at a fast rate in the first season because she leveled up at a fast rate. Now, she looks as she did when Naofumi first met (purchased) her.

Now, what are the implications of levels resetting upon hopping worlds? Well, it may mean that L’Arc, Glass, and Therese went through the same thing. Now that they’re back in their original world, they may be far stronger than before. They may be back to their original levels.

Oh, and I guess I should point out that Filo is missing. But, it seems safe to assume that she’s been reset back to level 1 as well. And, this actually might be why she’s missing. She might be back in an egg.

The Hunting Hero

The second basic thing introduced in this episode is the existence of Kizuna. Kizuna Kazayama is important because she’s one of the four Cardinal Heroes of this world. So, that means there are four Cardinal Heroes of this world. But, they have different weapons than what we’re used to.

Kizuna is the Hunting Hero. Exactly what that means isn’t explained. But, it looked to me like her weapon can alter its appearance. I’m pretty sure the fishing rod she had when we first saw her was one form it can take. And later, she uses a sword which she refers to as her Hero weapon.

How does this make sense, though? Well, think about how Naofumi’s Hero weapon works. He’s the Shield Hero, so he can use a variety of different shields. As the Hunting Hero, Kizuna can use a variety of different hunting weapons.

That assumption could be incorrect. I’m basing it on the limited knowledge we have about Kizuna and her weapon currently. Also, we don’t know the titles of the other Cardinal Heroes of this world. But, since there’s no Shield Hero, there likely isn’t a Sword, Bow, or Spear Hero either.

Something else that’s interesting about this is that it means there could be even more heroes. If this world also has Cardinal Heroes, does that mean it has Seven Star Heroes too? And does it mean “Naofumi’s world” has Vassal Heroes? Or, are the Seven Star and Vassal Heroes synonymous?

I’m guessing that last one isn’t correct. We know there are 4 Vassal Weapon users (I don’t remember if they’re called Heroes). And based only on the name, I’m assuming there are 7 of the Seven Star Heroes. There might be up to 15 heroes from each world running around.

Escaping the Prison Dimension

The third and final of the basic concepts introduced in this episode is the prison dimension. Now, it could be that the prison dimension doesn’t matter now that our heroes escaped from it. But, that would be a little strange, don’t you think?

What would the point of the prison dimension have been then? If the only purpose it served was to introduce Kizuna, why not have a normal prison instead? To me, the introduction of the prison dimension means that there’s someone who created it. And if they can create a pocket dimension like that, what else can they do?

Could they send the Cardinal Heroes back to their original worlds? Are they responsible for unleashing the waves via dimensional portals? This seems like something that needs further investigation before Naofumi’s party returns home. Kizuna might even know who sealed her in there.

The prison dimension could be important for a different reason, though. We may have seen glitches in the world before in the series. But, from what I remember, this is the first time Naofumi exploits a glitch. And while his exploit didn’t make much sense, it sets a precedent.

Are we going to see glitches in the world become a more common occurrence? And, are these glitches going to reveal some secret about the world(s). Like, we know the world Naofumi found himself in looked exactly like a game he played. Is it actually a game?

On one hand, that could be a decent theory. But on the other, we already have a bit of evidence against it. For example, all the Cardinal Heroes come from different universes. They’re all from Japan. But they’re from different versions of Japan. So there’s some multiverse stuff going still.

Conclusion

What do you think about The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 7? Do you think the Vassal Heroes are going to be stronger in this world? What are your predictions for the titles of the other “new” Cardinal Heroes? And do you expect to see more glitches in the 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 8 is available now.

I Was Wrong About Kyo Ethnina

I’m brave enough to admit when I’m wrong. And I’d like to start this review of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 6 by admitting I was wrong about Kyo.

In my review of Episode 5, I said a lot of mean things about Kyo Ethnina. For example, I said that he was a boring take on the mad scientist trope, which is already a boring character trope. But, that’s not what I was wrong about. In fact, I can now say with even more certainty that I was correct about that.

No. What I was wrong about were the vials attached to his chest. At first, I thought they were vials of liquid. In the review, though, I changed my mind and said they could be small scrolls of some kind. Well, my initial assumption was the correct one.

Toward the end of the episode, Kyo reveals that the items attached to his chest are in fact vials of liquid. He has 3 vials of blue liquid and 1 vial of red liquid. And, he uses a drop from one of the blue vials to open up a portal to his original world.

Something that was a bit unclear is what the liquid in the vial actually is. From what Kyo says, you could infer that the vial contains some of the collected souls. But, I’m going to assume that’s not what he meant when he said he only stored a small amount there.

What he may have meant by that is that the rest of the collected souls are in his original world already. And, what he plans to do with those souls, we don’t know. We only know he wants power.

Rishia Takes a Stand

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t paying much attention to this episode while I was watching it. So, it’s possible that I missed the part that explained how Rishia was able to stand up against Kyo. But, I’m going to assume that it was thanks to the power of love and friendship, or something.

I went back and tried to see if we got a real explanation. As far as I could tell, one wasn’t given. So, unless the answer actually is the power of love and friendship, something’s up with Rishia. And I’m not too thrilled at the thought of that.

Look, we already had the reveal that Filo is actually the next Filolial queen. Revealing that Rishia is someone special as well doesn’t add anything. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a boring development. I don’t like when every main character turns out to be special.

I guess you could argue that means I don’t like Melty, since she’s a princess. But, from what I remember, that’s always been who Melty is. I don’t remember there being some big reveal about her identity that changed who she is. She’s always been herself and that’s fine to me.

With that said, at the start of Episode 4, we learned that Rishia comes from a noble family. And in that review, I explained that nobles are often related to royalty. So, this could be where Rishia gets her power from. And, I suppose that wouldn’t be a terrible development.

But, again, then she’d be encroaching on the territory of another main character — Melty. One thing I’m getting a bit concerned about is that Rishia could replace Melty. After all, Melty isn’t in this season and Rishia is also a mage like Melty is.

Invading Another World

The Rising of the Shield Hero got pretty meta at the end of this episode. Naofumi and the gang are heading to another world. That means that Naofumi is jumping from other world to other world now.

Unfortunately, this confirms that Kyo is going to remain a villain for at least the rest of this season. And, since he’s jumping between worlds, I’m going to guess that he’ll be around for even longer than that. Naofumi may have to chase him across worlds before defeating him.

On the positive side, L’arc, Therese, and Glass should become more important characters. Naofumi’s heading to their world to help them defeat one of their own. And since Naofumi has no reason to destroy their world, they shouldn’t be antagonists. By the end of the arc, I’d expect them to be on good terms.

The big question for me at this point is, will L’Arc and his group be out of the series by the end of the arc? If Naofumi helps to save their world while he’s there, they’ll have no reason to return to “his” world, right?

It’s possible that they’ll still return to help Naofumi. But, I’m not sure if that’s something I would want or not. L’Arc and his group have good character designs, so I’d like to see them more. At the same time, though, it may be best if they don’t overstay their welcome.

Sometimes, anime build up their cast to overwhelming levels. Look at TenSura as an example of this. In that series, there are so many characters that most of them only get a few seconds of screen time. Removing characters once their stories are over can actually benefit them in the end.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 6? Are you glad Kyo is going to be around for at least a bit longer? Why do you think Rishia could withstand his gravity magic? And do you think Naofumi and the gang will visit more worlds? 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 7 is available now.