The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13

The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13

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.

Kizuna, Raphtalia, and Rishia trying on bathing suits from the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13
Kizuna, Raphtalia, and Rishia trying on bathing suits

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.

Kizuna, Chris, and Yomogi fishing from the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13
Kizuna, Chris, and Yomogi fishing

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.

Ost Horai corrupting the minds of the youth from the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13
Ost Horai corrupting the minds of the youth

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.

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