The Rising of the Shield Hero | Animated Observations

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

As I said in my reaction to episode one of The Promised Neverland, the point of a first episode is to draw people in and get them invested in the stakes of a given story, and to The Rising of the Shield Hero’s credit, it did do that for me, and probably for a many others as well. The problem I have with the show is the way in which it does this, but I will explain more in a second.

The Rising of the Shield hero follows Iwatani Naotumi, a college student from Japan who one day gets transported from his world to a vaguely familiar fantasy world. The reason? Naotumi is one of four cardinal heroes whose destiny it is to save the world from destruction. However, being the shield hero makes him the loser of the pack, and quickly after being summoned to this new world, he finds himself being accused of rape by his only other party member Myna, and is then left to train by himself.

One of the things that come across as immediately problematic about the show’s first episode is the implication of its events. Now, before you anyone decides to call me an SJW cuck, I understand your feelings about everything being called problematic, and in some cases, I would agree that things get called problematic solely to ruin people’s enjoyment of said things. However, let me explain specifically why this first episode is different.

For the entirety of the forty-five plus minute first episode, we are introduced to exactly two females characters, Myna and the slave girl at the end of the episode. Myna, who ends up joining Naotumi’s party, is portrayed as sexually deviant and only using Naotumi for his money, and the show even goes as far to show him as falsely accusing him of rape. It is then, of course, revealed that she did all of this intentionally, and she is even shown with an evil smile on her face near the middle of the episode. Now, consider this: since the slave girl at the end does not have any lines outside just crying in a cage, that makes the sole character traits represented by women in the show so far evil and subservience.

Now, in regards to Myna specifically, there is nothing wrong in a vacuum with saying what Myna did was wrong and that false rape accusations are wrong, those things are absolutely true. The problem comes with the implication. Again, since Myna is one of only two female representatives in the show, the implication is that she is representative of most or even all women, which then completely justifies any terrible behavior by the main character towards other female characters.

I do, however, want to make something abundantly clear: I am not saying that if you like and enjoy this show that you are a bad person. In fact, other than this one, admittedly large part of the show’s premise, I actually thought it was a fairly interesting addition to the Isekai genre. I would just ask that you consider these things while watching the show.

How do you guys feel about the first episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support The Aniwriter or are just feeling generous, consider supporting me on Ko-fi or using one of my affiliate links to buy stuff:

If you can’t, or just don’t feel like it, no worries. Thank you all for reading, and goodbye, for now, friends!

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

With what was honestly one of the best anime seasons to happen in a while now behind, it is time once again to look forward to a new season. This is not to say that the upcoming season has nothing to offer. Far from it, in fact. With new seasons for older shows and some exciting new releases, here are my top five most anticipated shows of winter 2019

5. The Rising of the Shield Hero

It is not a new piece of anime criticism to say that the Isekai genre, for the many pieces of legitimately fantastic art it has spawned, has become incredibly stale. Still, though, I find myself drawn to, and even excited for, The Rising of the Shield Hero. Part of this is attributed to the absurd amount of praise that was given to the light novels, which I still have not read. However, another part of me just attributes my anticipation toward the staff working on it. The director, Takao Abo, has done episode direction for a number of other shows, including Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage, Eureka Seven, and Made in Abyss. So, hopefully, something great comes out of this.

4. Dororo

I would be lying if I said that there were not times when the main thing to draw me towards a new anime was the studio producing it, and this just so happens to be one of those times. Studio MAPPA has created a lot of great shows, including one of my favorites Terror in Resonance. The subject matter of Dororo does seem interesting, though. Hyakkimaru and Dororo must travel the countryside looking for the demons who hold his missing body parts after Hyakkimaru’s father sold them away for power. I definitely see a lot of potential in the show, so I hope it turns out well.

3. Revisions

Mecha anime are almost never my go to, and a lot of the time I usually just ignore them. However, Revisions seems like it could be a legitimately interesting anime. I like the premise of the entirety of Shibuya getting transported into the future, and having to work with the people who are living in the future in order to save the world. The one other thing that does bother me is that it looks like the animation will be largely CGI, but if the show’s quality is high then I do not think it will be that big of a deal.

2. The Promised Neverland

I’ve been curious about The Promised Neverland for a while now, especially since the summer when someone I met at Anime Midwest recommended the show a lot. In fact, she said it was one of her favorite manga series that she had read in a while. The premise of the story is incredibly interesting, focusing on a group of orphans who learn about the true nature of why it is they are there in the first place. My only concern is how well the said premise will be executed. However, considering that Studio Cloverworks, who are currently finishing up what is probably one of my favorite shows in a while, Bunny Girl Senpai, I am not too worried about it.

1. Kakegurui Season 2

It might seem a little unfair to put a second season at the top of my most anticipated list, but it is the truth. Kakegurui’s first season was a show that I went into, as I do most shows, with little in expectations. I mean, a show about gambling in which the loser receives a punishment? It sounded a lot like a much edgier Yu-Gi-Oh. It turned out, however, that the show was incredibly high in quality. It did become somewhat boring in that the stakes of the show’s bets ended up becoming absolutely meaningless, but what kept me interested was the reaction of the show’s main character Yumeko. I am excited to see just how the show will change it up and how the main conflict will resolve.