Author: Faris
Editor: KnightAvenger
Studio: Kinema Citrus
Watch at: Crunchyroll
This week, Shield Hero continues with the third episode, which has, so far, had the most plot progression and has been much more epic in comparison to the previous ones. Despite that, there were some slightly jarring and somewhat weird decisions which, thankfully, did not manage to affect the quality all that much in the long run.
The beginning of the episode lets us know it has been a week since the big fight at the end of the second episode, and it seems that, in that small amount of time, both Naofumi and Raphtalia have leveled up a lot and he has even gotten many skills. Now, that part is all fine and it was nice to see some of his new skills, but, at the same time, it seems that, in that single week, Raphtalia grew up way too much. She acts very different from what we got in episode 2. She is pretty loud and seems very confident, even going so far as to order Hero around a bit. That amount of growth in just a single week felt very weird, but, ultimately, it was a good choice to go with it, as the new and confident Raphtalia that is very protective of Naofumi is cool and allows for her to be a very useful character.
Another thing I didn’t expect and was hoping wouldn’t happen yet was the Wave of Catastrophe. As I said in the previous review, I hope the peaceful nature of the show would last for a couple more episodes since there was a reveal of the total number of episodes. Instead, we get a Wave in this very episode and despite my hope it wouldn’t happen, I am actually glad it did because it was very epic and gave both Naofumi and Raphtalia a lot of very good characterization while, at the same time, showing the comparative shittiness of the other Hero characters.
I am very glad that, while the show is definitely darker than the usual isekai and isn’t comedic, which is to be expected, at the same time, it’s not pointlessly and childishly edgy. While there is some edge, here and there, it is well used and not just thrown around for shock value. I believe I mentioned this last week as well, but it definitely shows even more in this episode, especially during Naofumi’s encounter with other Heroes and their parties where he shows considerable constraint while being taunted by them, especially the Spear Hero and Myne.
All in all, so far, this was the best episode due to how epic it is but also how well the epic scenes are utilized for positive characterization and world-building. I look forward to the next episode!
