THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO (Tate no Yusha no Nariagari), based on the light novel by Aneko Yusagi & character designs by Minami Seira, with art by Aiya Kyu. First published in 2014, and first published in North America in 2015.
PLOT:
Naofumi Iwatani was just another hapless college-aged otaku, but a chance encounter with a strange old book sending him hurdling into a strange, medieval world alongside 3 other young men. They are declared heroes of prophecy and gifted with magic weapons. Naofumi is initially disappointed to get only a shield, but when the pretty young Myne offers to join his party, he believes his fortunes are finally looking up.
Then Myne betrays him, steals his goods, and accuses him of rape. Naofumi quickly becomes a pariah in the kingdom. The only party member he can get is Raphtalia, a half-tanuki girl that he buys as a slave. Together the two venture out into the world to level up and discover what fate the world has in store for them.
STORY:
Unless you've been hiding under a rock this anime season, odds are good you've heard plenty about Shield Hero thanks to its current, Crunchyroll-sponsored anime. You've likely heard a lot of bad things about it: how it glorifies slavery, how it is hateful and misogynistic. Add in "composed mostly of exhausted MMO-inspired fantasy tropes" and "utterly insincere" to that and you would have my complete thoughts on Shield Hero.
Shield Hero isn't even TRYING to distinguish its setting from the dozens of other video game-esque fantasy stories out there. The only original idea is the fact that Raphtalia is half-tanuki instead of some other species; everything else is as generic as can be. That includes the RPG mechanics here, which are an especially baffling inclusion considering that Naofumi enters from a book and by all accounts is unfamiliar with the system. Nothing about this story has to do with video games, so why even bother with it? It's as if the original author simply included because all of the other ones did.
There's also the fact for someone called the Shield Hero, he doesn't seem to make much use of it as a shield. You get the feeling that a lot of Naofumi's complaints about being stuck with a shield as a weapon stem from an author used to playing a tank in MMOs and felt they never got credit for it. Yet Naofumi never thinks to use his shield offensively like a proper tank would. Instead the story turns it into one big magic asspull, able to turn into whatever non-weapon item he needs or turn in-world objects into things like potions.
Then there's Naofumi. The story puts no more effort into establishing him as a person than it does the setting. Perhaps that's the reason that I found his golly-gee-whiz levels of naivete at the beginning so patently fake. What does feel sincere about him is the seething, bitter rage he feels after the accusations are made. The writing makes sure that you never once have any cause to feel bad for those accusing him because everyone around him acts strange and suspicious from the start. It's as if the whole world is antagonizing him from the moment he lands there for no good reason other than the plot demands it! It's in drastic contrast to the other heroes; two of them have no character at all, and the remaining one is set up as an antagonist by virtue of being handsome, womanizing, vaguely douchey.
He goes from 0 to sociopath virtually in the blink of an eye, lashing out at everyone he sees. What is particularly disturbing is that he saves the worst of it for women as a whole, not just Myne. Indeed, the entire reason he picks Raphtalia versus any other slave is because she is a woman. She resembles Myne enough that punishing and subjugating Raphtalia would be close enough to punishing Myne to satisfying his rage.
That is not a healthy mindset. This is misogyny. This is the actions of a serial killer, not a legendary hero. That's not even getting into the fact that the plot revolves around a false rape accusation, and the implication that Myne is believed solely because she is a woman (in what we are told is a matriarchy). It's symptomatic of a really toxic mindset, and that being the the moment the plot revolves around poisons the rest of the work by association.
It's probably no surprise then that halfway through the book, the story shifts perspective from Naofumi to Raphtalia. She's childishly naive and sweet, albeit with a hearty helping of PTSD. This is such a calculated move, meant to redeem Naofumi without him making any sort of real effort. It doesn't matter that he forces her to fight through her trauma, occasionally threatens her with magic-brand-induced punishment, and never once considers freeing her once he grows to know her better - he must be a nice slave owner because he feeds her regularly and buys her treats once in a while!
It's not uncommon for a lot of these modern isekai stories to come with some sort of unpleasant subtexts and implications, but it's usually less obvious to the audience because they make some effort at entertainment or personality on a surface level. The Rising of the Shield Hero can hide its nastier elements because it doesn't want to make anything beyond the most cursory effort at story or character. It just wants to go through the motions and stew in its own hatred.
ART:
Like most light novel adaptations, the artwork here is mediocre at best. Faces seem to be the big challenge for Kyu, as they tend to come off as unfocused and off-model. I suspect that Seira's original designs were a little too fussy and over-designed for Kyu to handle, and virtually everyone suffers for it. Pages and panels both feel cluttered and chaotic, especially during the fights and major dramatic moments. I guess the upside is that unlike its animated counterpart, this version can't coast on the quality of its production to gloss over its issues.
RATING:
I ultimately don't know what's the worst thing about The Rising of the Shield Hero: its hateful ideology, how little of a shit it gives in hiding it, or how many out saw that naked hatefulness and approved of it. Avoid this one like the plague, even if you like isekai.
This series is published by One Peace Books. This series is ongoing in Japan with 12 volumes available. 10 volumes have been published and are currently in print.
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