A.k.a.: Righteous Anger, the anime.
Shield Bro was one of my most anticipated shows for this season, for two reasons:
1: The light novels, while certainly entertaining, are written (or localized, can’t quite tell) in a manner that make it read more like a script than an actual proper story. It’s also quite game-y, which takes away a lot of the tension in the parts that, by all rights, should be tense. I was hoping the anime would improve on this.
2: Kevin Penkin, the composer behind Lost in Abyss’ phenomenal OST, is back.
So far the first episode surpassed my expectations on both points by a wide margin.
I’m going to have to be fairly cautious here as I don’t want to spoil too much of what is going to happen and ultimately I think the first episode is best watched blind, much like Re:Zero’s a few years back. That said, it is a double episode (again!?) so if you don’t want to commit to that, feel free to read on. I’ll talk a bit about the series in generic terms first, then dive into spoiler territory afterwards. I’ll warn you when they start showing up.
First things first: while this is ultimately still a power-fantasy isekai story in the same vein we’ve had quite a few of in the last few years, Shield Hero does twist it around quite a bit.
Naofumi, the titular Shield Hero, is very much an anti-hero and arguably a pretty terrible person. That said, the story never shows his behavior in a positive light and given the situation he finds himself in, his behaviour is actually quite understandable.
On top of that, unlike other isekai heroes, Naofumi very much has a very steep uphill battle to fight. As the wielder of the legendary Shield, he cannot do any damage to enemies himself, forcing him to rely on his party members to kill monsters and thus gain the valuable experience and materials he needs. This wouldn’t be so much of an issue under normal circumstances, but… well. Yeah. Instead he has to be very creative and constantly find new ways to improve himself; some of the things he comes up with over time are downright genius.
In terms of production values, I think it’s pretty safe to say that you will not find a show this season with a soundtrack anywhere near as good as Shield Hero’s. For those of you who have seen Made in Abyss (and if you haven’t, get on that!), Kevin Penkin is back and has brought his A-game again. I already knew what was going to happen this episode, having read the novels, and still was hyped to hell and back thanks to the fantastic music.
Character designs stick fairly close to the original and are quite lovely. The scenery is also well done, although it doesn’t quite reach the likes of, say, Made in Abyss (again with that show!?). Same with the animation, which is well done but isn’t going to set any records. Then again, Shield Hero is going to run for 24 episodes, so it’s probably for the best they don’t go too overboard with this so they can, hopefully, keep a consistent level of quality rather than peak at the beginning only to turn to mush halfway through the show. Lastly, I wasn’t really sold on Naofumi’s voice acting until that scene at which point he sold me.
Now, time to dig into the episode proper. No massive spoilers just yet~
Shield Hero starts out in a fairly generic manner, there is no denying that. Random dude, college-aged for once to the series’ credit, gets summoned to another world along with three others to protect it from the so called “Waves of Destruction”
It quickly becomes obvious that there’s some things going on that complicate matters however. All four of the legendary heroes might be from Japan, but every one is from a different, parallel, world. That’s right, we know you like isekai so we… etc.
They all know the world of Melromarc, the one they currently find themselves in, but they all know it from a different source. To one hero, Melromarc is from a console game, another says it’s a VRMMO whereas Naofumi, our Shield Bro, recognizes it from a random book he picked up in the library.
The other heroes all agree on one thing however: the Shielder class is for losers (insert FGO’s Mash crying here) and, for all intents and purposes, a complete waste of time and space. You see, the Shielder cannot actually do damage, at all, and as we all know the best defense is a good offense, which the other heroes excel at.
The citizens of Melromarc are fully aware of this shortcoming and when local adventurers are asked to pick a Hero to accompany on their quest, none of them pick Naofumi. At least not until after a bit of complaining one adventurer, Myne, switches from the Spear Hero Motoyasu to Naofumi.
She shows him around town, explains the basic workings of the world and picks out some gear for Naofumi and herself to get started.
And that is where things start getting fun.
This is where the spoilers start flying!
(Some closing comments at the bottom)
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Turns out, Myne is a lying bitch and only in it to rob Naofumi blind. And if that wasn’t enough, even accuses him of sexually assaulting her. Considering Melromarc is a matriarchy, this means Naofumi would have been excecuted on the spot if he hadn’t been one of the legendary heroes. Since the king can’t afford to lose such a valuable asset against the upcoming Waves of Destruction, Naofumi is instead let go in disgrace and left to his own devices, only to be called upon once the Waves make their appearance.
Needless to say, Naofumi, being innocent, becomes furious. His bright-eyed optimism evaporates and is replaced by a deep distrust and loathing for others. As he is now truly on his own and thus cannot effectively level himself up, he has to start thinking outside of the box to find other ways to strengthen himself.
One of the… less refined members of Melromarc’s society catches wind of this and approaches Naofumi with a rather peculiar offer:
Slaves.
You see, this world has demi-humans. Said demi-humans are considered inferior than full humans however, and thus only fit for menial labor and other dirty jobs, as well as gladiatorial fighting.
Combine that with the fact that slaves are magically bound to their masters and cannot harm them in any way on the penalty of excruciating pain and even death, they would make for a perfect tool for Naofumi to use now that he has lost all trust in other humans.
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Spoilers end here!
All in all, Shield Hero is the story of a broken man who is forced to do things he has absolutely no desire to do. While at first glance the world seems like your average idyllic fantasy world, to Naofumi it is anything but: corruption, back-stabbing and political machinations follow him wherever he goes.
And we get to enjoy all of it from the comfort and safety of our own chair.
I can’t wait.
