#kizuna kazayama | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mango-dolphin · 2 years

Note

what are your headcanons about the heroes :0? Ive asked this question to the other shield hero blogs and now its Your turn ):) normally i would ask for each separately but why do that when i can ask for all at once XD!!

ADMITTEDLY this is a broad enough question as to where i could be making headcanons about Any Such Thing !! i don't have too many headcanons yet but i can make shit up as i go honestly. i like questions that ask me somethin a lil more specific bUT ALSO I LOVE HAVING FREE RANGE AND PERMISSION TO GO APESHIT SO LIKE. IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER

hm. hmm. hmmmmmmmmmm. i'll just write whatever comes to my head right now!

General Headcanons

i'd like to think that each cardinal hero had a piece of media in their original world that resembled at least one of the other cardinal hero's lives:

Naofumi had this sleeper hit visual novel he introduced to his little brother as a way to get him into the medium: it presented itself as this dating simulator game about this university student and his complicated love life. As the game progresses and depending on the routes, it's slowly revealed that there is something amiss regarding the protagonist's life and how he interacts with the company he keeps. The game progresses into a psychological horror/thriller in some aspects—not really like Doki Doki Literature Club but y'know there was something going on there. Naofumi offhandedly mentioned that the game had a secret true ending that was overwhelmingly gay and his little brother called his bluff. The secret gay ending is real.

Itsuki seems like the type to strongly prefer escapist media, but I'd like to think an acquaintance at his private school happened to suggest a short and sweet manga to him that she thought he might find interesting. He decided to read it on a whim one day and was disgruntled to learn it was a Normie-verse (media where no one has powers) slice-of-life thing, but he had nothing better to do (had to wait for something) so he tried to finish it anyways. It was about this middle school prep student breaking down under the pressure that his parents were placing on him to succeed, trying desperately to find an outlet. In the midst of it all, his "slacker" older brother, who wasn't doing so hot in college at the time, took it upon himself to try and reconnect with his little brother and the two eventually start bonding over otaku culture. It was an incredibly heart-warming read but also it made Itsuki cry a little bit because he was very jealous of the main character. He wants an older brother like that so bad. he refuses to admit he liked the manga no matter what the girl who lent it says

Ren... I don't really have an elaborate one for him, unfortunately. The Cardinal Hero whose media he got would be Itsuki's by process of elimination, however! It'd probably be (by his world's standards) an older video game or anime of some kind, probably kind of BNHA-esque with those strong Golden Age comics inspirations. Maaaaybe it could've been something ongoing but got canceled? So Ren never learned how it was supposed to end.

Motoyasu seems like the type who doesn't always keep up with most popular media, or at the very least would hear about it from osmosis. If not that, he's probably right on top of popular things. Probably a mix of both? Incredibly on the pulse for some things, incredibly clueless on others, and it's random what he'll know and what he won't. He'd probably mostly get onto some stuff through his friends—probably was binging anime w/one of his best guy friends one night and what was on was this movie about a futuristic Japan. In particular, it was a split story between a criminal down on their luck but sank deeper into the underworld, as well as a reclusive high school student trying to get by. It wasn't that extreme of a movie, but for whatever reason the bloodier parts with the high schooler saving his friend perturbed Motoyasu a lot, to the point of walking out for a bit. His female friends at the time made fun of him for getting so squicked out at the movie.

i kiiiinda like the idea of the younger two of the cardinal heroes paralleling/being foils to the older two. Ren and Naofumi seem to have kinda similar outlooks (at least, the roots of them) as well as appearances; same with Itsuki and Motoyasu. they both even have the same age gap by year (naofumi & motoyasu are 4 years older than ren & itsuki respectively). There are lessons Ren & Itsuki can take from their older counterparts—both things they should avoid (naofumi's wrath and unwillingness to speak up, motoyasu's naivete and ignorance to the point of delusion) as well as things they can take with them (naofumi's proactive nature, tendency towards learning skills & self-improvement, and keeping and listening to good people around him; motoyasu's warm & friendly nature as well as his loyalty + mindedness towards the people immediately around him, rather than focusing on how he himself looks—listen he's being manipulated that doesn't excuse his idiocy and terrible judgement. but he does care about people and their PERSONAL LIVES in his own way, rather than itsuki doing good things because they're "morally just")

the cardinal heroes probably met up a lot outside of Naofumi (because, y'know, he was made a pariah), so they probably talked a bit more about stuff and got to know each other a teensy bit better. I'd like to think—and these would be conversations that happen much later, like brink of or after the Spirit Tortoise arc—the three of them all realized they all died, though they probably would question if Naofumi had died at all (as he seemed the most insistent on getting home). Ren also toyed with the idea that perhaps Naofumi didn't remember his death, so he perhaps still believed he had somewhere to go back to.

Itsuki mentioned his death first and regretted it immediately (ren and motoyasu lost it at the idea that itsuki got isekai'd the old-fashioned way). In comparison, Ren was very reluctant to mention the details of his own death, so he more or less set the stage and left it to interpretation. (Itsuki got frustrated that Ren appeared to have gone out like a hero and Ren didn't want to say anything.) Motoyasu likely lied about the exact details of his death and talked about the last few days he remembered, leading the other two to extrapolate that he got killed because of his womanizing. He'd later go on to admit that he didn't actually remember how exactly he died, but what he does remember is something he'd rather not think about.

(i also headcanon that they have scars from their deaths lol. ren's got that big stab/slice scar; motoyasu has several cuts and perforations throughout his stomach and abdomen, as well as stray stab marks on his chest; itsuki likely has some faint but permanent bruising on his backside & head)

Naofumi hears that the other three died and he'd be like What? I was kidnapped by a book. What???

Ren

gay, open about it; i'd like to think his Japan had progressed just as much in societal matters as it has technological. Japan doesn't have transphobia & homophobia the same way America (my country) does, so I'm not entirely sure how things over there would change, but nowadays from what I understand Japan is a lot more casual about people being gay than Americans are. SO there'd hopefully be far less judgement and expectation on a gay high schooler in Ren's Japan, for instance? so he can just be open and it wouldn't be a big deal.

(i also sincerely hope that Ren's Japan would have figured SOMETHING out for its atrocious bullying problem, but sadly i do think that it's wholly possible that it's still an issue. maybe not as bad as it is right now, but frankly almost anything would be an improvement considering how fucked up bullying can get over there. i can see ren's behavior stemming from even mild bullying but it's possible that he's Just Like That™.)

his best friend, the one that he saved and the one i'm assuming he played video games with? i think it'd be interesting if they were actually dating :3 but also my hc of "ren being openly gay" and "ren dating his best friend" might not necessarily line up. being open isn't a one-and-done thing, however, so it could more be a thing that ren was open back in his world (because he didn't have to hide), but ren probably knew enough about the rest of the world/medieval media to be like "maybe i should wait and see how people react to this kind of stuff <:|"

so ren probably has just never brought up his sexuality to anyone in this world. if he got the signal that it was safe to talk about it, he probably forgot that being temporarily closeted was a problem and would probably go around assuming that people knew he was gay, because that's his default—

i'd like to think that ren & his [boy]friend always wanted to move somewhere more natural and grassy—just somewhere with a lot of natural beauty. i know i said in my last post or so that he'd have the least amount of knowledge of the natural world, but i don't think that'd mean he wouldn't be interested in knowing more about it. maybe he and his friend would stay up some nights after some grinding sessions and just. talk about the future. moving to somewhere in the japanese countryside, or maybe somewhere untouched in europe.

he probably thinks about that sometimes while traveling melromarc.

i think this guy likes white chocolate. iunno.

listen. i try not to focus too hard on sexuality/romanticism headcanons because i think it's important to like. characterize folks outside of their romantic/sexual relationships. ships are really fun but also i wanna know about the Character Themself.

but sometimes it's very much a case of "i think their sexuality would inform their behavior and vice versa," even if the character themself sees their sexuality as a footnote. imo, ren just happens to be gay, sees himself as someone that happens to be gay, but his relationships and the people he knows/loves very much inform who he is. especially because he doesn't seem like the type of person to go out of his way to establish relationships of any kind.

so like. if he has a boyfriend, that's a big thing. and having a boyfriend in practice isn't interchangeable with having a girlfriend—especially if you're the same gender as your partner(s). so me headcanoning him being gay is like. he cares about someone deeply, and that someone is a guy, and he would not love him as much if he were a girl. the relationship would fundamentally be different then. Gayboy.

Naofumi

i'd like to think he was still a chill older brother sort of guy before getting summoned. after breaking down his little brother's walls their relationship probably got real close again. i could see naofumi teasing him a lot and him being teased by his brother a lot

i've mentioned it before but i think naofumi would read a lot of doujinshi. i don't mean like the Explicit Stuff but like. i think he'd be our equivalent of scrolling through AO3 and reading literally whatever caught his eye, or even whatever popped up (because he's bored). he'd be the sort of person who'd read fanfic/doujinshi of media he hasn't even read before. i think he'd just be a voracious reader in general

this is ALSO scattered about my posts & tags but i think Naofumi is some flavor of asexual and some flavor of biromantic / greyromantic. i'm going to make this even funnier and say that he still reads explicit shit anyways. he's like "ok nice." doesn't even blink. it's a story what does he have to say except they're fucking.

FORGOT TO MENTION i don't think he'd use labels either. if someone asked his orientation i think he'd be like "eh. i don't really care"

i don't think he's really dated anyone, at least for very long. he does experience some aesthetic attraction but that's about it. and even then it's like "oh, they look nice. aight" and he forgets about it. apparently he describes how good motoyasu looks in the LN a lot though so maybe he's more into aesthetics than i thought. i can definitely see it

i'd like to think Naofumi started a little garden in Luroluna alongside all the fields that exist. there's probably a little section where he does some funky plant experiments (mostly trying to make more resilient and/or delicious food) and tries to branch (ha) his skill tree out, and there could be a larger part where he puts some of his more successful plants out and lets the public do what they wish with them. There's probably a tinier section where he made some fucked up little guys but since they weren't malignant plants and/or not difficult to manage, he kept them around. People are allowed to experiment with those fuck-ups as well as long as they're responsible.

i'd like to think he fell asleep in chicken coops several times. mostly as a kid but also probably once or twice in luroluna as well. filo probably tries to snuggle up with him in there also and it suffocates him--

(i think about him being an animal friend so often you guys)

admittedly i think Naofumi's always been kind of an introvert, even before getting summoned. he seems like the type of person who prefers to do his own thing, but very much appreciates company anyways. he does have some pretty good leadership skills (apparently he ran a guild in a video game back home) so i don't think he exceptionally dislikes people on average, and in fact can get along VERY very well with folks—he just values his personal space is all

Motoyasu (discussion of abuse below)

my friend. my dear friend motoyasu. i like him a lot (this is not a headcanon i just wanted to say that i like him)

i think this man has trauma. i think this man has illnesses. i think there's a lot going on with him and i'm kind of obsessed. i'm reluctant to go in depth with what i think is going on w/him because i fear how my headcanons/readings might be taken on this character, especially as he's the least popular of the cardinal heroes. (at least, from what i could observe on tumblr FJKNSEFJKENS maybe he's more well-liked elsewhere!) anywho, i tried explaining a teensy bit of what i felt anyways, so hopefully what i intended to explain came across properly?

however i don't think his naivete (particularly his gullibility towards women) is... natural? as in, i don't think it's just something he was born with or anything. i think it had to have come from somewhere, and it's likely that it's a behavior he learned from previous relationships. he doesn't have a hero complex to the extent itsuki does, but it's clear that he views himself as someone who has to take on the burden of saving the women around him. which is like, any dude can have that sort of savior complex i guess, and it can be Incredibly Annoying™ if not other things.

but i'm combining this w/the fact that he'll believe the closest woman to him no questions asked is like... that is dangerously self-destructive behavior. this dude can have a spine so the fact that he'd let someone take advantage of him that easily, to the point where he essentially slots into that role (he believed Myne's false testimony first word no questions no doubts and just let her pull him around every which way)... you can't convince me that motoyasu hasn't been abused by a partner (specifically a girlfriend) before, if not several. i'm sorry you just can't

combine that with what we apparently learn from his backstory in the spin-off series and it's like. Dear god. Dear god if he's had to deal with female friends like that (ones who'd rather him die than be with another girl, even if it's a "i want us to die together" kind of deal), entitled to his own emotions in that way? people don't just randomly decide to stab their crush, the girls crushing on him probably treated him in other ways of entitlement (even if they were incredibly subtle), though ofc we don't know the situation for sure. like yeah motoyasu should've been more assertive and tried to talk things out, but girls. shouldn't be pulling knives on people and murdering them idk what to say. even if motoyasu might have been dating several people at once (the wiki doesn't elaborate so idk the context), he shouldn't be like. murdered over it

i do think the savior schtick as well as the flirting in general may have at some point been a front he put on (the skirt-chasing & flirtiness before the heroic schtick anyways) that he kind of just subsumed into his identity. i can see his fondness for angels (and later his tangential obsession over filolials) coming from wanting to embody the heroism angels are meant to have. angels are meant to Save, and idk. maybe he wanted someone to save him. maybe he felt like he had to be a savior to the women in his life. shrugs. he doesn't seem like the type to think he'd be able to get trauma i think he'd ignore it like the rest of his problems

anyways your early 20s is a great time for more overt symptoms of schizoaffective disorders to pop up so like. i think after getting hit w/that Big Traumatic Betrayal by Myne (as well as anime logic) i can see the personality/reality shift he experiences post-Curse Shift to have finally rattled that sort of thing out of hiding from him. him starting to see most women as Literal Pigs is what put the nail in the coffin for this hc of mine. like. uhhh

the Curse Series may be a defense mechanism for psychological trauma, but a lot of mental illness is more or less the brain trying to comprehend the world around it in specific ways. so honestly the Curse Series (and working your way through it) could very much be seen as an allegory for coming face to face with your trauma—learning how to embrace it, but also learning how to accept it and to not let it overtake you. depression can rob a lot of sensation from you (i personally stopped feeling many emotions at all), so Naofumi losing his sense of taste after Myne's betrayal didn't surprise me one bit.

Motoyasu was already straight up accepting/leaning into delusions the longer he spent in this world, being fed lies and such by Myne and the king & likely other royals, so having to come to grips with all of that ALONGSIDE later being humiliated (being forced to see how shit of a job he did as a Hero) and betrayed AGAIN by Myne... yeah. i'm not surprised he broke, and broke that hard. i personally don't even think the Pig Thing was caused by the Curse Series; again, i think it was an underlying mental illness finally rearing its head, and the Curse Series fed into it.

from what i heard motoyasu likes to make his own clothes or something? idr the exact tidbit. but if it's not canon that's certainly my headcanon. Art Student Moment.

mentioned before in some tags that i think motoyasu could be hypersexual? at the very least after unlocking his Curse Series he might have started experiencing its symptoms more and more. tfw the trauma

also mentioned in those same tags that i think motoyasu could probably be pansexual or omnisexual. i still don't really know. both could fit him. but i could also see him just never deciding on a label, nor using one.

i think, in spite of how melromarc royals/the church might have felt about it, motoyasu would probably think demihumans were really cool. i think he'd really want to befriend some and even put a few on his party, but i could see Myne/other teammates refusing or even bullying them out of the party behind his back altogether. i genuinely don't see why motoyasu would want to discriminate against them (he'd see them as people who happen to have animal features, which is SO COOL!), even if others tried to manipulate him. they could tell him that therianthropes are disgusting and greedy and evil and he'd be like "aight!" and then he meets one and is like "yo this is my homie actually. i like her" and myne would have to remind him that she's a therianthrope and motoyasu would be like "But she's epic"

I THINK THIS IS MY FUNNIEST HEADCANON ACTUALLY. "i think motoyasu wouldn't be racist." THIS IS LIKE. SUCH AN UNNECESSARY HEADCANON TO HAVE.

i'm sorry i was just thinking about it. it's so funny that motoyasu has a really low tolerance for alcohol. he probably can't handle spicy food either, but would be the kind of person who'd try repeatedly to show off and eat incredibly spicy food anyways. he'd cry so much

(abuse mentions done btw)

Itsuki

he probably feels so cool about being the only Hero with natural powers i'm ngl. he's probably tried to show off to ren & motoyasu before and he felt SO COOL. ren thought it was impressive and very fitting as a bow hero. motoyasu was also impressed and asked itsuki a few technical questions (something that caught the both of them off guard), and as Itsuki answered more and more he started to get self-conscious again. eventually Motoyasu was like "wow, that's really cool, but it sounds like you don't use it for very many applications. That kind of sucks." it made itsuki really mad, especially after motoyasu (in his dense-headed glory) suggested a few ways to use his powers (and then ren started adding on and refining those suggestions). however after he stormed off he thought about it and was like "y'know what. that would be an interesting way to use my power. alright"

(in retrospect he's still kind of upset that Motoyasu was the one to start suggesting stuff, especially out of the blue, especially after how idiotic he began to act when the church stuff started to ramp up, but he's also... incredibly thankful. Ren offered more advice as well but he wasn't always easy to reach)

perhaps has always had an interest in art and artistic endeavors, but may have felt pressured by Hero Stuff™ and honing his powers to really pursue that kind of thing. may just be because of the trinket he used to get rishia off his team, but i think he'd be a huge fan of jewelrymaking, naofumi should give him some pointers

i'd like to think that even though he faced a lot of bullying in his prestigious school, there might have been a handful of people who cared about him and wanted to get to know him + see him succeed. in particular, crossing a bit into OC territory, but i think it would be neat if there was a girl in the top class who resembled Rishia somewhat (at least, physically at first). so like, this girl would be great at most everything, would be incredibly humble about it, would be the best damn hero Itsuki's ever met. and he'd be green with envy. but this girl would also think itsuki was pretty cool and try to reach out to him, a lot. (she'd be the girl who gave itsuki that manga i rambled about in the General Headcanons thing).

getting to know this girl would (he assumed) be a bit of an in to the strongest people in the school, but turns out that she tries to surround herself w/decent people, so a lot of the people she hangs out with would be people itsuki might consider losers? anyways, this is about itsuki so we're talking about him—i think he would've admired her a lot, but his anger at himself and his own inadequacy might have caused him to lash out at her. (maybe after she saved him from something.) itsuki didn't run out into the street and die Right There, but he definitely died a few days later. that girl probably would've been kinda fucked up hearing about his death, idk if she'd crush on him or anything but. yo. that was a classmate. they were getting so close, too

following that, rishia didn't remind itsuki of Her at first until he took a closer glance and realized they looked a bit similar. so he probably felt really proud to be able to save her for once... then when rishia started doing more heroic things, it ripped out all of itsuki's insecurities and complexes full-force. sorry king about your cringe

i think itsuki is an only child. fuck i didn't talk about this w/the other characters too did i? i think they're all only children except for naofumi, they all exhibit Only Child behavior. except maybe ren. i could see ren being a middle child as well actually

itsuki probably knew a lot about archery before getting summoned, as it'd be a straightforward way to exhibiting his powers. i wouldn't be surprised if he was a bit of a gunsman too—japan has incredibly strict gun laws, but his japan could be different (especially as people have powers there).

probably a cat person. i can see it with my own eyes.

EDIT i did it for the other heroes and i forgot to do it for itsuki & kizuna. mentioned it before, but I think Itsuki would think he's straight and would try not to put too much thought/stock into it. He'd probably actually be bi, but prefer women. he's young tho and wouldn't seem very decided about it so he probably thinks it's something that he shouldn't mess around with too much. he might think liking boys would be another thing he could be bullied about so it's an idea he'd prefer to avoid. Sorry about diagnosing him with internalized homophobia. (i don't think i even gave motoyasu internalized homophobia i think i just made him clueless)

Kizuna

i don't have very many headcanons for her but honorary mention!

queerplatonic partners with Glass. i think they're about the same age, Glass is probably 19 or something. Age aside, prove me wrong

i can see kizuna having pet birds. maybe a couple finches. when Kris popped out she probably got REAL excited (PENGY!!! PENGY!!!!!!!!!)

i bet this bitch loves boba too actually. has probably tried to recreate it a few times with mixed results

as i mentioned w/itsuki, i forgot to talk about a sexuality headcanon when i did it for everyone else. I see her as aroace, or at least on the asexual spectrum!

haha speaking of spectrum. (hits her with the autism ray) why not. special interest is fishing why the hell not. we can give her the autisms. she certainly gives me the vibes. tism to tism communication

#mango japery #small-spark-of-light #shield hero #headcanon #my writing #mango's writing #naofumi iwatani #ren amaki #motoyasu kitamura #itsuki kawasumi #kizuna kazayama #writing #theory #I HOPE YOU ENJOYED these were longer than i thought they'd be but they still aren't very many headcanons to me #yeah i get. kinda crazed about this stuff #i could write novels about characters i have more thoughts on #these guys are just new to me. but i liek them :]#abuse mention #ask to tag #spinning motoyasu around in my brain i'm so worried about that guy. i'm so worried about that freak #but also i am very scared about how that might be received #i feel conflicted (if not uncomfortable) with how the wikia talks about motoyasu's delusions so #i don't know how respectful shield hero itself is about mental health issues #i think i saw the r slur in one page screenshot though (said by naofumi) but there wasn't any context so i was like #<:|............... i don't know how they're gonna handle this homies........#i'll have to read the manga/light novel to make up my mind #but motoyasu clearly needs help and i'm worried that the series might be treating his problems as a joke #if there are no motoyasu fans i am no longer alive on this earth etc etc #keep him away from filo tho.

62 notes · View notes

medea10 · 2 years

Text

My Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero: 2nd Season

Season One Review

Lord, if we can make it through this entire season without seeing Bitch, I will become a believer for about five minutes.

A few seconds later…

AH-HA! I’m going to remain agnostic. As you can see, Bitch is still there and has her head still in tact.

I think we all know why we came into Rising of the Shield Hero. You were either an Isekai lover and jumped into this series, a devoted follower of the light novel, or you came out of curiosity after everyone screamed in fury over a certain character. Regardless, we’re in this for the long haul. Okay, maybe it isn’t that stark. Many people, myself included liked the story of the shield hero. The first season was nearly top-tier perfection in modern-day isekai animes. We’re not just watching some twat transferred to another world and having him automatically be an OP hero! This guy started at less than zero.

HISTORY: Naofumi Iwatani was once a regular college boy reading light novels when he was transported to another world. Naofumi and three other boys (Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu) from three different dimensions of Japan were sent to the Kingdom of Melromarc where they were seen as saviors. The role of the hero must save people from these ongoing cataclysm events known as “waves”. Once they save them from these waves, the people will revere these heroes. Except for Naofumi! While the other boys had different and more powerful roles, Naofumi’s power was the shield and because of that he was treated worse than dog shit. He was shunned and later tricked by the royal family leaving Naofumi alone and penniless. This story is about a young lad who must rise up, form a party, and survive in this unforgiving, new world. Along the way, he buys a slave, a demi-human named Raphtalia and hatches a filolial egg where he makes a pact with the hatchling named Filo. And every now and then, Naofumi gets help from one member of the royal family who is on his side, Princess Melty.

SEASON TWO: For now, there is peace throughout the lands. But that does suddenly change as the heroes lost the ability to tell when the next wave is going to hit. And then there’s word of a tortoise god about to give trouble. Once again, it’s up to the queen of Melromarc to count on the four heroes. And once again it’ll probably be all up to Naofumi’s team because Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu are still arrogant cucks. Meanwhile, Naofumi made it official with the addition of a new member to his team. Rishia was once on Itsuki’s team, but was ditched for being too weak. That still doesn’t stop her from mentioning his stupid name several times an episode. We get it, you have a crush on him and he spurned you. Could we all move on now?

Oh and Rishia wears a filolial and penguin costume because, fuck if I know. It’s not brought up; we just see this in episode 1 and accept it. And we see two people hanging around and training Naofumi’s crew like we’re supposed to know them. There’s only one explanation for that!

Rush job!

Guys, we waited three years for a continuation. The least you could do was…NOT give us a rush job!

NEW CHARACTERS INTRODUCED: Hmm, let’s see if there’s anyone worth mentioning here. We meet several characters that seem to be in good with Naofumi this season. It’s just that their introduction was sloppily given to us. Oh well, let’s see what I can do with this category without sounding snotty.

Let’s start with Rishia since I really didn’t talk about her in the previous review. She was introduced in the final couple of episodes as an abandoned member of Itsuki’s team. Rishia was not at the castle at the very beginning where everyone was choosing which hero they were going to serve. Instead, Rishia joined Itsuki later down the line when he saved her. Because of that one heroic act, Rishia was forever smitten over this ass. Even after he ditched Rishia, she continues to praise him. Rishia ends up being a somewhat helpful member to Naofumi’s team.

Next, I’ll talk about Éclair. We’re introduced to her and this old granny that we’re suddenly supposed to know without any true introduction in the anime. Éclair kinda resembles an OC of mine from a Pokemon fic I wrote back in the day. So, she’s kind of a bombshell. Éclair serves the queen and will occasionally be there to help Naofumi this season.

Ost is the human incarnation to the spirit tortoise that seems to be causing havoc. But other forces are behind that. Again, this season was pretty piss-poor when it came to explaining things.

And finally, there’s Kizuna! She wasn’t introduced until the last couple of episodes of this season. Much like Naofumi, she came from some alternate version of Japan and was dubbed a hero in this world. And she’s friends with Glass, L’Arc, and Therese. But again, like Naofumi, she found herself in a lot of trouble and was imprisoned until Naofumi saved her.

With all that said, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Rishia is played by Natsuko Hara

*Éclair is played by Ruriko Aoki (known for Onemine on Komi-san)

*Ost is played by Kana Hanazawa (known for Chloe on Pokemon Journeys, Kanade on Angel Beats, Mayuri on Steins;Gate, Nadeko on Monogatari, Anri on Durarara, Shiemi on Blue Exorcist, and Rize on Tokyo Ghoul)

*Kizuna is played by Miyu Tomita (known for Riko on Made in Abyss, Crim on Interspecies Reviewers, Miko on Kaguya-sama, and Ebisu on Dorohedoro)

ENGLISH CAST: *Rishia is played by Kira Buckland (known for Jolyne on Jojo’s Pt. 6, Beatrice on Re:Zero, Setsuna on Yashahime, Mary on Kakegurui, Izumo on Blue Exorcist, Luculia on Violet Evergarden, and Mitsuri on Demon Slayer)

*Éclair is played by Dawn M. Bennett (known for Yamada on Zombieland Saga, Kale on DB Super, Sister Lily on Black Clover, Frieda on Attack on Titan, Frederica on Re:Zero, and Neiru on Wonder Egg Priority)

*Ost is played by Amber Lee Connors (known for Komi on Komi-san, Pieck on Attack on Titan, Fortuna on Re:Zero, Brandish on Fairy Tail, Kotegawa on To Love Ru, Emi on My Hero Academia, and Mei on Citrus)

*Kizuna is played by Lizzie Freeman (known for Chizuru on Rent-A-Girlfriend, Trish on Jojo’s Pt. 5, Hinata on Tokyo Revengers, Chisato on Lycoris Recoil, Sumire on Love Live Superstar, and Mujika on The Promised Neverland)

LICENSING: Crunchyroll and FUNimation have control over this series. Crunchyroll has been a big driving force with this series. After all, they’re the company that assured us sometime after season one aired (in 2019) that not only were we getting a season two, but a season three. And better yet, they were going to continue giving us dubs as the simulcast began several weeks after the season two premier. Unfortunately, it came upon some grim news about one of the stars. More below!

A BIG CAST CHANGE: I’ll say more on the matter at the end of this review, but as everyone should know by now Billy Kametz is not voicing Naofumi anymore. This is something we have to accept and respect.

Naofumi is now played by Stephen Fu (known for Weather Report on Jojo’s Pt. 6, Douma on Demon Slayer, Henry on Black Clover, Mr. Sawaki on Wonder Egg Priority, and Pax on Mushoku Tensei)

ANY CHANGES IN DISLIKE…

Nope. I still hate Bitch. Kyo can be an ass-hat all he wants this season, but if I see even one second of Slutty Bitch over here, she’s going to be on my hate-radar.

ANYTHING TO ADD WITH SHIPPING: Naofumi always seems to be surrounded by the ladies. But as we all know, Naofumi never once spoke of romance about anyone at any time. He’s got other shit to deal with. No matter how many cute outfits Raphtalia wears or how many hints she drops, we’re not seeing anything this season.

While I’m here, Rishia, girl, please stop with the love for Itsuki. Bro has absolutely no interest in you. He dropped you like a sack of hammers. You can do so much better. You can respect the fact that he saved your life, but other than that just let it go.

ENDING: At the halfway part, Naofumi and his crew were about to take out this asshole named Kyo who was manipulating the spirit tortoise and they were all transported to another world. This world is the place where Glass, L’Arc, and Terese came from as heroes. There, everything is reset for Naofumi. All his stats are back to one, Raphtalia is tiny again, and no one knows where Filo is. Add to this, there’s a wave attack going to occur in one week’s time. At least they know when they’re going to hit here in this new land. But there seems to be a bit of betrayal against the heroes in this land as well. They meet Kizuna, a hero like L’Arc, Terese, and Glass but was being held against her will. After saving her, that ass-hat Kyo is back at it by making shady deals with other ass-hats in this world.

Naofumi was able to rescue Filo, but also lost Raphtalia when she took the brunt of an attack. Raphtalia wound up imprisoned (again) and lost the slave crest that Naofumi bound to her at the very beginning of the series. On the plus side, she was able to seek help from L’Arc and the others and was blessed with a new weapon. She eventually returned to Naofumi and I suppose is seen as a comrade more than a slave. Now to stop Kyo and stop the upcoming waves! As it turns out, Kyo has been trying to find a way to stop waves himself. At least that’s what his childhood friend turned cult follower says.

Now is Kyo a good guy with bad intentions or just a dick? If he’s creating his own waves and unleashing them on the people, I say the latter. Kyo is like Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei if Rudeus was an evil prick. Kyo committed suicide in his previous life (where he was a fat shut-in) and was reincarnated in another world where he can do as he pleased. So he created waves that caused a lot of havoc and killed people to turn them into loyal chimeras. Bro needs a good ass-kicking right about now. Naofumi and crew were able to take out this prick in less than one episode. Let me guess, another rush job?! Okay, let’s see what’s up with the final episode of the season. After killing Kyo, Naofumi’s mission was complete so he and the girls head back to Melromarc. Best of all, they’re no longer in feuds with Glass, L’Arc, or the others. But waves are still a thing and they still have to figure out how to get rid of them. But not for the last episode!

The last episode was as fillery as you could possibly get. You had fanservice, you had a Tom Hanks in Cast Away montage, and sex talk. But they end the episode with Naofumi and the crew honoring their comrade that passed away (Ost). And the anime says it’ll be back, we just don’t know when. Crunchyroll announced there’d be a season 3 two years ago. They didn’t think we’d remember. Pepperidge Farm remembers. At least they gave us a promo poster at Crunchyroll Expo and assured us all that season three is happening.

For someone who didn’t read the light novel, this season didn’t impress me. When I go into an episode asking more questions than getting answers, you know I’m in trouble here. I’m seeing characters socializing with the main characters you don’t remember ever seeing and we get no information about other crucial things (including Rishia). And tell me if I’m wrong but don’t you think Raphtalia’s growth and getting the new sword should have been longer than half an episode? Maybe it’s just me. I think they were trying to smush this entire tortoise arc into a 12-episode season and it just didn’t sit well with many of us fans.

Sorry guys, wasn’t feeling this season. Didn’t really have a fascination with it as much as I did with the first season. That sucks because I gave the first season a glowing review and put it on my top 20 list of best animes of the 2010s. That’s great considering this anime also had one of the worst characters ever created. I guess that’s a blessing with this season as we only had to see Bitch once. Probably best if we all read the light novel’s telling of the tortoise arc. I’m going to hope for a better third season and possibly read up on what happens that the anime neglected to touch upon.

If you do want to venture on to the second season, Crunchyroll has it available for watching in multiple languages.

IN MEMORIUM: When it was announced in April that Billy Kametz was relinquishing all of his roles due to a grim cancer diagnosis, I held out hope that he could beat this thing. Yes, stage four colon cancer is nothing to fuck with, but still! Sadly, this cancer was very aggressive and it wound up taking him faster than anyone could have anticipated. It’s always tragic to lose someone to cancer, but to lose someone so young hits you pretty hard. This guy had so much ahead of him and I betcha he would have gone down as one of the best English voice actors like Johnny Yong Bosch or Crispin Freeman. Hell with that, he was that great! Billy Kametz was one of those people who was loved throughout the entire community. Fellow voice actors always loved working alongside him and fans cherished him with the roles he brought to life. I’ve heard him in several roles including Ren from Pokemon Journeys, Jousuke from the fourth part of Jojo’s, and Metal from Boruto. But the two roles I really loved him in were Aggretsuko and Shield Hero.

In the days following Billy Kametz’s death, I looked at so many responses from his fellow voice actors and was surprised by how much love there was. I’m really upset I never got a chance to meet him at a convention. I think I had an opportunity to see him at Sakura Con in Seattle, but it was cancelled due to Covid. But that didn’t stop me from listening to his performances and they were stellar. In fact, I don’t think I ever hated anything he played. I am going to miss his neurotic Metal Lee. I’m going to miss Ren’s geekiness on Pokemon. I’m going to miss Anai’s rap skills on Aggretsuko. I’m going to miss the style and flare Kametz brought to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Promare. But most of all, I will miss his Naofumi Iwatani. Thanks for bringing all of these roles to life.

#anime review #the rising of the shield hero #the rising of the shield hero 2nd season #naofumi iwatani #raphtalia #filo #ost horai #billy kametz #tate no yuusha no nariagari #kizuna kazayama #rishia ivyred #itsuki kawasumi #malty melromarc #eclair seaetto

9 notes · View notes