Crunchyroll Expo 2022

The Rising of the Shield Hero Round Table

Following the ending of its second season just a couple of months ago, Crunchyroll Expo held a "Conversation With The Creators" round table panel reflecting on The Rising of The Shield Hero. Hosted by Sarah Emi Bridcutt, the voice of Myne, the segment brought together staff members Keigo Koyanagi (series composition and script writer), Masahiro Suwa (character designer), Kōsuke Arai (producer on Season 2), and Takeshi Takakura (design leader). A VOD of the panel is available on Crunchyroll Expo's website until August 9, but it's worth noting that the stream is experiencing difficulties as of now, with the broadcast cutting out intermittently and needing to be refreshed.

Bridcutt introduced the staff and herself at the beginning, remarking that she played Myne who had "a lot of screen time in Season One, and none in Season Two!". Noting the unpopularity of her character, she maintained a fun demeanor in conducting the discussion, resolving to ask questions as both a viewer and as a voice actress. She, Suwa, and Koyonagi also noted that they had done a talk-show style presentation two years earlier, for the series' first season.

To begin, Bridcutt asked Takakura to explain his job as design leader. He explained that his role was to supervise everything to make sure the designs of things in the world were consistent. Several people were working on the anime for the first time, so he had to help them understand the world of Shield Hero. He also noted that "My job is to do the annoying jobs that nobody wants to do, at the studio". As as example, sometimes when animating something based on odd storyboards, he runs into something that, without warning, needs an actual design. The sort of thing that, when animated, one realizes is missing from the background, something needed that fits that world. So the management would call Takakura over and say "Do it now".

Following this, the staff actually turned the interview around to Bridcutt, asking her about her experiences performing in the Shield Hero stage play. She once again recalled how hated her character of Myne was in the anime, and noted that she was the only actor in the play reprising her role from the show. Bridcutt found that giving her voice to Myne and actually moving her body, physically acting as her, were two totally different things. She explained how exaggerations that might work in anime become totally unrealistic on stage, and was struck by how different it was.

After a brief cut and return to the presentation, Bridcutt brought us back with a description of the story of The Rising of The Shield Hero all the way up to the point where the second season begins. This led into the next discussion, where she asked the creators if there was anything they gave special emphasis to going from the first season to the second. Koyonagi explained how he felt that Season 1 "ended in almost too perfect a spot", and that they weren't sure how they would even do a Season 2. The project changed directors and started anew, settling on the idea that Naofumi "rose up, but he's not done yet. He's not done rising yet."

Bridcutt followed up on this point: The idea that Naofumi had started from the bottom in Season 1 and built himself up, only to get knocked down into a bad place again in Season 2, and had to start building again. In that way, the staff could seek to have Season 2 surpass Season 1. All the creators then brought up the point that all those troubles were the fault of the character Kyo in Season 2. "Blame Kyo," Koyonagi said, going on about how Kyo was an easy character to write, and a lot of fun to do so.

Talking about his own experiences bridging the gap between seasons, Suwa came to the idea that Naofumi's revenge had initially hit a kind of stopping point. Suwa, who had been striving for consistency of the characters in Shield Hero across all episodes, cited Naofumi's eyes as a difference in design points across both seasons. His eyes in the first season were more slanted, but became calmer at the beginning of the second, as the character was maybe a little more peaceful now. That was the sort of thing he focused on.

One issue that Takakura encountered coming into Season 2 was the Spirit Tortoise itself: How do you fit it onto the screen when it's so big? He found it a difficult design to work with. He also paid close attention to the details of the world itself, as Season 2's setting worked as a blend of three different worlds: Western Europe, Japan, and China. Having only had to think about a 'traditional medieval' setting previously, he found it harder to add in those Japanese and Chinese elements, especially knowing that with all that going on, any discordant detail could cause the viewer to go "Huh?" and end up as a distraction. Takakura confirmed that he conducted research trying to harmonize the medieval setting across all those bases.

Asked if there was anything he wanted to achieve as the producer for Season 2, Arai talked about the question of differentiating visuals for a series between its first and second seasons. He spent a lot of time working with the designers making sure they could get that element right. Sometimes he would speak up about something he wanted in particular. For instance, he recalled when he really wanted Suwa to do something he suggested with the key visual for the season, asking for a specific layout featuring the Spirit Tortoise in the background with the cast members turned towards it, facing away from the audience rather unconventionally. They spent a lot of time figuring out if they could make it work, and Suwa is ultimately glad he got to draw a picture like this. As Bridcutt noted, the unique layout ends up showing all of the characters' resolve.

Bridcutt had a lot she wanted to ask, so keeping it up, she went back to Koyonagi, once again reiterating Naofumi's rising and his growth to being able to start Season 2 with a smile, and asking if there was anything Koyonagi had focused on in depicting Naofumi and the other characters in the scenario. Koyonagi's answer: "How would Kyo ruin his smile?". The writer talked about wanting to emphasize Naofumi's calm peace at the beginning, so it could really be felt once things kept happening non-stop by the end of the season. Bridcutt reacted to this, noting how tough and grim things were looking as the show went on, and mentioning how crazy the faces Naofumi made, conveyed by his eyes and the animation itself, were in the last half, with Kyo making some crazy faces as well. On that note, she asked if there was anything that was focused on with Kyo. Koyonagi responded that Kyo drew out a lot of dark parts of Naofumi, and almost felt like he was too big a part of Season 2. Asking Suwa about the artistic handling of Kyo, he responded that Kyo was actually the easiest character to draw! Suwa noted that due to his expressions, and how messed up he is, Kyo is actually a really easy to understand character.

The staff continued to discuss their experiences as the story of the series went on, noting things like the fan response to the 'tiny' version of Raphtalia who appeared later in the season. Asked if there were any parts he particularly liked, Koyonagi singled out Raphtalia's turn in the tenth episode, where she is depicted as the hero when Naofumi is offscreen. Asked which of the two seasons was more difficult to write, Koyonagi said they were both difficult, but as mentioned, the presence of Kyo as a character helped a lot for Season 2, as he was able to bring out Naofumi's monologues.

Regarding changes in character design, Suwa had his aforementioned adjustment of Naofumi's eyes noted, but was asked if there was anything else he tried to refine between the two seasons. Suwa claimed that he had not specifically updated any of the designs, but rather, had simply become more used to drawing the characters, especially Naofumi, across the episodes of that first season. So having finally figured the character out, he could see how the design of Naofumi had "changed" by the time they got to Season 2. Similarly, the character of Rishia didn't receive any design changes apart from her outfit for her expanded role in Season 2, but the artists getting more used to drawing the character could cause some subtle changes in how the design came through in the anime.

Asking about the designs for the new characters (including the ever-popular Kyo) led into a discussion about Kizuna, specifically. As Suwa noted, Kizuna's bangs were very short, but got longer in the anime design, which he found hard to keep consistent. Similarly, she has an interesting outfit design, with a beat-up Japanese Haori over her other lacy clothes. Someone had pointed out to Suwa that with outfits like Kizuna's, the clothes have a lining, which he added to the design for animation. Bridcutt noted that she doesn't know much about this kind of pseudo-gothic outfit herself, but thought the lining looked nice. Though as Suwa realized later on, it resulted in harder work for the animators.

Coming back to the subject of the tiny 'Level 1' Raphtalia from the season, Suwa talked about what he had focused on with the design. He brought up how her personality had to reflect the same experiences she had as an adult, so her facial expressions weren't the same for 'young Raphtalia' the way they had been before, and were instead more like the grown-up Raphtalia's expressions transplanted onto the younger design. The overall effect is likened to as if big Raphtalia just got smaller.

Next, Takakura was asked, with all the aforementioned elements mixed together in the setting, if there had been anything he was really careful about. He specified that the Industrial Revolution was really big on his mind as a basic rule for the design work he was doing. He tried to minimize the use of anything that might exist after the Industrial Revolution, prioritizing for before 1800, seeing that as a simple way to keep consistency for the world that would make sense for the viewers. Takakura was surprised by some things that could be from that era and some that couldn't, especially across countries like Japan, which weren't directly involved in the Industrial Revolution. It was noted that some things still just had to appear because of the story's world, or couldn't be avoided because of the script, but he did the best he could to keep them from seeming out of place.

Finishing off the broadcast, Suwa was asked about all the new shields that appear in Season 2, and if there was anything he was careful about in designing them. Suwa revealed that there were actually no official designs for the backs of the shields! It was something that still needed to be clarified for animation purposes: "Is he holding the shield, or is it stuck to him?". Having done the designs for Season 1, Suwa did new designs for each of the new shields both in 'held' and 'stuck to him' versions, which is how all of the designs have operated since, consistent with the other shields in the series.