The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3

Episode 5

We have all of the ridiculousness with two of the three other cardinal heroes, we have no idea where the Bow Hero is, there's a lot of politics going on, there is a connection being set up with the king's family relationship to the White Tiger children, and now we adopted a hero from another fantasy world. I'm concerned with how many plot points the story is juggling, especially considering that we only had one main issue in season two, and it somehow managed to get completely botched. These plot points are interesting and could fill up a season alone. Unfortunately, I'm starting to question the way Shield Hero plans on tackling these issues, given the sheer volume of setups.

This episode is a perfect example of that. The situation at the roadside, where Naofumi and his team were attacked by the most generic-looking characters I have ever seen, felt like something that was supposed to happen in season one. Our heroes were overpowered by random bad guys who were pulling meteors from the sky like they were Madara from Naruto. You could argue that Naofumi is so weak from the curse put on him last season, but now Raphtalia isn't cursed anymore from a de-buffing spell. Do I have that right? I can't tell if these are low-level bad guys that Naofumi is struggling against or if they're a big deal with no fanfare. Perhaps the scene was there to establish S'yne Lokk as a character and adequately introduce her to the group. I like the distorted filter over her voice, but the revelation that she is a hero from another world feels like it should've had more weight.

Establishing the power scaling for the other kids in the village feels important. Naofumi gives a speech about how leveling up and choosing your class can affect your overall potential, so there are pros and cons to letting the system decide what's best suited for you versus you deciding what's best suited for you. That was a genuinely lovely moment, and it's one of the few times I've felt like Naofumi is an actual leader, not a byproduct of him being the main character. The idea of hunting other people down should be handled seriously, but this setup was just an excuse to re-introduce the Spear and Sword Hero again. I have no idea what the Sword Hero is wearing or why he looks like he hasn't eaten in days, and something is going on with the Spear Hero's weapon. These are some plot points that have me curious about what is to come next, but after getting burned last week, my expectations aren't going to be exceptionally high.

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The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.