Forum - View topic(The) Rising of The Shield Hero (TV).
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2874 |
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S2 #7
As usual, the series throws new characters and concepts at casual viewers without so much as a lead-in. All of a sudden Naofumi and company have a new monster specialist, and even a dragon to boot. The latter looks like it'll need more than one week to resolve, but the former is already proving her worth to the cause. Naofumi is a realist and hates betrayal more than anything else. The fact she acquiesced to the slave crest without hesitation indicates she's one of those mad scientist types who will do anything to get the research she wants done. There's no doubt she knows what she's doing, but they are running a tight schedule for preparation and the work she does require more than two months to bear fruit. The dragon looks like the most likely way for her to get results fast, but they'll need to track it down before the Phoenix arrives. It's surprising Filo and Gaelion don't fight more often given the bad history between the two creature types; but the former will be quite happy to take on the latter now that it's bigger and has lost its mind after eating the jewel. Lesson learned: do not leave powerful jewels from other worlds carelessly unattended for curious monsters to accidentally consume. Fohl is completely outmatched by his sister now, which is a huge turnaround from their first appearance. He certainly needs the power-up the transformation boon is supposed to give, or he's going to question his self worth each time his sister Atla sends him to the ground. I do not remember the girl Wyndia who Naofumi tasked with taking care of Gaelion. Certainly not from the second season, so perhaps from the tail end of the first just after Naofumi was granted his fief? She's feeling the competition with Rat's residence, and she's partly to blame for Gaelion being what he is. If she's going to redeem herself, first thing would be to join Naofumi and the others to find the dragon. Not much airtime to go, so probably another episode more before the showdown with the Phoenix begins in earnest. I'm not expecting the Bow Hero to make anything more than a fleeting appearance in this quarter, with Malty most likely in tow. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2007 |
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Yeah, it really is a speedy adaption focusing on moving things along. Due to this each episode is filled to the brim, yet thankfully it works out a lot better than the previous season.
I like the focus on building up the territory and seeing the people in it slowly grow too. New residents, new monsters, new skills, every week they are getting more ready. I do hope that the houses get fixed up pretty soon though. I also wonder if getting rid of the curse to get the shield party up to full strength should not be more of a priority. I suppose next week is time to see what bow hero is doing....one can only wonder how far he has fallen. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2874 |
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S2 #8
This episode surprised me; I did not expect the animators to take one of the open threads from season one AND season two and use this week to resolve them both. It carries over to next week of course, but that means there's not going to be much airtime for the Phoenix showdown unless the decision has been made that Bow Hero sits out the next Wave. I remember the dragon zombie arc from season one: Ren kills a dragon and thinking it's all a video game moves on to the next quest without realising there are consequences to leaving dragon carcasses unattended. It was Naofumi who had to clean up after him, and who knew the dragon zombie had a daughter who ended up in Naofumi's fief initially to seek revenge? Ren at least realises the error of his ways, but it looks like it's going to come down to Naofumi, the white tiger siblings and Wyndia against an emperor dragon that leaches power from Naofumi's shield and has powered up his Wrath ability to the maximum. The season two dragon is much less memorable than the first season, unsurprising since it was never given as much airtime to properly tell that story. It is this dragon that is now in charge, and it's probably the most dangerous foe faced by Naofumi and company this season because of its abilities and its capture of Filo. If Naofumi somehow gets out of this mess unscathed, they'll need some kind of reward commensurate with the pain they've been put through for later use in the Wave. |
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Edjwald
 Posts: 1166 |
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Welp, I've been vocal in my belief that this series has gone a long way toward redeeming itself from a season 2 that I personally found confusing and too boring to bother figuring out.
And I still feel that way. I like that one of the other heroes is finally showing some minimal signs of character growth. I like that Naofumi is finally starting to form some solid party members, social bonds, and leadership skills. But I will say that I'm getting a little tired of the characters constantly being depowered, debuffed, and experience leeched while the threats keep getting stronger and the show keeps going on about how they have to prepare for the next wave to end all waves. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2007 |
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Yeah, it is getting very annoying. It feels like the shield gang are getting weaker by the episode and only further away from being prepared for anything. Stats being stolen, being debuffed for the entire season and this episode made the shield in particular look pretty useless.
I get wanting to still have excitement and things not be easy, yet the only ones getting stronger are the opponents. I do like building up the territory a lot, I just wish that the shield gang showed some progress too. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2007 |
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Well, I was complaining that the shield gang has been feeling weak and getting increasingly weaker each episode. this week kind of negated that somewhat? Filo is no longer cursed, yet has lost like 30 levels which Gaelion gained, making for a net positive. The gang feels a tad too weak to me, but they still have some time to power up, I also have to wonder if we will even get to the phoenix this season with only 3 episodes left and one hero still missing.
Episode 9 had some great action and I enjoyed getting to see some more details about daddy dragon. Even better is that he survived inside Gaelion as a separate personality? |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2874 |
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S2 #9
This week should have been the final showdown against the Emperor Dragon, but I found the episode more interesting when it showed Wyndia and the Cave Dragon together while she grew up. It stands to reason she would be adopted, since she isn't draconic. But how she ended up being fostered by a dragon and taught magic turned out to be much more interesting (for me) than the actual fight to defeat the Emperor Dragon. Although Atla does indeed prove Naofumi right in being his ace in the hole, her brother Fohl played his part in a more conventional manner. The two of them complement each other well, with Atla's lack of physical strength more than made up by her spirit powers while Fohl can take hits for her when he transforms. With a few replays, it would probably show Atla's attack specifically targeting the Dragons' reverse scale which amplified the effectiveness of her attack to the point the Emperor Dragon was incapacitated. A heavy price to reclaim Gaelion, but in return Naofumi gets another upgrade to his shield and Filo loses levels in exchange for the removal of her curse. Naofumi is still stuck with his debuff because of his Wrath Shield, so he needs something drastic to overcome it because he always debuffs himself each time the Wrath Shield is in play. Gaelion can now cast magic thanks to the soul inhabiting it, so that's an advantage for later on. Fighting something with Naofumi levels of defence gives his team practice for armour-piercing attacks, which I have a hunch might prove useful down the line. Not sure what next week's episode title means. Perhaps a nod to the still-at-large Malty? |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2007 |
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Ew, unless they finally take care of the bitch I would rather she stays away to be honest. Whenever she turns up things tend to go awry, in some ways she is the biggest vaillain so far.
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Edjwald
Posts: 1166 |
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Malty seems to have some fetish for seducing and screwing over the heroes, and it seems to me that the OP showed her messing with the archer too. For some reason, I just flashed to Friends, where Janice dated Chandler, then dated Ross, then pointed at Joey and cackled something to the effect of "That's 2 down."
Anyhow, I'm glad that the Shield Hero is expanding his band of dependable allies since the core group keeps getting weaker by the episode. If there's not a huge power-up or de-debuff in the works, maybe quantity will make up for quality. And I have to say, the show's done a good job of making the new additions interesting and non-annoying, at least for me.. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2007 |
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You saying that makes me wonder where this season will end up. The bow hero is in the op, so I assume that dealing with him and whatever bullshit he is involved in comes next. That would take one or two episodes to handle, I find it hard to believe that dealing with the phoenix would be done in one or two episodes after that.
Also agreed, I like that the shield territory is growing with more residents and said residents building up their abilities. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2007 |
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Yup, this week is the start of solving the bullshit related to the bow hero. Once more, another hero is being manipulated by Bitch and having a cursed version of their weapon due to negative emotions. I like the idea of Rishia smacking some sense into him and to showcase how much she has grown, but Bitch going from one hero to the next and manipulating them with such ease is starting to feel a bit repetitive.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2874 |
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S2 #10
So the OP visuals turned out to be spoilers after all. Malty did indeed get her claws into all three of the Cardinal Heroes after she had her fun with Naofumi in season one. Not the most original plot: like the other three he lost massive credibility after the turtle made a fool of him. Unlike the Sword Hero who lost his entire party, the Bow Hero like the Spear before him merely lost face. Thanks to Malty and everyone else seeing an easy mark, he's now nothing more than a gladiator earning money for a lost cause. Naofumi is almost certainly correct with his guess on the Curse series, so which sin suits him? Naofumi has wrath, Spear has lust while Sword has avarice and pride. That leaves gluttony (unlikely), envy and sloth. I'm expecting sloth, since Naofumi said he did nothing to work on his cardinal weapon and he's so mentally lazy in not thinking more about his situation. Rishia always had a chip on her shoulder ever since Naofumi picked up shortly after her abandonment. She's had her moments, but this is the real acid test to prove whether or not she really has become stronger and will prove her master right of her potential. Even with the Curse series making the fight more unpredictable, Itsuki's mindset hasn't really changed since she was abandoned and if he's cornered he'll probably break out the Curse series to save himself. If she gets through that without help from the others, then she'll have overcome her own demons and can rightly claim to have earned her place in Naofumi's main party. If they do finish off Itsuki and get rid of his former companions and Malty, that leaves just one episode to take on the Phoenix. Not a fan of the approach of squeezing the final showdown into one episode, but they did it previously and I shouldn't be too surprised. At least this season has made a better fist of faster pacing, so if I keep my expectations low I might be pleasantly surprised. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1166 |
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The 4 Heroes are starting to pair up so conveniently that it's almost like a square dance. Naofumi and Raphtalia. Ren and Eclair. Now Itsuki and Rishia (If I got all those names right it's a minor miracle) seem to be a destined thing. It makes the Spear Hero's obsession with Filo seem even creepier.
I don't have that much interest in watching Rishia fight Itsuki, She's always been the least interesting member of the Shield's Hero's entourage to me, and the archer as a Chuunibyou has never really been exploited for its humorous potential. Instead, he's just been annoying. That said, I am looking forward to what comes after. I may feel cheap and easily manipulated, but I still want to see the archer's party get their butts handed to them. Seems to me that the dude in full plate armor has been asking for a big helping of bad karma for a good long while now. Isn't he the one who started a fight with Raphtalia back in season !? Anyway, I'm not sure if the archer's party will get theirs in a confrontation with the Shield Hero or if Malty will horribly betray them first, but I'm confident something's in the works. Maybe we'll find out where Malty got that bow she gave Itsuki too. I'm assuming it's from the same person who helped Malty work around her slave crest. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2007 |
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It would be interesting if Malty is now working for one of the otherworlder groups, be it heroes from another world or that group of avatar using gankers. I also have some questions about Malty's motives. She is vile, but not stupid enough to not realize that what she is doing is weakening the forces her world has to fend of the waves and thus extinction.
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2007 |
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Well, given the new episode it is clear that Malty is indeed working for someone else. That someone else removed her slave mark and handed over the cursed thingy that the bow hero used. No bloody justice this time @Edjwald, Malty and the corrupt party have left town with a sack of gold while sticking the bow hero with lots of debt.
I could complain in length about Malty getting away once again and how the heroes have proven to be very pathetic, the bow hero worst of all, but I am going to leave it at that. The hero gang is complete and only one episode is left. |
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