The Rising of the Shield Hero - Season 3

I won't avoid SPOILERS, so don't read this if you haven't caught up with the series! This season left me with a mix of impressions — thankfully more engaging than the previous one featuring the dull turtle and a questionable multiverse. We do get a dragon this time, though its forced entry into the story feels utterly absurd. The dragon becomes a threat because Naofumi and co. can't keep an eye on its diet, but okay. The storyline shifts focus to the other heroes, but there's nothing particularly noteworthy about them. One takeaway for me was the realization that becoming a wielder of a cardinal weapon seemingly requires a certain level of idiocy. Naofumi is lucky enough to be a one-eyed man among the blind, so he's not such an idiot as spear, sword, and bow. That's it, that's what the charisma of the main character is all about! The main message this season delivers is that the most reliable way to turn a selfish idiot into even a slightly normal person is to shut them up, preferably through some proper Bitch who will drain him, abuse him, and he won't even notice because he's an idiot! Naofumi went through this experience in the first season, but watching the same process unfold with the other heroes in a cookie-cutter fashion was tiring. What's even worse for me is the fact that I didn't enjoy the redemption of these three "heroes" at all. Or do you think they deserve to be in the village now? And Naofumi believes them, lets two of them go home immediately, while when an unknown girl appears at his doorstep, he hesitates to take her to the village, saying he can't trust her. But he starts trusting these idiots immediately after they go through the tragic "Bitch experience" (after all, shared experiences bring people together), and they are all depressed because of that woman, so everyone deals with it by instantly focusing on another woman. And I can't decide whether to put the guy with the spear and his obsession with Filo in the box labeled Pedo or Zoo – but who cares, it's so "hilarious" how he flatters her... And that last episode, what the hell was that? Okay, I can overlook the open shipping of Naofumi and Raphtalia, although I don't like it when the dynamics of relationships in a series change from father/daughter to husband/wife. A bigger problem is that the whole plot for the future fourth season is set in motion because Naofumi and co. don't pay attention to what clothes Raphtalia wears! This is the second time they haven't paid attention to something like this, or rather, the whole exposition and subsequent twist look like they were just made up on the spot! Damn, how I would like to be on the Shield Hero's team and live in his village, the safest place in the whole kingdom – only attacked twice this season. Those damaged houses might be repaired someday... It was a season full of experiences that I'll be laughing about for a few more years, but it wasn't all bad. Animation-wise, it was decent, except for the awkward CGI on the big dragon. Kevin Penkin's music, while commendable, didn't quite reach the heights of his work in Made in Abyss. I even liked the opening part in the colosseum and the rescue/recruitment of more new members to Naofumi's party. Despite all the clutter and a bunch of random plot twists, there's still the right fantasy feel that I expect from such anime, which is why I haven't given up on the hero with the shield yet. However, this season, for me, lands at a maximum of 4.8/10. (12/22/2023) (less) (more)