Episode 3 – The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4

Naofumi! Are you leaving your mission and your party’s fate in the hands of children? Sure, whatever. I was excited when this episode started, because I was finally getting some genuine backstory into the former king as the staff hero and how his actions directly impacted the current political landscape of the country. That was quite interesting, and it’s ironic that the actions of the former king also contributed to the white tiger race being so heavily disdained in modern times. The exposition is a little clunky because the characters explain information that everybody in the room already knows. Still, I was glad to finally get something from this character after over a whole season of foreshadowing.

Then the show quickly shifts focus from a potential climax to ongoing political unrest for the past two episodes. This is where the story gets a little bit weird, because there’s a lot of talking about Naofumi and around Naofumi, but Naofumi himself is barely getting involved. It feels like Atla took over as the main character to make this grandstand. I’m not against side characters taking up the spotlight, but I wasn’t sure why everyone in the room was even entertaining her to such an extent.

The show is trying to showcase that a discriminated race could bring all the beast folk together. She’s there to remind them that they’ve lost sight of themselves in their traditions and politics. I especially like the line she throws at everybody’s faces that they’re not respecting Naofumi’s wishes despite constantly insisting that they are. Everyone in the room is more or less out for themselves; some are just more open about it than others. It just feels weird that Naofumi isn’t allowed to make this case for himself. He was in the previous episodes about how he shouldn’t have to deal with all of this political frustration, so I’m not sure why somebody arguably less involved ends up getting through to everybody. Maybe the show is trying to highlight that, despite being the hero, there is a little bit of prejudice since he is not a beast folk? In reality, it just sort of read like the author wanted Atla to be front-loaded, and this was the time that they decided to do it.

I am looking forward to the next episode, because I want this lion politician to get what’s coming to him. The funny thing is, he’s not even entirely wrong. Despite Naofumi being the reincarnation of their savior, he hasn’t done anything for them. I wish the skepticism angle was highlighted more, because the beast folk have every right to question whether or not Naofumi has their best interests at heart. He did create a village of beast folk in the other kingdom, and he has been making efforts to liberate everybody, but he’s not a part of their culture or anything. That’s what all of this should be about, right? Naofumi understanding that the more he gets involved with the beast folk, the more he needs to take up this position, or at the very least, find a middle ground. The show teased that last week, with him putting up with their traditions, but I wish the show had gone in that direction further, because that would’ve tied more character development for Naofumi with the political intrigue that the show was going for. Instead, it feels like the show is just dumping all of that onto a different character, and it’s not nearly satisfying.

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The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4 is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

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