「新たな咆哮」 (Arata na Houkou)
“A New Roar”

Well, it’s here, the isekai damn near everyone (read: every iskeai lover) has been waiting for. And do I mean wait. It’s been over three years since Tate no Yuusha’s first season, a wait filled with some uncertainty over the length of continuation and even whether such continuation was assured, but a wait which hasn’t gone to waste. Having a sequel here means there’s more to come, and I doubt few will be disappointed by it.

To save some time given this is an immediate sequel, I’ll direct everyone new to Tate no Yuusha’s first two cour affair: if you ain’t already familiar best start there because I’m assuming you’ve seen it and because the spoilers from here on out will be plentiful. Indeed we more or less have that this episode, as Naofumi’s (Ishikawa Kaito) role as Shield Hero is slightly refreshed, the animosity he holds (and is reciprocated) with the other heroes is on full display, and the reminders about what transpired with Malty Bitch are comedically reinforced. Hell the heroes’ role in defending against the waves even gets some airtime, albeit in relation to this season’s new enemy in the Spirit Tortoise which rest assured will start getting explained over the next couple of episodes. Don’t worry, there’s plenty more rage where this teaser came from.

As for the main players outside of heroes some light refreshment was also on display. Raphtalia (Seto Asami) and Filo (Hidaka Rina) are obviously the big ones (because cutie pie waifu bait and bird brain antenna ahoge), but Fitoria and everyone’s favourite circus master also got a bit of surprise screentime for added member berries. The more relevant one arc-wise, however, is Rishia (Hara Natsuko) given the quite blatant developments transpiring here. To be honest the whole slavery aspect of Tate no Yuusha never really sat well with me: having it is one thing, but volunteering to be a slave is another thing entirely. Tack on Raphtalia pushing Rishia into actually considering it (no matter the levelling benefits and Naofumi’s caring benevolence) and I consider it somewhat problematic. Nevertheless it still thankfully remains background material, and its invocation here does give some idea of future developments we can look forward to. Expect the new green-haired party member to get some new appreciation for what the Shield Hero is all about.

While we only have a single cour to look forward to with Tate no Yuusha’s return (until the inevitable third season announcement), hard denying everything currently on display points to this season being a good continuation for this series. All the personalities are back, animation remains consistent, and the upcoming arc will be a good bit of fun: why yes, how’d you know I was excited to see more?

 

OP Sequence

OP: 「Bring Back」by MADKID

Preview

8 Comments

    1. Taste is subjective, you do not have to put down other people’s favourites just to shill your own. Just let everyone enjoy their media, no need to be snide about it.

      How do you define the “best” isekai anyway? The oldest? The most popular of all time? The most influential?

      Escaflowne, Twelve Kingdoms and Fushugi Yuugi were not even marketed as isekai works but were massively popular in their time. SAO is kind of the 900 pound gorilla in terms of peak popularity although it did lose a lot of its luster in later seasons. In terms of influence, Mushoku Tensei defined a lot of the conventions of the isekai genre as befitting of one of the earliest influential works of the genre. Would it be fair to compare older works to newer ones which have had the benefit of seeing the successes and failures of the latter?

      Sure Re:Zero is popular but then again so are many other works. Holding a poll at the wrong time could have easily gotten different results; audiences are fickle. Try it when Tate no Yuusha is playing and it might have ranked higher than Re:Zero in popularity. Do it when the next season of Re:Zero is on the air and very likely Subaru’s crew would carry the day. Why worry about something so mercurial? We got the anime to watch, the manga to read and the light novels to enjoy. Isn’t that enough?

      Mechamorph
  1. “Everyone’s favourite isekai returns for round two.”

    Is that tagline sarcasm? Or just blissful ignorance? I’m quite sure a lot more fans of isekai would place Re: Zero higher up in their favourite rankings than this series.

    leongsh
    1. Still can be fun seeing how it’s adapted though. For example I read through all the Game of Thrones books before HBO even aired the first season, didn’t take away any enjoyment. At least until the final season 😛

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