First Impressions / Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari

OP2 Sequence

OP2: 「FAITH」by MADKID

「盾の悪魔」 (Tate no Akuma)
“The Devil of the Shield”

There’s a devil in this tale to be sure, but it’s not Naofumi by any stretch of the imagination. I underestimated Myne’s heartlessness. Since she never seemed to show any interest in assuming the throne, I wrote her off as a red herring, but it seems even her lack of ambition is another front she wears to hide her true colors. With that said, however, anyone with eyes should be able to see she’s up to no good. Ren obviously gets the heebie-jeebies whenever she gets close, and shortly after Naofumi spelled out exactly how and why Myne was going to try to murder Melty – you’re a terrible sister, Myne, and you should feel bad – she went ahead and did exactly what he said she was going to do.

And with an evil smirk to boot!

Let’s rewind a little – I’m jumping ahead of myself.

The episode began with the direct aftermath of Naofumi choosing to protect Melty from the King’s knights. The Shield Hero’s party handily defeated the group, who didn’t put up much resistance since the footage was what they really wanted, and the Church wasted no time in using magic to doctor the recording so that Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo look like child-napping cretins to everyone in Melromarc. There was a transition around this point from an image of Naofumi’s wanted poster to his actual face, and the resemblance was so uncanny I couldn’t help but chuckle. At first, it wasn’t clear why the Church would want to make leaving Melromarc any more difficult for the Shield Hero. You’d think they’d want him out of their hair as soon as possible, but when it was revealed they were working together with Myne, everything made sense.

The Church tried to kill two filolials with one stone by accusing Naofumi of brainwashing Melty, which he can’t disprove, and using that as an excuse to murder Melty, clearing the throne for Myne. On that note, does anyone think I’m a purple dragon typing up reviews from my cave? Going by the logic used in this episode, since you can’t prove that I’m not a purple dragon, I might as well be one. Ren was clearly trying to give Naofumi an out in that scene, but I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes so hard I saw the little people manning the controls in my brain.

From Ren’s perspective, Naofumi is an enigmatic figure at the center of a conspiracy. He’s not completely sure whether the Shield Hero’s an ally or not, but all it takes is a little questioning, a little doubt, and the lies and fabrications Myne spouts unravel. As Raphtalia mentioned, Naofumi has absolutely nothing to gain by hurting Melty. He’s not next in line for the throne. Coincidentally, he’s also not the one calling flaming meteors down from the sky.

Kudos to Sarah Emi Bridcutt for giving such an excellent vocal performance that the sound of Myne’s voice alone is enough to set your teeth on edge. Myne could not be more suspect if she were holding a bloodied dagger while standing under a sign with the words “Traitor Here” blinking on it in neon lights, and I love it.

Quick Impression of the OP/ED Themes:
OP: 7.5/10. The animation quality hasn’t dropped at all. Even so, many of the new scenes feel repetitious. While the start does well to set a more somber mood for the second core, the latter half has more of a focus on extended action sequences. The song feels like a rehash of the first, but it may grow on me over time. Plus, I’m a sucker for scenes of characters looking sad in the rain.

ED: 7/10. The softer style matches the slow, calming melody. It does well to show how the bonds Raphtalia and Naofumi have made have grown from the start and helped them to heal, but perhaps doesn’t differ enough from the original to fully justify the change.

 

ED3 Sequence

ED3: 「あたしが隣にいるうちに」 (Atashi ga Tonari ni Iru Uchi ni) by 藤川千愛 (Chiai Fujikawa)

Preview

49 Comments

  1. So this episode we plumb the depths of depravity. Malty is not only a serial liar and all around not-nice person, she is a murderous fratricide as well. Ren had better watch his back or he is going to die from a bad case of having a conscience. If Malty actually succeeded in burning Melty alive, I really cannot see Ren keeping quiet about it.

    So today the Bow Hero basically sat around looking pretty and the Sword Hero tries his best to be reasonable. The Spear Hero? He had some serious rapey vibes that pushed him from “perverted but otherwise decent person” like so many protagonists over the years to “rapist in the making if not already one”.

    It does look like the main mover and shaker of this plot is the Church, Malty is too impulsive overall and lacks that kind of influence. Given that the Shield Hero really is rather important to fighting off the waves (remember the other three heroes would have likely already suffered a TPK at Glass’ hands if not the Spirit Eater save for Naofumi’s contributions), what’s in it for them? Do they think the three offensive heroes are sufficient without a tank to protect them?

    Mechamorph
    Reply

    1. When it comes to Motoyasu’s behavior, logically you have to assume that he’s probably the Hero that suffers the most from thinking everything is just a game thanks to Myne being a princess, pretending to hang on his every word, and giving him everything he wants. Same for the church, most likely. In his head they’ve got him back to being the protagonist of his version of the Waves game and this is all just a scenario, so he’s fine with just going along with whatever because it’ll be fine since he’s the Hero. He’s the good guy and everyone else is either bad or a side character, so the idea that someone might be tricking him is completely ridiculous. He’d know because he’s the Hero. And the girls all want him because he’s the Hero, and if they don’t want him then it’s someone else’s fault. Because he’s the Hero.

      Of course in reality none of that is true and he comes off like an absolute brain-dead mid-boss villain who I look forward to seeing get pushed into a volcano or something once Myne gets tired of using him. The look on his face when he realizes that the world doesn’t revolve around him will hopefully be as epic as I imagine.

      Aex
      Reply

  3. it is a purple dragon conspiracy! I tell ya!
    (sorry could not resist)
    I really underestimated depravity of Myne, too.
    Wanting to kill own sister, who did you no wrong apart from being totally better candidate for ruler?
    Well, there are two ways to bring a good villain to the story. One is, to have morally ambigous, anti-villain with at least some validation for his agenda, and at least some redeeming qualities. (Thrawn, anyone?) And then you can go full card-carrying villain everyone loves to hate. Myne is doing this act wonderfully, I havent hated a fictional character so much since Joffrey Baratheon and Ramsay Bolton)
    I think we will see more of sword and bow heroes who while not up to the quality of Naofumi are decent people and eventually will have to make a common stand against Myne and the Church.

    ewok40k
    Reply

    1. Joffrey, huh? Sounds like she’s up there with some big leaguers, as far as villains go.

      I wouldn’t put them on their level just yet. She’s still got plenty of room to grow in her evilness

      Stars
      Reply

    1. i hope we get soon revealed why this hatred is there. it’s poison characteristics is eating nearly all away

      Goblin Slayer has the Priestess and later his party, that pull him out of his own anger. Here the Shield hero is nearly in the same spot.. just this hatred is strong poison for me and a little bit “me against all Noble’s” black and white thinking. Well i can not blame him, but until now they show that he is right.. where are the “white knights” in the Noble’s world that want to help him? If there are some, show them.. the Black Side of force is engulfing him (as anime only viewer)

      Worldwidedepp
      Reply

      2. The knights that helped him during the last wave are the white knights right?

        Then you also have the ninja bodyguards from the queen who can throw a wrench in bitch her plans ( i keep getting confused between melty and malty, their names are too damn similar… ) whenever she tries to use a decree from the king.

        Damrod
        Reply

      3. And after this episode I think we can safely say that Melty is on the “White Side”. Even without Myne trying to kill her she’s heard Naofumi’s side of the story now, which melted her bratty, Daddy’s-girl self pretty fast. Glad someone finally asked for it.

        “Mom’s gonna yell at Dad!” Sorry cutie, that’s not a good reason. I can’t wait to see that.

        Aex
        Reply

    2. It’S an altered recording, not a live feed. It has nothing to do with the western concept of “fake news” which is pretty much summed up as “reality doesn’t matter”.

      weasl
      Reply

  5. The Shield can brainwash people. Wow. Dumbest sentence yet, so of course Myne says it, and of course Motoyasu believes it. Even though if that were true, as Naofumi says, there’s no way the entire country would be after him. Or that he would’ve had to go through half the crap they’ve thrown at him. He’d just brainwash a bunch of people and BAM, problem solved, not have to scrape by inch-by-inch just to get even the tiniest sliver of respect. And how would Myne, of all people, know about it?

    Plot-wise it was good to see Naofumi’s lack of knowledge work against him again. He lets the soldiers go because he thinks they aren’t a problem and doesn’t know that crystal ball recordings can be altered. Then he finds out just how much the Church is against him, the knights are full of even more idiots than he knew, and that he really shouldn’t have let them get away. Personally I hate religious zealots as villains. They’re easy to use as villains because everyone knows they really do exist, but I hate them. They’re cheap.

    Lastly I had a sad laugh when Melty finally asks Naofumi what happened between him and her father. I think that’s the first time anyone’s bothered to ask him that, even if it took her long enough. Was nice to see her warm up to him after, though, and vice versa

    Aex
    Reply

    1. True. It’s not very often that people ask Naofumi for his side of the story.

      Although Ren’s getting there, the only person to really question the Shield Hero’s awful reputation was the blacksmith way back when, and he didn’t even need to say anything. He just looked at Naofumi’s face and knew. It’s a big part of why he continues to be one of my favorite side characters in this series

      Stars
      Reply

  6. The church might be making it more difficult for the shield hero to leave for a few reasons. One of them being that the shield hero seems to be the most powerful of the 4 at the moment, so without them, they are screwed going with he second wave as their evidence.
    A more important reason might actually be political though. If the shield hero leaves the country, that shows that they don’t want the shield hero first of all. Another thing that can be learned from that is that their military might is not at full force since one of the four heroes is gone.
    All that is just going with the info of “one of the famous heroes of legend that can beat a wave is leaving their country of origin”

    If shield hero gets to speak with the people of other countries however, it can be revealed that melromarc is not as strong as they try to potrait themselves considering their own army is already doing some infighting. Their remaining 3 heroes don’t get a lot of positive press as well at that point with the disasters they caused ( rotten dragon, country in ruin thanks to rebellion, mutated seed that tried to destroy villages ), which combined with information of how prosperous and healthy most people still are and you have a recipe for failure.

    There is a reason the queen wants him to stay after all, and not all of it is political after all.

    Oh and i like to eat purple dragons, they have a cherry taste in their meat after all.

    Damrod
    Reply

    1. Another thing is that it’s good for a corrupt religion/organization to have a physical bad guy it can blame stuff on. Someone to get its followers worked up over that they can actually reach, especially if they can do so without going to war with another country.

      You can’t do anything about an evil god, but the Shield Devil? He’s right over there. He’s why your animals are diseased and crops are withered, not because we keep taking more than we should. Buy our stuff and give us donations so we can punish the Shield Devil. And when they do defeat the evil? Well, that just means that they must have divine power, so you still shouldn’t go against them.

      Aex
      Reply

    2. So it’s almost like Melromarc doesn’t want him, but they won’t let have anyone else need them because that makes them look weak/potentially strengthens other countries, and they can’t leave the Shield Hero be since they need him to help the heroes stop the Waves. Someone else mentioned that the waves might not be the cataclysmic event we’ve been led to believe. What if they’re just a distraction? Definitely something to look into.

      Also, stay out of my cave, dragon-eater.

      Stars
      Reply

      1. Kinda yes. It is a damned if you do and damned if you don’t scenario.
        They are damned if they get rid of the shield hero (army becomes weaker, waves might kill them, there is no easy target like Aex mentioned etc ) and they are damned if they don’t since he is constantly throwing a wrench in their plans while refusing to help them get stronger as well.
        Regarding the waves, it’ll get explained eventually.

        As for me staying out of your cave, not my fault that your flesh is so damn tasty…

        Damrod
        Reply

  8. Yeah, sorry, I’m on the record that awkward moments like this are the worst parts of the series. I mean, when even an idiot would be able to call BS, it makes it hard to find it engaging. Luckily, the fights were at least interesting. and with him leaving the country, we shouldn’t have anymore of this for the time being. Looking forward to their interactions in countries yet to be seen.

    hjerry2000
    Reply

    1. Actually we have a psychological term for that behavior, Stockholm Syndrome.

      Knowing all the facts it may be BS, but Naofumi has never been exonerated from raping the princess, and there’s a nice edited video showing him kidnaping Melty and killing her Knights.

      I doubt anyone is going to give him the benefit of doubt at this point.

      weasl
      Reply

    2. at least one of the countries mentioned is founded around demi-humans being the top class, reverse of that of Melromarc, might get interesting with Shield hero might getting top status as champion of those, on the other hand his status as slave owner of 2 of those might get him into trouble…
      I wonder if there are any other heroes (by weapon) out there outside Melromarc? noticed someone waving impossibly cool scythe in the opening…
      Could the Glass woamn be actually a “weaponised fan hero”?
      I am appalled that none of the heroes, even Naofumi , didnt focus more time on investigating the world, it’s geography, politics, nations… I would certainly do when in an isekai situation!

      ewok40k
      Reply

      1. Why investigate those things if you don’t even know your own powers?
        Naofumi is actually being rather smart here with how he goes about things.
        He is first securing the means to survive, followed by the means to keep on living. As in, get people to not want to try and kill you followed by obtaining food, liquid and a roof above your head. Essentially the basics so to speak. The other 3 just go around and kill stuff to get stronger without thinking of food, drinks and a roof since they are on state support, so if those 3 get cut of from support they will struggle immensely to get by since they haven’t been securing those basic needs without state support.

        After those basics got wrapped up for naofumi, he accepted other job requests for money, experience and new materials for the shield. Each time he did a job, he tried to learn about the area with its inhabitants ( mainly out of self preservation, but what did you expect with his reputation? ) and what he could gain there besides the reward from the job.
        Lets not forget that he learned magic and creating magical crystals/items because one of the jobgivers took a liking to how he dealt with the bandits.

        While i certainly do agree with you that it would be fun if there was more done with geography, politics, the different nations and the like but if i was transported to an isekai, i’d try to be self sufficient as quick as possible as well before dealing with the rest. That way, state support is nice, but if for some reason state support is put on hold, i don’t have to worry about anything.

        Damrod
        Reply

      2. @RenaSayers
        historically church was immensely wealthy in medieval times
        look at the cathedrals they built in times villagers had only crude huts and even wealthy merchants could afford only small city houses…
        one of main reasons for that was rule of the “dead hand”: any land donated by nobles and whatsnot to church was not divided up amongst the progeny of owner as was custom back then, but stayed forever in the “dead hand” of the institution, unless sold for some kind of profit, leading to church massing massive land ownership

        ewok40k
        Reply

      1. I think it’s confusing because Naofumi sees things like an MMOs User’s interface.

        On the other hand showing through a cauldron or a crystal ball a vision is a common trope in fantasy settings, and the visions are not always accurate to what’s true in the story.

        Vonter
        Reply

      3. Recently Log Horizon, Slime, and Overlord in the written form, spoiler of this issue only Show Spoiler ▼

        RedRocket
        Reply

  11. Can they just go back in time and prevent this from happening or whatever like that spinoff novel? If there is a time machine magical item or the spear somehow possess his counterpart from multiple future?

    RedvsBlue
    Reply

    1. The first OP does have hints of the world resetting at some point. “I’m rising like a phoenix a hundred times” and “The end of the world is on repeat, but I won’t let it stand between you and me” are the two I can think of off the top of my head.

      No sign of a magical time machine just yet, I’m afraid, but that doesn’t mean one can’t pop up later on

      Stars
      Reply

      1. Well, there won’t be a time-machine introduced at all if this follows the source material.

        Show Spoiler ▼

        Damrod
        Reply

  13. So Damrod is telling the truth?! Cool and confusing…. It’ll be like Déjà vu feeling for the character or still retain his or her memories from his original timeline, will the main character and other heroes will not be an asshole, and how it’s ends?

    As for the spin off of the spear hero, will they meet Raphtalia in their time loop adventures?

    Sarge
    Reply

    1. Haven’t read the spinoffs yet as there are different translations of those, so not gonna touch those until i know which one has the correct translations. Only thing i will say is that naomasa is an interesting one in how he got there compared to the other 3 from what i remember…
      Also, which part are you refferring to when mentioning how i am telling the truth?

      Damrod
      Reply

  15. Why the big sister princess have to be a bitch to everyone including her little sister? I mean her little sister cute and why man, if she killed in novel and spin off, I’ll be total piss…
    Hope for her in spin off she’ll suffer worse an death and new name thing like in novel, spoiler alert her new name is Bitch. I prefer a lot of specific harm, like a thousand years of Groundhog Day but for looping time period of 20 second. Don’t u all agree?

    Rick
    Reply

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