Tate no Yuusha/Shield Hero Season 3 Anime Episode Discussion

[Dengar]

So, one grade above piercing attacks, is the attack that scales in strength the more defense the opponent has. Like bouncing a marble around in a jar. The less flexible the material, the more damage the marble will do until the jar breaks.

I like that kind of stuff.

[grecefar]

it was a nice fight, but that was it.

[Guido]

Naofumi and company ended up in quite a bind now that the Emperor Dragon evolved from within Gaellion's body and took full control of its core. To add salt into the open wound the curse of the zombie dragon compelled Filo all the way into the dragon den to just be forcefully absorbed within the Emperor Dragon's body.

It's going to laid waste into the Four Hero's world to increase its magic and pay comeuppance against Kizuna and the other Vassal Heroes in Glass's world, however, it made a terrible mistake to piss-off Naofumi by endangering Filo along with the rest of his family.

Nevertheless, Naofumi's strategy is thwarted by the Emperor Dragon taking control of his shield and prompting level-ups until the Wrath Shield is unlocked to the 10th level, so for Emperor Dragon that level of curse power is a pancake treat palatable to its strength.

I think that what Naofumi can pull out next is to transfer his own damage to Emperor Dragon in order to weaken it, however, the consequences will entail that he'll be dangerously afflicted by his Wrath shield curse series. So I also believe that if Atla was being serious one episode ago at proclaiming to be Naofumi's shield, then she's going to reveal some ace card or skill next episode in order to level the power field for Naofumi and company.

[scififan]

Now, it is the bow hero Itsuki's turn to get deceived by Malty. It appears all his followers also betrayed him. To save him, his admirer is going to fight him. By observing Itsuki, Naofumi turns out to be the only one who figures out that the level up mechanic.

[EroKing]

She is so easy to hate, which is exactly what the character was written for. Truly making her one of the best villains in modern anime for me. I have actually looked forward to more scenes with her this season and haven't had enough

[Dengar]

At least her lies sound just a twinge more believable in this episode. It's not hard to believe how the bow hero fell for it.

I also like that the show isn't wasting time getting to the core of the bow hero arc.

[Frontier]

You know this episode is probably going to feature Itsuki because we're starting off with Rishia and her training...and wondering why she is still so fixated on Itsuki. I mean, yeah, he saved her, but he still ended up being a total dick to her by going along with the party framing her and then saying she was weak and useless. Why stay in love with such a guy ?

Well, yeah, with the amount of damage they'll have to pay to repair the building and how that'll impact their budget, putting Gaelion in time-out is the least they should do. And Filo finally gets a win against the dragon .

Filo needs to get her levels back up! Which is the perfect excuse to go on an adventure with Melty! Even though Melty is so busy with the village she doesn't have time to level herself up...to the point where even her mom sends out favorite ninja girl to come in and basically says she HAS to go to the point they make it a big announcement and force Filo to drag her off. I actually want to see what hijinks they get into together .

I love how Naofumi makes Eclair have to do her actual job again and she seems to have no idea what to do...though it was a good opportunity for Ren to earn some brownie points with her. They seem to be getting pretty chummy with each other .

"Perfect Hidden Justice" - I love how they're all convinced that's Itsuki because no one else in their right mind would use such a stupid name .

This season started with a colliseum fight and it seems it's ending with a colliseum fight. And we've even brought the kids who are, understandably, wary when Naofumi's old pal the slave merchant (or at least the one from the first few episodes) shows up .

So Itsuki took the screw-up with the Spirit Tortoise as well as the other Three Stooges did, internalizing that he didn't mess anything up and that his strength is enough, and he doesn't need to rethink or change anything about himself. He's still just a shell of a man only carried over by his forced ideals of justice, which makes him the perfect tool for Bitch to use like she used Ren, and just like Ren he 100% believes her .

Look, I know Rishia and her "fwehhhh!" can be a lot, but that's no excuse to just shove her to the floor like that !

I love how Atla's plan for taking care of Itsuki is to just beat him up and kidnap him. The way she also loves how Naofumi prioritizes his money, I feel like she has a surprisingly devious heart .

Oh jeez, Bitch and Itsuki's old party are basically just using him to make money and stringing him along with some sob story about saving some slaves. The initial plan was even to sell him into slavery before Naofumi showed up, but Bitch wants to make as much money off of him as she can. I almost feel bad for the guy .

I guess the only way to knock some sense into Itsuki is to directly fight him, and Rishia thinks it's up to her to fight him by herself and save him like he saved her. Can she stand a chance against the Bow Hero and Itsuki possibly unlocking his Curse Series ?

[grecefar]

in this case is believable how malty manage to trick itsuki with his party in toe, so much different than ren. But I'm thinking that malty must have something else for them to fall like that, they are seriously idiots but there has to be something else, like she having some spell or the charm stat in 9999.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by grecefar

in this case is believable how malty manage to trick itsuki with his party in toe, so much different than ren. But I'm thinking that malty must have something else for them to fall like that, they are seriously idiots but there has to be something else, like she having some spell or the charm stat in 9999.

The party I just assume is after the money.

[SuitUp]

idk, for whatever reason after 30 something episodes of the 3 stooges being incredibly annoying, stupid and outright evil, i am not too invested in how both the sword and bow morons are getting their own personal Raphtalia's to save them.
since they were never actual characters and were more a single trope personified each, i dont care that they now want to make them into real characters

[magnuskn]

Yeah, I got to say that the turnaround on the sword and bow hero are both very similar in structure, like the writer kinda had to drag himself to write their redemption arcs.

Fallen Hero "It's not my fault, I'm the best!"
Naofumi "<facepalm"
Chosen female redeemer character "Here, I'll redeem you with my culture!"

[Twi]

If the author was super-invested in them, they would have given them more depth and roles aside from being punching bags. Every positive thing they did prior had been twisted in some way to make it awful and personally, I would have preferred if they did their own things and came to their own conclusions without needing Naofumi or the women to fix them.

[Dengar]

I wouldn't necessarily put all of that on the author. Remember that the anime has left out a ton of stuff. Including, believe it or not, some characterization on part of the remaining heroes.

That said, I'm curious. Which do you prefer? That they remain useless? Or that they get their arcs despite you not caring about them?


Not that the author in the source material never struggles with juggling the ever-expanding cast of this story. But I think it's commendable that all of them have some relevance to the world and its story.

[Frontier]

I think this series does have a bit of an issue with characters needing to function in such a way that it serves or benefits Naofumi's story at their expense even if it makes them look like idiots/useless in the process or necessarily jerks.

[Twi]

Originally Posted by Dengar

I wouldn't necessarily put all of that on the author. Remember that the anime has left out a ton of stuff. Including, believe it or not, some characterization on part of the remaining heroes.

That said, I'm curious. Which do you prefer? That they remain useless? Or that they get their arcs despite you not caring about them?


Not that the author in the source material never struggles with juggling the ever-expanding cast of this story. But I think it's commendable that all of them have some relevance to the world and its story.

I don't think I've ever said that I hated the three other heroes. I've honestly defended them more than Naofumi, if only because I know more about their situation, how they got there, and their intentions beyond how the narrative place makes them constantly be in the wrong.

Ren got crap for killing the dragon and leaving its corpse, but Reprise points out that the villagers put in the request, sold his daughter into slavery, and then sold off bits of his body rather than getting rid of the corpse until it started luring in monsters too strong for them to deal with. Unless you have insider information from an outside viewpoint, he just did what he was petitioned to do and the consequences of that weren't on him because the villagers were basically reaping what they sowed. But that only comes up when Naofumi can call them out rather than it being the case from the start, and rather than Ren being a teenager who was exploited by a world he had been called to save back when he had no reason to distrust them, its seen as him being too stupid to realize it.

They aren't bad people in the first half of the series. The world itself takes advantage of them, but that's presented as them being stupid rather than being exploited. Something which Naofumi has been a victim of and was made cynical by, yet no sympathy is shown towards them and they constantly come off as being worse than him. Then once the truth comes out the writing has them outright double down intentionally so it can run this arc and call it a redemption.

I would rather read volumes about them on their own, exploring one-hundred percent of their adventures and the close bond Ren got with his party members so that when he lost them I felt his grief and understood why he'd do anything to escape the pain before finally breaking. To see Itsuki's point of view as he went around doing what he did, from the time he saved Rishia and why he came to the conclusion that she couldn't keep up so getting rid of her was what needed to be done, and even now how he's trying to buy the slaves freedom by leveraging the only things he has left.

Not to mention how the Rage Shield basically justifies Naofumi being stronger than them, despite the Level discrepancy and before he included their power-up methods, but their own cursed series barely do jack-all and saddle them with even worse penalties than Naofumi's.

[Guido]

I invested more interest on the aftermath of the Emperor Dragon's defeat rather than on the actual fight per se, however, at least, Galleon got his time on the spotlight to shine to contribute for Naofumi's party victory. As well as my prediction for Atla holding up some ace or move against Emperor Dragon proved right.

For the aftermath I can get that this turned out the turning point for Ren to start redeeming himself begining by rescuing Wyndia and apologize to her for slaying her foster father. The villagers shared on the blame more so than Ren, and when things went downhill for the villagers they held him accountable, that's until Naofumi talked their sh** down against them that they reaped what they sow.

Finally, Gaellon is able to one-up Filo was giving a skyride to Naofumi and Wyndia soaring across the heaves while Filo gives chase complaining for him to have her XP levels returned.

Moving on with the next episode....

[Frontier]

Itsuki has put all his stakes in his own justice, the only thing left that gives him any semblance of self-worth and identity, the very thing he's convinced makes him special and better than anyone else. He doesn't think he can live with himself otherwise. And it's those feelings that are carrying him into his fight with Rishia .

Of course he really just wants to fight Naofumi, convinced by Bitch that Naofumi is the bad guy in this situation...although Itsuki is the one who shoots at Naofumi from the stands and endangers kids, not Naofumi. I just love Atla's reaction to the idea that Naofumi extorted Fohl to get to the both of them, she doesn't have time for this nonsense .

To Itsuki anyone that doesn't agree with him or his sense of justice is evil, but Rishia, who was saved by him, believes in the ideal of justice that she learned from him, even if it puts them on opposite sides now. And if anyone can teach Itsuki the true nature of justice, it's her now .

Itsuki might have a Cursed series Bow, but Rishia is now a Hengen Muso master and is easily able to deflect his attacks and overpower him. So much for being too weak to be worth keeping in the party, huh ?

Oh jeez, you know this dude has a huge and fragile ego when his Pride bow lets him brainwash people into agreeing with him and his messed up worldview. And that's before he turns himself into an angel, come on. Oh, and OF COURSE he goes fallen angel too .

Wow, Itsuki's so far gone his own weapon turns on him and gives Rishia a translucent and transformable weapon to beat him with. That's pretty embarrassing. But a satisfying win for Rishia !

So Itsuki was a kid who wanted to be a Hero of Justice and thought he was special, but it turns out he wasn't anywhere near as special as he thought he was, made his mom depressed, and then turned into a hikki gamer as you do. It's no wonder he jumped at a chance to live out a heroic fantasy but refused to acknowledge the reality of the situation .

Welp, Itsuki thought Bitch was the only one who still believed in him, but she used up all his prize money, stole his party for herself, and left him with crippling debt. That's Bitch for you. But what is her endgame here ?

Itsuki is back in Naofumi's village but he seems completely broken. He barely feels alive and has to have Rishia take care of him, which she's happy to do but I feel like she deserves better. Is Itsuki really going to be okay when the Phoenix attacks? He doesn't seem like he can fight or take instructions at all .

[frubam]

Man, they really left last week's cliffhanger with Itsuki and Rishia at-the-ready to fight, then decide to pad the first 7 mins of the ep with pointless bs before reaching that point again .

Honestly I'm glad this "recruit the 3 other heroes" arc is over. More annoyingly, they were all tricked by the same b**ch that was proven to have lied to them before the entire royal court. She wasn't even necessary really; Itsuki and Ren could have still had their issues, even without anyone, but I'm guessing she'll have a more prominent role in the story. After all, she gave out those cursed series items, as well as removed the slave crest. I just glad we don't have to see her bs for a long while, if not ever.

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by Twi

I don't think I've ever said that I hated the three other heroes. I've honestly defended them more than Naofumi, if only because I know more about their situation, how they got there, and their intentions beyond how the narrative place makes them constantly be in the wrong.

Ren got crap for killing the dragon and leaving its corpse, but Reprise points out that the villagers put in the request, sold his daughter into slavery, and then sold off bits of his body rather than getting rid of the corpse until it started luring in monsters too strong for them to deal with. Unless you have insider information from an outside viewpoint, he just did what he was petitioned to do and the consequences of that weren't on him because the villagers were basically reaping what they sowed. But that only comes up when Naofumi can call them out rather than it being the case from the start, and rather than Ren being a teenager who was exploited by a world he had been called to save back when he had no reason to distrust them, its seen as him being too stupid to realize it.

They aren't bad people in the first half of the series. The world itself takes advantage of them, but that's presented as them being stupid rather than being exploited. Something which Naofumi has been a victim of and was made cynical by, yet no sympathy is shown towards them and they constantly come off as being worse than him. Then once the truth comes out the writing has them outright double down intentionally so it can run this arc and call it a redemption.

I would rather read volumes about them on their own, exploring one-hundred percent of their adventures and the close bond Ren got with his party members so that when he lost them I felt his grief and understood why he'd do anything to escape the pain before finally breaking. To see Itsuki's point of view as he went around doing what he did, from the time he saved Rishia and why he came to the conclusion that she couldn't keep up so getting rid of her was what needed to be done, and even now how he's trying to buy the slaves freedom by leveraging the only things he has left.

Not to mention how the Rage Shield basically justifies Naofumi being stronger than them, despite the Level discrepancy and before he included their power-up methods, but their own cursed series barely do jack-all and saddle them with even worse penalties than Naofumi's.

I really don't buy this angle that the other heroes just exist to make Naofumi look good. Least of all because there's plenty of times where he doesn't. And it's not like the other heroes don't have anything to bring to the table. They just haven't been bringing it up to this point. Like where would Naofumi even be without his trusted allies?

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by frubam

Man, they really left last week's cliffhanger with Itsuki and Rishia at-the-ready to fight, then decide to pad the first 7 mins of the ep with pointless bs before reaching that point again .

Honestly I'm glad this "recruit the 3 other heroes" arc is over. More annoyingly, they were all tricked by the same b**ch that was proven to have lied to them before the entire royal court. She wasn't even necessary really; Itsuki and Ren could have still had their issues, even without anyone, but I'm guessing she'll have a more prominent role in the story. After all, she gave out those cursed series items, as well as removed the slave crest. I just glad we don't have to see her bs for a long while, if not ever.

I love how Itsuki just keeps shooting at them and Rishia is like "don't do it Itsuki-sama!!!" instead of actually stopping him .

I have to wonder if she really has a plan considering I don't think she stands a chance against the Four Heroes together now even with Itsuki's party .

Originally Posted by Dengar

I really don't buy this angle that the other heroes just exist to make Naofumi look good. Least of all because there's plenty of times where he doesn't. And it's not like the other heroes don't have anything to bring to the table. They just haven't been bringing it up to this point. Like where would Naofumi even be without his trusted allies?

I dunno, it feels like the story is clearly constructed to so often make the Three Stooges look incompetent or useless just so Naofumi can come in and do way more than they can.