Tate no Yuusha/Shield Hero - Episode 13 Discussion / Poll

[Kairin]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Tate no Yuusha/Shield Hero, Episode 13.

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[Kinematics]

New opening.

New girl in Itsuki's team (carrying a bag of books)

Motoyasu's team looks the same, though they're not looking that happy. Not entirely sure if the other girls are looking at Mein. Could be a growing disatisfaction with her?

New guy with Prince Nez glasses.

Queen and Melty together in a frame again, though melty not looking nearly as happy. Though I also notice that the character shots aren't having any backgrounds; just plain white/gray. Compared to the first cour's OP, it feels plain?

Another shot of Itsuki's team. Feels similar to the shot of Motoyasu's team, except instead of everyone looking distastfully at Mein, they're looking that way at the new girl.

Another angel — filolial queen, presumably — standing in the rain.

More tanuki, although the chain running through cage bars does not bode well. (And then a guy with a whip immediately after; no subtlety there.)

Naofumi back in the stadium, but this time with Mein up in the viewing box with the king.

And then slave Raphtalia, followed by a bunch of action stuff. Maybe a naval fight this time. (Except for Ren, who's in the woods fighting ogres and stuff.)

A guy with a scythe. Mein behind a bunch of priests of the church. And then teamwork, with Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo, and Melty.



And the crystal ball recording — wow, that's some amazing Photoshop work. Or After Effects, I guess. They just released a new version that can do video modification on the fly, coincidentally. (https://gizmodo.com/adobes-after-eff...ect-1833747613)

They kinda went overboard with the blood splatter effects, though. Don't mess with vicious tanuki.

Those wanted posters... wow. Someone made Raphtalia and Filo look like real monsters. There's a subreddit hell awaiting them.

Also: Great Wall of China transplant. Honestly a little surprising how heavily divided the countries are.

Finally told Melty about what happened between Naofumi and the king, but from the mood they probably told the 'light' version.

A spy following... but doesn't look like the Queen's spies. Someone new?

Ah, and tracked down by Itsuki, with Motoyasu and Ren in tow.

... Mein.... Just... Excuse me, I need to go get a drink.

Motoyasu binding Filo. Dirty trick.

Hmm. Leaving it to Ren to figure out what's going on? That's interesting.


ED: The song is quite nice. Very relaxing. Naofumi and friends traveling — the one thing that makes him feel free — and Raphtalia happy times.

[Ichinotachi]

Since the previous episode was obvious that Bitch was the one trying to kill Melty and now as always Naofumi is the one in the spotlight for the wrong reasons thanks to her, of course Motoyasu is still an absolute braindead, same goes for bow hero. Ren is the only one there that can at least use his brain but I don't expect much from him.

Now naofumi is going to visit the queen, that's going to be quite interesting. The new OP spoiled quite a lot, new characters and what's going to happen next until the end of the season.

[The Green One]

Fantasy video editing crew before uploading the material to MedivalTube for the public to watch the totally legit OMG murder video! I wonder how many Nafoumi supporters actually would believe this but the more ignorant public might be swayed.

Man Malty isn't even trying to hide her murderous intent toward Melty is she? Nafoumi and crew escape? Burn the forest down!

Freaking psycho..........

Cute as Melty integrates with the group with the name thing at the end. Looks like Nafoumi has softened toward her too. The plea to him for help knowing she'd be killed if she was turned over really got to him. Still it had to be hard on the poor girl to have to wonder if her father is really trying to have her killed or is willing to look the other way about it. She seems to love him so it really must hurt. Still I have to wonder if he is involved or not, the glimpse we got with them interacting seems to imply he loves her, maybe he's actually innocent and is just ignorant of the attempt.

Man Spear Boy is such a hypocrite. For all his whining about Nafoumi keeps slaves he doesn't have problem using a magical shackle to render Filo helpless so he can perv on her.

On the Heroes side Ikutski didn't say much but Ren might be reachable so maybe the situation isn't hopeless there. Motoaysu? Don't bother.

So a fantasy story with game elements where the church is evil/antagonistic. I wonder where we've seen this before?

Oh yeah just about every RPG ever. Well maybe about 95% of them.

So now the mission is get to the Queen and hope she'll help before the Church's forces run them down. What could possibly go wrong?

[BWTraveller]

Yeah, an evil church is a very common trope in Japanese fantasies. I think it might have some to do with the way European nations tried to use Christianity to gain influence (like they did everywhere they went). Still has a different swing to it with it being a church that worships three of a quartet and apparently treats the fourth as their equivalent to the devil.

Rather entertaining that Malty thinks she can use the simple fact that there are people that like Naofumi as proof that Naofumi has some sort of brainwashing ability. You need more than the fact that someone you don't think should like him likes him to prove psychological manipulation, much less actual mind magic.

[blakstealth]

B-b-b-b-b-brainwashed? BRAINWASHED?! C'mon, who actually believes that obvious bologna? These so-called heroes are supposed to be from parallel modern societies. Surely, they can't believe this hogwash that Myne is spewing. Ren seems to be the only one that's not as dumb as the rest but that's not saying much. Motoyasu is a lost cause at this point. He's disgusting.

[The Green One]

Ren: "Can you prove that you didn't/don't?"

Nafoumi: "Can you prove that I do/did?"

[Dengar]

I can safely say this is my first "spoiled by the source material" moment.

I... Did not like this episode one bit. It's hard to explain why without going into detail, but they left out so much that's not likely to make it back in. Not to the point of where people will be confused later, but it does change the feel of the narrative a lot.

[Kinematics]

Originally Posted by blakstealth

B-b-b-b-b-brainwashed? BRAINWASHED?! C'mon, who actually believes that obvious bologna? These so-called heroes are supposed to be from parallel modern societies. Surely, they can't believe this hogwash that Myne is spewing.

Originally Posted by The Green One

Ren: "Can you prove that you didn't/don't?"

Nafoumi: "Can you prove that I do/did?"

"Well, we've got this video evidence."

"Which was faked."

"You really expect me to keep believing all this 'deep state conspiracy' nonsense?"

"It was Photoshopped!"

"Dunno. Looks pretty real to me. Plus, y'know, magic video camera. Photoshopping is dubious on just still images."

"So they must have used magic to change it!"

"Like you used magic to brainwash the second princess?"

And we're back at square one.

[HandofFate]

literally Fake News.

Sword Hero flag up.
He's the best chance at Nao getting thru to them.

Spear hero is a lost cause.
Bow hero is just a kid trying to play hero

[Kanon]

I so knew Myne was going to use brainwashing as an explanation for why Melty is claiming Naofumi is protecting her. And the idiots actually believed her
Ren is the only one with half a brain.

The gloves the blacksmith made are pretty fucking amazing. Filo sent Motoyasu flying like he was nothing. You'd think more people would wear stuff like this.

[Lex79]

I gave Myne the benefit of doubt , but looks like she is instead even worse and stupid than I thought. I mean, she literally admitted she was trying to kill her sister in front of the heroes, does she really think that excuse of self defense is gonna stand? And that the queen isn't going to do anything when she comes back?
Anyway, I want her and spear hero to suffer. A lot. And then more.

[Kinematics]

Just realized that the bag the spy left when she disappeared was the one Naofumi dropped off the cliff when he caught Melty when she fell. First watch through, I figured it was just a bag that they might have dropped during the escape from Mein and the other heroes. I'd forgotten that he'd dropped the bag earlier.

Both shows that the spy is ridiculously good at getting around, and seems a sort of "Thank you" for saving Melty.

[Ultragunner]

Originally Posted by Lex79

I gave Myne the benefit of doubt , but looks like she is instead even worse and stupid than I thought. I mean, she literally admitted she was trying to kill her sister in front of the heroes, does she really think that excuse of self defense is gonna stand? And that the queen isn't going to do anything when she comes back?
Anyway, I want her and spear hero to suffer. A lot. And then more.

yeah....as manipulative as Myne is, I don’t think she’s the type that think twice about the consequences of her action, probably because there hasn’t been one. Even the earlier incident when she sneaked an attack on Naofumi, but there was nothing aside from some annoyance.

[Huh...?]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Rather entertaining that Malty thinks she can use the simple fact that there are people that like Naofumi as proof that Naofumi has some sort of brainwashing ability. You need more than the fact that someone you don't think should like him likes him to prove psychological manipulation, much less actual mind magic.

Originally Posted by blakstealth

B-b-b-b-b-brainwashed? BRAINWASHED?! C'mon, who actually believes that obvious bologna? These so-called heroes are supposed to be from parallel modern societies. Surely, they can't believe this hogwash that Myne is spewing.

When something illogical or unbelievable is backed by a Religious Organization (here the "Three Hero Church"), anyone would end up believing it as the truth initially, even if they are from a modern society.

Originally Posted by The Green One

Ren: "Can you prove that you didn't/don't?"

Nafoumi: "Can you prove that I do/did?"

Malty: "Three Hero Church" says so.

[Frontier]

The new Opening isn't as exciting or as fist-pumping as "Rise," but it's pretty solid. Looks like we can expect someone new from Filo's race (?), a scholar character, some new Demi-Humans, some sea battles, and a scythe hero (?) for this new cour as we watch the continuing adventures of the Shield Hero and his party (now including Melty) .

Just great (Bill Kametz reference for the win). Just as Naofumi is building his life back up and restoring his reputation as a hero while finding some modicum of peace, Myne comes back in and ruins everything by framing him and making him public enemy #1 .

It's nice to see Naofumi was willing to defend and protect Melty with no promise of any kind of reward, especially considering he previously wanted nothing to do with her because she was royalty. I guess watching her almost get killed by her own knights was enough to convince him that she's not in league with her father and sister .

"Zweit Aqua Slash!" I swear Rikka Takanashi said something almost exactly like that. Or if not, she probably would have .

As if Motoyasu being an arrogant idiot wasn't enough, then he has to go ahead and start creeping on Filo. The only disappointing thing about Filo punching him was that she didn't do it in the balls again .

So Ren is the only other Hero who Naofumi seems to have any kind of faith or real rapport with, probably helped by the fact that Ren was the only one there who seemed to be willing to be fair to him and not completely buy Myne's BS. Will he be able to help our heroes by discovering what's going on with the Three Heroes church, or continue to be as ineffectual as the other heroes have been on this show ?

Man, I thought Myne was pretty bad before but it's becoming more and more apparent how much of a psycho she is. To think she would go so far to kill her sister and ruin Naofumi, all the while smiling and giggling so evilly. Is it any wonder the queen didn't want her to rule the kingdom ?

Raphtalia stabbing Myne with her magic sword was satisfying. Not as satisfying as punch to the face, but it'll do .

So the group's new goal is to find the queen, who from all accounts is, if not particularly on Naofumi's side, is someone he can reasonably discuss with and count on being fair to him. And since her authority dwarfs the king and Malty, she can hopefully clear his name as well. Man, if only the queen had been around when the four Heroes were first summoned, or the king had done as she asked, things seem like they would've been pretty different .

Poor Raphtalia. Melty joins the party and is already on a first-name basis with Naofumi, and she's acting like a tsundere about it so take from that what you will .

I really like the new Ending. The visuals and music are very soothing and the imagery of Raphtalia and Naofumi together is very sweet .

[Twi]

I can defend stupid, but I can't defend a lolicon who uses chains that rob her of her strength. He's a lost cause.

And Myne basically decided to drop any pretense of subtle at this point.

[Mad Pierrot]

This episode was good but it feels like a rehash of what we have seen in the first half. Naofumi with poor reputation. The guy is accused of poor treatment towards the people who follow him. The other heroes are gullible as usual. Naofumi's characterization barely changes and another one joins the team.

At first I liked it, then I started thinking this is the same thing all over again so I have mixed feelings. I said it before but it really feels like the writers are forcing us to like Naofumi but for that I except a change in his characterization.

[Twi]

No, that's pretty much what's happening. The show wants us to side with Naofumi. Standard Isekai thing. You've just gotten past the glamour of it and the other heroes, or at least Ren and Itsuki, are at least shown to question things now. They could believe the rape accusation when they didn't know her, but they've seen her cheat in a duel and then try to kill her own sister. The fact that the knights who clearly are on the side of the three heroes are willing to not listen to him and even bowl over Itsuki make it clear that they're basically loose canons.

Again, it's better than the manga though. Can't speak for the LN.

[Kanon]

It does kind of feel like we're back to square one, which is why I hope this situation will be resolved quickly. Myne's schemes to dirty Naofumi's name and bring him down have gotten really stale, it's time to move on to something new.