One the isekai anime from 2019, I'd say it's one of the better shows in the genre. To begin with, during the first few episodes, it seemed obvious of the pitfall the protagonist was going to face. But despite that, the overall drama was done well in those episodes, and pretty much enjoyed the growth relating the protagonist Naofumi and his team.
An anime made by the studio, Kinema Citrus, I took up 'The Rising of the Shield Hero (will be referring as Shield Hero)', because of the studio's reputation from its previous amazing production of the anime, Made in Abyss. Appreciating the wonderful art and music from Made in Abyss, Shield Hero had both. Kevin Penkin returning with another score, I'd say that the music was decent, but not great. It doesn't come close to Penkin's work in Made in Abyss. As for the graphics, Shield Hero has indeed better art and character design than many others in its genre. Character designs were decent enough and can appreciate Kinema Citrus's effort into it.
Now, regarding the story, despite being an isekai, it has its own sets of original ideas, with more than simple plots into it. There's no point in discussing the story, but on average I can say it's decent and enjoyable. But the one thing I did not appreciate much as the other factors were the characters. I'm not saying they are bad. As a matter of fact, they are much better than the original SAO (and the only SAO I've watched. Rest are intolerable), where the characters were simply horrible. The characters in Shield Hero lacked characteristic ingenuity, which is a common occurrence in other isekais, the ones which are average. In other words, the writing had less life into it. Naofumi and Raphtalia, being the stars of the show, have the most described writing, detailing their characteristics, and yet there's a blandness in them every so often. The lack of character dynamics and the delivery of often monotonous dialogues.
Dialogues were often monotonous, cliché and within rare times downright cringe. For the most part, I did not feel the depth within the characters, which connect viewers to these characters' lives.
It can be believed that isekai are inspired by the RPG/JRPG games from the olden days, but speaking of those games, many of them had amazing script throughout the story. Indeed, old 8/16-bit games (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda) have inspired new original stories into full-on Television series, but fundamental qualities are there no more.
Some of the originality concepts of Shield Hero also comes into question, when Filo, one of the protagonist's companions is a downright a Chocobo rip-off. Who cares if she has a human side? That's just fanservice anyway. Braggy/cocky characters with literally no cognitive abilities to think, are another stereotype shared with other trash isekai shows.
Unlike Made in Abyss, Kinema Citrus has done a poorer job in the production. Fast-paced plot amongst the episodes often left me wondering when the protagonist lands in a new location without any indication. That also included in the build-up of suspense during action sequences. The script is partly to blame for this.
But despite its pitfalls, Shield Hero is one of the good anime of 2019, if not great. Despite the pitfalls, Kinema Citrus had done a better job than other isekai anime.
It was an overall good experience, and look forward to the show's coming seasons. Hoping the writing and overall character dynamics would improve, it would be a better show to watch. Shield Hero can be said pretty much a common man's isekai starter.
Overall: 7/10
An anime made by the studio, Kinema Citrus, I took up 'The Rising of the Shield Hero (will be referring as Shield Hero)', because of the studio's reputation from its previous amazing production of the anime, Made in Abyss. Appreciating the wonderful art and music from Made in Abyss, Shield Hero had both. Kevin Penkin returning with another score, I'd say that the music was decent, but not great. It doesn't come close to Penkin's work in Made in Abyss. As for the graphics, Shield Hero has indeed better art and character design than many others in its genre. Character designs were decent enough and can appreciate Kinema Citrus's effort into it.
Now, regarding the story, despite being an isekai, it has its own sets of original ideas, with more than simple plots into it. There's no point in discussing the story, but on average I can say it's decent and enjoyable. But the one thing I did not appreciate much as the other factors were the characters. I'm not saying they are bad. As a matter of fact, they are much better than the original SAO (and the only SAO I've watched. Rest are intolerable), where the characters were simply horrible. The characters in Shield Hero lacked characteristic ingenuity, which is a common occurrence in other isekais, the ones which are average. In other words, the writing had less life into it. Naofumi and Raphtalia, being the stars of the show, have the most described writing, detailing their characteristics, and yet there's a blandness in them every so often. The lack of character dynamics and the delivery of often monotonous dialogues.
Dialogues were often monotonous, cliché and within rare times downright cringe. For the most part, I did not feel the depth within the characters, which connect viewers to these characters' lives.
It can be believed that isekai are inspired by the RPG/JRPG games from the olden days, but speaking of those games, many of them had amazing script throughout the story. Indeed, old 8/16-bit games (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda) have inspired new original stories into full-on Television series, but fundamental qualities are there no more.
Some of the originality concepts of Shield Hero also comes into question, when Filo, one of the protagonist's companions is a downright a Chocobo rip-off. Who cares if she has a human side? That's just fanservice anyway. Braggy/cocky characters with literally no cognitive abilities to think, are another stereotype shared with other trash isekai shows.
Unlike Made in Abyss, Kinema Citrus has done a poorer job in the production. Fast-paced plot amongst the episodes often left me wondering when the protagonist lands in a new location without any indication. That also included in the build-up of suspense during action sequences. The script is partly to blame for this.
But despite its pitfalls, Shield Hero is one of the good anime of 2019, if not great. Despite the pitfalls, Kinema Citrus had done a better job than other isekai anime.
It was an overall good experience, and look forward to the show's coming seasons. Hoping the writing and overall character dynamics would improve, it would be a better show to watch. Shield Hero can be said pretty much a common man's isekai starter.
Overall: 7/10