After going through a soft reboot of power levels and story, The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 8 is set to fight an uphill battle to rescue this widely panned and derided season. Let’s see if it was able to do that in this review!
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The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 8 Overview
The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 or Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 is an action, adventure, drama, fantasy, and most importantly, isekai anime that serves as the sequel to its highly acclaimed and fan favourite Season 1 that aired in 2019. The series is based upon a light novel written by Yusagi Aneko and illustrated by Minami Seira. You can read our review of the previous episode of the show right here.
The show’s second season is being adapted into anime by Studio Kinema Citrus, the same studio behind the show’s first season, and other highly acclaimed anime such as Made in Abyss and Barakamon. This season is directed by Masato Jinbo, an industry veteran who also directed shows such as Chaos Child and Restaurant to Another World. This episode of the show is also referred to as Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 Episode 8.
– Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 Episode 8 Review does not contain spoilers –
The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 8 Review- This Is Weird
Shield Hero is perhaps the most disappointing show of this entire year so far, not just this season. It is almost baffling how quickly this all went downhill, and the attempts to rescue it from these lows are as pathetic as any anime has ever been. This show is an embarrassment to its original run, and anyone with a shred of common sense can see that the difference in quality between the shows is greater than night and day. Whereas the first season was a phenomenal anime of any kind, not just an isekai, the second season fails to even be an acceptable example of its own genre.
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We already talked about how bad the start of this season was in the reviews of those episodes, so read them if you want to know why those were horrendous. However, the review of the previous episode was a lot more positive when compared to the rest of this season. That was because it seemed as if the show wanted to lift itself up and was putting in an effort to go back to its roots. Since the show’s start was so good, it is hard to blame the creators for that decision. However, it only took one more episode for the show to mess up again, and this time it looks to be permanent.
Most of this episode was fine. It was good, even. The moments with Kizuna and Naofumi’s party trying to get by unnoticed were very fun, and so was Naofumi going back to his roots of being a travelling merchant. However, as soon as the show reverted back to the original plotline of this season, that of the Spirit Tortoise, Ost, and an intruder to the world, things fell apart extremely quickly. It is also here that we can talk about the biggest problem with this season and why I believe this season of Shield Hero has failed to achieve the heights of its predecessor. The reason is Kyo.
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Who’s Kyo? Now that is a good question. If you asked the showrunners who he is, they would tell you he has been there for ages, developing his motivations and reasons for trying to destroy the whole world where he wasn’t even supposed to be. Ask anyone else, however, and you get the true picture. The reality is that the show pulled Kyo out of absolutely nowhere to be the big bad for this season. He has no motivations, no solid reason for being the way that he is, and is exactly as strong as the writers need him to be. He can switch between a threat and nuisance without care and is the villain equivalent of a Mary Sue.
If you still don’t think he is bad enough, try this on for size- we have gone from the most hated villain in all of anime in Bitch, to a villain that you don’t even know the name of. Tate no Yuusha Season 2 Episode 8 never even had a chance to be good because the writers have decided to go all-in on a lame horse. When there are no motivations, the show feels random and disconnected from the characters and their arcs. Even if there was quite an impactful moment towards the end of Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 8, it was ruined by it being caused by Kyo and coming out of absolutely nowhere.
Verdict
The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 8 was another bad episode in the series where it has become the norm, rather than an exception to be bad. The only thing exceptional about it is how exceptionally bad it is.
