The Rising of the Shield Hero: Season 2/ Episode 2 “Footprints of the Spirit Tortoise” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
The mysterious figure from the last episode reveals themselves as we learn more about the Spirit Tortoise and the nations which wish to defeat it.
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The mysterious figure from the last episode reveals themselves as we learn more about the Spirit Tortoise and the nations which wish to defeat it.
| Aired | 4/13/2022 |
| Network | Crunchyroll |
| Directed By | Takahiro Hirata |
| Written By | Keigo Koyanagi |
| Introduced This Episode | |
| Ost | Hanazawa Kana |
| Eclair | Aoki Ruriko |
Recap
Preparations For What’s Next – Ost, Naofumi, Mirellia, Éclair
With it seeming that the Spirit Tortoise needs two to three to recover after it destroyed a location, everyone is trying to figure a way the keep it from destroying a major city. The problem is, the Spirit Tortoise is a fortress, there is only one Cardinal Hero here, and the Seven Star Heroes are far from where the next battle should be. With that, so comes the question of what can be done even if they have siege weapons, mages, and many people willing to sacrifice their life?
As of now, not much. One issue is many are willing to sacrifice many for some sense of glory, and Naofumi isn’t fond of the idea of a pyrrhic war. What also doesn’t help is everyone jockeying for the commander position, minus Mirellia, even though her kingdom is financing a lot of this war.
Enter Ost, a former concubine who reveals themselves to be the Spirit Tortoise’s familiar and explains how the Spirit Tortoise operates. Long story short, with enough souls, the Spirit Tortoise can stop the waves from happening, and familiars like Ost are tasked with gathering souls to be used for this purpose. However, someone broke the seal on the Spirit Tortoise and seemingly is controlling them. So Ost is asking the War Council to kill the Spirit Tortoise.
Sadly, while it doesn’t fall on deaf ears, her plea doesn’t simplify the task at hand since she provides no way to kill the Spirit Tortoise, never mind seal it once again. However, while the leaders of various nations fight amongst themselves, Naofumi does try to corral them around a plan and even gets some from where he reigns, like Éclair, who trains everyone back at his village. But, whether his plan will work and end this threat, that’s hard to say.
Things To Note
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- How many souls are required to stop the waves?
What Could Happen Next
- We meet the Seven Star Heroes
Review
On The Fence
With Being So Used To Naofumi Traveling, This Is A Change
For a lot of season 1, since Naofumi was a pariah trying to rebuild his reputation, he was on the move, meeting new people, exploring new places, and learning new things. Now, I won’t outright say that isn’t happening here, but potentially to a lesser degree. When it comes to learning about these other nations, the Lowhirot, Haikazuya, Mideus, and potentially others, we know what their weapons of choice are and how their military members dress, but that’s it.
To my knowledge, these aren’t people who represent the various countries that Naofumi has visited, they’re strangers, and while, yes, it is only episode 2, with things feeling much slower than before, one 20+ minute episode often feels like nothing, and it is like we’re going at a snail’s pace. This is surprising since it doesn’t appear that we’re getting a 20+ episode season like last time.
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