The Rising of the Shield Hero: Season 1/ Episode 3 “Wave of Catastrophe” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
Naofumi and Raphtalia experience their first demon wave, and Raphtalia begins to hear whispers of Naofumi’s past.
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Naofumi and Raphtalia experience their first demon wave, and Raphtalia begins to hear whispers of Naofumi’s past.
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| Network | |
| Crunchyroll | |
| Director(s) | Abo Takao |
| Writer(s) | Koyanagi Keigo |
| Air Date | 1/23/2019 |
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Level Up Lolicon: Naofumi, Raphtalia
According to Naofumi, it has only been a week since they were in the mines and now he is at level 16 and Raphtalia at 18. Also, the formerly childlike Raphtalia has seemingly become a teenager. This leads to some awkwardness for, according to Naofumi’s observations, the kingdom seems to have a lolicon complex. On top of that, there seems to be something about demi-humans that Raphtalia doesn’t want Naofumi to know. But, unbeknownst to her, she isn’t the only one with secrets.
Commentary
One of the things I hope is revealed is why there is racism (?) against demi-humans. Also, how did demi-humans come to be? Most shows sidestep that but with Raphtalia trying to be secretive and not have Naofumi be informed about her people, it makes you wonder if we won’t be left to make up our own assumptions.
Hello To Old Frenemies & The First Wave: Raphtalia, Motoyasu, Naofumi
For the first time in weeks, maybe months, Motoyasu and Naofumi are in the same room and, of course, there are snide comments passed between them. All of which Raphtalia hears as Motoyasu tries to woo her to no avail. But, one comment, about Naofumi’s past, leads to him being reminded of how much he hates the position he is stuck in. Well, at least until he sees waves of zombies coming from the air.
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Once that begins, and he notices all the heroes and knights going towards a close by landing zone, as a village named Lute goes undefended. Now, while Naofumi feels trapped in this foreign land, that doesn’t mean he is going to stand by and let people get hurt. So, alongside Raphtalia, he rushes to the village and tries to help the village people escape. However, seeing him do so much for them leads some to want to help Naofumi and even knights who don’t support him, they stand by him too. Thus leading to the village being saved.
Commentary
Considering Naofumi protected a village, rather than a city, seemingly winning the hearts and minds of the people, will things change? Heck, considering even the knights found themselves respecting him, will there be a day it is realized Myne was lying? Oh, and the biggest question of them all: How will Raphtalia react?
At the moment, it seems she believes Naofumi can do no wrong, but a rape accusation could potentially break all that. Though there is also the possibility she takes note of her relationship with Naofumi and says she doesn’t believe it. Something that, I can already imagine, is going to lead Naofumi to break down. After all, this persona he tries to put out there is due to him feeling like a social pariah. So imagine what could happen if someone sees him for who he truly is and not this façade he uses to cope.
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Highlights
- Naofumi and Raphtalia growing closer makes Raphtalia’s reaction to Naofumi’s rape accusation a thing of interest.
Low Point
- The first wave we saw was so anti-climatic that it pushes the idea that this show better have one hell of a story.
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Just a minor point – the other heroes didn’t defend a city. They just rushed to the source of the wave to stop it, which technically is their job, though they might have tried to defend civilians in the process but clearly didn’t.
I really enjoyed this episode not so much for the plot aspects which in this episode didn’t really go very far considering the focus was on the wave, but more because of seeing how Rapthalia and Naofumi have clearly gotten used to working together to the point where they don’t even really need to talk during the fight to know what the other one is going to do and they have each other’s backs. It was a really nice moment to watch.
How did you feel about the action and the wave though?