English Dub Review: The Rising of the Shield Hero “The Dark Coliseum”


Overview

Seeking to reunite the scattered inhabitants of Lurolona Village who were sold into slavery, the titular Shield Hero and his party head to Zeltoble to secretly compete in the underground fights at the coliseum.


Our Take

In the aftermath of the Spirit Tortoise’s defeat, Naofumi prepares for another oncoming threat within the next few months. Later on, he’s informed by Queen Miriella that between the time he handled the Spirit Tortoise problem, and was trapped in some multiverse shenanigans with his crew, the other three Heroes along with the Seven Star Heroes have disappeared as well, with the only one they know about being the Staff Hero: disgraced King Aultcray (A.K.A. “Trash”). The Queen also warns Naofumi that her sinister daughter Malty (A.K.A. “Bitch” along with her father, she was the very same toxic shrew who conspired to ruin Naofumi in the first episode of Season One) has also gone missing. Naofumi being the slave abolitionist that he is, goes to visit a slave trader named Beloukas to free the demi-humans that came from Lurolona Village to bring them back home, only to learn that someone else got to them first… 

As Naofumi proceeds to free all the slaves, he follows a lead to the nation of Zeltoble to free more. And discovers an underground auction/fight club featuring demi-humans being sold at exorbitant prices. And rather than break them all out (which would’ve made this a shorter episode) Naofumi is convinced to take part in the fighting arena to gain enough money to free them. Later on, Naofumi talks at a bar with a mysterious woman to learn about the rules, while watching a fight learns that sometimes these fights are fixed. And in an effort to not draw any further attention to themselves, Naofumi’s crew decide to partake in the fight club in disguise under the name “Team Rock Valley”.

Overall, for a season premiere episode, it doesn’t waste any time and jumps straight into the plot. It’s been a while since Naofumi had come back to Melromarc, but sadly it’s really hasn’t changed much since season one, given that certain assholes within the Queen’s kingdom and their endless inability to acknowledge Naofumi and his party as heroes despite concrete evidence proving time and again Naofumi’s efforts are more legit than the other 3 douchey Cardinal Heroes. Also, the Staff Hero just so happens to be the very same King of Melomarc that Naofumi and the Queen rightfully condemned to poverty for his past bullshit along with their older daughter that falsely accused him in Season One. It’s clear that with the way things are going, that king might play a larger role at some point. And with the way this episode ended, I’m hooked to see what happens next!


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