English Dub Review: The Rising of the Shield Hero “Each of Their Paths”

Overview

Naofumi’s party is attacked by a pair of mysterious and powerful men. S’yne arrives during the battle and finally attempts to explain why she wants to become one of Naofumi’s followers. Meanwhile, more villagers are training in Hengen Muso…


Our Take

As Naofumi and his crew decide to leave Motoyasu behind to mentally collect himself, the three get attacked by a group of surprisingly powerful assailants. S’yne (the Murder Clown) appears and helps the party to defeat them, with their bodies mysteriously disappearing. With Naofumi still suspicious of her, S’yne decides to reveal her unique yet tragic backstory and how she’s sort of tied with these new foes who not only still have a bone to pick with her, but also wanna continue targeting other weapon heroes she wants to protect. And yet despite still having some doubts, Naofumi decides to let S’yne in who easily fits in with the kids. and since this takes place in a universe the operates on Videogame/JRPG mechanics, Naofumi decides to help the orphaned demi-human villagers level up their classes so they can further develop as individuals.

Meanwhile, both Aultcray/Trash and Queen Mirella acknowledge that a blind demi-human Tiger child that Naofumi took in named Atla bears a striking resemblance with someone they once knew which may have possible relevance somewhere down the line, but whoever it was struck a chord with the jerk who up until this point was wasn’t very remorseful for what he helped did to Naofumi. Later on, Naofumi learns from Eclair that a group of bandits who appeared nearby are attacking some villages and proceeds to take them down with his party. But once the plan comes into motion, Naofumi comes across Motoyasu fighting a masked bandit, whom he recognizes…

Overall, this episode excels in terms of building up a strong sense of escalation within the proceedings. The enemies are starting to step their game up, especially if they can send meteor spells out of nowhere. But in the end, part of me saw the twist coming a mile away with regarding how a certain masked bandit was dressed. But I guess next week those questions will most likely get answers…