English Dub Review: Rising of the Shield Hero “Ruins in the Fog”

Overview

The Spirit Tortoise’s head was cut off, but Ost, it’s familiar, is still alive. It could revive at any moment. The allied armies need to get back into fighting shape and fast. Naofumi makes the risky move of heading onto the Tortoise’s back with only a small group and tries to find its true weak spot…

Our Take

It looks like we get a bit of some backstory regarding Rishia’s past and her connection with Itsuki (the bow hero) along with why she gives a shit about a guy who on a consistent level is currently dismissive towards her. To many of us who knew nothing about Rishia as an individual, this is a big deal because she was introduced without a lot of explanation so now we know more about her. It makes things all the more tragic when you hear about her banishment from Itsuki’s party with Ost pointing out that she’s managed to accomplish more with Naofumi than she ever did with Itsuki so far in challenging this towering monstrosity and progressively take this to heart.

Due to the Spirit Tortoise’s ability to resurrect itself at a later point in time, there’s now a sense of urgency to make sure it’s full-on dead after they managed to decapitate this Kaiju fucker last episode. Now they’re left with the option of going on top of the Tortoise’s back due to Ost having a psychic connection with the creature whenever she’s near it which at times feels a bit too contrived due to only giving us information when the story demands it.

Overall, I kinda liked how Rishia is doing whatever she can to be useful for Naofumi’s party. Not exactly the most exciting episode but kinda important to know more about Rishia plus, they made some progress on dealing with the Spirit Tortoise. Finding that temple provided some nice lore with Naofumi recognizing the Japanese written there by ancient heroes which could prove useful later. The idea of entering a village that’s on top of the Tortoise’s back gave off “Golden Axe” vibes, but I mean it in a good way since there was an actual stage in that particular game that involved traveling on the back of a giant turtle. And that stinger at the end rewards anyone who’s watched Season One with some familiar faces making a comeback…