English Dub Review: The Rising of the Shield Hero “The Four Cardinal Heroes”

Popes make for powerful enemies.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

A new villain has just revealed themselves to Naofumi and friends: the pope of the Church of Three Heroes. The pope, who has just unleashed a powerful blast leaving Naofumi and his allies in a devastated crater, is able to wield a weapon which can emulate the abilities of the four cardinal weapons. Using this weapon requires an incredible amount of energy, however, so it’s good that the pope has an army of followers infusing his weapon with their power. Motoyasu tries to fight back against the pope, but he is shielded by a powerful magical barrier also created by the mana from his followers.

Things look bad. The pope, seeing the advantage, prepares to deliver another powerful attack to the party. Thankfully, Ren and Itsuki arrive just in time to help. Itsuki and Ren explain that they were able to survive the trap the church set up for them. They too were saved by agents in the service of the queen. The two say that they believe Naofumi was framed now, having lived through it themselves.

With new kinship, Ren and Mitsuki attack the pope together, depleting him of mana. However, he’s able to rally his followers to send him more energy. Back on the ground, Ren, Mitsuki and Motoyasu try to work together, but Naofumi wants nothing to do with them. He explains that the other heroes have been irresponsible in their hero duties, causing more trouble than they stopped, and ultimately allowing the Church of the Three Heroes to take advantage of them. Naofumi scolds each of the other heroes one by one.

While the heroes are bickering, the pope launches another attack against them, which Naofumi stops with his shield. Begrudgingly, he agrees to work with the others to save the day, remembering what Fitoria told him before. Just then, the pope uses his power to use a powerful new spell: Cathedral, which creates an enormous cathedral around the crater.

Our Take:

We’ve stuck around with Naofumi for 19 episodes now, seeing him suffer through discrimination and suffering. Now, it seems like Naofumi is finally getting some kind of comeuppance against those who have wronged him so, even if that means fighting side by side with one of them. This gives this episode of Shield Hero a strong sense of dramatic importance, which this show doesn’t always have going for it sometimes. It can feel like previous episodes haven’t been the most relevant to the larger story, so getting a big chapter like this is great to see.

Despite the fact that this episode takes place in the middle of a battle, most of it is just Naofumi talking down to the other cardinal heroes. This doesn’t make for the most compelling viewing, unfortunately, but it is long overdue. On the one hand, you’ve got those that have wronged Naofumi getting the business, (Even if it is just a scolding) but on the other hand one feels like this particular bit of dialogue could have been cut down a bit so we could get a little more plot development in the current fight. Thankfully, the writing is quality enough and well-paced enough to keep viewer interest cemented to the screen. If you’re invested in Naofumi’s journey, then this episode has a lot for you, even if not that much happens.

Though the animation is a little bit sparse, what there is is very well animated. Shield Hero has always impressed me with it’s sense of color and motion, and that’s the same here. The pope’s weapon is terrifyingly powerful and portrayed as such, which lends credence to his sinister nature as well. The villains in this show have basically always been members of a corrupt establishment, and the pope is basically the biggest bad of them all in that respect. There’s something terrifying about a villain who keeps smiling at you even in the middle of a battle, especially when that villain has an army of brainwashed followers behind him.

The quality of the themes in this series is strong, and this episode represents an important turn in the series. We’re transitioning from a series that’s just about Naofumi getting crapped on by every conceivable entity in the kingdom to him being the de facto leader of the cardinal heroes. Seeing Naofumi grow like this is incredibly satisfying and quite validating for anyone who’s been sticking around for the series.