The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 6 aired on Wednesday giving fans the best episode of the season so far. The episode isn’t simply the best because the others were lackluster up until this point. No, it’s because this episode delivered on all fronts bringing back what made the series great in the first place. From wonderful production to executing climatic moments perfectly, this is The Rising of the Shield Hero that fans have been waiting for all season long.
Rishia’s Big Moment
After five episodes of dealing with moments where she could prove herself, Rishia stepped up to the plate and hit a home run in episode 6. Backed up by a fantastic soundtrack courtesy of Kevin Penkin and wonderful direction by Takama Suzuki, Rishia’s big moment was everything fans hoped it would be. Despite the criticisms her character has received all season up until this point, Rishia’s moment was one of the main highlights of not just this episode, but the entire season.
One of the neat production decisions with Rishia this episode was having shots of her panicking with a black background behind her in the beginning then transitioning to vibrant scenes and using more empowering camera angles later on. Not only that, but the shots became clearer as well. Obviously, the shots below on the right were her in the suit, but it’s the implication that’s important here.
The shot of her eye being revealed while fighting Kyo was an absolutely perfect representation of Rishia finally coming out of her shell. Now that she showcased her strength of manipulating ki, Rishia is definitely in store for more epic moments this season.
Naofumi’s Big Moment
Since the ending of the first episode, the feeling of Naofumi being on the backburner throughout the course of this season has lingered. Sure, he’s leading the charge, but he hasn’t done anything extraordinary… until now. While his big moment in this episode can even be given partial credit to Ost for granting his shield the power of the Spirit Tortoise, it never once took the focus off of Naofumi. Once again, proving that production in episode 6 took a drastic leap forward.
While it wasn’t so much what happened that was grand, even though it was, it was the one, quick moment where Naofumi realizes he can no longer use the Wrath Shield anymore because he is “no longer filled with rage and sorrow”, as Ost put it. The emphasis put on Naofumi’s emotions during the moment he became the one who had to end Ost’s life was a real testament to how fantastic of a character Naofumi truly is.
The shot of him on the verge of tears as he’s about to kill Ost while she smiles was the cherry on top and a wonderful choice of shots. Naofumi’s voice actor, Kaito Ishikawa, left me with a combination of chills and tears the moment he let out that scream. The impact was felt to my very core that stayed around even after the episode ended.
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Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 5 – Controller of the Spirit Tortoise Revealed
The Journey Ahead
Some could argue that Kyo isn’t the greatest antagonist Shield Hero fans have met yet. But he has his own uniqueness to him that makes him a viable villain. His lack of remorse for Ost’s death set a ticking time bomb off in Naofumi that may bring back the hatred he once had. And that gives us a wonderful setup for something big to possibly come later down the line this season.
Between Fitalia showing up to help fight the Spirit Tortoise on the outside and everything that occurred inside it this episode, The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 6 was undoubtedly the best episode of not only the season but the entire series itself so far. With the depth of emotions that were felt, the wonderful action captured with beautiful camera work and animations, and a bone-chilling soundtrack that just wrapped up everything perfectly, it’s safe to say The Rising of the Shield Hero is finally back to what we all love with much left in store. Even the Spirit Tortoise looked better than earlier this season!
Episode 7 of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 will air on Wednesday, May 18, on Crunchyroll. The series finally made its way back into the top-10 of our weekly poll! So be sure to vote and keep it there for next week’s poll!
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©2021 Aneko Yusagi / KADOKAWA / Shield Hero S2 Production Committee
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