Episode three of The Rising of the Shield Hero – Season Two aired on Wednesday giving fans possibly one of the worst episodes of the entire Spring 2022 season. From terrible cuts to a botched CGI Spirit Tortoise, almost everything about episode three was unbearable. Everything ridiculous that occurred can be completely ignored if you try hard enough because the ending still left us with much to be desired thanks to Ost Hourai.
The Good – Ost Hourai and a Stellar Soundtrack
Ost was properly introduced to us in episode two and quickly became a major player this season. In episode three we finally saw what she’s capable of and thankfully we did because she was arguably the only exciting character of this entire episode. From taking on an entire hoard of familiars with her gravity incantation to amplifying Naofumi’s shield’s power, she brought about a lot of exciting moments on top of a wonderful soundtrack—one that actually made the end of the battle feel like something great was actually accomplished when it inevitably wasn’t.
The biggest moment of the episode came when Ost dropped the bombshell on everyone that the Spirit Tortoise isn’t actually dead despite its head being cut off. Thankfully, this ending with her made me completely forget about everything that just occurred beforehand and gives some hope that season two is about to become much more enjoyable.
The Bad – Everything Else
Multiple times in the episode we see soldiers that are 2D characters one moment and 3DCGI the next. Big moments felt like they were made up on the spot. And the emotion of beating the walking beast of destruction that was installing fear into everyone’s hearts over the past two episodes was nowhere to be felt. At one moment, we’re hearing Eclair let out a battle cry leading her men and their horses while running towards the battle, only for it to cut to the very back of all of them which made it seem like they’re just walking.
Raphtalia and Filo pulling new moves out of nowhere were less than extravagant due to absolutely zero build-up for them, along with questionable camera angles and cuts showing off these moves. Rishia giving those two a “bibbity bop” boost of power out of nowhere with a stock-like sound effect as well just left fans wondering—where the hell did all of this come from? It felt like throughout the entire episode we just received a compilation of random events picked out of a hat.
The Queen’s orders didn’t leave us with a chilling feeling of power and leadership. New moves that we witnessed happened so fast that we barely even realized what happened. And the Spirit Tortoise Kingdom commander’s death felt completely unnecessary and didn’t give anyone a boost of energy nor left fans with a single shred of sadness—even though all of the leaders, including the Queen, had a random split-second moment of silence for him near the end. Here’s to you, Commander. We hardly knew thee.
A CGI Tortoise
It’s hard not to talk about what was supposed to be the focus of episode three, especially when it’s this big of an eyesore. What got some fans hopeful after looking at the sheer size and beauty of the Spirit Tortoise in the key visual that dropped before the season ended up leaving fans with red faces after facepalming themselves so much while watching episode three. Not once did it ever feel as if our favorite characters were in any danger or intimidated by what was supposed to be a giant moving fortress that can destroy countries all on its own. And what made it worse are shots like the one below that portrayed the Spirit Tortoise as some giant animal in a cutaway scene that you would see in an old Playstation 2 game.
With the combination of 2D blood under a 3DCGI shell, the Spirit Tortoise’s reign of temporary terror was almost comical to a certain extent. At least, that’s what it feels like when its head was cut off and it just hit the ground with a shocked look on its face. One that almost made it feel like it was relieved that Raphtalia and Filo saved it from the absolute embarrassment of being a CGI tortoise ever again. Raphtalia and Filo had a chance to give fans an epic moment that would leave us all cheering and hyped up. Unfortunately, that was overshadowed by the pure ridiculousness of everything surrounding the Spirit Tortoise.
Time To Move On
Shield Hero fans, let’s just forget all of this ever happened and focus on what really matters right now—Ost and who she really is. Episode four of The Rising of the Shield Hero – Season Two will air on Wednesday, April 27, on Crunchyroll.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll,
©2021 Aneko Yusagi / KADOKAWA / Shield Hero S2 Production Committee
