Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari

is a Japanese light novel series written by Aneko Yusagi. Originally published as a web novel in the user-generated novel site Shōsetsuka ni Narō, the series has since been published by Media Factory with an expanded story-line featuring illustrations by Seira Minami. As of June 2019, 22 volumes have been published.

The light novel series was adapted into a manga series by Aiya Kyū and published by Media Factory, with 27 volumes released as of February 2025. Both the light novel and manga series were licensed by One Peace Books and were published in North America starting in September 2015. The 25-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Kinema Citrus aired from January to June 2019. A second season, co-produced by DR Movie, aired from April to June 2022. A third season aired from October to December 2023. A fourth season is set to premiere in July 2025.

Plot

Naofumi Iwatani, an easygoing Japanese youth, was summoned into a parallel world along with three other young Japanese men from parallel universes to become the world's Cardinal Heroes and fight inter-dimensional hordes of monsters called Waves. Only by constantly fighting against the waves can they return to their own world. Each of the heroes were, respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned. Naofumi happened to receive the Legendary Shield, the sole defensive equipment, while the other heroes received respectively, a sword, a spear, and a bow, weapons meant for attack. Furthermore, the "status magic" all four also have make it like they are in a computer game, except Naofumi is the only member of the group who has not played one. Because of these differences, he quickly is considered weak, and so as the other heroes are fully supported by the kingdom and gain several strong allies each, Naofumi's luck turns to the worse after his single companion, revealed to be the kingdom's princess, betrays him, steals all his belongings, and leaves him devoid of all assistance and supplies by framing him of sexually assaulting her.

Mocked by the nobility and shunned by everyone from his fellow heroes to peasants, a now cynical Naofumi, with nothing but his legendary equipment and current outfit that he bought prior, is forced to train as a hero alone while working to make ends meet, until he buys from a slave trader a young tanuki demi-human girl named Raphtalia, and later an egg that hatches into a bird-like monster whom he names "Filo", both quickly growing into adulthood and becoming powerful warriors under his care. As they little by little gain the trust and gratitude of the people with their heroic actions, Naofumi and his companions work together to carry out their mission as saviors as they unravel the mystery of the Waves and the reason why they are a threat not only to their world, but to other worlds as well. This is not a story about revenge in another world, nor is it a story about how a hero is born, but a story about mutual redemption after establishing connections with companions.

Media

Light novel

Originally published as a web novel, the series has been re-written with an expanded story-line. The series is currently published by Media Factory and features illustrations by Seira Minami. As of June 25, 2019, 22 volumes have been published. The novel series and the spin-off novel ''The Reprise of the Spear Hero'' was licensed by One Peace Books.

Manga

The light novel series was adapted into a manga series by Aiya Kyū and published by Media Factory, with 27 volumes released as of February 21, 2025. Both the novel and manga series were licensed by One Peace Books and were published in North America starting in September 2015.

Spin-off

A comedy spin-off series was released in the 61st issue of ''Kadokawa Dengeki Daioh G''. The four-panel comedy manga, titled , was drawn by Akagashi.

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced in June 2017. The television series is produced by Kinema Citrus and directed by Takao Abo, with Keigo Koyanagi handling series composition, Masahiro Suwa designing the characters, and Kevin Penkin composing the music. The series aired from January 9 to June 26, 2019, on AT-X and other channels. It ran for 25 episodes.

The first opening theme is "Rise", performed by Madkid, while the first ending theme is , performed by Chiai Fujikawa. The second opening theme is "Faith," performed by Madkid, while the second ending theme is , performed by Fujikawa. For episode 4, Asami Seto sang an insert song titled "Falling Through Starlight" as her character Raphtalia. Both Crunchyroll and Funimation streamed the series. Crunchyroll streamed the show in both the original Japanese version and the English dub. Plus Media Networks Asia licensed the series in Southeast Asia and is streaming it on Aniplus Asia, iQIYI, bilibili, Netflix, and Disney+ Hotstar. Funimation started streaming the dub on May 1, 2019. Originally intending to air the English dub simultaneously with the original Japanese, Crunchyroll announced that there would be a two-week delay in the release of the English version on May 14, the day before episode 19, "The Four Cardinal Heroes", was scheduled to release.

At 2019's Crunchyroll Expo, it was announced that the series would receive a second and third season. Masato Jinbo replaced Takao Abo as director, and the rest of the staff members reprised their roles; Kinema Citrus is joined by DR Movie for animation production. During "Kadokawa Light Novel Expo 2020", it was originally revealed that the second season would premiere in October 2021, but it was later delayed. The second season aired from April 6 to June 29, 2022. It ran for 13 episodes. In Southeast Asia, Plus Media Networks Asia licensed the second season and is simulcasting it on Aniplus Asia, bilibili, IQIYI, and Netflix. The opening theme is "Bring Back", performed by Madkid, while the ending theme is , performed by Chiai Fujikawa. On May 2, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the second season would begin airing its dub on May 4.

The third season is directed by Hitoshi Haga, with the rest of the staff from the previous season returning, with Alfredo Sirica and Natalie Jeffreys also joining as additional composers. It aired from October 6 to December 22, 2023. The opening theme is "Sin", performed by Madkid, while the ending theme is , performed by Chiai Fujikawa. On October 19, 2023, Crunchyroll announced that the third season would begin airing its dub the following day.

In January 2024, it was announced that a fourth season was in production, and is set to premiere on July 9, 2025. The opening theme is "Resolution", performed by Madkid, while the ending theme is , performed by Chiai Fujikawa. Hitoshi Haga reprises his role as director. The series composition is done by Keigo Koyanagi, the character design by Franziska van Wulfen, Sana Komatsu and Masahiro Suwa, the soundtrack by Kevin Penkin, Alfredo Sirica and Natalie Jeffreys.

Characters from this series are featured in ''Isekai Quartet'', a comedy crossover series featuring franchises published by Kadokawa Corporation, from season 2 onwards. That season premiered on January 14, 2020.

Video games

A mobile game titled was released for Android and iOS devices on February 24, 2021. An adaptation of the anime titled ''The Rising of the Shield Hero: Relive the Animation'' was released for Steam on September 24, 2019, for Android and iOS devices on October 24, 2019.

Reception

Sales and accolades

The light novel series had over 3.3 million volumes in print by December 2018, and the manga adaptation had 1 million volumes in print by January 2019. By April 2019, the light novels and manga have sold a combined 6.2 million copies in Japan, after their sales increased by 1.2 million copies in two months, mainly due to the success of the anime adaptation.

At the 4th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2020, the character Raphtalia was selected as Best Girl, while Billy Kametz was awarded the Best Voice Artist Performance (English) for his role as Naofumi Iwatani. Kevin Penkin was nominated in the Best Score category for his series' work.

Reception and controversy in North America

When the anime adaptation began airing in North America, the first episode came under controversy. Several Anime News Network reviewers criticized the series for its framing of a false rape accusation, and the protagonist purchasing a girl as a slave was controversial. When producer Junichiro Tamura was asked about it, he responded that there "have not been any controversies regarding the series in Japan, so it is difficult to say. In the case there were any controversy domestically, we will try to address all issues with the staff and people involved to bring our customers a better product the next time."

Reviews of subsequent episodes have been generally positive. Theron Martin of Anime News Network gave a rating of B− for the first two episodes, stating "the series looks like it's gotten over its initial problematic hump and should hopefully slide into a more agreeable story flow." He gave a B+ rating for the third episode, stating that "the series seems like it's angling to build Naofumi up more as a folk hero than the famously brazen heroes we're used to seeing in fantasy stories" and that "episode 3 gives the best argument to date for the series' possible potential."

The second season received heavy scrutiny from both fans and critics due to its fast pacing and changes to the source material.

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rising Of The Shield Hero, The
2013 Japanese novels
2019 anime television series debuts
2019 controversies
Anime and manga about parallel universes
Anime and manga based on light novels
Anime and manga controversies
AT-X (TV network) original programming
Book series introduced in 2012
Crunchyroll anime
Dark fantasy anime and manga
DR Movie
Fiction about false allegations of sex crimes
Funimation
Isekai anime and manga
Isekai novels and light novels
Kadokawa Corporation franchises
Kinema Citrus
Light novels
Light novels first published online
Media Factory manga
Novels about slavery
Seinen manga
Shōsetsuka ni Narō
Upcoming anime television series