The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 Ep 2 Review
Following a lackluster second outing, The Rising of the Shield Hero managed to regain some of it with last week’s start to its third season. From the getgo, it seemed apparent that the people making the anime listened to the fans complaints and got their act together. The animation’s returned to it’s former glory, and more importantly, the pacing of the story’s improved. Naofumi’s mission to free the rest of Raphtalia’s people has led his party to an underground fighting ring, and let the animation truly shine. More than that, though, it’s led us to another contender for the best waifu list of 2023. Sadeena enters the story in full, and she’s a killer!
Sadeena, the Whale Waifu!
After playing the underground fighting ring’s rules against it to win a ton of money, Naofumi’s party is sitting pretty. Either groups refuse to fight them and forfeit, or they win and increase their reputation. Either way, they’re well on their way to earning enough money to free Raphtalia’s people. That’s when they run into the woman they spoke to at the colosseum.
She goes by the alias of Nadia, but her true name is Sadeena, a killer whale Demi-human. Powerful and playful, she bonds with Naofumi over drinks, and when she sees how well he holds his liquor, throws some signs that she’s into him. Despite this episode marking her second appearance though, she’s got a bit of depth to her.
It’s soon revealed that Sadeena hails from Lulorona Village like Raphtalia and her friends. Raphtalia even looked up to Sadeena as a cool big sister. However, she had been away from the village when the Wave of Catastrophe destroyed it and its people enslaved. Thus, she feels a great deal of remorse over being unable to stop the destruction that she hides behind her confident exterior. That is, until she learns Naofumi’s true identity in the ring.
The Animation Kicked Up a Notch
The fight between the Shield Hero party and Sadeena is a visually spectacular battle. The animation has not only returned to what it was in the first season, but surpassed it, with all parties showing what they can do. More than that, it’s an emotional fight, with Raphtalia getting to show her beloved big sister how strong she’s grown. The relief on Sadeena’s face at Raphtalia’s, and their villages, survival is made apparent by her decision to forfeit. The Shield Hero looks set to free all the villagers!
That’s when the fates decide to throw another curveball.
Not wanting to lose all that money, the people running the arena demand Naofumi’s group fight a surprise challenger. Despite being young and hidden behind a mask, their power is evident. They battle all four people (Rishia and Raph-Chan don’t fight) to a standstill. That’s in spite of the fact that Naofumi’s a Cardinal Hero and Raphtalia a Vassal Hero. Thankfully, Naofumi still manages to get the money, despite the slavers trying to cheat him out of it.
That child they fought, though, isn’t a one-off character. As the end of the episode reveals, his name is Fohl and the reason he’s fighting is to pay for medicine for his sick sister. Much like Sadeena, both of them are going to become important to the story going forward.
This episode was another banger. From the happy reunion of Raphtalia and Sadeena to the exciting fights, it looks like Shield Hero is back in business. Sadeena might be a contender for one of the top waifu’s for 2023, much like Raphtalia before her in 2020. And, two more important characters have joined the cast. If all goes well, then Shield Hero is on track to regaining its top spot in the Isekai world.
That’s assuming it manages to overcome the pacing problems from last season. Given how the third season will only have twelve episodes, though, it will be a test. Fingers crossed!
D&A Anime Blog 
[…] the battle with the white tiger boy in the arena, Naofumi and the others finally have enough money to free all […]
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[…] I would like to apologize for a mistake I made in my review of episode two. The “Killer Clown” that Naofumi’s party fought was not, in fact, Fohl, but an […]
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