At this point, it should be obvious that the Four Cardinal Heroes are in need of some serious therapy. None of them were mentally ready to handle getting summoned and told that they’re heroes meant to save the world. Now, Motoyasu can only see women as talking pigs except for Filo (who he now stalks like crazy.) Ren went through his bandit phase after losing his party and getting conned by Witch. Naofumi’s the most stable of them thanks to making friends he can trust. But Itsuki might be in the worst state of them all. He’s so in denial over the fact that he’s wrong that he’s letting Witch string him along.
Man, Witch sucks.
Itsuki Has Started to Lose It.
From the start of the episode, it’s clear that Itsuki has started going off the deep end. He’s mentally monologuing about how he’s on the side of justice. He’s telling himself that he’s not inferior to anyone and denying the fact that he’s messed up a lot. Then when he sees that Naofumi’s behind his match with Rishia and that he brought all the Demihuman kids, he accuses him of gathering more slaves and using them for money and profit. Then, he tries to attack Naofumi, putting everyone’s lives in danger in the process!
It becomes apparent to everyone, especially the viewers, that Itsuki is not in the best state of mind. And we get a glimpse into just how deep-rooted these issues he has are. In his world, an alternate Japan where people could have psyhic powers, he wanted to be a hero, but then he found out that he wasn’t as strong as he thought he was. Unlike Deku, though, Itsuki never got the chance to become stronger; he just got bullied and made to think that he was weak.
Then he got summoned to Melromarc and told by everyone that he was one of the people meant to save their world. He had an entire country brown-nosing him, and that went too much to his head. Because when you’ve spent your entire life being told you’re not special, you’re willing to believe those who sing your praises, no matter their intentions or sincerity. Thus, like the other Heroes, he fell for Witch’s lies hook, line, and sinker.
Thankfully, Rishia is there to give him a reality check.
Rishia is a True Friend
Rishia is probably the only person who genuinely believed in Itsuki from the start. He saved her from imprisonment, so she followed him and admired his sense of justice…until he threw her out. Now that’s started to overcome her own inescurities and become a badass, she’s ready to help Itsuki in this time of need. And help her she does.
The fight between Rishia and Itsuki is less of a fight and more of a one-sided curb-stomping. Despite being in the thrall of the cursed Bow, Rishia still manages to curb-stomp him. To rub further salt in the wound, Rishia also criticizes his views on justice. Itsuki thinks his form of justice is the only form of justice, but that’s untrue. By its nature, Justice is different between person to person, culture to culture. One group’s idea of justice is another’s idea of tyranny. The fact that Itsuki’s refusing to acknowledge this doesn’t make him a hero; just a self-righteous bully.
It gets to the point where even Itsuki’s Bow gets tired of its wielders nonsense, and gives its power to Rishia to end things. She does, but Itsuki still refuses to listen to reason and runs off to find Witch.
Itsuki is a Broken Shell
What happens next surprises no one but Itsuki. Witch and the rest of his So-called party’s long gone. They spent all that money he won on themselves and left him with a Mountain of debts, utterly breaking him.
It’s not fully explained in the anime, but the light novels reveal that what’s happened to Itsuki is even worse than people thought. Because he used the Cursed Series of his Bow, the Pride Bow, he’s lost his free will. As a result, the sight at the end of Rishia leading Itsuki is because of PTSD. He can no longer do anything without being ordered to do so. It’s that bad.
Love the ending scene. The price to pay for Itsuki's curse series is to lose every sense of himself but at least Rishia is there for him.
The only consolation’s here are the fact that Itsuki is with someone who actually cares about his well-being. The Four Heroes are now United under Naofumi. And they now have an army of strong companions to help them. Things seem to be looking up.
Since there’s only one episode left this season, I’m waiting to see how things go wrong again.
Raphtalia is one of the best waifus in the history of the Isekai genre. She’s beautiful, kind, and strong, and she was the big reason that Naofumi never entirely gave into the despair from his early days as the Shield Hero. While Naofumi either ignores or remains oblivious that she’s in love with him (for now), he will still go to war against anyone who would hurt her. That is precisely what happens in the final episode of this season of Shield Hero. When an entire country targets Raphtalia for reasons straight out of Game of Thrones, Naofumi marches to war.
Having spent the entire season tracking down the three Cardinal Heroes and setting them straight, things seem to finally be going right for Naofumi. The Heroes are cooperating, Lulorona Village is flourishing despite some setbacks, and everyone’s getting stronger. Gaelion’s even started teaching Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Sadeena how to use Dragon Veins. Things finally seem to be doing well for the Shield Hero.
Then, due to a ridiculous misunderstanding, the Heroes get caught in another conflict.
It all started when Naofumi asked Erhard to make Raphtalia a Miko Outfit based on the one she wore in Glass’ world. While the anime doesn’t explain why he did this, the Light Novel’s do: because he thought she looked cute. It was for cosplay, plain and simple. However, when Sadeena comes back and sees Raphtalia wearing it, she freaks out and begs her to take it off.
Then, all hell breaks loose as the village comes under attack from demihuman ninjas.
Q’Ten Lo and their Stupidity
The ninjas prove tough enough to fight on even ground with the Cardinal and Vassal Heroes, cancelling their powers. It takes everyone’s help to take them down, but then they blow themselves up before they can talk. And the whole time, they were going about “Heavenly Emperor” and not letting Raphtalia claim it. Thankfully, no one dies, but one kid’s left in bad shape.
Afterwards, Sadeena took everyone aside and explained everything. To the east of Melromarc is the country of Q’Ten Lo, which is a stand-in for Feudal Japan, complete with an Emperor and isolationist policies. In the past, the royal family went through a whole Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon scenario, fighting and killing to decide the next Heavenly Emperor. By the time the dust settled, only two people were left, and one of them was Raphtalia’s father. He and her Mom didn’t want to get involved in that nonsense, so they bailed and moved to Melromarc before she was born. Sadeena, whose family had guarded the royal family for generations, went with them. In other words, Raphtalia is a Princess, and those assassin’s tried to kill her to prevent her from claiming the throne.
It turns out, the Q’Ten Lo government had had assassin’s watching Raphtalia and her parents all her life, ready to kill her at a moment’s notice. And when they saw her wearing that miko outfit, they misunderstood it for her gunning for the throne and overreacted by picking a fight with her and the Cardinal Heroes. Like idiots. Like a bunch of idiots.
A Pissed off Naofumi Goes to War
So, let’s look at the evidence:
A bunch of Assassin’s overreacted to Raphtalia’s innocent cosplaying (because Naofumi thought she looked cute.)
They attacked Raphtalia, her village, and the people in it.
They tried to kill three of the Cardinal Heroes, the one’s supposed to save their world from the Waves, which would screw over everyone.
By doing so, they risked an international incident with Melromarc.
The thing that Naofumi cares the most about, though? These people knew about everything that Raphtalia went through. Losing her parents to the Waves. How she and her friends got enslaved with many of them dying. They knew about everything she went through before she met Naofumi and since, and didn’t do a thing to help her.
Naofumi’s response: he’s going to war.
While revenge is a part of Naofumi’s decision (and in this case, an understandable response), there’s logic behind it. This country was willing to kill the people meant to save their world for reasons that, in the grand scheme of things, are incredibly petty and stupid. In addition, the Phoenix, the next of the beasts after the Spirit Tortoise, will revive in two months. They can’t afford to be distracted like this. So, Naofumi tells everyone present that they’re headed to Q’ten Lo to put their leaders in their place. However, to get there, they must first travel to the one nation Q’ten Lo interacts with: Siltvelt. AKA, the land that worships the Shield Hero like a God. Thus, the season ends with Naofumi flying ahead on Gaelion to give the others a spot to teleport.
Things are about to get Game of Thrones in here.
The Next Season Should be Fun
Full disclosure: I’m a fan of stories that have political intrigue in the vein of Game of Thrones. Since the show ended, though, I’ve also come to love these stories for another reason: to laugh at how trivial, petty, and stupid the scheming is.
No, really. After seeing how badly Westeros was ravaged from people fighting over a throne that, in the end, no one claimed, made me realize how pointless the whole thing was. Especially given how the entire thing took place while an army of ice zombies gathered in the far north. Replace the White Walkers with the Waves of Catastrophe and the Phoenix, and the Shield Hero deals with the same thing. They’re ready to destroy the world, and idiots in power are playing politics. And unlike Jon Snow, Naofumi has far less tolerance for their nonsense.
So, whenever the next season comes around, we’ll see Naofumi going to the country that worships him and then overthrowing a country dumb enough to make an enemy out of him. Not a bad way to end the season.
As for the season, it doesn’t quite reach the height of excitement that the first season did. Nor did it have quite as interesting a premise as the second season (even if several factors ruined it). However, this season feels like it was meant to be a breather before a potentially big storm. The storm in question being what will go down in Q’ten Lo.
I’m looking forward to it, regardless.
Also, I’m with Naofumi on this. Anyone who tries to hurt Raphtalia will suffer. Like these two.
Two Cardinal Heroes down, one to go. Naofumi managed to find Ren and Motoyasu and, more or less, got them under control. However, there’s still one Hero unaccounted for: Itsuki, the Bow Hero obsessed with being this symbol of “Hidden Justice.” Or, in other words, he’s a kid who’s trying too hard to be Batman, but he’s coming off as Red Hood or Damian. If Naofumi and the others want to help Itsuki, talking won’t work for him. They’ll have to use force, no matter how much his former companion, Rishia, might not like it.
It’s worth it. He needs to get taken down a peg for his own good.
“Perfect Hidden Justice” Sounds So Cringe
Thanks to the Gaelion debacle, Naofumi sends Filo and Melty out to gain more levels to compensate for the loss. Beyond that, though, life in Naofumi’s village has returned to normal. The peace proves short-lived, though, when S’yne (conveniently away fighting in the arena) returns with surprising news: she’s found Itsuki.
Ever since the Spirit Tortoise incident, Itsuki has handled things very poorly. Rather than figure out what he did wrong, he decided to double down on his negative traits and step into full-on cringe territory. Now he’s fighting in the arenas as the gladiator “Perfect Hidden Justice,” a name everyone agrees is cringe. Worse, when Rishia tries to talk to him, he slaps her out of the way, much to everyone’s disgust.
This is something other than what gets touched upon in the anime, but web and light novels gave us greater insight into the character of the Three Cardinal Heroes. In Itsuki’s case, he’s a contradiction. On the one hand, he wants to be like Batman or Spider-Man and deliver justice from the shadows. On the other hand, he also wants people to sing his praises and to look cool while saving the day. This contradiction makes him very ineffective as a hero; he has a bunch of insecurities, and unlike Naofumi, he’s not with people with his best interests at heart. At least not anymore. Now, he’s working with the personification of the corrupt elite, Witch. She and the rest of his party have him fight in the arena to get money to save slave children. However, no, but Itsuki buys that. Witch is using the cash for herself.
What’s incredibly frustrating about this is that Itsuki should have no excuse to listen to Witch. He knows that she framed Naofumi; the slave crest the Queen put on her made it clear she’s a liar. Yet she continues to get away with this well past the point where she can. Either she’s got a silver tongue on the level of Starscream, or the Heroes mental states are so fragile since the Spirit Tortoise that they’ll listen to anyone who says anything nice to them.
It also doesn’t help that Itsuki’s unlocked his cursed series for his bow.
Rishia Steps Up to Knock Some Sense into Itsuki
So, to recap, Itsuki’s unlocked his cursed bow and is being strung along by the Witch. He’s entirely given in to his delusions of being a Batman, but he’s coming off as a Damian or Red Hood. And he’s using an alias that sounds like an edge-lord would come up with. As Atla points out, there’s only one way to make Itsuki see reason: they have to beat him up.
There are better solutions than this, but it’s their best. When people can’t see eye-to-eye or reason in real life and fiction, settling things with fists and weapons might be the only option left. It’s like when Naruto had to defeat Sasuke at the end of Naruto to get him to see reason. Except in this case, Rishia is Naruto, and Itsuki is Sasuke.
Rishia carried season 2 heavily last year with how unexpectedly badass she became. I can't wait to see what she's got cooking next week. 👀🔥 #shieldheropic.twitter.com/1ffh0xFgJD
— 🐾💚 Alex | Huohuo Protector 💚🐾 (@SliceOfLifeAlex) December 8, 2023
The decision to have Rishia fight Itsuki is important on several levels. Rishia has always struggled with self-esteem, which Itsuki and his party made worse. She’s grown more substantial and more confident since Naofumi’s group took her in, but beating Itsuki will prove to herself how strong she’s gotten. Additionally, losing to the person he thought was weak might be the reality check Itsuki needs.
Gearing Up For the Season Finale
This episode was a pause for what was to come. Itsuki is the last of the three heroes Naofumi needs to help see sense, thus the toughest. Motoyasu buckled after Witch, and the other girls turned their backs on him. Ren went through that bandit phase, but Eclair beat him and Wyndia helped him start to come to terms with his past mistakes. However, Itsuki pushed away the one person who could help him, Rishia. Now, Rishia needs to beat him to bring him to his senses. It happens a lot in anime, but the emotional weight of a friend fighting another friend to save them from themselves works.
There are only two episodes left in the season, and I’m hoping that the next episode gives us a good showing. It’s time for Itsuki to get help, whether he wants it or not. That, and his alias is super-cringe.
Last week, things weren’t looking good for Naofumi and his allies. Their baby dragon, Gaelion, got possessed by the spirits of two angry adults. Filo’s being used as an unwilling battery as they drain her levels like a parasite. The whole group’s barely hanging on against this pseudo-dungeon boss. And like the boss to any dungeon in an MMORPG, everyone has to work together to slay the dragon.
This might be among the best fights of the entire season.
First Step to Beating the Boss: Find the Weakspot
With the Dragon Emperor bearing down on them with its flames, Naofumi’s barely able to keep everyone alive. It’s only thanks to a well-placed attack by Atla that they managed to escape with their lives. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that by the next day, the dragon will have drained all of Filo’s XP. To make matters worse, Atla, the only one who can hurt it, can’t do so without risking her own life. As everyone regroups and re-strategizes, though, we get a better look at her past through flashbacks.
Gaelion Was a Great Dad
As Wyndia explained, Gaelion is her adoptive father; her biological father died from injuries while (likely) fleeing slavers or persecution. He only lived long enough to tell Gaelion her name.
What follows is one of the most genuinely heartwarming moments of the season. There are a plethora of examples of real-life babies raised by animals, and while Gaelion’s considered sentient, he still counts. Seeing him try in vain to soothe a crying baby Wyndia with raw fish (and treasure) is something plenty of dad’s can relate to. And seeing Wyndia imitate Gaelion’s roar tugs at the heartstrings. It goes a long way to show how important they were to each other, and only makes what happened all the more tragic.
There is a point to this flashback, though. Wyndia remembers that she accidentally discovered her Dad’s weak-spot: an upside-down scale on his chest.
So now, they have to hit that.
Might Not be an MMORPG, But It can Still Play Like One
Shield Hero has made no attempts to hide its MMORPG influences from day one; that’s a known fact. At the same time, it’s also made it clear that, while some aspects of it function like an MMORPG, real life is still real life, as the heroes have all had to learn. In the case of fights like the one against the reborn Dragon Emperor, though, the show knows how to play its roots to its advantage.
Anyone who’s played MMO’s like World of Warcraft, Star Wars: the Old Republic, and more know what the final boss of a dungeon’s like. It’s a fight that tests them to their limits and requires perfect teamwork and not pulling a Leeroy Jenkins. Thankfully, not only did Naofumi’s group come to play, but so did the animation.
The fight that follows, while not quite as tense as the previous episode, makes up for things with letting everyone get at least one good hit in. However, despite everything, it’s not until Atla and Fohl show up that the tide truly turns. It shows that the studio put much of its budget into Atla’s final attack, because it is breathtaking to watch.
In the end, Naofumi and others manage to free Gaelion jr. and Filo from the Dragon Emperor, and Sadeena rips its core out. Boss fight won!
They’ve Got a Dragon Now!
So, despite having to say goodbye to her father for a second time, Wyndia manages to make peace with what happened, and starts to forgive Ren. The show makes it no secret that had Ren known the truth, he wouldn’t have fought Gaelion. Thus, it’s satisfying when afterwards, Naofumi tells the villagers, “you all duped Ren into killing that dragon for its treasure and steal his daughter. You brought this on yourself and got what you deserved.” Knowing what he can do to people who make him mad, they got off easy. It’s also satisfying to see Wyndia take the first steps to healing by thanking Ren for saving her.
Except the OG Gaelion isn’t gone for good. Part of his soul’s now rooming in Gaelion Jr.’s body, which he asks Naofumi to keep quiet about. Sadly for Filo, Jr isn’t giving the XP back, and who can blame him? He can turn into a dragon big enough for the heroes to ride!
Thus, the Sword Hero manages to make amends for one of his biggest mistakes, but the season’s not done yet. Itsuki’s still MIA, and the title for next week’s episode makes it clear the search for him’s about to start.
One minute, Naofumi and his party are cooing over their baby dragon, Gaelion. The next, it’s eaten the fused core of the dragons that Ren and Kizuna each killed. The latter is still mad at Ren and is ready to kill everyone. It seems their only hope lies in the dog girl, Wyndia, and her surprising connection to one of the dragons.
How Did This Happen, Anyway?
The episode first establishes that the souls of two dead dragons possess Gaelion. As Rat explains, dragons in Shield Hero have an organ called a core that houses their memories. Since Gaelion is still young, the other two dragons overwrite his mind and body. In other words, he’s possessed and ready to kill anyone who comes near him.
To make matters worse, Gaelion’s possession is taking its toll on Filo, who ate part of the core before. Now, Gaelion’s cursed Filo and started sapping her levels. The threat of the angry dragon and to Filo’s life is more than enough to prompt everyone to go after Gaelion. Thus, the group winds up traveling to the den of the dragon that Ren first killed.
Wyndia and Her Dragon Dad
While Ren’s slaying of the dragon and his careless decision to leave the body behind without burying it was already framed in a bad light, it’s only in this episode that the true extent of his mistake is laid bare thanks to Wyndia. As she reveals late in the episode, the dragon Ren killed and Naofumi fought as a zombie was her adoptive father, Gaelion. Worse, it’s revealed that after Ren killed her father, the villagers captured and sold her into slavery. They used his naivete for selfish purposes, leading to Wyndia’s distrust of Ren.
#LOOK: "The Rising Of The Shield Hero" Season 3 Episode 8 – Preview Images Released
The anime’s already well-established how the other three Cardinal Heroes have largely failed to live up to the mantle thrust upon them. They refused to work together, their pride kept them from listening to Naofumi, and they lost their parties and all trust. However, to know that Ren got tricked into making Wyndia an orphan and slave? That’s easily one of their biggest screw-ups. It also makes the sight of Naofumi’s group fighting the possessed Gaelion heartbreaking.
Return of the Dragon Emperor
Things only get worse as the party fights against the now massive dragon Gaelion’s become. Not only is it sapping Filo of her power, but it leads to her going berserk and running right toward the dragon. The group can only watch in horror as Gaelion swallows her whole to absorb her power. It’s like Cell from the Dragon Ball franchise! Worse still, even though Wyndia gets through to her father, the dragon emperor that Kizuna slew becomes dominant, ready to conquer anew.
The upside (for the fans): the fight between the reborn dragon emperor and the combined hero party is the best fight of the season yet. Naofumi, Rapthalia, Ren, and everyone else pull out all the stops to fight against the monster. It’s visually stunning in a way that the series hasn’t been since the first season. You can tell that the studio wanted this fight to live up to the fan’s expectations. Unfortunately, it’s also a fight that needs to be resolved by the end of the episode.
Yes, the episode ends midway through the fight. With most of the group on the ropes and Naofumi barely hanging on, it’s an ideal cliffhanger. Waiting a whole week to find out what happens next will be torture!
Have you ever seen the plot of JJ Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek film? Thanks to the power of time travel, Abrams could alter the circumstances around the day James T. Kirk was born and create a separate, alternate timeline from the established canon. The result was similar to what the Star Trek fans had known for forty years, but the dynamics between many characters changed, as did their paths in life. That’s what the new hit anime Scott Pilgrim Takes Off amounts to. Instead of being the adaptation of the popular graphic novel or the 2010 based on it, it does the same thing that Abrams did with Star Trek. While some fans might be mad we don’t get the adaptation of the graphic novels or films they wanted, I don’t care. This is like a licensed AU Fanfiction, and I freaking love it!
This is my spoiler review of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. If you haven’t watched the show (or don’t care), do so and return. Or read my spoiler-free review.
Pulling the Wool over Everyone’s Eyes
The anime starts following the graphic novels and film. Scott’s a slacker who plays in his band Sex Bob-omb and dates a high schooler. He meets Ramona Flowers, the girl from his dreams, and asks her for a date. Then he learns that she has seven “evil” exes that he has to fight so he can date her. Everything is going the way fans expect it to go.
Until it doesn’t. As Scott starts fighting the first evil exes, Matthew Pattel, he seemingly dies, exploding into coins like Matthew should’ve. And everyone, in-universe and out, is going, “What the heck just happened?!?”
WHAT A TWIST!!
This is the moment where Scott Pilgrim Takes Off reveals its ultimate surprise. Going in, everyone thought that this was an adaptation of the film or graphic novels. Instead, a sequel a la Alternate Universe, and despite being the titular character, Scott Pilgrim’s barely in it
I loved this twist when I first saw it. I never read the novels and couldn’t get into the movie, but I knew the general synopsis of what would happen. To see everything go off the rails into AU territory before the first episode was done made me want to jump up from the couch and yell “holy snap, this is going to be good!” And while some people might not like this twist and how it changes things, I liked it—especially considering what happens next and who the series follows.
What the Cast Does Without the “Main Character.”
At first glance, it looks like Scott Pilgrim is dead, and the story’s plot is now lost. However, while the original canon is now impossible to follow, the show opens up to new possibilities as the cast grapples with Scott’s apparent passing and what this means for their lives.
Starting in episode two, everyone that knew Scott personally attends his funeral and takes the time to grieve for him (or not.) As is the case in real life, though, they eventually have to move on with their lives in some way, shape, or form. And while most of the cast handles this event in their ways, Knives gets the best change from the original story.
In the original story, Knives Chau was the high-schooler the adult Scott was dating, to everyone’s dismay. She got a little too obsessed with Scott for her good, and what happens with Ramona leads to a lot of drama. Initially, that part remains unchanged, with Knives blaming Ramona for getting Scott killed. However, once she takes the time to process everything, she realizes that her relationship with Scott won’t work out. In addition, she also joins Sex Bob-omb and proves to be an amazing musician, helping her move on with her life. This is one welcome change to the original story. People frowned upon an adult dating a minor when the story first came out, even more so today.
A Pointless League of Evil Exes=Character Development
The people in Scott’s circle of friends aren’t the only ones affected by the loss of Scott, either. After his surprise win, Matthew Pattel calls the League of Evil Exes and gets them all to realize something important: they have no reason to exist. More importantly, they realize that they’d never win Ramona back even if they won. Their leader, Gideon Graves, was using them to get her back for himself. As a result, the League falls apart with everyone their separate ways, with varying levels of importance in the series. The most important, though, are Matthew Pattel and Gideon, the former of which challenges the latter to a fight for his business empire and wins. Suddenly, the starter villain ends up being the top dog!
As interesting as this is, though, the fate of the League serves as a deconstruction of how silly their whole concept was. They were only united by their pain of getting dumped by Ramona. Most of them weren’t even evil. The second ex, Lucas Lee, even says they called themselves that for branding purposes. Furthermore, they all move on with their lives without the need to fight for Ramona (since she wouldn’t take them back anyway). Several of them go so far as to join the circle of Scott’s friends, proving that most weren’t evil. They were just upset over how bad things ended with Ramona.
Except for Gideon. He decides to keep being evil, not to get Ramona back but because he enjoys it. That, and his new girlfriend, Scott’s frenemy Julie Powers, thinks his evil is hot, which I find hilarious.
Ramona is the Real Main Character of the Series
With Scott seemingly gone, someone else has to take up the main character role. And that person winds up being Ramona Flowers. After dealing with the loss of Scott, Ramona discovers that he might be alive and that one of her exes might have kidnapped him. As a result, she makes it her mission to figure out who did it and get Scott back.
While some might wonder why Ramona would go so far for a guy she went on a single date with (including Scott’s friends), I don’t see it as too much of a stretch. I see it as her feeling guilty for what happened to him. Plus, there were sparks between them by her admission, so she thinks he might be worth it.
Ramona Was no Saint With Her Exes
Ramona Flowers being cold and distant at times? Yeah, that makes sense. She's been through it. But the movie forgot that Ramona can also be warm and fun—that she's supposed to genuinely love being in a relationship with Scott.
Besides the added benefit of allowing Ramona to meet with and befriend Scott’s friends on her terms, the show also serves another, interesting premise. The source material only sometimes understood why she dumped her exes beyond the bare minimum of details. In contrast, though, the anime not only gives fans greater detail about what happened, but demonstrates how Ramona isn’t entirely innocent of what happened. As the show reveals, rather than handling rough patches with her partners when they came around, Ramona tended to break things off and bail. For whatever faults they had, her exes have every right to feel bitter at Ramona.
Ironically, this makes her a lot like Scott regarding their relationships. Scott had a problem with actually ending them, and Ramona has a problem with ending them too brutally. The anime allows her to find closure with most of her exes, helping everyone move on and become semi-better people. Even Gideon, the only evil ex, finds some closure with Ramona.
Scott Pilgrim’s Worst Enemy is Himself
Now, for the big twist at the end of the series with Scott’s inevitable return. As it turns out, he was pulled into the future by himself. Or rather, a version of himself from a timeline where things proceeded as they did in the original canon. Despite winning against the Exes and marrying Ramona, Old Scott got into a fight with Ramona after several years, and becomes convinced she dumped him. She didn’t; she just wanted space, and he overreacted by trying to change his past and stop himself from dating Ramona in the first place. All this created an alternate reality, like in the 2009 Star Trek film.
Despite Old Scott’s best efforts, he fails to convince Show Scott to stay away from Ramona. Telling Show Scott what would’ve happened helps Old Scott accelerate his character development. Thanks to Future Ramona’s help, by the time he gets back, he realizes that dating Knives was a bad idea- drama averted.
Old Scott Pilgrim ultimately proves to be the final villain of the series, as his inability to fix his problems leads to him, ironically, becoming another evil ex. Some might call it corny, but I like the idea of an alternate version of oneself being evil. It’s a look into what we’d be like if we decided to be the worst versions of ourselves.
I Would Watch a Season Two
Ultimately, Scott PilgrimTakes Off doesn’t just adapt the movie or graphic novels but improves on them while becoming its own thing. The fans loved it, and I think it’s one of the best anime to come out in 2023. Considering the anime we’ve gotten this year, that’s saying something.
Will they make a second season of the anime? After all, the show has already broken free of the original canon and could keep going. I would want to watch it!
I will be upfront: I was never into Scott Pilgrim when it came out. I have never read graphic novels, and I have never watched movies (until now). My only frame of reference was a parody done by that MAD cartoon on Cartoon Network from ten years ago. However, after I saw the trailer for the anime series coming out on Netflix, I found myself interested. I tried to watch the movie to prepare myself for the anime, but it wasn’t as interesting as I thought. However, that did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for the anime, and after one binge session, I had only one thing to ask myself:
Why did I sleep on this for all these years?
Full disclosure: this is one of two reviews for the series. The other one will dive into full-on spoiler territory.
Scott Pilgrim Breaks Canon
After a banger opening set to the song “Bloom” by Japanese band Necry Talkie, the anime starts much like how things go in the film and graphic novels. Scott’s still a slacker dating a high-schooler who then meets Ramona Flowers, the girl whose literally from his dreams, and is instantly smitten. However, he also learns that if he wants to date Ramona, he has to fight her seven evil exes. For the first episode or so, the story follows the source material to a tee…and then goes completely off the rails.
In what has to be one of the biggest anime twists of the year, Scott PilgrimTakes Off isn’t a straight adaptation of the movie or the graphic novels. The best comparison I can make is that it follows in the vein of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek film from 2009. It changes one canon event in an unexpected way that makes the story as we knew it impossible to tell. From there, things go in a direction so unexpected that some might call it high-quality fanfiction. The basic premise is still there, and the characters retain their major personalities, but now they get to interact in new and unexpected ways.
As someone who’s come to appreciate the creativity of fanfiction, this premise rules.
The Cast of the Movie Makes a Seamless Return
A major part of the appeal of the anime is that most of the film’s cast returned to reprise their roles. And with the extra thirteen years of acting experience to work with, they seem to be better than ever at their roles.
While several of the stars of the Scott Pilgrim film had already found success in showbusiness before the film, it wasn’t until after it came out that many of them became household names. Michael Cera has continued to find success on-camera and in the booth, getting roles in films like The LEGO Batman Movie, Sausage Party, and the recent Barbie film. Mae Whitman, who played Roxie Richter, has continued to find success as a voice actor with roles like Amity Blight from The Owl House (Which I’m a huge fan of!) And Chris Evans and Brie Larson’s careers have blown up thanks to their roles as Captain America and Captain Marvel in the MCU franchise. Jason Schwartzman helped do the impossible and make The Spot scary in the new Spider-Verse movie! In other words, most of the cast has blown up in the last thirteen years.
The extra decade seems to have upped everyone’s game, as they’re better than ever at their roles in Scott Pilgrim. The bottom line is that they’re good!
I’ve never seen or read the graphic novels beyond some images that I’ve seen online, but the anime adapts the art style almost seamlessly. As zany and whacky as the live-action film was, there’s only so much live-action can do with the source material. Animation, on the other hand, has no such restraints, and can go all-out and tell the story that wasn’t possible before.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is an anime, plain and simple. It was produced by a Japanese animation studio, Science Saru. It includes many of the exaggerated facial expressions that anime are known for. A Japanese metal band sings the opening! Even though it’s based on a piece of Western media, it’s an anime and one of the best-looking ones of 2023.
Scott Pilgrim is a Must-Watch for 2023
As I said before, I never got into Scott Pilgrim when the novels or film came out. Having seen what the anime is like, though, I now understand why so many people love it the way they do. It is amazing! The cast is in top form, the animation is flawless, and the surprising direction that the anime takes is mind-blowing. It’s like a high-quality fanfiction that was lucky enough to be canonized.
If you have a Netflix account, then I cannot stress this enough. Stop what you’re doing, and take the time over the holidays to sit down and watch this show. It’s short at only eight episodes, but the ending will leave you wanting way more. I don’t know if we’ll get a second season, but if we do, I’ll be there to watch it.
Things are once again looking up for Shield Hero Naofumi. Thanks to Eclair bringing Ren back to his senses, the Sword Hero’s now living in Lulorona Village. That village is getting bigger every episode, with all sorts of new people moving in. In addition to people, the village is also getting its fair share of animals to help out, including an egg that hatches into a dragon. Unfortunately, dragons aren’t the easiest mythical creatures to tame, as Naofumi soon discovers.
As a side note, this episode also marks the first significant role of a character that Allen Blaster, author of the Diligence of the Shield Hero series, likes.
More Slice-of-Life Stuff
This week’s episode starts off on a relatively calm note, and it largely retains that tone up until its final minutes. While some might find this boring, a story’s slower moments are just as important as the exciting ones. Moreso since they leave plenty of room for introducing new characters, developing existing ones, and showing them interact outside of battle.
"Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (The Rising of the Shield Hero)" TV Anime Season 3 – Episode 07 Preview Images
The first of the new characters to join the cast this episode gets introduced in a rather hilarious fashion: by trying to ride atop a panicking Filo. Enter Ratotille “Rat” Anthreya, an alchemist and researcher specializing in create new life-forms. After getting thrown out of her country due to slander, the Queen of Melormarc hired her to work for Naofumi. Unfortunately for Filo, she’s also the kind of person who does things first without asking permission, hence the attempt to ride her. She makes up for her lack of social etiquette by helping raise the animals, though, so it turns out alright.
Given this episode’s slower, slice-of-life feel to it, a lot of the supporting cast gets a few moments to show off their own growth. Keel reveals that he’s learned how to transform into a dog much like how Sadeena can go killer whale. S’yne creates a plushie (that looks like Fohl) that can talk for her, helping her communication problem. Ren grows closer to Eclair as she shows him how to read Melromarc’s language. It’s little things like this that flesh out the characters and make them more believable.
This girl will not stop until she gets what she wants.
Perhaps most humorous (and concerning), though, is Atla’s actions. Several times now, Atla’s been caught sneaking into Naofumi’s bed. Her excuse is that, as his shield, she needs to guard him…but nobody buys that. Especially since she tricks her brother into falling asleep before restraining him so she can do this.
— ⊿🦖◢͟￨𝄇◢͟⁴⁶＠ブライアン/RN:ムーンパワーでKeepGoing～♪◢ (@brianw_sub) November 18, 2023
The supporting character that gets the most attention in this episode, though, is a little dog-girl named Wyndia. There’s things that cannot be discussed without entering spoiler-territory, but the episode does reveal a few key things about her. Chief among them, she has a strong affinity for beasts and animals, especially dragons. Wyndia has a strong fondness for dragons, so when a box of supplies that Naofumi gets includes a dragon egg, her first thought is to want to raise it herself. While Naofumi’s the one who watches the egg until it hatches, it’s Wyndia who ends up naming it: Gaelion.
Despite starting out looking like Gaelion the dragon is the second coming of Filo, things don’t go so smoothly for everyone. While in Glass’ world, Naofumi had the cores of the dragon that Ren killed (and became a zombie) and the one that threatened that world fused into one. However, Gaelion winds up eating it. He then proceeds to grow ten times his size, wrecks Naofumi’s house, and runs off.
Again, can’t reveal what happens without spoilers. However, just know that the next episode will be very entertaining.
An interesting fact about Ren Amaki from Shield Hero: he’s a pretty obvious expy of Kirito, the main protagonist of Sword Art Online. AKA, one of the stories that made isekai a popular genre from the 2010s onwards. People know Kirito as either this lone-wolf gamer with a heart of gold or a sword-wielding badass. The anime makes it all the more apparent with Ren sharing the same seiyuu, or voice actor, as Ren in the native Japanese. Unlike Kirito, though, Ren is more of someone who wants to be a badass yet fails miserably when it counts. Case in point, this episode of Shield Hero shows Ren’s mindset before getting summoned and how he ended up the way he is now.
Kicking off with a flashback to Ren’s life before the present day, fans see how much of a contradiction the young man is. On the one hand, he likes being the strongest or being seen as the strongest and having others sing his praises. On the other hand, though, he’s a lone wolf who is unsure how to interact with his peers, and thus fails to understand the value of the teamwork. As a result, when he got isekai’d, his whole party only fed his ego, exacerbating the problem. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Ren kept thinking he was all his party needed, and neglected their own growth. Which came back to bite him tragically when his party got slaughtered by the Spirit Tortoise.
Then, in a move surprising no one but himself, Witch robbed him of his gear and money. After that, the same guys who attacked Naofumi’s party try to kill him, only he’s got no party to help him; no deus ex machine like S’yne; and none of the townspeople want to help him. He’s all alone. And that leads him to activate not one, but two, cursed series for his Cardinal Sword and become a bandit leader.
The difference between Ren and Kirito is that, while Kirito started out as a lone wolf, he managed to grow out of it. He opened himself up to others, made friends, and even got a girlfriend. Ren was never willing to take that first step, though, despite dying saving someone else’s life. He never had the kind of people that Naofumi found, which only served to reinforce these negative qualities. All of these things ultimately drove Ren to the point where Naofumi finds him. Wearing a tuxedo mask, fighting Motoyasu, and corrupted by the curses of gluttony and greed.
Ren Gets a Reality Check
Clearly, Ren is in need of a reality check, and where Naofumi fails, his friend, Eclair, steps up. And, since we skipped out on the second season, Eclair is the daughter of the Lord that ruled the land that Lulorona Village’s a part of. When he died, she hunted down the slavers who kidnapped the villagers, only to get imprisoned by the Three Heroes Church until Naofumi brought them down.
The fight between Ren and Eclair is short but important for two reasons. Firstly, despite him being a Cardinal Hero, Ren gets his butt kicked by Eclair, showing him how weak he is. It’s even implied that Eclair wasn’t fighting him seriously, to boot, driving the point home further. Secondly, Eclair cuts to the root of Ren’s problems: he doesn’t know what he wants beyond the role he was given. He lacks the resolve needed to point his strength towards something worthwhile, stagnated from that, and hates himself for it, since it means he got his party killed.
That is the power of the “fight no jutsu” and “talk no jutsu” at work in tandem.
With the main conflict now resolved, the episode wraps up with the two assassin’s from before attack the group while they’re recovering. However, Motoyasu kills them both in two seconds thanks to taking Naofumi’s training advice, and Raphtalia kills their souls so they can’t come back. One less problem to deal with, and two of the Cardinal Heroes now willing to listen to Naofumi.
This wasn’t one of the most exciting episodes of the season, but nonetheless, it was an enjoyable one. We got to see inside Ren’s mindset and learn why he is who he is. Furthermore, getting to watch him see reason was very satisfying. With six episodes left in the season, the only hero left to find is Itsuki. Fingers crossed, Naofumi finds him before he can get hurt or cause too much trouble.
Attack on Titan Final Season THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2 Review
Ten years ago, Attack on Titan rocked the world with one of the darkest and most morally complicated stories in anime history. Now, more than two years since the final chapter of the manga, the anime has come to a close in a movie-length event so hotly anticipated, it broke the Crunchyroll website.
Of those who managed to watch it right when it appeared, they had nothing but praise for it on social media. As one of the people who read the manga, my expectations for the finale were very high. And while knowing what would happen did dampen my excitement a little, the animation was so amazing, I couldn’t help but get excited to see how it all ended. What’s more, series mangaka Hajime Isayama listened to fan criticisms about things ended and actively took steps to improve on it. He even apologized to Studio MAPPA for making them do extra legwork.
Like Something Out of a Triple-A Video Game
Picking up right where the first part left off, the anime wastes no time diving into the Scout’s and Titan Shifters final, desperate battle to stop the Rumbling. They pull out all the stops to keep Eren from destroying what’s left of the world, and it shows. Gone are the green rookies that got thrust headfirst into the fight against the Titans. In their place are some of the best soldiers and warriors in the world, and they give everything they have against Eren. While some people might complain about the fact that none of the remaining protagonist’s died and call it plot armor, I don’t think it’s entirely that. It’s more of a testament of how well they’re able to work together. This is in spite of the fact that just a few days ago, both groups were trying to kill each other. War makes for strange bedfellows, it seems.
The entire film (it deserves to be called such) plays out like the final battle of a triple-A video game in the vein of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. Much like those series, interspersed between all the action are scenes that provide emotional depth to most of the main characters. The best of these scenes, though, are the ones between Armin and Zeke, and later, Eren. Getting to see Armin talk Zeke out of his nihistilic views on life and how it has meaning beyond survival is a major highlight for the former. It shows how, even after everything he’s gone through, Armin strives to see the best in humanity. The world needs more people like him.
The action itself was, of course, jaw-droppingly good. From the appearance of Falco’s Jaw Titan to Mikasa dealing the final blow to Eren, it was clear that Studio Mappa didn’t hold anything back. No wonder Hajime apologized for making them work so hard.
Hajime Isayama Improved the Ending
When it first came out two years ago, a lot of fans didn’t like the way Attack on Titan ended, and made sure Isayama knew this. It got so bad that some people even started a rewrite for the finale called AoT no Requiem. Isayama himself stated he’d also come to have problems with how he ended things, so he took the criticism to heart. Thus, the anime’s finale was his chance to change things for the better. While the ending as a whole remained the same, he did add more depth to certain moments to make it better.
More to Say Between Eren and Armin
First, there’s that infamous scene between Eren and Armin. Eren breaks down and starts crying over the fact that he won’t get to live out his life with Armin and Mikasa. I never had a problem with this, because I took it as proof that the cold-hearted facade he’d been putting on since the timeskip was an act. A coping mechanism to deal with the chaos he would one day unleash and alienate himself from his friends so they wouldn’t feel bad once he died. Not everyone saw it that way, though.
The anime extends that scene in the hopes of better explaining Eren’s rationale behind everything. To summarize, he was disgusted with what he had to do as everyone else was. He didn’t want to do it; no sane person would! However, due to the hand that the world had dealt him, and his own, future actions, he had no other choice. He was forced into this role by himself and those around him, something that Armin even acknowledges and accepts that he’s partially guilty of allowing. It was horrific, but to save the world from the Titans, Eren was forced to become a sacrifice.
The reason why I never had a problem with this ending is because I had already seen a similar one happen in another great anime, Code Geass. In that story, the main protagonist conquered the world and became its sole dictator to unite everyone in opposition against him. Once that was done, he had his best friend fake his death and then assassinate him to erase all that hatred, letting the world move on in peace. That’s more or less what Eren did here: he set himself up as the enemy of the world to be taken down by his friends. They’d become heroes, their home would be spared for centuries, and the power of the Titans would vanish from the world for a long time. It wasn’t a wholly happy ending, but it was the best one they got with the cards they had.
Paradis Got to Thrive For a Long Time
Another key thing that got improved was the epilogue for the series. After the release of the final chapter, Isayama made an extended version that showed the future of the world of Attack on Titan. Mikasa got to live out her life in peace before dying in old age, her new family burying her next to Eren under their tree. Time then flashes forward and shows Paradis becoming a modern metropolis before getting destroyed in another war.
Some fans saw this as a way of saying that everything Eren sacrificed had been for nothing. Thus, Isayama and Studio Mappa changed the images seen in the end credits to provide better context. Rather than lasting for a few generations after the story’s events, the anime clarifies that this war likely occurred hundreds of years later. More than enough time for Paradis to live and thrive in peace like Eren wanted, and enough time for the rest of the world to start recovering. It might seem unfair that Paradis still got destroyed, but it was going to happen. For all we know, it might have been due to a completely different reason besides the Rumbling. In addition, the sight of the boy entering Eren’s tree means that the Eldian people weren’t wiped out.
As for the power of the Titans, it’s still not clear if it would return in the distant future. However, if it does, I’d like to think mankind will have learned not to use it as they did in the past. Or, at the least, they’ll have progressed to the point where it won’t be so big of a threat.
Still an Amazing Ending for Attack on Titan
Regardless of my own opinions, one cannot deny the fact that the finale to Attack on Titan was epic. Everyone working on it brought their A-game, and it showed in the acting, animation, and music. Speaking of music, there were several instrumental remixes to some of the best songs in the anime peppered throughout the anime. What’s more, the anime also dives into a little more detail about what happened to the secondary characters who survived the ending. Each of them is doing their best to live their lives and rebuild the world, even Yelena. It’s not much, but it’s nice to see what happened to the secondary cast.
The only regret I do have is that this was never released in theaters as the movie it deserves to be called.
I Give “Attack on Titan Final Season THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2” a 5/5
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