RJ Writing Ink Interviews Allen Blaster, author of the Shield Hero fanfic, Diligence of the Shield Hero.
In 2019, The Rising of the Shield Hero made waves in the anime community. It was a different kind of Isekai, one where the hero wasn’t an ace that succeeded at everything but one that struggled in a world out to get him. It proved very popular. Then we got the second season earlier this year, and it felt like all that potential went down the drain.
I would’ve been very disappointed in how the second season turned out…if I had watched it more. However, I have already found something else to love. A fanfiction for Shield Hero that’s so good that it surpasses the official series: The Diligence of the Shield Hero. For the last year, I’ve known the fanfic’s author, Allen Blaster, fairly well on Discord. Thus, when I wanted to interview him for D&A Anime, I was delighted to hear him say yes. I hope you enjoy this interview about one of the best fanfic one could expect to find and the one behind it.
Interview
RJ: Thank you again for doing this interview, Allen.
Allen: Alright.
RJ: First thing’s first, though: what made you want to get into writing fanfiction in the first place?
Allen:
This pretty much sums up why I got into fanfiction in the first place. I am a sucker for teenage romance. And after reading a lot of it, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at writing my own.
RJ: You really are a fan of Ren and Wyndia, huh?
Allen:
RJ: So, Allen, when did you discover The Rising of the Shield Hero? Were you a fan of it before the anime came out or did that lead you to become a fan?
Allen: I discovered it in June of 2019 thanks to the recommendation of a good friend. I only recently watched anime with some roommates like Code Geass and Attack on Titan, and decided to give it a shot. I binged the entire first season throughout one night, and the rest was history.
RJ: Nice. So, why don’t you tell us a little about your series, Diligence of the Shield Hero? For the readers that haven’t read it yet. Like, what’s it about and what sets it apart from the official series.
Allen: It starts with Naofumi learning of the rape accusation before he was accused and what happens to him after that because he ran away. Then it evolves by kickstarting character growth for the other Heroes earlier on due to how events go down well, focusing not only on Naofumi but on the other Heroes and their parties too.
RJ: And it’s all the better for it. Now the series has an ensemble cast that can carry their own weight.
Allen: I feel that is one issue the anime had regarding its second season. Ironically enough, I’m staying more true to the characters and events from the light novels than they were. There was so much content they cut from the Spirit Tortoise Arc that further established Eclair, Granny, and even the other Heroes like Ren.
RJ: What was your inspiration for writing this fanfic?
Allen: Obviously not the entire thing. It started out with me just wanting to write a start that’d allow for Raphumi to develop because I loved them so much in the anime. I ended up loving them even more after reading the LN’s and seeing how much Raphtalia meant to Naofumi there. Then, after the first arc, I ended up writing more and more, continuing down the rabbit hole to see where the path would go
RJ: Plenty of people would think shipping Naofumi with Raphtalia Is weird due to her technically being ten. Do you think it is?
Allen: I have a whole freaking thing on my fanfiction profile explaining why this is stupid. I sum it up as “if you want to argue another race’s age instead of how quickly or slowly they mature being the primary thing that makes them legal, you are advocating for Baby Yoda to be made legal.” In short, I don’t find it weird at all, and what I find weird is people trying to inflict human standards on a race that isn’t human, to begin with.
RJ: Fair enough. Btw, did you know that your fic’s tv tropes page says it’s better than canon?
Allen: Yes, I do know that. And it is fine for people to have their opinions. But I don’t prefer people using that message to spread word of my fic around. Despite its shortcomings, I love the anime, and I love the light novels it’s based off of even more. I cannot put into words how much the original story means to me.
RJ: How were you able to make Bitch even worse than she was in canon?
Allen: I didn’t. I simply allowed her more opportunities to be herself.
RJ: With more screentime?
Allen: And the version of events that played out. The first real big change up was nothing stopping Motoyasu from being made the Lord of Lute (Riyute) Village. So there was nothing to stop Malty from doing what she was going to do there.
RJ: Where do you get inspiration for all your original characters? Because there are quite a number of them.
Allen: The inspiration sometimes comes from them getting introduced into the story for an event and me thinking about them in general. That was how my Hakuko OC Dou-Lon ended up getting added to it. Other times, I start with a concept for a character like Altara, and then, later on, I had thoughts that led to a parallel with Darth Vader’s transformation. And I look at what I wrote and realize I can fit it in easily.
RJ: Alright, last question: Who’s cuter, Raphtalia, Filo, or Raph-Chan?
Allen: Wyndia, Lol.
He really likes Wyndia, a dog demihuman that the anime has yet to introduce.
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