Summary
A slow-starting episode made leagues better by the unexpected encounter in the second half.
As the time to the Phoenix god’s appearance slowly winds down, Naofumi’s desire to find the other heroes and build his defenses only grows. In the last episode of Crunchyroll’s The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3, the attack on Lurolona Village made it clear that they needed to gather as much help as possible sooner rather than later. As we head into Episode 4, Naofumi and his party must search for the spear hero in hopes of gaining his cooperation.
The episode opens with Mirellia informing Naofumi that the Spear Hero is said to be searching for his party after the Spirit Tortoise battle, and the word is one of the members is currently located in a village near Melromarc.
Everyone works to repair Lurolona Village while also preparing for the Phoenix attack with additional combat training for the children.
S’yne is the Murder Clown from the Coliseum. When she shows up at Lurolona Village dressed as an ordinary teenage girl, Naofumi does not recognize her at first but realizes who it is when she puts on her mask.
Naofumi turns S’yne away, saying he cannot trust her. He then leaves to find the Spear Hero.
As he walks the nearby village streets, Naofumi sees the Spear Hero being rejected by Elena, one of his old comrades. When he approaches Motoyasu, the Spear Hero takes off running.
Elena tells Naofumi that Motoyasu was abandoned by his party after humiliating himself by failing to defeat the Spirit Tortoise before Naofumi.
While searching for Motoyasu, Naofumi spots the Sword Hero, Ren, and they speak about what happened to his dead party members. Just as Naofumi attempts to get Ren to join him, Malty appears and tries to turn Ren against him and then Motoyasu.
When it becomes clear Ren is taking Malty’s side, Naofumi scolds him for getting his party killed with his recklessness. Ren then attempts to attack Naofumi, who deflects the shot through the Tavern roof.
After being moved by one of Filo’s songs, Motoyasu agrees to train to help Naofumi.
While the episode initially felt a little slow, especially with the various clips of Naofumi handling village duties, it picked up significantly in the second half.
I think the best part of this episode was reuniting Naofumi with the other heroes and Malty for a moment. Although her schtick can be annoyingly repetitive, their interaction felt very similar to the vibes of Season 1 and reminded me why I stuck with this show in the first place.
With so many isekai out there, The Rising of the Shield Hero stands out with its wild story and dialogue especially, but at the same time, it’s the most fun when it’s at its most ridiculous as well. Episode 4 brought back a sense of nostalgia and the hope that Season 3 is taking a page from the first season’s book.
Read More: The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3, Episode 3 Recap
