The Rising of the Shield Hero - Vol. 25 Ch. 101 - Yggdrasil Elixir

[dowiet]

bruh wtf

Ever since the beginning Naofumi has flipped the whole slavery thing upside down and has been using it to his advantage and for the safety of those under him.

 

[SuperRadi]

It felt insanely rushed, this chapter alone should have been divided into three or four.

 

[Amplify]

Man, some very sad people are way too hung up on the word slavery or it as a concept. Deal with it, the time to pretend you cared was before you first clicked on a series heavily featuring slaves.

 

[Njin]

What kind of drugs are you using? This story (esp. WN) is one of the foundations of current isekai genre, and it isn’t deconstructing anything, it's just written competently.

I haven't read the WN, I can only speak from an anime viewpoint.

Most Isekais in my experience however bend themselves over to fellate the MC who is just instantly good at everything and wows everyones. SH in contrast starts out with a 20 something thrown back into the medieval age falling victim to political machinations due to his cluelessness and completely floundering. That just strikes me as different.
... Of course, a few episodes later, Naofumi hits the Isekai MC baselevel and after that it's pretty straight forward.


IMO the other heroes are also takes on common tropes. Motoyasu is a harem MC, Rem the typical edgy loner, and Itsuki the flat goody two-shoes that doesn't think his actions through. Like early Naofumi, they're clueless, but the world bends over for them initially - pretty straight Isekai heroes - but eventually, they fall on their faces hard.


Also, thank you, I am not on any drugs. I am naturally like this !

 

[Liquidxlax]

dude, talking about how child marriages was a "thing" is not the slam dunk argument you think it is when someone finds a bunch of child slaves in a manga creepy

There are still plenty of girls getting married sub 18 in this day and age. This manga is more or less like the medieval era so it will represent that point in history. If you don't like it then don't read it.

 

[dsfargeg]

man i want to enjoy these scenes but the slave stuff and half of them looking like children is fucking gross dude, i wish the author could get off this slave kick

If I had a dollar for everyone who said stuff like this and later turned out to be an actual pedophile predator, I'd buy a new car.

https://imgur.com/a/VoyXLbx

 

[Reydrago]

That's how Trash ID'd them immediately, he sensed the Alabama flowing through Fohl's veins.

Actually that's kinda checks out lol...

And about three dumbass.... according to reprise motoyasu is apparently a galge protagonist who got Nice Boat'd after two timing, itsuki is kinda bullied kid who is LARPing as a hero and Ren is a loner who's at least not above evacuated to colleseum town if things go wrong

 

[Nick86]

I don't think the changes are meant to appeal to a Western audience, since Naofumi's been written like he is in the anime since season 1. The Japanese are normally only concerned with their domestic audience, anyhow.

Unfortunately they changed his character for this reason, otherwise there was no need to change it in the first place, japanese audience is very different about fictions and morals. Indeed the beginning of the anime adaption was much better, they watered down content overtime starting from season 2 when this work became more popular.
Anyway is not an issue for me, this is one of these cases where i prefer the manga, i consider it a more faithfull adaption, anime is top tier in the character design and animation department but lack in everything else.

 

[Evisciraattori]

Isekai MC coming in and healing somebody with some bullshit god tier item has to be one of the most tired and disgusting tropes in the genre

true. and level system in general, is the laziest way to express character development in overall. in my opinion, of course.

 

[Eighty-six]

Unfortunately they changed his character for this reason, otherwise there was no need to change it in the first place, japanese audience is very different about fictions and morals.

So, you don't have any evidence from production about this?

What exactly are you referring to that was done to make it more popular with Western audiences?

 

[LoliShinobu]

man i want to enjoy these scenes but the slave stuff and half of them looking like children is fucking gross dude, i wish the author could get off this slave kick

You are free to drop this series, the MC is sexist from the start too.

 

[Eighty-six]

You are free to drop this series, the MC is sexist from the start too.

There's a difference between "sexist" and "gynophobe"...

 

[optiso]

The impotent rage of manga readers who just picked up the series, binge read it in a day or two, and are angry the MC is still traumatized is almost amusing to watch.

 

[bk3k]

Tangentially related to the discussion here: Honestly, I think at this point in the story, it's silly for Naofumi to still have trust issues. He's spent significantly more time as a revered and respected hero, surrounded by loving friends, capable of determining his life and tackling any challenge, well-connected to society, than he did as a loner outcast about to die in the first wave. He's won life at this point. He's won! And he has for a while. No way that does not have any sort of psychological impact.


I find it really annoying the author insists on making him go through 0 character growth. It's not really realistic that he never acknowledges to himself "hey, life is getting better." He clearly cares about Raphtalia and Filo, and is still outwardly nice to most, so these "trust issues" aren't even manifesting itself in his interactions or behavior - except for as an excuse to keep the slave mark and act mildly gruff for no reason.
To me it reads as some sort of weirdly self-indulgent escapist fantasy by the author. "Look I'm an asshole but also not really an asshole but I think I'm an asshole and everyone still likes me tihi".

Shield hero was a really nice deconstruction of isekais at the beginning, but like most parodies that keep going on, it eventually turned into a straight play of the parodied genre.

He was ready to trust in the people of this world, and even in finding his own love as well... at first. But trust is made of glass - very easy to break, not so easy to fix.

He's not soon going to forget the way he was treated, quite unjustly at that, even if your average person is treating him better now. He's been absolutely traumatized, which is why he can't help but put up walls between him and others. What you are expecting is just... highly unrealistic. Maybe you should reread the early chapters.

 

[Nick86]

So, you don't have any evidence from production about this?

What exactly are you referring to that was done to make it more popular with Western audiences?

Yep, i mean the content, everything expecially slavery themes, the writing and the character of Naofumi are watered down to be more generic. If you watched the anime and compared to the manga you can see the difference in the storytelling.

 

[Eighty-six]

Yep, i mean the conent, everything expecially slavery themes, the writing and the character of Naofumi are watered down to be more generic.

The slavery content in S1 isn't watered down because it's represented the exact same as it is in the manga and (presumably) the LN. So far, the only difference is that the anime has yet to bring up the idea of inferior quality slave crests-- if it ever will.

Naofumi isn't "more generic" in the anime, either (as I remarked before) but supposing he provably was, why would that be a decision meant to appeal to the same American audience that idolizes novelty and chafes about "genericness"-- supposed or otherwise?

 

[Nick86]

The slavery content in S1 isn't watered down because it's represented the exact same as it is in the manga and (presumably) the LN. So far, the only difference is that the anime has yet to bring up the idea of inferior quality slave crests-- if it ever will.

Naofumi isn't "more generic" in the anime, either (as I remarked before) but supposing he provably was, why would that be a decision meant to appeal to the same American audience that idolizes novelty and chafes about "genericness"-- supposed or otherwise?

Well, this is just my personal opinion, but the novel is far superior to the anime adaption regarding the characters and lore, feel like is watared down to appeal to a generic audience since some stuff is leaved out and slavery as theme is something more sensible in us than in other parts of the world. Anyway LN -> manga -> anime, thsi is my preference.

 

[Eighty-six]

Well, this is just my personal opinion, but the novel is far superior to the anime adaption regarding the characters and lore, feel like is watared down to appeal to a generic audience since some stuff is leaved out and slavery as theme is something more sensible in us than in other parts of the world. Anyway LN -> manga -> anime, thsi is my preference.

You keep saying that things are "watered down" for a "generic audience", but you have yet to provide anything pointing to that watering down-- much less in a way that might have suited the palate of an American audience. Also,

and slavery as theme is something more sensible in us than in other parts of the world.

What is this supposed to mean? That slavery is a more sensitive topic for Americans versus the rest of the world? As in, we'd stir up more controversy about it versus other regional viewerships?

Because, sure, but there's nearly no difference in how it's represented in the manga versus the anime, and how it's presented in the anime would have been enough to stoke controversy.

 

[Njin]

He was ready to trust in the people of this world, and even in finding his own love as well... at first. But trust is made of glass - very easy to break, not so easy to fix.

He's not soon going to forget the way he was treated, quite unjustly at that, even if your average person is treating him better now. He's been absolutely traumatized, which is why he can't help but put up walls between him and others. What you are expecting is just... highly unrealistic. Maybe you should reread the early chapters.

No, you just missed my point. Also, don't patronize me.

Anyway: I said nothing about him forgetting how he was treated. But people are not static; they change all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

What "traumatized" Naofumi was a single incident with, what, like a few weeks of hardship? That is not the same as years of heavy child abuse or PTSD from war; and that is the kind of trauma that stays with you for years. Even those people change with time, however.

Either way, at this point in the story, Naofumi spent far more time having a good life than a bad one, and that should realistically have an impact too. I'm not saying he should be puking rainbows, but it's not really plausible for him to still be almost the same he was back then.

It's not my expectations that are unrealistic, but this series portrayal of trauma. But it's an isekai, so accurate psychology is not the point of the series.

 

[Nick86]

You keep saying that things are "watered down" for a "generic audience", but you have yet to provide anything pointing to that watering down-- much less in a way that might have suited the palate of an American audience. Also,


What is this supposed to mean? That slavery is a more sensitive topic for Americans versus the rest of the world? As in, we'd stir up more controversy about it versus other regional viewerships?

Because, sure, but there's nearly no difference in how it's represented in the manga versus the anime, and how it's presented in the anime would have been enough to stoke controversy.

The dialogues, the scenes, while the main plot is the same everything else is changed to be less effective, is something you feel when you watch the anime and read the manga. An example is a scene where Rap in the LN killed a dude, while in the anime the killing is done by Naofumi, there are also missing changes so the whole story have a less emotional impact. This is surely done to not offend the western audience and decrease the rating.
Same with Goblin Slayer anime, is watered down in violence, scenes are missing and there are warnings that people can find it offensive, this is what i mean by watering down content, another word is censorship, anime of both Shield Hero and GS are censored. Censorship is created for this purpose, for a global audience, changing the source material to be more palatable, less violent, otherwise there is no need to do so if the target is only the fanbase. Hope i explain better what i meant before, this is why the LN is the top and manga adaption is second, because the author have more freedom and is not have the constraints of the tv adaption.
Anyway, this debate is now pointless, everyone will have their own opinion.