The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 release date is confirmed for April 6, 2022, the Spring 2022 anime season!
Crunchyroll will be streaming the new episodes as they release in Japan. The exact premiere time is 6:00 AM PST/9:00 AM EST on Wednesdays. This includes North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS.
Japanese TV channel AT-X is broadcasting first at 10 PM JST (9 AM EST). Broadcasters Tokyo MX, BS11, KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, and TV Aichi are broadcasting over an hour after midnight, which is effectively April 7, 2022.
On May 2, 2022, Crunchyroll confirmed that The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 English dub release date on Crunchyroll is at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST on May 4, 2022. On April 11, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the Shield Hero Season 2 dub will include English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, and Russian.
In the past, the Shield Hero English dub was released the same day as new episodes were released in Japan. The first season of the Shield Hero dub suffered a dubbing process delay and it seems The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 dub will not keep up with a same-day Simuldub schedule.
The number of episodes was announced on March 19, 2022. It’s been confirmed that Shield Hero Season 2 will be released as 13 episodes across three Blu-Ray/DVD volumes, which means the second season is a single-cour anime season.
A “cour” is a three-month TV broadcasting unit based on the physical seasons, and animes usually have between 10 to 13 episodes per cour.
Since the next major story arc is four light novel volumes, the second season noticeably increased its adaptation pacing in order to cover so much ground. Thankfully, the previously announced The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 should slow down the pacing a notch since the major story arcs are contained in three books.
During Anime Japan 2022 on March 26, 2022, the third Shield Hero Season 2 trailer was released:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhMJONSuYkc
The newest addition to the Shield Hero cast is Ost Horai, who will be voiced by Japanese actor Kana Hanazawa.
On January 25, 2022, Crunchyroll teased fans by posting, “The second season of The Rising of the Shield Hero is getting closer.” On March 10, 2022, the official Twitter account confirmed that Shield Hero 2 was coming out on April 6, 2022.
Crunchyroll had previously released The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 trailer that focused on Filo.
On February 9, 2022, a new Shield Hero Season 2 trailer and key visual were released. The video trailer had English subtitles only since an English dubbed version was not available yet.
During Virtual Crunchyroll Expo 2020, the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 trailer was released along with a new key visual. In addition to a The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 trailer, it has already been announced that the third season will release not too long after.
The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 was confirmed to be in production during a special stage panel at Crunchyroll Expo 2019. And then in September 2020 Kadokawa producer Junichiro Tamura revealed that anime fans won’t have a long wait between seasons.
Tamura had been teasing the possibility of a sequel since the first season first premiered in January 2019, but Shield Hero Season 3 being announced at the same time was something of a surprise. Earlier in 2019, Kadokawa had announced that their anime profits in Q1 2019 rose largely thanks to Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo’s anime adventures.
Manga/light novel publisher Kadokawa co-produced the anime alongside Crunchyroll, which Tamura says “tipped” him off to the series. The producer says the book publisher would “would like to animate all of Shield Hero,” but he admits those plans all depend on the support from the fans.
Tamura talked about the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari anime in a Reddit Ask Me Anything back in February 2019. Tamura is a business producer for anime at book publisher Kadokawa, which is well-known for works like KonoSuba, Overlord, and many others.
In 2021, the Overlord Season 4 anime TV series and an Overlord movie were both confirmed to be in production. Then, The Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 anime was also confirmed.
The Shield Hero characters will also be in the Summer 2022 movie Isekai Quartet movie: Another World.
In addition to bringing Shield Bro to the masses, Tamura also worked on Bungo Stray Dogs, Chio’s School Road, and the Prisma Ilya series.
“Definitely with everyone’s continued support. … I am very pleased [with] how the show has performed beyond my expectations, especially overseas in the US and China. I would like to thank everyone for the support you have shown for the show,” Tamura responded. “Regarding Season 2, it all depends on our fans and how much support they continue [to] give the series. … Please continue to watch Shield Hero legally on sites such as Crunchyroll and purchase Shield Hero goods/Blu-rays once they become available.”
(For more questions answered by Tamura, please see this article about The Rising Of The Shield Hero Reddit AMA. You should also check out our exclusive interview with Aiya Kyu, the artist producing The Rising Of The Shield Hero manga series.)
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 anime is being produced by Studio DR MOVIE and Studio Kinema Citrus, which also animated Made in Abyss the Movie: Dawn of the Deep Soul and the 2022 Made In Abyss Season 2.
The first season’s director, Takao Abo, is being replaced by director Masato Jinbo of Fate/kaleid Liner Prisma Illya fame. But most of the main staff is returning.
Write Keigo Koyanagi is returning for series composition. Character Designer Masahiro Suwa is returning. Music composer Kevin Penkin is returning.
The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 OP (opening) theme song music “Bring Back” will be performed by MADKID. The ED (ending) song “Yuzurenai” will be sung by Chiai Fujikawa.
MADKID and singer Fujikawa previously performed the OP/ED for Shield Hero Season 1.
The Rising of the Shield Hero 2 comes to Crunchyroll this October! 🛡 pic.twitter.com/qPkgrjApnZ
— Crunchyroll 🎉 #AnimeAwards! (@Crunchyroll) March 6, 2021
-
Updated May 2, 2022: Added Shield Hero Season 2 dub release date.
-
Updated April 12, 2022: Added Crunchyroll’s Shield Hero Season 2 dub info.
-
Updated April 5, 2022: Added Crunchyroll’s The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 streaming time.
-
Updated March 26, 2022: Added Shield Hero Season 2 trailer 3 and new key visual.
-
Updated March 22, 2022: Number of episodes confirmed! Added a spoilers warning on this basis.
-
Updated March 10, 2022: Exact Shield Hero Season 2 release date confirmed!
-
Updated February 9, 2022: Added Shield Hero Season 2 OP/ED singer info. Added new trailer and key visual.
-
Updated July 8, 2021: The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 delayed to 2022!
This article provides everything that is known about The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 (Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Why the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 release date was set for April 2022
The exact The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 release date is April 6, 2022. But why did anime fans need to wait so long for the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 release date despite the second season being announced years ago?
On March 6, 2021, the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 release date was originally announced to be scheduled for October 2021, the Fall 2021 anime season. On July 7, 2021, it was announced that the second season would be delayed.
“Due to various reasons, we have decided to postpone the broadcast of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2, which was scheduled to start broadcasting in October 2021,” stated the official website. “We are currently planning to start broadcasting in April 2022, so when the detailed date and time is decided we will announce it on the official website.”
Kinema Citrus is known for only producing a handful of projects per year (unless they’re co-animating with another company). The Made In Abyss anime was their breakout hit in 2017 and then for 2020 they released Made in Abyss the Movie: Dawn of the Deep Soul. It’s also been confirmed that the Made In Abyss Season 2 release date is in 2022, as well.
Such a schedule pushed The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 out into 2022. Besides Shield Hero Season 3, the only other project they’ve produced was the Show by Rock!! Stars!!, which came out in January 2021.
Therefore, the best-case scenario was Shield Hero Season 2 coming out in April 2022. Since Kadokawa producer Tamura is already promising anime fans they won’t have a long wait between seasons it’s possible The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 release date could be scheduled for late 2022.
The Rising Of The Shield Hero manga, light novels, and web novel compared to the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari anime
Jokingly referred to as Medicine And Raccoon in the likeness of Spice And Wolf, The Rising Of The Shield Hero light novels were created by author Aneko Yusagi and illustrator Minami Seira starting in August 2013.
The story is based on a Shosetsuka ni Naro (Let’s Become a Novelist) web novel that reached an ending years ago. Fan-made English translation projects for the web novel were completed back in 2015.
The official Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari light novel series was up to Volume 22 as of June 25, 2019.
The release date for Volume 23 has not yet been confirmed. The author is working on multiple projects at the same time so the next book is taking longer than usual.
The official English translation by One Peace Books started publishing in 2015. The English version is already up to Volume 20 as of June 22, 2021. Volume 21 is scheduled to release on October 26, 2021, and Volume 22 on December 21, 2021.
There are numerous differences between the web novel and light novels, but overall it’s safe to say the light novel series is taking the plot in a different direction. For example, the fan-favorite Mad Scientist Naofumi story arc was replaced by a different story in the light novels.
The light novels also added new characters and made major changes to the story while keeping the core elements of the plot relatively intact.
However, similar to how the Overlord light novels eventually drifted away from the original web novel, it’s very likely that the Shield Hero light novels will find a new ending. (The web novel’s ending was also fairly open-ended and the final chapters were more of a side story.)
The big divergences start at around the Cal Mira Island story arc in Volume 4 (which is also the ending of the anime’s first season). It’s apparent that underdeveloped portions of the story are being fleshed out from that point on so later developments make more sense.
Overall, even fans of the web novel agree the light novel adaptation is more streamlined and more appealing to a wider audience.
The biggest difference is probably in the tone of the narrative, which (similar to the Sword Art Online light novels) comes from the first person perspective of Naofumi Iwatani.
Web novel Naofumi is extremely bitter (perhaps realistically so?) in all his interactions with other characters whereas light novel Naofumi is significantly more mellowed out. That’s not to say he’s no longer angry at the world due to all the trauma he’s experienced.
Starting in 2014, mangaka Aiya Kyu began adapting the light novel series into The Rising Of The Shield Hero manga. Published on a monthly basis, the manga has been collected into 18 volumes as of March 2021 (two to three volumes release per year).
Please see our exclusive interview with Shield Hero manga artist Aiya-san.
The English translation of the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari manga is already up to Volume 15 as of March 16, 2021. Volume 16 is scheduled for September 28, 2021
The manga version follows the light novels’ plot, but it has a tendency to skip slice-of-life elements in order to jump straight into the action. This decision makes the manga more fast-paced since it skims the bland plot points, but it makes these changes at the expense of characterization.
When light novels are adapted into anime format it’s unavoidable that some content is skipped and some parts are condensed. The changes were most notable in Episode 1, which ran double-length so the first episode didn’t end on such a dark note.
Tamura says that in this case anime studio Kinema Citrus worked as a team to make these types of decisions.
“We do make some adjustments for marketability, however never at the cost of changing too much the original story. … We would like to not change too much of the original story, but there are things we must cut due to episode duration,” he explained. “In the case we do have to cut content, it is a decision all the staff members are involved in.”
In the first light novel, everything seemed to be going well and then it suddenly hit a switch. The anime made this transition a little more seamlessly by adding a few extra scenes of friendly interaction with the other three heroes (Spear Hero Motoyasu Kitamura, Sword Hero Ren Amaki, and Bow Hero Kizuna Kazeyama) which included subtle foreshadowing that makes the audience realize that’s something is not quite right.
The anime also presented a good-hearted protagonist who was excited about his upcoming adventure whereas narrator Naofumi of the books was more biting. These anime scenes made the eventual betrayal of Naofumi seem more believable while also making the character more likable.
Voice actor Kaito Ishikawa plays the role of Naofumi and he explained how it was necessary to put himself into a “more positive mindset through it all” when recording the first episode because he knew the betrayal was coming.
“I raised my spirits by imagining a story where Naofumi may be the hero of the shield, considered the weakest of the four, but he was going to give it his all and keep upgrading his shield in order to protect his party, and stuff like that,” he said. “The story and Naofumi’s character take quite the turn in the second half, so I was quite a bit nervous going in. Part of it was because episode 1 is an hour long and had an unusual kind of schedule. We recorded the first half on one day, and the second the next. The second day’s recording was going to start with the betrayal scene right off the bat, so I had to get into [a] mindset of voicing a whole different character. Repeating that process all over again was quite the challenge.”
When voicing Naofumi, Kaito also believes that if “Naofumi’s nice to someone, it’s not intentional. He’s not aware that he’s showing his soft side.”
The goal is for audiences to see a glimpse into Naofumi’s true character while still not adopting a “more compassionate tone to how he treats Raphtalia.”
“Naofumi only sees Raphtalia as a weapon, as his sword and nothing more. But try as he might, he can’t fully commit to treating a person as a tool. He must’ve been a really nice guy,” Kaito explained. “While he hates the other heroes and Myne, and seeks revenge from the bottom of his heart, he still can’t bring himself to become completely evil. That’s what makes him so human and charming.”
The anime did neglect to include information that changes how audiences might perceive the characters at the beginning. For example, while Naofumi was transported to this fantasy world by reading a book, the other three heroes all died in accidents before awakening to their new fate.
Worse, the anime’s opening portrayed Naofumi in a bad light. When he sees the picture of the princess in the book he describes her as “kind of slutty” based on appearance alone. However, in the light novel, Naofumi made this remark because the picture book page described how the princess made eyes at all the heroes and was known for sleeping around.
Since the anime neglected to include this critical context from the book it changes the way audiences might feel about Naofumi from the outset.
Still, the anime did a good job of showing how the strong pre-existing prejudices of King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, the church, and the citizenry against any person who might wield the Shield allowed Princess Malty Melromarc to frame Naofumi.
Malty’s actions are the root cause of Naofumi’s original personality snapping, twisting him into a dark and cynical man willing to use slaves to build his party.
While it’s difficult to like the bitter book narrator Naofumi, the character presented in the anime’s first few episodes is shown to have goodness still inside him despite the horrible circumstances.
The book has a lot of interior monologue showing how Naofumi views the world and this rage was most evident in Episode 8: Curse Shield. But it still had Naofumi smiling in the end.
How many light novel volumes will the 25 episodes of Season 1 adapt? The first light novel volume was adapted into four episodes, and Episode 8 finished off the final Chapter 20 of Volume 2. Episodes 10 through 13 adapted light novel Volume 3.
Starting with Episode 14 the anime slowed the pacing down dramatically. Eight episodes were used to adapt the Devil of the Shield story arc that’s the focus of Volume 4. The ending of this story arc also corresponded to manga Chapter 32 of Volume 8.
Warning: Major anime spoilers in the next several paragraphs.
Shield Hero Episode 21 actually had some manga fans complaining. While, yes, Naofumi finally received sweet, sweet justice, the anime episode failed to compare with its manga counterpart. The manga’s scene was way more confrontational in nature and the characterization of Naofumi was completely changed. (The manga version of Spear Hero also didn’t give up completely on Malty even to the bitter end, which made it seem odd how Bitch remained in his party without any explanation by the anime.)
Malty even attempted to manipulate Naofumi by suggesting that he should forgive them.
“Please don’t make this about revenge!” Malty pleaded “Revenge only begets revenge. As the wise Shield Hero, surely you know that! Please, show mercy and ask the Queen to forgive us! As long as you feel better, everything is fine, right?!”
In response to this outrageous line, manga Naofumi immediately ordered the execution of Bitch and Trash by yelling, “Kill them! The death penalty!” Seeking to prevent strife in the country, the Queen offered the middle ground proposal where the two former royals would still prefer death, but she later point-blank stated, “Upon their next transgression, I won’t hesitate to put them down.”
The end result was that anime Naofumi came off as far more mellow in how he reacted to the situation. Instead of being hot-blooded and petty by reveling in watching the horrible faces Bitch was making, this kind-hearted version of Naofumi forged a selfless path for the betterment of the kingdom that unified everyone behind a common cause. So while, yes, the anime portrays Naofumi in a more heroic manner it could be argued that the emotional payoff for the readers was far greater in the manga.
After that story arc, the first season resumed the earlier pacing to finish off the first five volumes. The ending focused on the Cal Mira Island story arc and the fight with L’Arc Berg, Therese Alexandrite, and Glass, which had been teased by the OP video of the second cour. (Trivia: Melty was not present in either the light novel or web novel during this time frame, but in the anime, she helped with the wave sea battle.
Season 1’s ending roughly corresponded to the finale of Volume 5 (or manga Chapter 45), which is a good stopping point since a major new story arc that spans multiple books begins with the fifth volume.
However, the anime’s ending quickly adapted Rishia’s introduction from Volume 6 already, skimming over most of the details, and even changing the spelling of her name to Lecia. The happy ending where Naofumi received a lordship over a domain and rebuilt Raphtalia’s village also seemed to skip way ahead to light novel Volume 10, which should have been a plot point for Shield Hero Season 3.
Shield Hero Season 2 will pick up again with Volume 6 (manga Volume 12) with a story about a Spirit Tortoise that directly leads to a confrontation with a major villain (see the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 spoilers below for more detail).
The good news is that this stopping point leaves plenty of room for producing Season 2 immediately, never mind The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 and beyond. Better yet, English-reading fans can jump straight in and read ahead of the anime without waiting for new books to release.
The only bad news is that Shield Hero Episode 25 has already adapted most of the available chapters for The Rising Of The Shield Hero manga. Thus, it’s very likely that Shield Hero Season 2 will be ahead of the manga version in 2022.
Since Shield Hero Season 2 only has 13 episodes rather than being two cours, the third season essentially is like a split-cour anime season despite being numbered separately.
Similar to how the first season needed two cours to find a good stopping point in the story, the next even volumes have two major self-contained story arcs.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4 should then adapt the next major story arc that begins with Volume 14.
The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: This article assumes that Shield Hero Season 2 will open with the events of light novel Volume 6 or manga Volume 12.
The last time we saw Naofumi, Raphtalia, and friends they’d just faced off against Glass in the Cal Mira islands. Returning to Melromarc aboard a ship, they meet a young woman named Rishia (Lecia) Ivyred, a tragic character introduced at the ending of Season 1. She was abandoned by Bow Hero Itsuki so she begs to join Naofumi’s party.
(In the manga, Rishia/Lecia enjoyed wearing full-body suits like the squirrel costume, so it’ll be interesting to see if the anime shows her wearing her penguin costume.)
Besides Rishia/Lecia, Raphtalia’s childhood friend the Siberian Husky-like Keel joins the party. There’s a bit of a plot twist involving Keel’s identity, but this article won’t spoil the surprise.
The focal point of Shield Hero Season 2 starts with Naofumi deliberating over what it means to be a hero. He’s moved past needing petty revenge and Raphtalia continues to serve as a moral compass. There’s also the mystery of the Seven Star Heroes.
It’s not long before trouble starts brewing because the heroes are asked to defeat a giant monster called the Spirit Tortoise. But this creature is so powerful that even the high-level adventurers cannot defeat it.
The problem is that the other three summoned heroes Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu keep treating their situation as if they’re living inside a virtual reality game. It turns out Naofumi is the only one of the four cardinal heroes to not have played a game similar to this fantasy world.
As such, Naofumi takes threats more seriously and trains hard while the other three act as if they’re game protagonists with plot armor who simply can’t ever lose and die (clearly they’re not familiar with Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash).
Unfortunately, although Naofumi attempts to train with the other heroes the way he humiliates and berates them causes the Bow Hero, Sword Hero, and Spear Hero to become alienated even further from the Shield Hero. In the past there was some grumbling about Naofumi’s methods, but now they outright accuse Naofumi of “cheating” as if he’s somehow manipulating the game-like world in an unfair manner.
Due to this conflict, Naofumi’s party finds itself standing alone in the face of the enormous threat posed by the Spirit Tortoise. This is quite the problem since Naofumi clearly remembers the warning from Fitoria the Filolial Queen that the world won’t be saved if the four heroes can’t work together.
After Naofumi and his friends defeat the Spirit Tortoise, they set out to search for the other missing heroes. Along the way, they run into Ost Hourai, a brown-haired woman with Chinese-looking features.
Ost claims the Spirit Tortoise is still alive and pleads with Naofumi to find and stop the creature before it goes on a rampage. Naofumi doesn’t believe her since he had defeated the Spirit Tortoise earlier and believes it dead. But Ost insists she’s right and claims that someone else is pulling the string from behind the scenes.
It turns out this hidden threat is Book Hero Kyo Ethnina, one of the Vassal wielders from the Second world. A rampant egomaniac pervert, Kyo openly desires to brainwash the women of Naofumi’s party and add them to his personal harem.
Kyo is attempting to siphon away Spirit Tortoise energy and is responsible for the disappearance of the three missing heroes Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki. But controlling the Spirit Tortoise is strictly forbidden so Glass, the Fan Hero that was introduced in the first anime season, ends up forming an alliance with Naofumi to kill the Book Hero.
Rishia/Lecia was originally taken under the wing of Naofumi because he hated how Bow Hero Itsui treated her worse than a slave. Due to Rishia/Lecia being so helpful in the fight against Kyo, Naofumi asks Rishia/Lecia to form a slave pact with him because of his ability to boost of his slaves. After much consideration, Rishia decides to accept a high-level slave crest and joins Naofumi’s party.
(In the manga version, this plot point took place earlier in Chapter 45 and both Rishia/Lecia and Keel took the slave mark to boost their abilities. But they were both very hesitant to do so since Naofumi chose to be mean-spirited and scare them both like an “evil slave trader”.)
The allies eventually track down Kyo and confront him. The battle to the death with Kyo seems like it’ll end in tragedy but for the sacrificial actions of Ost. Naofumi destroys the Spirit Tortoise’s core and Kyo manages to escape to his own world while taking away some of the energy.
Naofumi attempts to follow Kyo’s retreat only to find himself awakening in prison! Kyo managed to split Naofumi and Rishia/Lecia off and away from Raphalia, Filo, and the others, leaving the pair trapped in a labyrinth dimension. Worse, Naofumi finds his experience and skills reset back down to level 1!
The legendary hero Kizuna Kazeyama is introduced as the Hunting Hero, whose weapon limits her to harming monsters and not humans. Because of this limitation, she was captured and trapped inside the labyrinth dimension.
Friends with Glass, Kizuna is also from the same Second world. Kizuna disapproves of killing the other world’s heroes in order to save her homeworld and believes the heroes are necessary for some other reason.
With the help of Kizuna, Naofumi and Rishia/Lecia are able to escape the labyrinth and find Raphtalia, Filo, Glass, L’arc, and Therese. Kizuna is happy to be reunited with her long lost comrade, but she also punishes Glass for attempting to kill Naofumi and the other legendary heroes. Along the way, they find themselves fighting an enemy that Naofumi calls Trash #2.
With everyone reunited, they prepare to track down Kyo and prevent him from doing something disastrous with the energy collected from the dead Spirit Tortoise. But first, they must deal with a young female samurai named Yomogi Emarl, a childhood friend of the dastardly Kyro.
Yomogi deeply trusts her friends and has a strong sense of justice. What she doesn’t realize is that Kyo has been manipulating her into fighting his enemies. But will Yomogi see through his machinations?
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until The Rising Of the Shield Hero Season 2 release date to watch how Naofumi resolves all these crises. Let’s just be glad the wait for Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 (never mind Shield Hero Season 3) isn’t too long. Stay tuned!