The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 release date is confirmed for October 6, 2023, the Fall 2023 anime season.
The 3rd season will have a total of 12 episodes released as three Blu-ray & DVD volumes.
It’s been a long wait since the anime TV series was initially confirmed to be in production during a special stage panel at Crunchyroll Expo 2019. During Crunchyroll Expo 2022, a new key visual was released, but the official Twitter stated that fans should stay tuned for more news.
◤￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
さあ、俺たちの
真の成り上がりが始まる。
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿◢TVアニメ
『#盾の勇者の成り上がり Season 3』🛡️放送開始を記念して、
朝日新聞朝刊に地域別の4種類の広告を掲載！4種類の絵を集めると…？#shieldhero pic.twitter.com/C2xrNoxTlw
— TVアニメ『盾の勇者の成り上がり』@Season 3 10月6日（金）放送開始 (@shieldheroanime) October 6, 2023
Better yet, the Kadokawa producer has already confirmed at Virtual Crunchyroll Expo 2020 that the wait for the third season won’t be too long.
The only bad news is that The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 release date was delayed from Fall 2021 to Spring 2022. So, although the delay between seasons is supposed to be short, that meant the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 3 release date was pushed back, as well.
Since the second season finished there was radio silence except for the key visual released during Crunchyroll Expo 2022, which featured Shield Hero music artists MADKID, composer Kevin Penkin, and music director Hiromitsu Iijima. It was actually a surprise that the second season’s finale didn’t mention the third season at all considering that it had previously been confirmed to be in production.
On April 7, 2023, the release time frame for Shield Hero Season 3 was finally announced alongside a new key visual and a teaser PV trailer:
The original announcement of Shield Hero Season 3 was something of a surprise since the third season was announced at the same time as Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2.
At the same time, it’s not too much of a surprise that Shield Hero Season 3 was confirmed so early based on its financial success. Crunchyroll is directly involved in the production as one of the producers, and streaming revenue has become the most significant factor in the success of any TV anime series.
In the past, anime production committees would greenlight an anime sequel if the DVD and Blu-ray sales did well in Japan. In recent years, the anime industry has shifted in the direction of merchandise sales (figurines, etc.) and overseas streaming services, with companies like Crunchyroll and FUNimation having an increasing effect on the financial success of anime TV series.
◤#盾の勇者の成り上がり Season 3
✨🛡️2023年10月放送開始🛡️✨
◢
大変お待たせしました。
放送時期決定、さらにキービジュアルが公開となりました！
詳しい情報はぜひ公式HPをご確認ください。https://t.co/ZEcNaHQvRg#shieldhero pic.twitter.com/yQ2GTFUZ5B— TVアニメ『盾の勇者の成り上がり』@Season 3制作中 (@shieldheroanime) April 7, 2023
Plus, the first season performed so strongly that publisher Kadokawa, which publishes both the manga and light novel series under the Media Factory label, announced that their quarterly profits rose mostly thanks to the Shield Hero anime.
Thanks to this success, Kadokawa added Naofumi and Raphtalia to Isekai Quartet Season 2. The Shield Hero characters will also be in the Summer 2022 movie Isekai Quartet movie: Another World.
Kadokawa also plans on producing at least one new isekai anime each season. The Overlord Season 4 release date is already confirmed for 2022 and an Overlord movie sequel is also in production. The Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 anime and the KonoSuba Season 3 anime were also confirmed to be in production.
Hopefully, those plans will include sequels for other popular isekai light novels.
The Shield Hero anime is produced by animation studio Kinema Citrus, which also produced Made in Abyss the Movie: Dawn of the Deep Soul and the 2022 Made In Abyss Season 2. Most of the same primary production staff will be returning for making The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 but there is one major change.
Director Masato Jinbo is being replaced by Hitoshi Haga. The anime character designer hasn’t been confirmed yet. For the second season, Masahiro Suwa was the character designer.
Writer Keigo Koyanagi is returning to handle series composition and screenplay. The soundtrack for Shield Hero Season 3 will once again be created by composer Kevin Penkin, who also worked on the Made In Abyss anime.
The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3’s opening (OP):
Ending (ED) theme song music video:
For those who haven’t caught up with watching the anime, The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2 release date was on April 6, 2022. New episodes were streaming on Crunchyroll at 6:00 AM PST/9:00 AM EST on Wednesdays. This included North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS.
The second season was 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. The second season was 13 episodes in total released as three Blu-Ray/DVD volumes.
Assuming no delays, the second season’s finale, The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13, will be released on June 29, 2022.
- Updated August 6, 2022: New key visual.
- Updated August 2, 2022: Added Expo info. Changed prediction.
- Updated April 5, 2022: Added Crunchyroll streaming times.
- Updated March 22, 2022: Number of episodes for Season 2 confirmed! Adjusted the spoilers on this basis.
- Updated March 10, 2022: Added exact Shield Hero 2 release date.
- 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 3 (Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 3) 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 3 release date is in October 2023
As of the last update, Kadokawa, Crunchyroll, Kinema Citrus, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the exact The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 release date. The production of Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 3 was confirmed in September 2019, but not the time frame for the premiere on Japanese TV. It wasn’t until April 2023 that the premiere time frame was announced.
Considering that The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 was greenlit for production at the same time as the second season, Kadokawa producer Junichiro Tamura is already promising anime fans they won’t have a long wait between seasons. But I guess a long wait is different in producer land since they’re used to thinking in terms of multiple years.
The second season came out in April 2022, the Spring 2022 anime season. In the best-case scenario, that could have meant that The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 release date would be scheduled for Fall 2022. In effect, the third season would have been similar to a split-cour anime season despite being numbered separately.
But by Crunchyroll Expo 2022 the lack of any update on the premiere time threw that prediction into doubt. Typically, the time frame for an anime premiere is announced within 3 to 6 months in advance. Therefore, Anime Geek predicted way back then that The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 release date would be in late 2023.
As for The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 4, Tamura has already said he would “would like to animate all of Shield Hero,” but he admits those plans all depend on the support from the fans.
“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 said back in early 2019.
Crunchyroll’s The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 English dub release date
Crunchyroll’s The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 English dub release date hasn’t been announced yet. In the past, the Shield Hero English dub was released the same day as new episodes were released in Japan, but then the Shield Hero dub suffered a dubbing process delay. Similarly, the Shield Hero Season 2 dub was released weeks after the initial premiere.
Hopefully, the Shield Hero Season 3 dub will keep up with the same-day Simuldub schedule.
The Shield Hero Season 2 dub included English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, and Russian.
The Rising Of The Shield Hero manga/light novels compared to the anime
The story for the anime is based on The Rising Of The Shield Hero light novels by writer Aneko Yusagi and illustrator Minami Seira. But the first version of the story was a Shosetsuka ni Naro (Let’s Become a Novelist) web novel that reached an ending years ago.
Starting in August 2013, the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari light novel adaptation began publishing. As of June 2019, the books were up to Volume 22.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 23 release date has not yet been announced. The author is working on multiple projects at the same time so the next book is taking longer than usual.
Fan-made English translation projects for the web novel were completed back in 2015. Also, in 2015, One Peace Books licensed the official English translation for the Shield Hero light novel series. The English version already caught up to Volume 22 as of December 21, 2021.
Comparisons can be made between the web novel and light novels, but overall the light novel series is changing things up by 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 novel version.
The light novels also added new characters and made major changes to the story while keeping the core elements of the plot relatively intact. The most significant divergence from the web novel begins around the Cal Mira Island story arc in Volume 4 (which is also the ending of the anime’s first season). Underdeveloped portions of the story were fleshed out from that point on, so later plot developments make more sense.
Similar to how the Overlord light novels eventually drifted away from the original web novel, the Shield Hero light novels may create a new twist on the ending. The web novel’s conclusion was also fairly open-ended, and the final chapters were more of a side story. Still, it’s not as extensive as Arifureta’s web novel, which has an after story that’s already longer than the main storyline.
Overall, even fans of the web novel agree the light novel adaptation is more streamlined and more appealing to a wider audience. The most significant 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 exceptionally 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, but he’s certainly not an Arifureta edgelord who needs to be called out as a chuuni.
Still, it’s not like it’s all sunshine and rainbows in the light novel series, either. In the books, Naofumi is the narrator, and there’s a lot of interior monologue showing how Naofumi views the world and why he feels so much rage.
Light novel Naofumi knows what’s coming to him, so his attitude was somewhat caustic from the get-go. In contrast, the anime showed how his emotional state transitioned due to the betrayal by Malty. Her 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.
Beginning in 2014, manga artist, Aiya Kyu began adapting the story of the light novel series into The Rising Of The Shield Hero manga series. It was published monthly, two to three volumes release per year, and the Shield Hero manga has been collected into 21 volumes as of June 22, 2022.
You should also check out our exclusive interview with Shield Hero manga artist Aiya Kyu.
The English translation of the Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari manga is already up to Volume 18 as of February 15, 2022. The English Volume 19 manga is scheduled for September 13, 2022.
The manga version follows the light novels’ plot, but it tends to skip slice-of-life elements 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.
At the same time, many manga readers agree that the manga was better than the first season of the anime version, especially in regards to Episode 21, when Naofumi finally received sweet justice against the treacherous Malty and her father. The manga version was way more confrontational, so the characterization of Naofumi was changed in the anime.
Instead of being hot-blooded and petty, the anime version had Naofumi putting aside his ego and forging a selfless path for the betterment of the kingdom that unified everyone behind a common cause. This episode portrayed Naofumi more heroically, but it could be argued that the manga provides a far higher emotional payoff for the readers.
When anime staff writers condense the story of a light novel series, it’s unavoidable that specific details are skipped to fit the seasonal format and episode duration. Changes are sometimes made for marketability, but anime studios prefer not to change too much of the original story.
All in all, the first season of the anime adapted the story up through the first half of light novel Volume 6, which corresponds to manga Volume 11. Therefore, readers who wish to read ahead of the anime adaptation can jump to light novel Volume 6 or manga Volume 12.
One of the issues with the first season’s ending is that it skimmed the story of Lecia Rishia Ivyred. This quirky character was the hero of the ocean battle against Glass thanks to her quick thinking regarding the luchol berry barrels, but the anime made many changes.
The anime even changed her name from Lecia to Rishia. The reason for her suicidal despair at the hands of the Bow Hero was also developed throughout many chapters in manga Volume 11 (and the first half of light novel Volume 6). In contrast, the anime quickly skimmed over the highlights, which significantly lessened the emotional impact.
Worse, the anime removed her most charming character element since Lecia was known for wearing full-body furry suits! In fact, during the Cal Mira Island battle, Lecia was wearing a squirrel suit with a Santa hat, so no one knew her identity at first. She also wore a penguin suit.
No explanation was ever provided for these changes, but perhaps the staff at Kinema Citrus felt this character was just too quirky? In any case, Shield Hero S2 brought the cosplay suits back and even explained why she was wearing them.
The biggest change made by the first season impacts The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 4. The ending had Naofumi receiving a lordship and rebuilding Raphtalia’s village, but that scene did not occur in the original timeline until light Volume 10. Therefore, Shield Hero Season 4 will need to be changed to compensate for this difference.
Note: This article was originally published before the second season of The Rising Of The Shield Hero anime aired in Japan and will be updated over time with further comparison and analysis.
The biggest downfall of the second season of the anime series was that it was immediately apparent that it was speedrunning the source material. The first six episodes of the second season quickly skimmed through the Spirit Tortoise arc in a rush to reach the big confrontation with Kyo.
That meant light novel Volumes 6 and 7 were adapted by roughly three episodes each, which was almost double the pacing adaptation that Anime Geek had predicted before the second season began. The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 7 picked up the story again in light novel Volume 8 and introduced new characters like Kizuna Kazayma.
Even worse, that episode broke canon by having small Raphtalia be present with Naofumi, Rashia, and Kizuna in the Infinite Labyrinth. The short version is that Raphtalia and Filo were supposed to both be transported separately from Naofumi.
As in, Raphtalia shouldn’t be with Naofumi in Shield Hero S2 EP7. Instead, Raphtalia was supposed to be transported directly to Glass’ World.
But it was inevitable for three major reasons that the anime would create a new reason for Raphtalia becoming separated from the main group. The first was that it’s a plot twist in the light novels that she became a Vassal hero and received the Vassal Katana, thus becoming the Katana Hero and surprising Naofumi greatly when she returned.
The second is that Naofumi’s worried state literally resulted in the creation of a new character since Naofumi used some of Raphtalia’s hair in combination with his blood to create the Shikigami familiar named Raph-chan. That character was created specifically for finding Raphtalia, so the anime needed Raphtalia to be separated in order to justify Raph-chan’s existence.
Thirdly, Naofumi needed to become worried sick and focused on finding Raphtalia and Filo again. This event was a crucial character development moment for Naofumi in the light novel and the manga so it’s odd that the separation anxiety arc was shifted to later since it changes the entire tone of the story.
Rather than being focused on separation anxiety and a growing, gnawing rage, the initial adventure in Glass’ world is almost fun. The girls even spend time laughing and frolicking in the snow! There’s also the return of Merchant Naofumi, which is humorous in its own right.
On one hand, it could be argued that the anime greatly increased the emotional impact by having Raphtalia become separated from Naofumi right in front of him while knowing that Kyo was responsible. In the books, Naofumi did hear Kyo’s voice after entering the portal, but the anime’s portrayal made it feel worse.
During this time period in light novel Volume 8, Naofumi suffered from separation anxiety and aspects of his darker personality came to the forefront again. After Malty’s betrayal, he had been slowly healing, but in Volume 8 Naofumi’s dark and cynical personality started to creep up again.
The anime did attempt to showcase Naofumi’s internal turmoil by showing flashes of the wrath shield and it even physically manifested when he realized how Filo was being mistreated. This behavior was a contrast to Episode 6, which made a point of showing how he couldn’t manifest enough rage and hate to power the wrath shield, which is why the spirit tortoise shield manifested.
The anime also greatly downplayed just how badly Naofumi tortured the noble’s son who had captured Filo. While, yes, the anime did show how the Nue Shield was used to mentally break the man, what the anime didn’t show was how the fully sadistic Naofumi and the cute powers of Raph-Chan were combined to create a literal hell.
First, Naofumi and Raph-Chan used the Nue Shield and illusion magic to beset the man with his unconscious fears. As the man screams for help, Naofumi used the lightning shield to electrocute him. Promising supreme terror, Naofumi put himself and the man in the Prison Shield to interrogate the man, unleashing the Nue Shield’s Night Terror at increasing volume while Raph-Chan enjoyed watching. Even when the man collapsed unconscious, Naofumi injected nightmares into his subconscious. At the end of all this torture, this man was reduced to a quivering ball covered in urine, feces, and blood that had gone to hell and back.
Needless to say, this scene was over the top so it’s probably good that the anime condensed it down to an act of simpler revenge. Still, it did show just how much rage had been unleashed by the separation anxiety, never mind when he saw Filo being abused.
After all that, Kizuna said, “Remind me never to piss you off…” Speaking of which, the anime also watered down the chewing out she gave to the men who accused Naofumi. Her commanding aura was a stark contrast to the attitude she’d previously displayed around everyone in the Infinite Labyrinth.
It’s possible all of these story changes were made so that condensing the story was easier. In the original version, the story continued from multiple perspectives and the characters moved separately while exploring new nations and meeting new characters. That’s very difficult to adapt into only a handful of episodes, so events were rearranged so that only a small part of the separate perspective story arcs were running concurrently.
It’s also possible that the producers simply recognized how popular the Raphtalia character is and didn’t want Raphtalia disappearing for a chunk of the season. It’s also an excuse to bring child Raphtalia back onto our TV screens. Additionally, the light novels did not explore Raphtalia’s progression as a character as much as it could have so this change could be construed as positive based on the way it was executed.
For example, originally Raphtalia’s point of view when she was imprisoned and acquired the katana was not shown in the manga or the light novels, so Episode 11 was almost completely anime original. But, as previously noted, it can be considered a negative that she needed to be saved by Naofumi rather than the other way around. And Raphtalia did steal Kizuna’s limelight.
All in all, it’s predicted that the second season’s finale, The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13, will find a stopping point corresponding to the ending of light novel Volume 9.
Despite the adaptation pacing issues, it’s still the perfect stopping point since light novel Volumes 6 through 9 are a self-contained story arc.
Similarly, The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 should adapt the next three books, Volumes 10 through 12, since those three books follow a similar theme related to the Rebuilding arcs and the Fallen Heroes arc. The Wrath Dragon arc and the Bow Hero arc involving Malty will also make for a good stopping point for Shield Hero S3.
The good news is that there is plenty of source material for making several more anime seasons. It would be best to start The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 4 with Volumes 14 and 15 since those two books also share a story arc about Raphtalia and Q’ten Lo’s Heavenly Emperor.
Better yet, the light novels’ English translation is already caught up with Volume 22 so English-only book readers who wish to read ahead of the anime can jump straight ahead to Volume 10.
The only bad news is for Shield Hero manga readers who wish to read ahead. As of manga Volume 21, the manga series still hadn’t finished adapting the story arc from light novel Volumes 8 and 9, which means the anime’s second season caught up with the manga and surpassed it.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2: New World Arc recap
When audiences watched the anime in Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 6, Naofumi and his allies tracked down Kyo and confronted him. The battle to the death with Kyo seemed like it would have ended 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?
The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: This article assumes that Shield Hero Season 3 will open with the events of light novel Volume 10. However, it’s possible the second season’s pacing will be different than expected.
The last time we watched Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo, and the gang, they had finally defeated Kyo and escaped the other dimension. Having saved the world from the rampaging Spirit Tortoise, the queen of Melromarc decides to reward Naofumi once again.
Naofumi is granted his own land where he can create a settlement, and he decides to build upon the ruins of Raphtalia’s hometown. As previously noted, the ending of the anime’s first season already covered this particular plot development, but The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 3 will need to develop it further.
After all, it’s not like Naofumi is allowed to settle down to a peaceful existence! Naofumi is invited to visit Zeltoble, a country of mercenaries that’s famous for its Coliseum. Fighters and teams compete, people make bets, and even heroes are allowed to participate.
Hidden underneath the surface of all the glitz and glamour of the sports-like battles is the fact that the Coliseum’s basement hides a slave market. The Shield Hero must fight in a Coliseum tournament to free demi-human slaves who came from Raphtalia’s village.
While in the Coliseum, they run into Sadeena, an old friend of Raphtalia’s family. The strong Sadeena had protected Raphtalia’s village when she was younger, but Sadeena was away fishing during that fateful Wave that killed Raphtalia’s parents. Upon returning, Sadeena tried to find the young Raphtalia, but she had already been dragged away into slavery.
Both Raphtalia and Sadeena are disguised, so they do not recognize each other until they fight in the Coliseum. When the adventure in the Coliseum is over, Naofumi purchases the slave contract to free her from Zeltoble.
While Raphtalia views Sadeena like an older sister, these two start having friction fairly quickly upon returning to the village with the freed slaves. Sadeena believes that her man must be someone who can drink more than her, so when Naofumi beats her in an alcohol drinking competition, she set her sights on marrying him. Naofumi turns down her blatant flirting, but that doesn’t stop angry raccoon noises from erupting!
Shield Hero Season 3 will largely focus on Naofumi’s efforts to track down the Spear Hero, Sword Hero, and Bow hero. Will he be able to force the other Legendary Heroes to change their ways and confront reality?
Naofumi organizes a manhunt to capture the Spear Hero Motoyasu only to stumble upon yet another tragedy involving Malty and the Sword Hero. Worse, Naofumi finds himself being targeted by assassins!
Having defeated yet another round of invaders from another world, Naofumi can make peace with the Sword Hero, Ren Amaki. With one success behind them, Naofumi’s party decides to head back to the Coliseum to level up their battle skills.
They are shocked to find Itsuki Kawasumi, the Bow Hero, fighting in the Coliseum for money while disguised under an alias… and he’s been hit by a curse. Dealing with the curse-corrupted Bow Hero is another matter since he’s in the hands of a powerful witch.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until The Rising Of the Shield Hero Season 3 release date to watch how Naofumi deals with the Legendary Heroes. Let’s just hope the wait for Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 3 isn’t too long. Stay tuned!