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The Anti-Anime "Left" is Garbage and Here's Why (Don't Let the Alt-right Claim Anime +Stuff About Orientalism)
- Thread starter Iloelemen
- Start date
Nobody in the series has really said that, at least not yet.
This is part of the problem yes. Policing of media and sensitive elements is something that happens among both sides of the political spectrum.
Whether it's stemming from Puritanistic views that certain things absolutely should not be seen or viewed such as the graphic violence a lot of modern day media has, or a view that the series glorifies elements that should not be encouraged, ( For example, my overhearing a conversation from others that Breaking Bad glorified drug dealing and selling ) because others are clearly corruptible and susceptible to media teaching them bad things.
It wouldn't be the first time I have seen this argued and not the last. This sense of " we must protect others from this because it is wrong and we can't trust them to not get corrupted by these elements " is something I definitely see coming from multiple sides and angles, regardless of political affiliation.
What worries me is, as a writer, that because people react in such strong manners, it becomes concerning to me that the eventual view may one day prevail where writing itself and the stories are affected where less than desirable elements of society, the environment, culture, and viewpoints and actions are no longer portrayed because folks get so worked up about these things. That even if it strengthens the story, the world, or gives a character life and explains their motivations and how they operate, this view will ensue where so many will immediately dismiss others or view them in a horrible light because they like something like Game of Thrones for example.
I don't believe that will happen. At least I hope it will not. But it's concerning for me to watch these debates and see reactions like these prevail and assume things of others so readily instead of engaging and discussing stuff.
That is the literal defense revisionists are using to defend cattle slavery in the US as in "they were treating their slaves well" or we call it
the Uncle Ruckus defense
e: Holy shit the vid in the OP is all kinds of meandering and frankly quite ineffective.
This Shield hero argument on here proves to me that trying to take back anime from the alt-right is a lost cause. When these types of shows are consistently popular and even on here elicit a "Well ACTUALLY" type of response it feels like this war was already lost before it even begun.
I mean I can get trying to reclaim animes even if it's your Love Hina or whatever, but shit where you have literal slave harem and the show is not a total utter indictement of the society that spawned it?
They can have that.
It's kinda like trying to reclaim nazi apologia, no sense in trying to reclaim something that is by design against pretty much everything worth defending,
Just do what you can to promote healthy content and make marginalized anime fans feel welcome. As much as I can bitch on here at people, the most good is done through direct action (as direct as you can get online, at least.)
The way I look at it is simple. An unusual amount of alt-right people came out of anime. Communities need to police their own, and do some self analysis when things get out of hand.
The problems with the anime industry are simple. The content comes from an old fashioned, patriarchal society. The industry also became more about satisfying the desires of the lonely anime otakin japan, who tend to like depictions of young, probably not legal girls in their media.
Anime has its problems, and pretending that they can be ignored is not the answer.
Edit:
To be more general, a large number of socially isolated men got their knowledge of women from videogames, comics, anime, and porn. Is it really all that surprising a lot of socially mal-adusted men with backwards views of women came from those fandoms?
The problems with the anime industry are simple. The content comes from an old fashioned, patriarchal society. The industry also became more about satisfying the desires of the lonely anime otakin japan, who tend to like depictions of young, probably not legal girls in their media.
Anime has its problems, and pretending that they can be ignored is not the answer.
Edit:
To be more general, a large number of socially isolated men got their knowledge of women from videogames, comics, anime, and porn. Is it really all that surprising a lot of socially mal-adusted men with backwards views of women came from those fandoms?
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Read this thread earlier
Then went to the hospital for gallbladder surgery. One of the assistant surgeons there was a HUGGGGGE anime fan. She was white and 65+(if that matters) we were discussing a godzilla tattoo and kept saying "I may not know my Godzilla but ask me animes do I know it all"
Anime is too nerdy for me to test her skills. But she appeared to be the real deal. I'm still under anesthesia so if this reply to make sense there is that.
Then went to the hospital for gallbladder surgery. One of the assistant surgeons there was a HUGGGGGE anime fan. She was white and 65+(if that matters) we were discussing a godzilla tattoo and kept saying "I may not know my Godzilla but ask me animes do I know it all"
Anime is too nerdy for me to test her skills. But she appeared to be the real deal. I'm still under anesthesia so if this reply to make sense there is that.
So here's the thing: do I think a teen watching this show is going to think "ah, the cool and powerful hero has slaves, so slavery is good"? Absolutely not. I seriously do not think people who enjoy the show will become cool with slavery, human trafficking, etc.
Do I think it might make them more willing to accept some really insidious ideas about acceptable relationship dynamics? To think some forms of abuse are justified? That some women are evil and out to get men, and deserve humiliation and assault as karmic justice for it? Absolute yes, I think they might come away with a little of that.
And, importantly, I don't by any means think this show alone is going to be the thing that pushes people into believing any of that (though I do think is more likely to directly validate those that already believe some of it). It's just one more thing that helps normalize it for people. And not even the show itself, really, as much as the discussion around it. You can look at what's been posted from Twitter, of people documenting forum posts; there are absolutely people out there posting some completely wild shit to defend the show, making arguments that do quickly push right into justifying actual abuse/oppression without even thinking.
When you're an impressionable teen, and your community/peers start going "no, this is actually totally not worth criticizing and is very ok, you silly ~feminist SJWs~" over absolutely everything with no sense of self-awareness, and since they set what's normal you end up agreeing with them, over and over, to the point that you're joining in and defending it yourself... that's a problem.
This ain't some Jack Thompson "nudity and violence will make them into violent criminals" or whatever shit. This is a very real, insidious problem with media and communities. Dismissing it as that is how this situation gets even worse.
You don't even need to look as far as Twitter, the first couple of posts in this thread defending shield hero already fall into the pattern described above "well actually they LIKE being his slaves (so it's ok)" "well actually she's a bad person too (so she deserved it)"
I guess the problem is that trying to find the healthy content just gets harder and harder everyday. The incel male power fantasy stuff are the most popular animes right now and that shit just seeps into everything right now.
Like fuck, even a show like My Hero Academia still stops every once in a while so you can ogle at the underage girls. Ack.
Here's the thing; these arguments had been made by other posters in the thread on the pages the people you were responding to replied in, they just aren't interested in reading or learning beyond the stereotype they've categorized this kind of argument in. I agree with you but I worry you're wasting your time.
Anyone bringing up Jack Thompsion in regards to media criticism these days is probably being disingenuous about it anyway.
You can't take something back that was never yours exclusively. All of those alt-right kids came up with anime just like everyone else did. There are no exclusive rights here, just an industry that caters to both sides. Now what actually sounds reasonable is to continue to grow communities, cos you really can't do much about any of those that you're not a part of.
This "marginalized anime fan" bit is not an effective way to edge around just saying that there are two sides to a coin. And they both watch the same problematic shit and give the same excuses as to why.
This "marginalized anime fan" bit is not an effective way to edge around just saying that there are two sides to a coin. And they both watch the same problematic shit and give the same excuses as to why.
I can't believe that "Media can help normalize terrible people / things" is actually being questioned right now.
Questioning the very premise of how media affects people is the only defense people have for this kind of content. It's basically them giving up.
All these Jack Thompson mentions are giving me ptsd. I had my fill of that shitstain from that Strickland v Sony case (directly related to my hometown).
The problem is not "portraying the bad elements of our society" rather "how is portrayed". Breaking Bad is a show about a good person becoming an horrible human being because he enters the drug dealing underworld and tastes what's being powerful and feared. In no way the series glorifies drug dealing and basically every person who comes in contact with Walter and that world get his life fucked up. Only idiots would think otherwise.
The same way a person from my country infiltrated neo Nazis groups and related his experience in a book. Some idiots used that book to crate and learn how to make their own neo nazi groups, but the book was a condemnation of those groups. No one blamed the author and no one sensible took it as a negative message.
Instead, the toxic depiction of Isekais about relationships using slavery as an imagery of possession over women, it's painted in a positive light. You are clever enough to understand how different is to the other examples I used in this post. And yeah, 14 year old kids dosn't know any better, so when the media constantly idealizes that twisted up version of relationships they can, inconciously believe that's how relationships works in the real world, specially if they don't have any counter examples.
So as a writer you should not think "I can't write about anything because I will get criticism!" but rather be mindful and thoughtful of what you write and what you convey with the themes you pursue.
You could believe my words or also search the many studies about media normalizing certain negative behaviors.
Pd: Also "Both sides!" and "Puritanism!" arguments... :/
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...Were we secretly agreeing the entire time we were arguing, earlier? Fuck, I hate the internet.
I find that I watch less and less each season for, mostly, the same reason.
But hey, there's always Precure.
Give it half a page until someone brings up correlation =/= causation like it's something insightful.
You say that like on gaming side they wouldn't use literally anything to protect games!
I'm new to anime (just started watching through one of my first anime last week) what is the deal with Shield Hero? I haven't heard of it before but all the mentions here have me curious what it's about.
Well damn, haven't been invested in anime because of my busy work schedule but have been slowly getting back to it.
The ecchi fan service does put me off. Even KyoAni started cashing in
The ecchi fan service does put me off. Even KyoAni started cashing in
I mean, bringing in Walter White... we could talk about how even something that tries to frame things a certain way can have fans who completely miss it, and how it appears the work might not be going far enough to make it clear in some of those cases.
I still have some particularly bitter feelings about...
Skyler White: It's fucked up that I'm framed as being a "bitch" because of the decisions I'm being forced to make while you get to look cool , etc.
fans of Breaking Bad: Wow, what a bitch.
Oh, don't worry, I appreciate the concern but I'm aware. I almost said the latter paragraph myself, hah.
Just figured it was worth one attempt to get through, especially since they had posted repeatedly in the thread.
I still have some particularly bitter feelings about...
Skyler White: It's fucked up that I'm framed as being a "bitch" because of the decisions I'm being forced to make while you get to look cool , etc.
fans of Breaking Bad: Wow, what a bitch.
Oh, don't worry, I appreciate the concern but I'm aware. I almost said the latter paragraph myself, hah.
Just figured it was worth one attempt to get through, especially since they had posted repeatedly in the thread.
It's so odd to me that on as a progressive site as Resetera there are a good number people who are willing to defend shit like Goblin Slayer and Shield Hero. Why some people want to die on that hill is beyond me.
It's probably the only time I'll ever use this argument but here goes.
This kind of behavior is certainly pretty prevalent in anime and gaming but it's really seen pretty much everywhere anyone ties their identity to something under attack.
Try to talk to NFL about CTE for example.
My point is that tribalism is shite.
(Also I was saying that in a more conversational way than confrontationally)
I see I ruffled up some feathers mentioning Jack Thompson.
i didn't mean media can't influence people, just a 13 year old watching shield hero isn't going to turn them into incels.
It can influence of course. It alone will not though, that's the Jack Thompson BS.
i didn't mean media can't influence people, just a 13 year old watching shield hero isn't going to turn them into incels.
It can influence of course. It alone will not though, that's the Jack Thompson BS.
The Breaking Bad mention was something I had overheard being discussed by others. I was not privy to being a part of that discussion, just happened to overhear some folks getting really heated about how it glorified drug dealing and selling in their opinion.
My personal view on matters is that in life and in writing, as well as other forms of media, less than desirable elements should be portrayed in situations, if it calls for it. I am not a person who believes in censorship at all, even if the elements are disgusting or hard to deal with personally. For example, a particularly gruesomely villainous individual being portrayed as an absolute monster committing nigh on insane atrocities, so that one may understand fully the importance of fighting against that individual and why a potential protagonist seeks to bring them down low.
I am a person who believes that just because bad things happen in real life, we shouldn't gloss them over and act as if they don't happen or are any less important. But that they should be portrayed if the situation or story rightfully calls for it, as it can be an important teaching moment in life to push against such horrific actions and deeds. In essence, we shouldn't turn a blind eye to the evils of the world, nor should we censor the depiction of bad things or stories, just because we don't like it. I believe personally that by confronting those subjects directly, we become better and stronger as human beings and individuals. I fully well realize many may not share this view. And I am ok with that.
As a writer however, it is concerning to me. Generally when I write I absolutely do NOT hold back in the depiction of evil or how characters act out their actions, even if they are despicable or horrifying. While I believe you are referring to moreso a statement of " Don't glorify this. " My concern is that, as you stated yourself with the neo nazi inflitration book example, there will always be someone or some group that will feel that the subject matter at hand IS being glorified. And groups on Social Media are nigh impossible to halt once the train leaves the station.
To lend the argument to the anime everyone is discussing, the argument then comes up as a genuine question. Did the author do this intentionally and pretty much stated so? If so, then yes, the criticism should be leveled at the individual. Where it becomes more nuanced is well, what if that was not their intention? And the argument of glorification comes up anyway, without the author having ever consciously attempted to glorify said subject matter. I realize fully this is a hypothetical, but I do feel it is relevant. Because I feel human beings in general are going to feel strongly towards their particularly viewpoint, and it has been my experience that most people set in their ways are not really opening to listening, or discussing the matter. They prefer to remain set in their views. I attribute this to human nature in general.
In general, it is getting increasingly difficult to ignore the pause in ones brain that says " Well, I can't write about bad things, because I am worried about how someone will interpret that. " Especially with some of the views I often see espoused in these discussions, because it may full well not be one's intention to portray things in a certain light. But that does not stop others from interpreting the matter the way that they will, and viewing it to be portrayed in a light the author of the work may have never intended.
Then, the discussion becomes more nuanced, and troublesome. Sometimes I worry these conversations tends to the dangerous road ( at least to me ) of the view that works should be censored because their subject matter is troubling to others. Even if an author's intention on a body of work is not to portray things in a light that may lead to the viewpoint of others deeming it horrible subject matter, it may still happen. And that is what is concerning to me.
This fear is especially relevant in our day and age, where we actively have people, such as our president, trying to censor the media to the best of his ability, despite the laws of our nation. That argument is a bit of a stretch I realize, but the general notion of " I don't like X body of work or piece of media, so it shouldn't exist, and those who like x body of work or piece of media are horrible people. " is particularly troubling to me. And this ties into what some of the video is saying.
It's problematic for me as a writer to look out there in the world and give myself pause when I think of portraying say, a villain in the story, or even someone's redemption arc, because of how quick others are to judge. And it leaves me perplexed on how to genuinely tackle that problem where I can hopefully, at least avoid most of the potential pitfalls, if not all of them in said body of work.
It's all about framing. Framing, framing, framing, framing.
You can have--WHY CAN'T I TURN OFF ITALICS?! WHAT THE FUCK!!! Ctrl+I isn't working, the button isn't working, this new forum software is glitchy as fuck! PLEASE BEAR WITH ME
It's not a censorsh--what the fuck it corrected itself
fuck
i give up
Might, is the great danger of this show is that it might influence people to accept those ideas? In other words, you don't know.
A couple forum posts mean absolutely nothing. You're taking a statistically insignificant number of people and blowing them up to be a huge problem
When your strongest argument is "This show could influence people to believe (not even do) bad things" I'll not be surprised if the "situation" gets worse.
The problem is not that I'm not interested in learning, the problem is that your arguments are not convincing.
*Blinks*
Yikes. Sorry you are having issues with things. Feel free to PM me though at your leisure and when you are open to it as I am genuinely curious how to avoid this kind of pitfall trap. So if you have some suggestions, I'm more than willing to hear someone's take on it.
People just got to accept that a lot of anime panders to lonely men. That pandering is problematic and deserves criticism for how it panders IE the obectifying of women and young girls. If you cannot accept that as an anime fan then as Sum 41 once says, "in too deep".
It's the gear button. You have to enable BB code. Or disable BB code. I forget. It's keeps throwing me.
I just thought it was funny to end the post like that considering all of the trouble I was having. But anyway, it's all about presentation and framing. You can tackle any issue you want, you just need to be careful about how that issue is presented in the work. When people get upset at a work like Shield Hero, for example, it's because all of these terrible things exist with very intentionally sympathetic/idealistic framing. When people got upset at the Sansa scene in GoT, it was because of the framing. You need to analyze what these works all got wrong before proceeding. And then you can proceed. It's not the topic. It's how the topic is approached.
People are never upset at a work for it's simple contents. People want those contents represented in a way that gives them their due. It requires actual effort on the part of the author.
I know, I know. Using italics is risky. But I did it. Because I'm a rebel.
I feel like people take the notion that voicing criticism at some art doesn't at all mean criticism at those who enjoy said art too far or too binary. The obvious reality is that there is some overlap. Certainly, people shouldn't judge other people they don't know strongly for e.g. not enjoying their favorite game, especially so if they have good reasoning. But, if someone loves e.g. several TV shows which portray disgusting themes and messages and that person can't seem to form a coherent argument as to why? Well, of course, you're going to judge them to some degree. That's not even a question.
We say stuff like, "don't take it personally" and all and it's mostly true and a healthy approach for the less important matters. But at the same time, some introspection isn't misplaced when discussing more important topics and you maybe realize the other side makes some good points.
There was this Goblin Slayer thread which had quite a few people argue that there was nothing even remotely gratuitous about the depiction of the rape and violence taking place in its first episode. Which is laughable if you even take the slightest look at the framing, and that was just one of several factors. Some even brought up the lovely argument that the people who see anything problematic there are probably the actual perverts.
Like, yeh, I'm probably starting to judge people like that. And when I see some who defended Goblin Slayer (with terrible argumentation) in that thread try to make a point as to why Shield Hero's depiction of slavery isn't an issue or not worth minding then I'm obviously going to view those arguments with more suspicion.
For anyone who want to see the author of shield hero comments
http://www.onepeacebooks.com/profiles/aneko.html
4. The main character, Naofumi, displays conflicting moral tones. He seems considerate yet often crass at the same time, to downright immoral as well, as with his laissez faire attitude toward slavery. Could you explain your intention by creating a character with rapidly wavering moral tones?
I like to think of Naofumi as being like a mirror. He responds to kindness with kindness, and to evil with evil. Like a shard from a broken mirror, he has some pointy edges, but in the end he's a sympathetic character who cares for others.
As for purchasing a slave, he was forced to do it because of his situation--he needed help from others in a time and place where no one would help him. In the modern world, where people are moved and controlled by money, company employees have a lot in common with slaves.
It is preferable to have morals, but we've made a world where being strictly ethical can no longer survive. There are a lot of people out there that simply don't respond to ethics--in the face of people like that, what option is left besides emotionally insisting on your place and your views? My intention is to show that in the face of enemies like that, we often have no choice but to launch a counterattack.
http://www.onepeacebooks.com/profiles/aneko.html
4. The main character, Naofumi, displays conflicting moral tones. He seems considerate yet often crass at the same time, to downright immoral as well, as with his laissez faire attitude toward slavery. Could you explain your intention by creating a character with rapidly wavering moral tones?
I like to think of Naofumi as being like a mirror. He responds to kindness with kindness, and to evil with evil. Like a shard from a broken mirror, he has some pointy edges, but in the end he's a sympathetic character who cares for others.
As for purchasing a slave, he was forced to do it because of his situation--he needed help from others in a time and place where no one would help him. In the modern world, where people are moved and controlled by money, company employees have a lot in common with slaves.
It is preferable to have morals, but we've made a world where being strictly ethical can no longer survive. There are a lot of people out there that simply don't respond to ethics--in the face of people like that, what option is left besides emotionally insisting on your place and your views? My intention is to show that in the face of enemies like that, we often have no choice but to launch a counterattack.
I find it super easy to avoid shows like this that are fan servicey or problematic. It's not hard. I like anime, and I feel no inclination to defend them. Also, all the people that hate them seem to know much more about them than me, so I get like 6 months notice on anything that might ruffle feathers to decide for myself.
I do think it's a weird kind of orientalism/racism-lite when people think their passing knowledge of anime, a weird porn they saw once, and some story about vending machines that they heard back in 2003 makes them qualified to talk about Japan as a whole, though. Don't be the "those wacky, perverted japs are at it again!" guy.
I do think it's a weird kind of orientalism/racism-lite when people think their passing knowledge of anime, a weird porn they saw once, and some story about vending machines that they heard back in 2003 makes them qualified to talk about Japan as a whole, though. Don't be the "those wacky, perverted japs are at it again!" guy.
Thank you. It's appreciated and is giving me some food for thought. Ghost Readers are a useful thing, so I think in the future when I submit my work to my ghost readers I will ask them to look for trouble spots to bear those things in mind.
So, on this then. Is the issue then that the anime adaption is not portraying the author's intent in this correctly? Or do the written works accurately, or perhaps inaccurately, reflect this view and thus it has lead to the long discussions in regards to this particular piece of work? I'm not really familiar with the work in person so I am curious for others take on this matter who may be. By this, I mean those who have read the entirety of the work instead of just watched a few episodes thus far. I feel the entire work should be judged in and of itself to get an accurate reflection and view.
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The truth is that the author appears to be as ignorant as the work. Creators of works like Shield Hero tend to lack self awareness.
Yeah, I have a 94,000 word first draft manuscript sitting on my desk right now that I'm in the early stages of editing. It's really important to think about how your work is presented and equip yourself with the right tools to do what you want to do without dropping the ball.
Fucking thank you.
Also, when people say "anime is trash" it kinda reminds me of when people say "hip hop is trash", and I can't help but think there's a racial component behind it (due to my own anecdotal experiences).
Hmmm, that is troubling then. So then they are potentially writing these situations without consideration of how it may be intrepreted.
Well, the particular reason why I am going on about all of this is because I do have a character who has some good qualities. But when you get down to it, that individual is an absolute monster of a person deep down. I tend to write everything in shades of gray. Meaning, no one is completely 100% evil or 100% good. And I try to be faithful in those depictions. Because generally that is how our own world works and it lends an air of credence to the character and they are more believable.
But when it comes to this one particular character, given their actions and how they are a force upon the setting, some of the reactions I have seen here give me pause and make me wonder if others will think I am glorifying them or their actions. When instead it is my intention to portray that the individual is nuanced and has some good qualities to them, but is on the whole, pretty damned messed up as an individual. My Ghost Readers like the character. Like, A LOT. So much so that even though said individual is the villain, and I sometimes feel like I go out of my way to portray their actions as Monstrous, they STILL like the character.
And I don't know if that is good writing, or bad. And it seriously worries me, given the reactions I have seen to Shield Hero, how this character will be interpreted given the steps I am taking to try and avoid the pitfalls.
Don't you love it when ANY anime topic is brought up we almost ALWAYS get the fake "anime is trash" gif and the "anime is for jerks" gif
It comes down to what you want more-- realism, or people understanding your work the way in which you intended to frame it. If you think there's a needed compromise there at all, of course. The key thing to keep in mind is that the readers all experience your world through the eyes of your perspective characters or narration. So framing and tone, that all comes down to a language issue in books (which is, sort of, stating the obvious. I mean, books are written literature. They... have words. But sometimes it helps hearing it stated this way). Think of your story, plot and characters as the meat and your presentation as the bread. If the bread's spoiled, the meat isn't going to taste good.
Since no one has gone into great detail on it yet and it seems there's some interest, I guess I'll drop my current take on The Rising of the Shield Hero. WALL 'O TEXT HERE!
Plot Summary
I've been watching the anime with my group as we do a weekly get together and spend most of the day watching whatever's currently airing. We'll usually pick 10-15 shows each season, possibly dropping some along the way. While we wind up watching a lot of junk, occasionally we find a gem we might have otherwise missed. At this stage though, Shield Hero isn't one of those gems.
We picked it up because it had that nebulous "hype" around it and appeared to be a more serious kind of fantasy. It's an isekai so we tempered our expectations a bit, but as of episode 4 it's... not especially good. It's strengths are in it's animation, direction, and musical score. It's weakness is the fairly standard storytelling with it's notable problematic issues (which I'll delve into later) being the only thing really setting it apart. So you could say it gets by on shock value and controversy to get people to talk about it, but even if I didn't take issue with those developments it just doesn't utilize them properly.
So to begin our protagonist Naofumi is a NEET, but he thinks he's the cool kind instead of the loser variety. He spends a lot of time at the library since he can read manga for free. He opens up a mysterious book about these different heros with signature weapons. He flips around and sees an image of a woman in a dress, to which he thinks, "Is this the princess? She looks kind of slutty." That got a side eye from me. Then he magically gets whisked away to another world where he and three others have been summoned to a fantasy land as the great heroes who will save the land from calamity. The other guys come off as standoffish assholes whereas Naofumi is just kind of going along with it.
The heroes meet the king and talk among themselves a bit, but we don't really get a feeling for the other heroes personalities (which hampers later developments). The heroes line up to get their adventuring party like it's a game of dodgeball and Naofumi's the kid nobody picks. He's the shield hero so unfortunately he's in quite a pickle since he can only use a shield. Then one of the adventurers that went with spear hero decides to help Naofumi instead. He's happy to be in a party with a cute girl! They go adventuring, buy equipment, and turn in for the night. Then BAM! Said companion accuses him of raping her and the court railroads him into being a pariah. And this is a matriarchy so it's extra bad! He does a 180 on the courtroom floor, going from a goofy, easygoing isekai protagonist to a gruff, the ends justify the means guy.
Naofumi tries to make things work, but the other heroes are outpacing him on leveling and merchants want nothing to do with him due to his rep. Then a sinister ringmaster entices him to visit his giant circus tent of slaves. Ultimately he picks out the sickly looking little racoon girl and pays the ring/slavemaster who places a seal on her which inflicts pain if she ever disobeys him. That's basically the first episode.
Since I've already spent so much time on the setup I'll speed up. From there Naofumi gets Raphtalia gear, feeds her kids meals, get her medicine, buys her a ball, and does all the good slave owner(TM) stuff. They go out and fight some random mobs and a rabbit which Naofumi has to invoke the slave seal's power to get her to fight. Then they go to a cave and fight the dreaded multi-headed dog which reminds Raphtalia of the monster that killed her parents. Ultimately she overcomes her fear and stabs it. A month passes. she levels up fast, which physically ages into her teens, then young adult. Random people start being nice to her and Naofumi calls them lolicons for it. Then the wave happens, the fight they'd been preparing for. Monsters fall out of the skies and Naofumi and Raphtalia wind up defending this small village which the kingdom was more than willing to firebomb without evacuating. The other heroes take care of the boss and the wave ends. They go to the big fancy ball at the castle to get their reward, but spear hero, the king, and Myne make a fuss about Naofumi owning a slave and process to restrain and gag Raphtalia. Naofumi and spear dude fight with Naofumi actually holding out despite being 20 levels lower, but Myne interferes giving spear the win. Then everybody pretends they didn't see the interference, cuz gotta railroad the shield hero. They remove the slave seal from Raphtalia and Naofumi is about to give in to his secret dark power, but Raphtalia hugs him and tells everyone what a good slave owner he is. Spear hero is shocked that Raphtalia didn't immediately join his harem upon being freed and questions his life choices.
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Analysis
My main gripe with Shield Hero is that the false rape accusation and slavery aspect are unnecessary. It could easily tell the same story it seems to want to tell without either of them. Alternatively it could potentially keep them and tell a different story if written more skillfully. To break it down Shield Hero's hook seems to be introducing Naofumi as a fairly standard isekai protagonist, only to have him become gruff and pessimistic due to a sudden betrayal. As such using a fake rape accusation isn't necessary for this twist. Especially since everything seems to have been orchestrated by the king and princess. This seems to be an absolute monarchy so they can literally accuse him of absolutely anything and have it stick. He was already the odd man out, being the shield hero and the only hero that didn't have knowledge of their world. Like how easy would it be to let him think he could have anything from the royal vault only to blind side him with, oh no that was a royal heirloom and you've defiled it with your strange boorishness! Or just let him stumble into some sort of faux paus since he's totally ignorant of the world. Naofumi's agnst comes from being wrongfully accused, the people who should be his allies (the other heroes) turning against him, and the people he was brought there to save wanting nothing to do with him. That all remains intact even if the reason changes.
Now moving on to the slavery aspect. The common refrain I see in defense of this is that he had no choice. With his reputation sullied no legitimate adventurer will join him. Those who would are brigands that want to take his money and run. He physically can't wield a weapon so the obvious choice is slavery! Wait, no... actually he did have a choice. Several choices. 1) Fuck this, I'm out of here: He's a free man and he doesn't know yet that when the wave comes he'll be forcibly pulled to fight. So why not say screw all these people, that's the angsty thing to do. 2) Slave revolt: Naofumi has no issue threatening shopkeeps. Why not bust open some cages and enjoy the chaos. Someone might even join willingly seeing that he wants to tear down the system that holds them down. 3) Go solo: Forget help. Do it alone. From what the show has show he can't wield weapons to fight, but when he was defending the down he was able to use gasoline and start a fire. Work around the rules to get ahead. 4) If he's gotta buy a slave, why the slave mark?" He could have bought the frail, sickly little girl and been like "Ok, you're free". Except she has nowhere to go, in a town where her people are regarded as subhuman, and she's dying. So obviously she sticks with Naofumi anyway. This is also very problematic which is why I've put this last. But I just want to put a point on how unnecessary her magically being his slave is. It's like other people were talking about earlier in the thread with how the concept seems to have evolved from "woman likes bland protagonist because he's vaguley nice and will bend themselves absolutely to his will" to "that, but she's literally got to be his property too".
I mentioned at the beginning these things are bad not only because they reinforce negative concepts that are harmful in real life, but also because it results in a weaker story. So even if you don't care about "social justice" or whatever you should still be unhappy with the lost potential it brings. Making hard choices makes fertile ground for a better narrative. Ok, so let's say things remained as they were, except we were actually supposed to see Naofumi as a bad person. In the actual show it wants us the believe he's the victim of false accusations, he acts like a jerkass, but only so people will actually treat him fairly. The system's stacked against him and he's just finding ways around it. He's really got that heart of gold if you look hard enough. In the seasonal anime thread someone linked to an interview with the author where they described Naofumi as "a broken mirror" that reflects the way people treat him. Except what did Raphtalia do to him for him to have the slave seal placed on her? He may treat her "well", but she ultimately does not have her own agency. She's alive and only continues to live at Naofumi's whim. And in order for us to continue seeing Naofumi as the "good guy" we get scenes like in ep 4, where spear guy essentially becomes a straw man for Naofumi to knock down with his "Slavery is legal in this country" comeback. Spear guy is "wrong" because he doesn't actually care about slavery, he just thinks Raphtalia would look good in his harem and if she weren't bound by that seal she'd leap into his arms. This isn't an actual debate about slavery, it doesn't say anything interesting. Naofumi only "wins" the argument because everyone else in the room is too dumb to form a coherent thought.
Like think how much more interesting it would be if that same scene plays out, Naofumi defends keeping Raphtalia as a slave and Raph says she likes being a slave, but spear guy just shoots back with "If that's the case why not remove the slave seal." At that point Naofumi can either keep digging in or relent and let it be removed. Presumably he'd be reluctant because his previous run in with Myne gave him severe trust issues. The show could use this as an opportunity to let us see Naofumi''s actual thoughts on the subject, not just the jerkass persona he puts forward. And if Naofumi says no, spear guy could try pushing the king on getting rid of slavery entirely (after all, the heroes are from the modern world). The king would shoot back with a hell no, and that would create some uncertainty between the heroes and the people they're supposed to be defending. That could lead to an interesting plot development.
Or what if Naofumi just outright hated himself for buying a slave and given how everyone's treated him so far he's ready for the judgmental glares of the townsfolk, but then everyone's ok with it. That leads to a situation in which he's not only wrongfully accused, but others don't even hate him for something he actually considers wrong. That's some prime Aaaaangst right there. It'd fit right in. My point isn't to make endless what ifs scenarios, but to draw attention to the fact that there were many different roads this series could take. The actual scenarios I've laid out don't matter. The problem is the false rape accusation and slavery are crutches used by a writer who has difficulty crafting a compelling narrative and leans on them for shock value rather than actually trying to use any sort of potential those concepts have. That's why sliding in other plot elements is so easy.
So ultimately I've got to say I recommend passing on it. It squanders what potential it does have due to it's need to prop up the morally questionable protagonist with antagonists that are somehow worse, but also stupider. If my watch group wants to continue watching it I'll continue with them, but I did a 15 minute spiel after ep 4 so it may get dropped just so I shut up.
Plot Summary
I've been watching the anime with my group as we do a weekly get together and spend most of the day watching whatever's currently airing. We'll usually pick 10-15 shows each season, possibly dropping some along the way. While we wind up watching a lot of junk, occasionally we find a gem we might have otherwise missed. At this stage though, Shield Hero isn't one of those gems.
We picked it up because it had that nebulous "hype" around it and appeared to be a more serious kind of fantasy. It's an isekai so we tempered our expectations a bit, but as of episode 4 it's... not especially good. It's strengths are in it's animation, direction, and musical score. It's weakness is the fairly standard storytelling with it's notable problematic issues (which I'll delve into later) being the only thing really setting it apart. So you could say it gets by on shock value and controversy to get people to talk about it, but even if I didn't take issue with those developments it just doesn't utilize them properly.
So to begin our protagonist Naofumi is a NEET, but he thinks he's the cool kind instead of the loser variety. He spends a lot of time at the library since he can read manga for free. He opens up a mysterious book about these different heros with signature weapons. He flips around and sees an image of a woman in a dress, to which he thinks, "Is this the princess? She looks kind of slutty." That got a side eye from me. Then he magically gets whisked away to another world where he and three others have been summoned to a fantasy land as the great heroes who will save the land from calamity. The other guys come off as standoffish assholes whereas Naofumi is just kind of going along with it.
The heroes meet the king and talk among themselves a bit, but we don't really get a feeling for the other heroes personalities (which hampers later developments). The heroes line up to get their adventuring party like it's a game of dodgeball and Naofumi's the kid nobody picks. He's the shield hero so unfortunately he's in quite a pickle since he can only use a shield. Then one of the adventurers that went with spear hero decides to help Naofumi instead. He's happy to be in a party with a cute girl! They go adventuring, buy equipment, and turn in for the night. Then BAM! Said companion accuses him of raping her and the court railroads him into being a pariah. And this is a matriarchy so it's extra bad! He does a 180 on the courtroom floor, going from a goofy, easygoing isekai protagonist to a gruff, the ends justify the means guy.
Naofumi tries to make things work, but the other heroes are outpacing him on leveling and merchants want nothing to do with him due to his rep. Then a sinister ringmaster entices him to visit his giant circus tent of slaves. Ultimately he picks out the sickly looking little racoon girl and pays the ring/slavemaster who places a seal on her which inflicts pain if she ever disobeys him. That's basically the first episode.
Since I've already spent so much time on the setup I'll speed up. From there Naofumi gets Raphtalia gear, feeds her kids meals, get her medicine, buys her a ball, and does all the good slave owner(TM) stuff. They go out and fight some random mobs and a rabbit which Naofumi has to invoke the slave seal's power to get her to fight. Then they go to a cave and fight the dreaded multi-headed dog which reminds Raphtalia of the monster that killed her parents. Ultimately she overcomes her fear and stabs it. A month passes. she levels up fast, which physically ages into her teens, then young adult. Random people start being nice to her and Naofumi calls them lolicons for it. Then the wave happens, the fight they'd been preparing for. Monsters fall out of the skies and Naofumi and Raphtalia wind up defending this small village which the kingdom was more than willing to firebomb without evacuating. The other heroes take care of the boss and the wave ends. They go to the big fancy ball at the castle to get their reward, but spear hero, the king, and Myne make a fuss about Naofumi owning a slave and process to restrain and gag Raphtalia. Naofumi and spear dude fight with Naofumi actually holding out despite being 20 levels lower, but Myne interferes giving spear the win. Then everybody pretends they didn't see the interference, cuz gotta railroad the shield hero. They remove the slave seal from Raphtalia and Naofumi is about to give in to his secret dark power, but Raphtalia hugs him and tells everyone what a good slave owner he is. Spear hero is shocked that Raphtalia didn't immediately join his harem upon being freed and questions his life choices.
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Analysis
My main gripe with Shield Hero is that the false rape accusation and slavery aspect are unnecessary. It could easily tell the same story it seems to want to tell without either of them. Alternatively it could potentially keep them and tell a different story if written more skillfully. To break it down Shield Hero's hook seems to be introducing Naofumi as a fairly standard isekai protagonist, only to have him become gruff and pessimistic due to a sudden betrayal. As such using a fake rape accusation isn't necessary for this twist. Especially since everything seems to have been orchestrated by the king and princess. This seems to be an absolute monarchy so they can literally accuse him of absolutely anything and have it stick. He was already the odd man out, being the shield hero and the only hero that didn't have knowledge of their world. Like how easy would it be to let him think he could have anything from the royal vault only to blind side him with, oh no that was a royal heirloom and you've defiled it with your strange boorishness! Or just let him stumble into some sort of faux paus since he's totally ignorant of the world. Naofumi's agnst comes from being wrongfully accused, the people who should be his allies (the other heroes) turning against him, and the people he was brought there to save wanting nothing to do with him. That all remains intact even if the reason changes.
Now moving on to the slavery aspect. The common refrain I see in defense of this is that he had no choice. With his reputation sullied no legitimate adventurer will join him. Those who would are brigands that want to take his money and run. He physically can't wield a weapon so the obvious choice is slavery! Wait, no... actually he did have a choice. Several choices. 1) Fuck this, I'm out of here: He's a free man and he doesn't know yet that when the wave comes he'll be forcibly pulled to fight. So why not say screw all these people, that's the angsty thing to do. 2) Slave revolt: Naofumi has no issue threatening shopkeeps. Why not bust open some cages and enjoy the chaos. Someone might even join willingly seeing that he wants to tear down the system that holds them down. 3) Go solo: Forget help. Do it alone. From what the show has show he can't wield weapons to fight, but when he was defending the down he was able to use gasoline and start a fire. Work around the rules to get ahead. 4) If he's gotta buy a slave, why the slave mark?" He could have bought the frail, sickly little girl and been like "Ok, you're free". Except she has nowhere to go, in a town where her people are regarded as subhuman, and she's dying. So obviously she sticks with Naofumi anyway. This is also very problematic which is why I've put this last. But I just want to put a point on how unnecessary her magically being his slave is. It's like other people were talking about earlier in the thread with how the concept seems to have evolved from "woman likes bland protagonist because he's vaguley nice and will bend themselves absolutely to his will" to "that, but she's literally got to be his property too".
I mentioned at the beginning these things are bad not only because they reinforce negative concepts that are harmful in real life, but also because it results in a weaker story. So even if you don't care about "social justice" or whatever you should still be unhappy with the lost potential it brings. Making hard choices makes fertile ground for a better narrative. Ok, so let's say things remained as they were, except we were actually supposed to see Naofumi as a bad person. In the actual show it wants us the believe he's the victim of false accusations, he acts like a jerkass, but only so people will actually treat him fairly. The system's stacked against him and he's just finding ways around it. He's really got that heart of gold if you look hard enough. In the seasonal anime thread someone linked to an interview with the author where they described Naofumi as "a broken mirror" that reflects the way people treat him. Except what did Raphtalia do to him for him to have the slave seal placed on her? He may treat her "well", but she ultimately does not have her own agency. She's alive and only continues to live at Naofumi's whim. And in order for us to continue seeing Naofumi as the "good guy" we get scenes like in ep 4, where spear guy essentially becomes a straw man for Naofumi to knock down with his "Slavery is legal in this country" comeback. Spear guy is "wrong" because he doesn't actually care about slavery, he just thinks Raphtalia would look good in his harem and if she weren't bound by that seal she'd leap into his arms. This isn't an actual debate about slavery, it doesn't say anything interesting. Naofumi only "wins" the argument because everyone else in the room is too dumb to form a coherent thought.
Like think how much more interesting it would be if that same scene plays out, Naofumi defends keeping Raphtalia as a slave and Raph says she likes being a slave, but spear guy just shoots back with "If that's the case why not remove the slave seal." At that point Naofumi can either keep digging in or relent and let it be removed. Presumably he'd be reluctant because his previous run in with Myne gave him severe trust issues. The show could use this as an opportunity to let us see Naofumi''s actual thoughts on the subject, not just the jerkass persona he puts forward. And if Naofumi says no, spear guy could try pushing the king on getting rid of slavery entirely (after all, the heroes are from the modern world). The king would shoot back with a hell no, and that would create some uncertainty between the heroes and the people they're supposed to be defending. That could lead to an interesting plot development.
Or what if Naofumi just outright hated himself for buying a slave and given how everyone's treated him so far he's ready for the judgmental glares of the townsfolk, but then everyone's ok with it. That leads to a situation in which he's not only wrongfully accused, but others don't even hate him for something he actually considers wrong. That's some prime Aaaaangst right there. It'd fit right in. My point isn't to make endless what ifs scenarios, but to draw attention to the fact that there were many different roads this series could take. The actual scenarios I've laid out don't matter. The problem is the false rape accusation and slavery are crutches used by a writer who has difficulty crafting a compelling narrative and leans on them for shock value rather than actually trying to use any sort of potential those concepts have. That's why sliding in other plot elements is so easy.
So ultimately I've got to say I recommend passing on it. It squanders what potential it does have due to it's need to prop up the morally questionable protagonist with antagonists that are somehow worse, but also stupider. If my watch group wants to continue watching it I'll continue with them, but I did a 15 minute spiel after ep 4 so it may get dropped just so I shut up.
Yes, especially because I'm Japanese and it's like they're shitting on my childhood. Like don't tell me Dragon Ball and Chibi Maruko are trash bro you're crossing a line lol.