The Rising of The Shield Hero has returned for its fourth season, and things are heating up for Naofumi and his gang of adventurers. To help give anime fans a better understanding of Naofumi’s past, present, and future, we here at ComicBook.com had the opportunity to chat with the Japanese voice actor of Naofumi, Kaito Ishikawa, and series producer Ten Kimura about the fourth season. Needless to say, Ishikawa and Kimura had plenty to say not just with Naofumi and his world, but The Rising of The Shield Hero’s place within the isekai genre.
To start, voice actor Kaito Ishikawa addressed Naofumi’s time off screen between seasons three and four, with the titular hero going through changes in the anime’s current run, “I think in this current season, Naofumi is going to need to rely more on his team and put more trust into them. Together, as a unit, they are continuing to grow but in season four, there are going to be bigger challenges and grander enemies, so the trust that Naofumi has in them prior to previous seasons will increase even more.”
Extrapolating on this, Ishikawa addressed the inclusion of the Q’Ten Lo empire into the season and how Raphtalia’s homeland might throw a serious monkey wrench in the relationship between herself and Naofumi, “The initial encounter was shown in season one between the two, but her roots were only truly explored in season three. I think that with season four, for the first time, we get to explore far more of her background, and for me, I think a lot of the trust that is built is based on seeing how someone has lived and thus, how they think, how they see each other. With her origin now revealed, season four will see their trust strengthened and, in a weird way, this has affected my take on the character because I have learned a lot about her.”
The Future of The Shield Hero
Switching from Ishikawa to producer Ten Kimura, we discussed the future of The Rising of The Shield Hero and how it might adapt the source material, which continues to this day, “While I can’t say anything for certain, we’re very thankful for all the support we’ve received so far and we couldn’t ask for anything more. I think that while we have continued support, we might be able to do something in the future.”
Since The Rising of The Shield Hero debuted, the isekai genre has only expanded in terms of the sheer number of series that have become a part of it. In the face of so much competition, Kimura discussed Naofumi’s place within the anime genre, “When creator Aneko Yusagi wrote the manga, he wasn’t thinking about how this will get positioned, but rather, it was a story he wanted to tell. Perhaps, some of these decisions could have been subconscious, but with that in mind, oftentimes Isekai anime teleport you and put you in ‘easy mode.’ With Shield Hero, the term ‘rising’ is quite appropriate, where the hero is given nothing, and so the story approaches the isekai genre from an entirely original perspective.”
Want to stay updated on Naofumi and his band of adventurers? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on The Rising of The Shield Hero and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
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