YMMV / The Rising of the Shield Hero

• Arc Fatigue: The Spirit Turtle arc (adapted as the first five episodes of season 2) is not looked upon fondly, as it takes the cast that long to defeat one of the most stubborn enemies in the series, plus the fight with it is started by what is often considered among the dumbest decisions the other Three Heroes ever hatched together. So much so the anime tried to fast forward through it, but that came with its own set of problems, among them that the producers still could not make the story faster, only underdeveloped instead. As a result, it's often seen as a contender for the worst arc in the entire story.
• Broken Base:
  • Fans are split on how Aultcray and Malty's trial was handled in the anime. There were those, particularly fans of the source material, who argued that the choice to have Mirelia issue the execution removes her politically savvy side compared to the source material. Meanwhile, having Naofumi bail them out on Mirelia's behalf makes him seem like he's fully gotten over his issues, even though he later on still has to struggle with them. On the other hand, those who didn't mind argue that it showed that Naofumi has started to move past his anger, or that it's better for him to deliver his form of punishment to them, and that Mirelia is more interesting of a character because she has Conflicting Loyalty in regards to having to execute her husband and daughter when she doesn't fully want to.
  • Naofumi being a Sympathetic Slave Owner is a recurring hot topic of discussions. Fans point out that Naofumi has stopped using the Slave Crest for its intended use early and instead relies on its power boosting ability, with characters treating it as a symbol of trust. Detracts say it's still a Magically-Binding Contract, and if Naofumi has grown to trust his party, he could have found spells that don't restrict their freedom.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • After Malty and the King drag Naofumi's name through the mud and make his life a living hell, getting five consecutive chapters of their unadulterated public humiliation at the hands of the Queen—not the least of which involves her allowing Naofumi to legally change their names to "Bitch" and "Trash"—is a satisfying experience, to say the least.
  • The anime takes this a step further. Malty has a slave crest bound to her that prevents her from lying, and predictably, she gets shocked several times every time she does so, with the biggest shock (the one that knocks her on her ass) coming from the False Rape Accusation that began the entire story. To top it off, they change her adventurer's name from "Myne" to "Slut" (originally "Whore" in the Web Novel, but it has the same effect). Compared to the Web Novel, where the Queen gives Naofumi the idea of something different from the death penalty, this was all Naofumi's idea.
  • Even better! When Malty begs for Motoyasu to come and save her, what does he do? He turns the other cheek, literally, and wised up to her at least for now. The look on her face when he does this is priceless.
  • What's better? An In-Universe example in Chapter 344 of the web novel, where Naofumi personally witnesses Malty's execution via burning alive at the stake.
  • The best part of all? Another In-Universe example that just adds another layer of satisfaction in Malty's suffering, and that's seeing Malty's true self, Medea Pideth Machina, get completely destroyed for good by her own power and not only killed, but also left Deader than Dead and erased permanently from existence in the web novel. The fact that no one in the universe gets to remember her as a result of her erasure in the aftermath is just satisfyingly priceless and Catharsis Factor at its finest.
• Complete Monster:
  • Web Novel only:
    • Medea Pideth Machina is a sadistic goddess and the ultimate manipulator behind all of the villains in the story. Desiring ultimate power above all, Medea begins destroying 8 worlds to harness the energy of their inhabitants, all while using physical copies of herself to sow the seeds of distrust and chaos throughout the 8 worlds, simply because she enjoys hurting innocents. To compose herself an army, Medea revives and brainwashes the corpses of those killed through her machinations, with the psychopathic Tact being just one of her servants; Medea also has no care for this army, slaughtering them all when they fail her solely to hear them scream. In the end, Medea reveals her plans to extinguish all life in the universe one world at a time simply to boost her power level, before flying into a rage when beaten and simply trying to take down millions with her as she dies. A self-proclaimed sadist who committed her crimes for nothing but more power and always with glee, Medea was the root of every single evil in the story, something she proudly boasted of at every turn.
    • The King of Faubley is a grotesque pig of a man who abuses his position to gain new "playthings". Threatening other countries to send him women, the King is a Serial Rapist who takes brides to rape and torture them to death, a fate so horrible that many prospective brides opt for suicide if possible. Upon receiving the women, the King proceeds to "play" with them and have them healed to continue the fun, having 9,999 brides that he has raped and murdered. When the evil Princess Malty Melromarc is sent to him, the hero cannot even watch the horrific recording of what the King does to her, despite Naofumi's hatred of Malty.
  • Raphtalia's former owner, named Idol Rabier in the anime, is a sadistic bigot towards demi-humans. After the first Wave of Calamity, he has a village of surviving demi-humans attacked, slaughtering the adults and enslaving the children. Rabier regularly tortured his slaves, causing several of them to die from his treatment of them. Seeking to kill the wanted Naofumi to look like a hero, Rabier tortures Van Reichnott to try and find Naofumi's location, and attempts to do the same to Princess Melty afterwards. Upon being cornered by Raphtalia, Rabier begs for his life to be spared; when Raphtalia grants this request in the anime, Rabier tries to kill her anyway. With the last of his strength, Rabier releases a monster sealed within the town and orders it to destroy everything in sight, willing to put countless lives at risk all to gain glory by killing Naofumi.
  • Light Novel only: Malty S. Melromarc is the sociopathic daughter of Queen Mirelia. Happily playing at adventuring, she routinely betrays those with her, accusing Shield Hero Naofumi of rape to ruin him and possibly see him executed while also selling female companions to slavery or brothels. Later assisting with a potential coup to assassinate her little sister Melty, Malty inspires several coups and armed uprisings while repeatedly double-crossing all in her path, causing untold bloodshed and even seeing her mother killed so she can take the throne herself.
• Critical Dissonance: Many critics downright loathed the anime from the very first episode, detesting the well-known controversial key plot development that sets up the rest of the series, the False Rape Accusation, which came off poorly with the #MeToo movement in high gear. The fact it was an isekai anime, a genre heavily associated with male wish fulfillment which is extremely popular among viewers but not so much among critics, likely didn't help at all. In fact, critics hated the series so much some even named it among their worst anime of the season. In stark contrast, most anime fans and casual viewers loved the series, with the result it went to become possibly the biggest hit of 2019: it was reportedly the most continuously watched anime that year, spawned some of the year's most popular anime memes and a couple of its most beloved anime girls, and its user scores on most fan sites remain high even today. In fact, as it can be guessed, the controversial plot point ended up being precisely part of why the series attracted so much attention.
• Critic-Proof: The anime was troublesome with critics to the point of being panned, but it was so successful that it got an unusual announcement of two additional seasons after the first season concluded.
• Crossover Ship:
  • Fans believe Ren would likely find a kindred spirit in Kirito, due to the similarities in their character and their lives, both were alone on Christmas, both slayed a dragon and both know what it's like to lose their whole party.
  • Many would like to see Captain America team up with Naofumi, developing a mentor/pupil dynamic.
• Draco in Leather Pants:
  • Ren in canon is a prideful and stubborn warrior who doesn't play well with others. He has his virtues, but he is definitely not the hero he thinks he is. He gets the Draco treatment the most of the other three Cardinal heroes. It helps that he really is the most altruistic and noble hero after Naofumi and the only one who is consistently nice to Naofumi. The fact he is the only one besides Naofumi to value his teammates is a factor as well.
  • Itsuki gets this treatment, though not as much as Ren, thanks to being less annoying and perverted than Motoyasu. This is ignoring that he's the first of the heroes to resort to murder and most abusive of the heroes towards his party.
  • The Slave Trader. The man makes his living trading in the lives of sentient beings and exploits the persecution of demihumans for his own benefit, but he gets a free pass just because he's an ally to Naofumi and was the reason Naofumi knows Raphtalia and Filo.
  • Malty gets a minor, downplayed version of this as she is only rarely portrayed as heroic. The only action she does that can make people root for her is helping kill her (and other women's) rapist in the web novel.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The other three Legendary Heroes are minor characters and sometimes even treated like a Cast Herd. Out of them, Ren Amaki is by far the one who is the most liked, having the most altruistic qualities of the three and being a Token Good Teammate of sorts. It also helps that he's been memetically compared to Kirito and even sharing the same voice actor.
  • Erthart the blacksmith is highly regarded by the fandom for being something of an Ultimate Blacksmith and one of Naofumi's first real allies. In one popularity poll, he was the highest ranked character after the main trio themselves.
  • For someone who was only in an extra chapter, Rino is very popular. The fact she is the one truly noble member of the Spear Hero's party and a very sympathetic person helps. As noted below, having her join Naofumi after being sold into slavery is a very popular plot in fanfic. The fact she later returns and kills Malty herself definitely helps her popularity.
• Fandom Rivalry: Has a Friendly Rivalry relationship with Kamen Rider Saber, mainly due to its themes revolving around a group of Knights and its fantasy setting. It also helps that the subplot involving the titular rider was being branded a traitor by the resident Bitch in Sheep's Clothing is similar to how Naofumi was being accused by Malty despite of his innocence.
• Fandom-Specific Plot:
  • Naofumi either learning about what happened with Rino much earlier than in Canon, or stumbling across the Slave Traders that stole her and rescuing her within short notice, thus adding her as a member of his party far earlier than in Canon.
  • A common crossover plot is to have Naofumi replaced by an already experienced hero from the other series, a hero that is of course more awesome than he is thanks to his previous combat experience and having no decent opponent in Melromarc.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Some fans call this series as "Shield Bro". They also tend to call Raphtalia "Sword Sis".
  • Due to the explosion of Raphtalia's popularity, fans have given her names like "Raccoon Waifu" (though technically she's a Tanuki or raccoon dog, which isn't the same animal as the raccoon despite their similarities).
  • Being a large bird that functions as a mount and beast of burden, as well as having a human form resembling a young girl has earned Filo the nickname "Chocobo Loli". She's also nicknamed "Bird Loli" or "Angel Loli" (as she does look like an angel in her human form even if isn't one).
  • Once Motoyasu's obsession with Filo became known, fans have taken to calling him "Pedoyasu".
  • Ren has often been nicknamed "Knockoff/Discount/Off-brand Kirito", due to the glaring similarities between himself and said protagonist of Sword Art Online, including sharing the same Japanese voice actor. Even the game Ren liked to play before he was transported to Melromarc was a VRMMO called "Brave Star Online".
• Foe Yay Shipping: Naofumi and L'Arc Berg have shown to be capable of getting along pretty well, if only they weren't on opposing sides.
• Friendly Fandoms: Gets some of this with Sword Art Online, thanks to the similarities between Ren and Kirito.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In this series, the characters voiced by Billy Kametz and Erica Mendez are close allies. Shortly after this, Kametz would be cast in Aggretsuko season 2, where his character goes out of his way to antagonize Mendez’s.
• Ho Yay: Motoyasu and Naofumi in Spear Hero, dear lord. As this is a timeline with a much more innocent Naofumi and a much different Motoyasu (i.e. he can only see women as pigs from the get-go this time instead of at the end of his Trauma Conga Line), he becomes fiercely protective of Naofumi and seems to have quite the man crush on him. The 2019 April Fool's Day short story even throws a nod to this, as its heroine is an avid slash shipper specifically of Spear Hero's version of Motoyasu/Naofumi.
• Informed Wrongness: The three other heroes are treated as manipulable idiots for wholeheartedly believing Myne during her False Rape Accusation, but while they later do prove to be very misguided people for different reasons, their reaction in this particular case can come across as actually pretty justified. For starters, they only have known each other for at most a few days, so they have no idea what each of them are really like, and this only adds to the objective fact that when Myne claims Naofumi assaulted her, they have no way to know she's lying since they weren't there. Plus, they just received help from the king, and while we later learn he is a terrible person who leads a conspiracy to ruin the Shield Hero, they don't know that yet, so they have no reason to think the king or Myne might be lying. They unquestionably should have tried to let Naofumi defend himself, but Naofumi gets also at fault here for snapping and ranting at the king and Myne, which doesn't exactly help his situation either, as well as for not trying later to explain to the heroes what happened, instead seemingly jumping to the conclusion that they will simply not question the official version not matter what. The fact the next time they all meet up, Itsuki and Ren call out the king and Myne for cheating in Naofumi and Motoyasu's duel, shows that had they been given more context and/or information, those two likely would have at least given Naofumi the benefit of the doubt.
• Iron Woobie:
  • Iwatani Naofumi is a college student who, after reading a mysterious book, gets unwillingly transported to a fantasy world as one of four heroes tasked with saving the world. As the Shield Hero, Naofumi dreamed of adventuring and having a harem. However, he soon after was looked down upon for the shield's lack of offensive power, and is outright demonized by the people of the country, leading him to be shunned wherever he goes. With no one to help him, Naofumi must find a way to complete his mission and finally return home. Unable to use anything else in battle, he finds himself having to fist fight against monsters. His low attack stats make even weak monsters take minutes to kill, while someone with a sword can cut them within two slashes. Naofumi had no party members until a girl offers to go with him, and he feels his luck turn around until she steals his clothes and all his money, then lies that he raped her. From then on, no one wanted anything to do with him, and his hero status is the only thing keeping him from being executed. This hit him so hard he can't even taste food anymore, and he cannot leave this world until all four heroes stop the calamity that hits it at regular intervals. All he could do is buy slaves who can fight for him on the battlefield, but to them he's like an older brother/father figure. Out of his shields, he has one that reflects attacks, but it erodes his soul with each use.
  • At a young age, Raphtalia's village was attacked by monsters that came from the very first Wave, and her parents and many villagers perished. She was captured afterwards by slavers, and spent a period of time living under one owner to the next. All treated her horribly. After a while, she was bought by a slaver, and kept with the rest of his slaves until she was finally purchased by Naofumi. From then on, she served as his right hand, fighting against the waves, using illusion magic as well as swordsmanship, in order to prevent a repeat of her past from happening to anyone else. She does her best to help and serve Naofumi, as well as be a benevolent sister figure among their younger allies.
  • Glass comes from a parallel world like Naofumi's group. Initially seen as antagonistic when she crosses swords with him and his party, it turns out that by 'invading' their world, she is really trying to save her own. Her people are besieged by calamities just like Melromarc and all the other countries. In her world, she's a Hero just like Naofumi, and her sworn duty is to protect that world over anything else. She respects and sympathizes with Naofumi, but she knows that he could obstruct her objective, and with millions of lives at risk, she cannot afford that. Her solution to stopping the calamity is killing off the Legendary Heroes of Raphtalia's world as a last-ditch effort and her home is already on the verge of collapse, with most of its people already giving in. She also struggles with inner turmoil, and she tries to keep it under wraps, but everyone can tell how much she's breaking on the inside. Despite all that, Glass is resigned to do her worst in order to preserve whatever's left of her home world.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: The three other Cardinal Heroes are more disliked than some major villains, because of their childhish short-sightedness, and their constant mistreatment of Naofumi, even after his name is cleared and he helps save their lives. In one popularity poll, Balmus and Malty out-ranked both Itsuki and Motoyasu. It's even more noticeable when compared with Glass, L'Arc and Therese, whose actions would result in the death of every inhabitant of Naofumi's world. However, since they are genuinely sympathetic and friendly people, as well Anti Villains who think this is their only way to save their own world, they aren't as polarizing among the fanbase as the other Cardinal Heroes, even though the latter's actions are less destructive. Part of the reason Ren is the most popular of the three is that he is nicer to Naofumi.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • For Raphtalia. Latecomers became interested in the show after hearing all the attention over the Raccoon Waifu.
  • Filo had a similar treatment with people curious about the Bird Loli that was all the talk.
  • To some of the audience, the Shield Hero striving to live in a world that scorns his existence and working to clear his name makes for a good driving plot, but once it's resolved with The Queen returning to power and punishing Malty and the King, the story's perceived to lose the element that makes it stand out and lapse into an RPG Verse story like most other light novels.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Naofumi gets paired up with about 97% percent of the female cast, with plenty of canon subtext making shipping pretty easy, as well as a few male characters.
• Love to Hate: Princess Malty starts the series by falsely accusing Naofumi of rape, ruining his life. From that point onward, she proceeds to commit even more despicable actions throughout the series. This is before she's revealed to be part of an inter-dimensional Omnicidal Maniac goddess who has destroyed several dimensions prior. Despite this, she is often "liked" by some fans who feel that the series would not be half as interesting without her.
• Memetic Loser: The other three Cardinal Heroes will never live down just how bad they are at their jobs. Especially Motoyasu, due to how he is unable to realize how clearly evil Malty and the Church are until it's practically rammed down his throat with a sledgehammer. Despite having many advantages the protagonist Naofumi Iwatani lacks, such as weapons with actual offensive power, parties of various specialized fighters, and the backing of the king, they all show themselves to be hilariously incompetent heroes. Their only noticeable accomplishment is defeating the boss of the second wave offscreen, leaving nothing else but a downright abysmal track record. Not helping their case is Naofumi frequently has to fix the messes they unwittingly make in their solo adventures, how they proved to be highly ineffective against the boss of the thid wave, got curbstomped by Glass in a single move (Naofumi also loses against her, but his defeat is far more dignified), proved to be highly ineffective against the boss of the fourth wave (and to add insult to the injury, they expected to loot the boss' drops) and got curbstomped by L'Arc in a single move, again. Considering that Glass and L'Arc both see Naofumi as the only hero worthy of any respect, this is likely an Intended Audience Reaction. Motoyasu manages to mostly escape this fate by virtue of having his own spinoff title, which allows him to showcase his full potential with very little of the drawbacks that he had in the main series.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Captain America would like to have a word. ^note One of the reasons why Naofumi is so ostracized is due to the shield being seen as a useless weapon compared to the sword, spear, and bow. Fans are quick to point out Captain America, who is the most famous fictional character to use a shield to its full effectiveness.
  • Goblin Slayer 2: Electric Boogaloo. ^note Goblin Slayer is another anime that faced controversy after the first episode though for very different reasons. This wasn't lost to a lot of fans who thought that the outrage Goblin Slayer garnered died out.
  • The author is a woman. ^note Some who took an immediate disliking to Shield Hero's, due to both the false rape accusation and the fact that most sympathetic female characters are the male lead's underage slaves, assumed that the author is a He-Man Woman Hater who views all women as liars, thieves and objects. The anime's fans often countered those claims by claiming that the story was written by a woman, as Aneko Yusagi's given name uses a suffix most usual to Japanese female names. Interestingly, however, Yusagi's real gender remains unknown, as light novel authors often favor anonymity and use a Pen Name which does not necessarily match their actual gender. As you can guess, it started getting personal.
  • Dadfumi. ^note Due to Naofumi being Oblivious to Love and treating Raphtalia and Filo as his daughters, he's become memetically known as an Action Dad, sometimes even an overprotective one. Crossover memes even have him adopting Maple from Bofuri, due to her being another young girl who specializes in defensive power.
  • Something's rising and it isn't the Shield Hero. ^note Once the preview of episode 3 came out, this was nearly the universal reaction. Became full blown when the beach episode came out.
    • Sarapthalia. ^note Related to the one above. This is a pun of sarap, which is a Philippine word for "delicious", and Rapthalia.
  • Tail wag. ^note Fans noticed how Raphtalia wags her tail every time she is happy or excited. The act is both used as a similar reaction and exalted for how cute it looks.
  • Adobe Crystal Pro. ^note The nickname for whatever spell the Church of the Three Heroes used to "photoshop" the footage to frame Naofumi and make him look like he was kidnapping Melty.
  • The Falling of the Shield Hero. ^note A bitter pun on the series' title (this or some other variation) after the bad reception of its second season, which was seen as a huge disappointment.
• Moe:
  • Filo and child Raphtalia are known for melting the hearts of even the most hardened viewers. Melty counts as well, with her Tsundere characteristics and her love for the Filorials.
  • Even as an adult, Raphtalia is still this thanks to her beautiful appearance and her kindhearted personality.
• Moral Event Horizon: Malty, in addition to the betrayal of Naofumi that began the whole plot, is stated in the light novel that she crossed this long ago when she made the same false rape accusations on other men before Naofumi, and they didn't have the immunity to the death penalty that he did, making her not only a serial liar and manipulator but a Serial Killer.
• Narm:
  • Some fans think this of Malty and Aultcray's new names. After all the hell those two wrought, having one of their punishments be the equivalent to school grade taunts as their legal monikers sounds silly, especially in comparison to the more appropriate punishment of execution.
  • In episode 21, there are a few Male Gaze-y moments that are very noticeable and distract from the otherwise serious and intense trial of Malty and the King. Namely that while placing a slave collar upon the former, the shot is focused around her cleavage, and that there are brief Gainaxing scenes when her slave collar shocks her for lying about the False Rape Accusation, and also when begging Naofumi for her life in the guillotine. Part of this can be chalked up to the way the scene is being adapted, but it comes across as very out of place and funny during, again, what is a serious moment.
• Narm Charm: The scene from Season 2's last episode where Ost Horai tells the girls about seduction is already meant to be awkward, but a curious case of homophony for Spanish-speakers destroys the original sense and instead makes it all utterly hilarious. When Ost talks to every girl's ear, her dialogue is rendered as a repetition of the word konyo, the Japanese onomatopoeia for talking in whispers... which also happens to sound almost exactly like a certain profane word for female genitalia in Spanish. For someone who knows it, it seems like Ost's whole description of seduction is entirely "vagina, vagina, vagina", which actually fits nicely the context.
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: The main reason why most western people heard of Shield Hero is because of the scene where Naofumi gets falsely accused of rape. That and the subsequent controversy, possibly including the Critical Dissonance as well.
• One True Threesome: Or foursome. The Four Cardinal Heroes occasionally get paired together.
• Padding: Even people who otherwise like season 2 of the anime admit that the season takes its sweet time to move its main storylines (the battle with the Spirit Tortoise and the chase after Kyo) along and indulges in character moments that don't really say anything new about the characters.
• Ron the Death Eater: Motoyasu and Itsuki have their flaws as heroes but some consider them outright villains, due to how annoying they can be and refusing to learn from their mistakes.
• Seasonal Rot: The second season of the anime is considered a major downgrade compared to the first. The chronological arrival of an already unpopular arc from the original novels, that of the Spirit Turtle, coincided with a sudden drop in production values that brought glaring bad animation and CGI to the table, not to mention that the season also received a much shorter length and featured an awkward attempt to speed up the story to compensate for it. The latter in particular only caused characters to feel underdeveloped and suffering seemingly inexplicable personality twists, or worse yet, not having true characterization at all in case of the new ones. The weird decision to have a OVA-like filler episode as the season finale behind the true conclusion didn't help things.
• Self-Fanservice: The dearth of shirtless scenes lead to some fan art depicting the Four Cardinal Heroes as having a decent Heroic Build (usually justified by all the fighting they've been through).
• Signature Scene:
  • The False Rape Accusation and its aftermath. This was what drew the series itself into the mainstream spotlight (mainly because of the massive controversy and online arguments that ensued) while establishing that this is not your run-of-the-mill Trapped in Another World Light Novel series.
  • The scene where Naofumi renames Malty and King Melromac to Bitch/Slut and Trash respectively has been coming the whole first season.
• Spiritual Antithesis: It has one in Redo of Healer. Both explore similar themes: in a Crapsack World, the idealistic protagonist's support-focused power causes him to be harshly mistreated by a party of so-called "heroes", leading him to develop a bleak outlook and set out on a quest for revenge. However, Shield Hero ultimately focuses on the friendships Naofumi develops and how they help him rise above his anger and hatred (represented by his Cursed Shield) and become a true hero. Redo dials the cynicism factor to the extreme, giving us a vengeance-bent protagonist who has basically thrown away most of his humanity, and whose harem members are either brainwashed by him or also obsessed with vengeance.
• Theme Pairing:
  • Despite all the animosity between them, The Four Cardinal Heroes get shipped together, especially among Japanese fans. It's implied the previous generations of The Four Cardinal Heroes were on good terms, with Naofumi's generation being something of an anomaly in that regard. It helps that unlike Idiot Hero Motoyasu and Glory Hound Itsuki, Ren is somewhat less problematic to deal with directly.
  • As noted before, Ren and Kirito are so similar that them befriending each other is practically a guarantee.
  • Teaming Naofumi up with other shield users like Captain America or Maple are common.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • The removal of Naofumi's Kick the Dog moments and thoughts from the early part of the story has not been liked by some fans of the light novel. The appeal of Naofumi early on in the light novel was that he was a Byronic Hero who despite being falsely accused of a crime, was still a flawed character who would do things like buying a slave to fight for him and even hope she gets hurt to feel satisfied at the thought of a woman being hurt to get back at Myne. The anime downplays the elements that made him a firm Anti-Hero and instead paints him as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who is just really grumpy. Since his thoughts can't be projected as well in the anime either, a lot of Naofumi's internal thoughts and logic go unmentioned, and make him more cliché than he was initially supposed to be. The choice to have Naofumi be the one to argue in favor of sparing Malty and King Aultcray, whereas in the original story he wanted them executed but the Queen managed to calm him down and argue in favor of stripping them of their royal status and humiliating them, was not entirely received well by fans of the original series too, since it seemingly turned Naofumi into a downright good guy instead of a sympathetic but still harsh protagonist.
  • Episode 15 was criticized by those who read the light novel, for removing Raphtalia stabbing the noble and throwing him out the window and instead replacing it with her choosing to spare him (citing that she would become no better than him if she killed him), followed by the noble trying to attack Raphtalia, who retaliates by stabbing him with her magic sword, causing him to trip on the whip he dropped and fall out a window. Fans pointed out the flawed morality of the scene, as the noble had tortured and killed countless Demis before and showed no sign of repenting, while his high-class status would make it unlikely that he'd actually face justice even if his crimes were exposed, meaning that his death at Raphtalia's hands would have been perfectly justified.
  • Season 2 skipping/cutting a number of scenes that took place between seasons was met with this, not just by fans of the source material, but anime viewers themselves, as not only did the removed scenes help give some good characterization to the Three Heroes, but their removal created a number of confused reactions due to many events being just skipped over, yet the outcome still happening with no explanation (such as characters just suddenly appearing like they were always there). For this reason, Season 2 has a more negative view, even only after a few episodes.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • The other three heroes. By the time of the third wave, their only purpose in the story is to make Naofumi look perfect by comparison as he's the only one who shows even the slightest bit of competence. They only get worse from there.
  • The party members of the other Heroes go unnamed and have almost no characterization or lines in the series. This is despite them being somewhat important given their supporting the various Heroes and have stakes in protecting the world. Excluding Malty, Motoyasu has one party member who gets named and plays a minor role, and none of Ren's party get any screen time or characterization besides being loyal to him before being all wiped out. The only party that has any significance is Itsuki's, and that's because they turn into antagonists later. While the series has a lot of characters, the lack of any time getting to know anything about them results in them coming across as odd given how much important stuff they end up being involved with.
  • The small band of soldiers that join Naofumi during the Third Wave. All of them appear beforehand to help him because they believe he is a hero, which seems to be setting up Naofumi forming a larger party, or at the very least, getting a group of people who would join him over the plot. Despite this setup, the characters are barely used during the Third Wave as they stay behind to fight monsters, and they vanish from the plot after the Wave ends. Given how they were all willing to join him, it wastes a small but still notable group of potentially interesting characters, especially as they could have become allies in the following arc when Naofumi is accused of kidnapping Melty, and either stayed in the party, or help out when needed. Its also odd because they show how some people are turning their opinions around of Naofumi, but this idea isn't explored much either.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Having a party made of people from different versions of Earth (and who all have different preconceptions on how the world should work based on how they previously knew it)^note Ren as a solo VRMMO player, Motoyasu as a non-VR MMORPG player and played MMOs where guilds and interacting with other players is in important, Itsuki as a single player JRPG player, and Naofumi having encountered it as a light novel he only skim read could have been an interesting idea for an isekai in of itself, however because the Legendary Weapons innately inhibit each other's experience gain when in close proximity, the heroes have to form their own independent parties from natives of the world they're now in.
  • The plot point that Demi-humans age as they level is an interesting idea that is only used one time in the story, that being Raphtalia. For starters it raises a moral question of what happens if you train them for battle since they are, even if physically adults, still children in age, turning them into Child Soldiers who may end up growing up quickly without the chance to have a normal childhood. Plus it makes for an interesting source of drama; what if there are Demi-humans who don't want to grow up suddenly and want to grow up normally (if something like that is possible)? Plus you have someone like Raphtalia who ages up quickly while being a slave, surely there would be some kind of psychological effects of basically going from a child, to becoming a weapon for someone even if that person ends up becoming a decent person. Sadly as mentioned, only Raphtalia is put through this plot point and no other Demi-human's on screen age like her, making it come across as a quick way to have Raphtalia grow up so she can become a strong fighter and also be the series main attraction. Characters like Filo never age despite leveling, and it is never discussed again in any meaningful way.
  • Early on Naofumi buying Raphtalia is condemned by other characters, with Naofumi initially treating her a bit harshly before softening up. Once Naofumi gets over some of his anger, the story drops this plot point, and many characters never mention it again despite it being a valid criticism of his character that seemed like something he would develop on. While Raphtalia choses to freely become a slave again after, some find it to be a wasted chance to develop Naofumi, as it seemed like a plot point that was meant to lead to some form of development for him. While this is mostly waved due to one of Naofumi's shields giving him bonuses for those who are contracted to him as slaves, but it seemed to be a mostly forgotten plot point.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: The initial World of Jerkass setting, the complete ineptitude of the other heroes, as well as the fact that the bad guys often pull a Karma Houdini (well, until much later), can make the viewers simply unable to care about what's happening to the main characters. Even if the series eventually offers Naofumi some much needed respite, this only happens well into the series, which can make it hard for the viewer to keep their interest until it comes.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Many of the series' critics have noted that while Motoyasu isn't necessarily unproblematic character by any means (without mentioning his very creepy attraction to Filo), he's the character who most vocally takes issue with Naofumi owning people as slaves and using them to fight dangerous battles for him, stating such things to be despicable and unethical for one who calls himself a hero to engage in even if it's not illegal. While we're meant to see him as ignorant and unreasonable in his judgment of Naofumi as a terrible person, Motoyasu is viewing how things appear to be between Naofumi and his slaves from an outside perspective, and is just drawing the conclusions most people would and is reacting accordingly. He's simply very gullible and self-righteous, not actually malevolent, and it's only due to the circumstances that it's much easier to see him the latter way.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Of the three Cardinal Heroes, Itsuki is the only one to generally be viewed unsympathetically after the Curse Weapon story line. He's the most arrogant and headstrong of the heroes, on top of being a huge hypocrite and treats other people awful, such as how he treats Rishia. While Motoyasu and Ren are flawed characters that some view negatively, they both have enough traits that give them sympathy from some viewers, while Itsuki has less notably positives to make it hard to sympathize with him after he falls to his Cursed Weapon. Even if he does try to atone for his actions, unlike Ren who was good person overall, and Motoyasu, who while gullible, generally tries to act heroic, Itsuki gets portrayed sympathically so late into the story that most couldn't care.
  • Atla in the Light Novels. She was a Delicate and Sickly girl Naofumi took in and cured from the disease that had killed her mother and became a major powerhouse as the series progressed. Unfortunately, being coddled and spoiled by her brother and some of the other villagers during her recovery made her prone to violent tantrums when she couldn't get her way, especially if her plans involved Naofumi, whom she sees as a deity to the point of zealotry, much to Naofumi's discomfort. Her actions soon get to the point that she alienates herself from the others in the village since they fear what she will do if they even talk to Naofumi without her permission. She constantly sneaks into Naofumi's room to the point that he has to put guards around his residence, stalks him when he goes somewhere, and even tries to use her excuse of being Naofumi's "shield" to order around Raphtalia so she can have more time with Naofumi. When Atla can't get her way, she guilt trips her older brother into letting her do whatever she wants, which allowed her to sneak away to stalk Naofumi some more. If Fohl rejects Atla's request, she uses her martial art skills to either paralyze or cause her brother pain via pressure points. It isn't until Raphtalia opens Fohl's eyes and explains that Atla behaves no better than Malty does he decide to put in the effort to rein in his sister, an act Atla tells her brother is a betrayal to their bond as siblings. Even after she gets her orders from Naofumi, everyone is still hesitant on bringing her to battle the Phoenix out of fear she will ignore orders to stay near Naofumi, which does happen and costs Atla her life. On the other hand, due to her disease Atla will never have an adult body and will always be seen as a child no matter how much she levels up or naturally ages. It isn't until her death did some start to feel sorry for her situation.
• Viewer Species Confusion: Raphtalia's animal features are often mistaken to be a raccoon's by western fans, leading to the nickname "Raccoon Waifu". She's actually supposed to be part Tanuki ("raccoon dog" in English), an animal which isn't the same as a raccoon despite looking similar.
• The Woobie: Rino was a nice girl who only wanted to join Motoyasu's party... only for Malty and Lesty to sell her into slavery on a whim. Once she returns, she's evolved into an Iron Woobie who's out for Malty's blood as one of the Queen's newest spies.