An enemy or a new ally? Episode 2 of The Rising of The Shield Hero Season 3 finally sees Naofumi facing the toughest opponents in Zeltoble’s underground Coliseum. And as always, not everything is as it seems.
Team Rockvalley
The episode immediately picks off right where the previous one left off, with Team Rockvalley, Naofumi’s stage name for his party, defeating countless opponents and forcing the rest to quit. And this shouldn’t be a surprise considering how powerful they are.
What’s interesting, though, is that Naofumi uses illusion magic to make it seem like they are struggling in these battles, increasing their prize money; yet another shrewd strategy from the Shield Hero.
Of course, their constant victories would attract unwanted attention, which comes into the form of the beautiful Nadia.
Nadia
The world of The Rising of The Shield Hero is populated by a lot of fun characters, and Nadia is no different. Alluring and easygoing, she’s also powerful and has that big sister vibe that fits her personality perfectly.
Her interactions with Naofumi is a treat to watch, though it’s hilarious how the Shield Hero shrugs her off as if she’s carrying a disease when Nadia tries to latch onto him after a brawl with other opponents; Naofumi may have already moved on from the past, but his trauma with aggressive women is still very much present.
Fortunately, it seems Nadia isn’t like Malty.
Reunion
Ever since the first season, Raphtalia sometimes reminisced about one of Lurolona Village’s demi-humans: Sadeena. And we can tell that Raphtalia sees Sadeena as someone important in her life.
But who would have thought that Sadeena has already appeared this season? Indeed, she is none other than Nadia, and their reunion couldn’t have been more fateful; after all, Sadeena is their next opponent.
Their battle is quite fierce, briefly displaying Sadeena’s power. But we all know how this would end after Raphtalia reveals herself. In fact, Sadeena’s goal is much like Naofumi: free the slaves of Lurolona Village. So she really has no problem letting Team Rockvalley win.
However, Sadeena is a popular fighter, and her loss doesn’t sit well with other patrons, leading to the match being invalidated. Incidentally, Sadeena and Team Rockvalley have to team up this time against a strange opponent.
Murder Clown
Eccentric characters have been a staple of The Rising of Shield Hero; from the Slave Merchant to the Boat Hero of Glass’s world. And while Murder Clown is the typical masked enemy with a flat voice, there’s just something off about them that’s plain to see.
And yet that’s not the worse of it, as the strange enemy is powerful enough to escape the combined might of Naofumi’s party and Sadeena. We don’t even know if they are friend or foe, though the message they left is cryptic enough.
Whoever they are, Team Naofumi wins for the second time, though the match would have been invalidated again if not for the timely intervention of both the Slave and Jewelry Merchants. And it’s really funny how the patrons’ opinion quickly changed as soon as they learned that Naofumi is the Shield Hero.
Final Thoughts
An action-packed episode, though some of the fight scenes feel clunky. Nevertheless, Sadeena is an interesting and fun addition to the cast, and is one of the highlights of the episode. Still, it seems that we have more characters joining the story soon.
Episode score: 7.5/10