Season 3 of the popular series "The Rising of the Shield Hero" will air in October. Season 2 depicted the heroes returning to Melromarc after defeating Kyo, the Book Hero from another world who is the cause of the Spirit Turtle's resurrection. Season 3 will depict the struggles of the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani, and his companions as they face off against the Phoenix, one of the Four Sacred Beasts, who is likely to be resurrected. This time, we will introduce the new characters appearing in this new series. We will only introduce characters for which information has been released at this stage, but please feel free to use this as a reference.
New Character #1: Nadia
Naofumi and his companions enter the Dark Coliseum in the mercenary nation of Zeltoble in search of a slave from the village of Lulorona. Naofumi encounters Nadia while scouting the Dark Coliseum. She's a friendly, drunk woman who shares various information with Naofumi. However, she's actually a participant in the Coliseum, and she's been approaching him knowing why he's participating. As Naofumi and his companions advance through the Dark Coliseum, they finally face off against Nadia.
Nadia's Purpose
Nadia ended up fighting Naofumi in the Dark Colosseum, but her reason for participating in the Colosseum was the same as Naofumi's. Nadia lived in the village of Llorona, but she was not there when the first wave destroyed it, so she escaped the disaster. Nadia earned bounties in the Dark Colosseum and recruited slaves from the village.
She's also connected to Raphtalia...
Nadia also had a deep connection with Raphtalia, but Raphtalia was unaware of this because she was acting in her demi-human form in Zeltoble. To find out how Nadia's relationship with Naofumi and his friends develops, please tune into the anime.
New Character 2: Foul
Naofumi purchased Foul and his sister Atlas as slaves in Zeltoble. He is a hybrid of Hakuko and human race, and has been persecuted as a demi-human, but he is actually a descendant of Siltveld's royal family. In Zeltoble, he fought in the Coliseum to earn money for his sister's medical expenses. He excels in hand-to-hand combat, and Naofumi recruited him as a valuable asset.
Extreme Siscon
Foul is an extreme siscon, and is extremely jealous of Naofumi, whom Atlas adores. However, while he is truly grateful to Naofumi for saving Atlas, he is unable to express this openly. This may be because Atlas, now in good health, treats him more carelessly than Naofumi, whom he adores. Atlas's talent blossoms and she becomes stronger than Foul, making him unreliable. However, a certain event awakens him and makes him even stronger. Please watch the anime to find out for yourself.
New Character 3: Atlas
Foul's younger sister, Atlas, is also a descendant of Siltvelt's royal family. She looks identical to her late mother. She was in a terrible state, suffering from burn-like scars all over her body and a genetic disease that left her blind and unable to walk. Naofumi bought her and Foul as slaves, gave them Idgrasil, a top-class healing agent, and used the power of the shield to completely heal her and restore her strength.
Naofumi Comes First
She deeply adores Naofumi, who saved her, and since recovering, she has repeatedly tried to attack him while he was asleep, with Raphtalia and Fowl thwarting her every time. She also possesses genius-level martial arts talent. She can read the flow of energy to accurately attack, and she can even reproduce the Hengen Musou style of swordsmanship just by seeing or hearing it. Since recovering, she has always put Naofumi first, and her words and actions tend to prioritize him, often leading to extreme behavior. Conversely, while she cares for her brother, he is a lower priority than Naofumi, and she treats him somewhat roughly.
New Character 4: Sein
Sein is a girl who suddenly appears in Lulorona Village. She actually met Naofumi at the Zeltoble Coliseum. She was fighting as a mercenary there, but Naofumi didn't recognize her because she was wearing a mask. She was fired by her employer and came to Lulorona Village to be hired by Naofumi as a mercenary.
Sein's True Identity
Although initially rejected by the cautious Naofumi, he later becomes a companion after rescuing him from an attack. Sein's true identity is the "Sewing Tool Hero," a familiar vessel from another world, separate from Kizuna and the others. Why is Sein, a hero from another world, in Naofumi's world? Is there a purpose for him here? Watch the anime to find out.
Are the contents of the anime and the original manga different?
Season 3 of "The Rising of the Shield Hero" has been rumored since the anime first aired, with many fans discussing the differences between the anime and the original manga. This has been a hot topic among fans. Let's take a look at what the truth is.
The book version has been revised and expanded based on the web version
Before I explain the differences between the anime and the original work, I'd like to discuss the differences between the web and book versions. The web version was written by Aneko Yusagi on "Let's Become a Novelist," and the book version was published as a light novel by MF Books. However, the book version was significantly revised and expanded based on the web version. The story content and flow were also changed, resulting in a significantly different plot. It was later adapted into a manga, but the manga follows the book version closely. While some depictions have been changed to match the comic, I think it still has a manga-like feel.
What about the anime version?
As for the anime, I think it's probably closest to the comic. Scenes that are difficult to portray in film are probably easier to portray in the comic. In other words, it's not that the anime is different from the original work, but rather that the web version changed significantly when it was made into a print version.
Summary of New Characters
We've introduced four new characters this time. As I mentioned earlier, there are some differences between the original manga and the anime, but this time we've introduced them in accordance with the book's settings. While we won't know how they'll be portrayed in the anime until we see it, we hope this information is helpful. Thank you for reading to the end.
