The countdown for The Rising of the Shield Hero season 3 has officially begun, and it won’t be long before we get to see our favorite characters back in action. But when is the third season releasing? If you’re here looking that up, keep reading as we’ll talk about everything we know about the upcoming season so far!!
Based on Aneko Yusagi’s light novel series, “The Rising of the Shield Hero” quickly jumped through the popularity charts. So much so that by the time season 1 concluded, the series was already renewed for not just season 2 but also for season 3.
This success was somewhat expected as isekai anime has a history of becoming instant blockbusters. Besides, The Rising of the Shield Hero does begin with a ‘traditional isekai plot’ where a protagonist enters a fictional world and is revealed to be some promised ‘messiah’ or ‘hero.’
But this particular anime changed the course of its entire ‘supposed’ storyline within the pilot episode.
The first episode begins with an optimistic Japanese teenager named Naofumi Iwatani entering the fictional land of Melromarc as the ‘Shield Hero,’ but it ends with him being stripped of all his privileges and being falsely accused of sexual assault.
However, the underdog neither suddenly sprouted into some superior being nor did he shove aside the negativity like his usual personality. Instead, Naofumi turned bitter and skeptical – exactly how you’d imagine any human reacting to such trauma.
And so, the series became all the more worth watching as Naofumi gradually grew stronger, learned to trust again, and finally cleared his name.
This is precisely why the fans started waiting for season 2 as soon as the first season concluded. But there was a 3-year gap between the previous seasons’ premiere dates. And so, season 3 was also anticipated to be delayed after the second season’s conclusion.
However, the third season’s release date is out, and it seems we’ll get to feast our eyes on our favorite show much sooner than we had expected.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 Release Date
According to the anime’s official website, the third season of The Rising of the Shield Hero is scheduled to premiere on October 6, 2023!
As anticipated, Kinema Citrus remains the main production studio for The Rising of the Shield Hero season 3, as it has been the animation studio for both previous seasons. But DR MOVIE studio won’t be involved in co-production, as was the case in the season 2 animation.
And so, we can expect the graphics quality to be similar to the first season’s.
This is good news, as we hope that season 3 will address all the fans’ grievances from season 2. For instance, the previous season featured unnecessary and poor-quality CGI, which eventually became a meme circulating online.
Also, the fans wanted a slower pacing for season 2, which contained only 13 episodes and skidded over many crucial moments.
But frankly, this demand is mostly because season 1 set the bar too high by covering as much light novel material in a total of 25 episodes.
While we cannot say for sure if the pacing issue will be resolved until the anime comes out, the trailer seems to have good animation quality. And so, we’ve got our fingers crossed for a season as good as the first one.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 Trailer
The trailer for The Rising of the Shield Hero season 3 came out on April 7th, 2023, and gave out details regarding the release date, cast, and crew members. But most importantly, it hinted at what to anticipate from the incoming season.
Recently, a new trailer for the third season was released, which you can watch below:
What to Expect from The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3?
The second season of The Rising of the Shield Hero featured “Spirit Turtle Arc,” where Naofumi and his party entered another world to defeat Kyo, who was the real culprit behind the Tortoise Spirit catastrophe.
Later, the season 2 finale concluded with Naofumi and his party returning to Melromarc to pay homage to Ost’s spirit.
As season 2 covered light novel volumes 6 to 9, we expected the anime to pick the story from volume 10. However, parts of Volume 10 were already animated in the previous season. Also, the pacing of the last season was criticized as it skipped through a lot of critical content.
Therefore, we didn’t exactly know what to expect from the upcoming season 3.
But the trailer has revealed that The Rising of the Shield Hero season 3 will pick the story from “Rebuilding Arc” in the light novel volume 10. And so, Naofumi and his party will return home to the Seatto territory, where they’ll begin re-establishing the villages.
But as more spirits are likely to be revived, Naofumi will try to find more slaves to inhabit his lands and build his forces. However, Naofumi and his party will have to travel to Zeltobe, where citizens of Lurolona village are often sold as slaves.
There, Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo will join an underground fighting arena under disguise.
The trailer has also revealed how the rest of the three heroes have suddenly gone missing. And so, season 3 will also feature “Fallen Hero Arc” as Naofumi will try to find them and organize them to protect everyone from waves.
We’ll also see Myne, aka “Witch,” returning to hinder Naofumi from contacting the other three heroes.
While there’s enough content in these two light novel arcs to create 25 episodes for season 3, we cannot say for sure how many episodes will be there in The Rising of the Shield Hero season 3.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 Cast & Crew Details
Though director Hitoshi Haga has replaced director Masato Jinbo from the second season, much of the cast and crew members from the previous seasons are returning for the third season of The Rising of the Shield Hero.
So, Keigo Koyangi and Kevin Penkin will be reprising their respective roles as the head writer and the music director. We’ll also see Masahiro Suwa, Franziska van Wulfen, and Sana Komatsu returning as character designers. Meanwhile, Kota Sera will be returning as the Design advisor.
Since the voice cast is also reprising its role, we’ll see:
- Kaito Ishikawa as Naofumi Iwatani
- Asami Seto as Raphtalia
- Natsuko Hara as Lecia
- Rina Hidaka as Filo
- Yoshitsugo Matsuoka as Ren Amaki
- Yoshitaka Yamaya as Itsuki Kawasumi
- Makoto Takahashi as Motoyasu Kitamura
- Sarah Emi Bridcutt as Myne
- Ruriko Aoki as Eclair
- Maaya Uchida as Melty
- Kikuko Inoue as Mirella
- Yutaka Nakano as Aultcray
Conclusion
While the third season of The Rising of the Shield Hero was greenlit early on, the recent trailer has revealed that the season will premiere in October 2023. Much of the previous cast and crew members are also returning under the direction of Hitoshi Haga.
Since the trailer features bits from the “Rebuilding Arc” and “Fallen Heroes Arc.” Therefore, we can anticipate that The Rising of the Shield Hero season 3 will be full of action and new adventures.
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