The Rising of the Shield Hero is a grim but exciting isekai anime that's due to return for a second season as part of the Spring 2022 anime lineup. This is a tale of the unfortunate shield hero Iwatani Naofumi and his quest to save the day from multiple Waves of monsters, but he can't do it alone.
Naofumi used his wits and ingenuity to find new party members t0 aid him on his quest, and even without the royal court's support, he soon had a highly effective team. At a glance it may look like Naofumi simply built another typical anime harem, but he did far more than that -- and set a better example for isekai anime everywhere in the process.
The Issues With Typical Isekai Anime Harems
The concept of a harem in anime may not be fundamentally broken but it definitely has some issues, including in the unofficial genre of isekai. To begin with, the harem is rarely an organic part of the narrative -- that is, many harems are formed out of a sense of obligation from a narrative standpoint, rather than being what the story requires. They are often simply forced into the story for its own sake, and not always for innocent reasons. Just the inclusion of an obligatory harem can feel trite and stale for many anime fans today, and that's not even the worst of it.
On another level, some harems are little more than wish fulfillment for targeted audiences of isekai action anime series, such as teenage boys. There's no harm in tossing in a few attractive female characters to appeal to audiences, but when a handful are inexplicably drawn to the self-insert male lead just because, the narrative becomes transparent at best. Rarely do isekai leads like Sword Art Online's Kirito or Mochizuki Touya from In Another World With My Smartphone actually earn the affection of these girls -- it's just another level to the power fantasy scenario to match the hero's incredible combat prowess. These heroes have an overpowered spell or sword in hand with a girl on each arm, and it's rarely a good look.
In some extremes, the members of these harems are treated more like prizes or collectibles than people, which can be deeply insulting and cheapen any character. These adoring fans of the isekai lead often contribute little to the story aside from fan service and comic relief; fortunately, there are some series that buck this trend. My Next Life as a Villainess creates a more wholesome co-ed harem in a series that's all about relationships, and The Rising of the Shield Hero morphs a would-be harem into something entirely new.
Iwatani Naofumi's Adventuring Party in Shield Hero
Shield Hero's "harem" is actually a more meaningful adventurer party with minimal wish-fulfillment elements. The only nod to traditional isekai harems is the tanuki girl Raphtalia's fixation on Naofumi, but she adores him deeply as his first companion and loyal friend. Otherwise, Shield Hero's would-be harem is far tamer than anime fans might expect.
To begin with, Naofumi's party members are simply too young to be his love interests or fan service characters, with princess Melty being around 11-12 years of age and Filo being only a few weeks old, with the appearance of an elementary-aged girl. Raphtalia was also a child when Naofumi rescued her from slavery, though she physically aged to resemble an older girl who was in her mid- to late teens at some point.
Shield Hero indulges in no substantial fan service with these young characters and, aside from Raphtalia, they have no serious romantic attachments to him, allowing the series to dodge most conventional harem scenarios. Melty simply sees Naofumi as an ally, while Filo and Raphtalia view him as a foster father.
Raphtalia was recruited out of necessity -- since Naofumi couldn't wield swords or bows on his own, Raphtalia became the party's DPS character. Then Naofumi bought Filo's egg and hatched her so he could have a beast of burden and additional fighter, and sure enough, Filo's main job is not to slobber all over Naofumi but to pull his wagon along. Princess Melty, meanwhile, is Naofumi's main link to the queen, who is one of his few true allies in the kingdom of Melromarc. Her addition to Naofumi's party helped begin the process of his acceptance back into the royal court and the ranks of the Cardinal Heroes. Shield Hero provides meaningful reasons for each of these girls to travel with Naofumi, helping the series refine the concept of the typical isekai harem.
