It’s okay for an adaptation not to follow the source material to the letter. To get around that, it might have been a good idea to shorten the first season to 23 or 24 episodes, just to streamline things so that story elements like the Pope arc didn’t have to be quite so drawn out.
Though the series often seemed to attempt to rectify this by playing montages of scenes where Naofumi was wronged, since those scenes rarely changed it felt more like padding the series for run time than anything. Losing some of his edge had the consequence of making him more like your traditional hero with trust issues, and after a while it became a relief, because without the immediate outrage caused by his expulsion, his destructive Wrath tended to feel overblown. However, if you’re like me, you may have tuned into this series to see a darker hero, one motivated by vengeance and rage, which was definitely how Naofumi started out, though he was toned down when it came to his initial callousness towards Raphtalia. In one episode, thanks to one cruel act, Naofumi went from having everything his fellow heroes had to set them on their paths to having none of it, and ultimately became stronger for it. This was clear from the very first episode, which didn’t shy away from the trauma being accused of sexual assault by someone you trusted would cause, and the damage it would do to your relationships with others. Seems like something Naofumi said to him finally sank through his hair and into his brain, because at this rate, they might even be friends, someday.įrom beginning to end, Tate no Yuusha has proven itself to a quality adaptation of its source material. He’s even thinking of visiting Naofumi in the future, which means I can finally unabashedly say that while he may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, and can definitely stray into creepy territory at times, he’s also one of the most thoroughly entertaining characters to watch.
As for the heroes, Itsuki is still confident he’s the only Robin Hood in town, Ren is striving to be the very best, the best there ever was, and Motoyasu… is actually the most chill of the three.
It seems that Itsuki has tossed Leticia out of his group due to being accused of a crime she didn’t commit, meaning she’s free to join the Shield Heroe’s group. And the animation reflects this character growth by sometimes portraying him as the prettiest pretty boy to ever pretty. He’s developed into a person who can be kind to strangers and the party members of other heroes, who can reach out over and over for the greater good. This will allow Naofumi the time he needs to level up and expand his party, an idea which hasn’t seemed to interest him much until this point. Once the Queen came up with a clever plan to neutralize Glass, thus making it unnecessary for Naofumi to Blood Sacrifice himself to defeat her, the other Heroes retreated, vowing to one day return to settle once and for all whose world will be spared.
Of course, we’ll root for Naofumi since we’ve spent the most time witnessing his struggles and watching him grow, but you could just as easily root for Glass or the others. None of them are really the villains here. This puts him directly in opposition to Glass, L’Arc, and Therese, since they’re fighting for their loved ones, too, and for a concept that was recently introduced, it’s fascinating. Naofumi was willing to fight for them, even kill for them if he had to, just to keep them safe. Ultimately, that moment of weakness allowed Raphtalia to remind him that while it’s not his world he’s fighting for, it is her world and Firo’s and Melty’s. The last episode brought up an issue that had been mentioned during Fitoria’s arc and then shoved to the wayside thanks to the relentless onslaught of events that happened afterwards – Why does Naofumi want to protect a world that isn’t even his? And not only that, but a world that has mistreated him, where demi-humans are enslaved and corruption runs rampant among the Church and monarchy? When faced with Glass’ determination, he questioned his own resolve, as anyone in his position would. A good last episode shouldn’t just feel like an ending, it should make its audience anticipate what’s coming next, and going by the popularity of this series, I’d say it’s very likely to get another season. By bringing in new characters in the Cal Mira arc, Tate no Yuusha revitalized itself, expanding its horizons to encompass other worlds with heroes of their own. It was too conclusive, to the point where ending the season there would have felt like closing a book and then putting it away on a shelf. Seeing Naofumi get some form of justice felt conclusive, but maybe that was the problem.
However, after watching this episode, I’m relieved it didn’t. This season could have very easily ended after the Execution-That-Wasn’t.