Scan barcode
A review by alivegurl
The Rising of the Shield Hero, Volume 3 by Aneko Yusagi
3.0
Okay, volume three was a great improvement! Things start to change and we're starting to see more character and world development through the various events that happened throughout its pages. The system of the world as we know it starts to evolve and now anything goes.
The dynamic of the group that Naofumi creates with his slave, Raphtalia, and his pet, Filo, starts to become more well-rounded—especially after meeting Melty. Itsuki and Ren also manages to show more of their human sides, slowly crumbling the one-dimensionality of their characters. The wave comes back in this book too, but in an entirely unexpected way. Last but not least, we are finally given an explanation to why Naofumi is given such awful treatment by the crown and practically the whole kingdom—although it still begs more questions as to how this came about. I suspect—or hope—there will be more stories of the past heroes to shed light on the matter. Speaking of which, the extra chapter is a really great way to get the inner workings of this other dimension—and see what other countries are out there and how they feel about the Legendary Heroes.
However, there are severe downfalls too—that I managed to just ignore in the prequels. First of all, the translation is pretty bad. There were numerous grammatical error, as well as fatal typos. It's almost as if it were translated by an unqualified fan. Some parts are so badly done, that I'm not sure how to follow the scene. I'm not sure if that lies on the translation itself or with the writing in general, but it's hard to tell sometimes who was speaking when. Granted, of course, with the Japanese grammar, it would probably be apparent, so I think it should've been the translator's job to let that show in other languages—or work around it somehow. Proofreading is also severely needed, as there were countless times when symbols, such as the quotation marks, were used although they clearly weren't supposed to. Lastly, I must say that the writing isn't all that well done. It doesn't really show the chronology very well—dividing a scene into two chapters one time, while mushing up several scenes into a chapter another time. The language used is pretty simple—again, not sure if its the translation or the original writing—making it seem like the author isn't used to the language. Most important of all, the paragraphs often jump all over the place, making the storyline hard to follow.
That being said, I quite enjoyed it. It has some unexpected twists and turns and manage to really show the characters as human beings—who can't be all bad or all good. There are some parts that are quintessentially Japanese, in the way that, for instance, Naofumi not even bothering to say what's really on his mind and stand up for himself. IT DRIVES ME CRAZY! Also, his trust issues should really need to get resolved soon. But I am excited to read the next one. Especially if we get to meet the queen!
The dynamic of the group that Naofumi creates with his slave, Raphtalia, and his pet, Filo, starts to become more well-rounded—especially after meeting Melty. Itsuki and Ren also manages to show more of their human sides, slowly crumbling the one-dimensionality of their characters. The wave comes back in this book too, but in an entirely unexpected way. Last but not least, we are finally given an explanation to why Naofumi is given such awful treatment by the crown and practically the whole kingdom—although it still begs more questions as to how this came about. I suspect—or hope—there will be more stories of the past heroes to shed light on the matter. Speaking of which, the extra chapter is a really great way to get the inner workings of this other dimension—and see what other countries are out there and how they feel about the Legendary Heroes.
However, there are severe downfalls too—that I managed to just ignore in the prequels. First of all, the translation is pretty bad. There were numerous grammatical error, as well as fatal typos. It's almost as if it were translated by an unqualified fan. Some parts are so badly done, that I'm not sure how to follow the scene. I'm not sure if that lies on the translation itself or with the writing in general, but it's hard to tell sometimes who was speaking when. Granted, of course, with the Japanese grammar, it would probably be apparent, so I think it should've been the translator's job to let that show in other languages—or work around it somehow. Proofreading is also severely needed, as there were countless times when symbols, such as the quotation marks, were used although they clearly weren't supposed to. Lastly, I must say that the writing isn't all that well done. It doesn't really show the chronology very well—dividing a scene into two chapters one time, while mushing up several scenes into a chapter another time. The language used is pretty simple—again, not sure if its the translation or the original writing—making it seem like the author isn't used to the language. Most important of all, the paragraphs often jump all over the place, making the storyline hard to follow.
That being said, I quite enjoyed it. It has some unexpected twists and turns and manage to really show the characters as human beings—who can't be all bad or all good. There are some parts that are quintessentially Japanese, in the way that, for instance, Naofumi not even bothering to say what's really on his mind and stand up for himself. IT DRIVES ME CRAZY! Also, his trust issues should really need to get resolved soon. But I am excited to read the next one. Especially if we get to meet the queen!