Tear Jerker / The Rising of the Shield Hero

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Warning: Spoilers Off applies to this page. Proceed at your own risk.

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Webnovel:

• When Naofumi is kicked out of the castle after his trial in the anime, he at least has some sort of clothing on him. In the webnovel, he was thrown out into a pile of trash and waste wearing nothing but his underwear.
• The Spirit Tortoise is awakened by Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki breaking the seal on it, starting a chain reaction to awaken the other Guardians as well. The reason they did so? They all had a similar raid boss in their respective video games and wanted to outshine Naofumi by defeating it and Malty/Bitch told them where to find it. All this did was get innocent people killed and Naofumi almost permanently crippling himself taking down the Spirit Tortoise using Blood Sacrifice. In the end, everyone reviles the Four Heroes other than Naofumi, a complete turnover from the beginning of the series.
• Trash during Malty's rebellion. He is completely unresponsive and had to be dragged to safety by his wife. During the entire rebellion, he stays inside the carriage they used to escape and does not react to anything or anyone.
• Malty's trial in the aftermath of her rebellion. Despite all the opportunities she had to redeem herself, the Queen can no longer protect her daughter and has no choice but to send her to a Fate Worse than Death due to the outcry of the citizens.
• During the fight with the Houou Phoenix, casualties include many filolials Motoyasu raised, a slave girl Naofumi had taken as an apprentice cook, and Atla. The last one triggers Fohl being considered worthy of the Vassal Gauntlets.
• Mirellia's death at the hands of Takt and his followers, which include her daughter Malty. Trash's soul breaks and he realizes that there is no redemption for his daughter.
• After Takt's assault, Naofumi has to break the news of Granny Elrasla's death to her son. The man is understanding since his mother was never one to go down without a fight, but it's a punch to the gut given how Elrasla was the man's adoptive mother. It turns out his biological parents were friends and collegue's of Elrasla at the old Hengen Musou temple and were killed when the temple prodigy, who was hinted to be a reincarnator, attempted to wipe out everyone after proclaiming he was going to conquer the world using Hengen Musou and would be the only one to practice it. The only survivors were Elrasla and a young boy, who she raised as her own.
• The Spirit of the Shield, aka the one who chose Naofumi to be its Champion, effectively has decided to quit its position after seeing how its Champions were vilified with Naofumi's treatment being the final straw. As a result, Naofumi will effectively be the last Shield Hero in the history of the world since it is now bonded to his soul.
• Naofumi basically burned his bridge with Siltvelt by accidentally snubbing them after his trial, telling the representatives to leave him alone and that he didn't want their help. One of the elders comes to visit him after Rock Valley is established and accepts his apology, but it's clear that the others in the diplomatic group are angry at Naofumi for abandoning them.
  • It's revealed that after Siltvelt heard Melromarc summoned all four heroes, they sent out a group solely to support Naofumi, but the group were arrested and tortured to death in the castle's dungeon before the party selection.
• Despite their efforts to help save the world, Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu are largely forgotten and are only remembered as footnotes in Naofumi's story.
  • Motoyasu became famous for breeding filolials during the era of peace and died a bachelor, never winning Filo's heart. Since his battle record stopped during the era of peace, historians question if he even existed or not, along with the three Filolials he raised that became Vassal Heroes.
  • Ren is remembered as someone who founded an organization to help resolve problems around the world, but he is mostly known for killing Wyndia's father and repenting for it for the rest of his life.
  • Itsuki traveled the world and his name was spread all over, but none of his exploits were ever great enough for his name to be handed down outside of history. Even his marriage to Rishia is considered a topic of debate.
• It's revealed that Fitoria's master forced her to drink an elixir of eternal youth, which traumatized her to the point that she lost her memories after her master died. Just looking at the potion is enough to send her into a panic attack.
• Trash having to order the execution of his daughter. While Malty/Bitch/Witch was a horrible person whose crimes included a false rape accusation, attempted fratricide, corrupting the heroes, treason by causing a rebellion, and matricide, he still can't help but silently cry as his daughter is burned at the stake and recognize that he was the reason she became such a rotten person.
  • Even Naofumi can't help but feel sorry for Trash during the execution. In a short span of time he lost his wife thanks to his eldest daughter betraying her home country and then he had to order said daughter's death. At the end of the day the only family he has left is Melty, who is still acting cold to him for how he treated Naofumi in the past.
  • Then it's revealed that his daughter's soul actually contained a piece of the corrupt goddess Medea and was being used as her human avatar to create chaos in the world and help bring forth her ascension to true godhood. Makes one wonder if Malty/Bitch/Witch was born as rotten as she was or if Medea overwrote her soul.
• Glass's world is destroyed in the original webnovel and only a handful of survivors come with her. She never reunited with Kizuna, who is presumed dead since the girl was still trapped in the labyrinth when the world she was summoned to was destroyed.
• Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo, Raph-chan, and Atla all become god hunters, immortal beings who travel the multiverse and kill false gods. As a result, they outlive their friends and family, only experiencing true happiness by leaving behind shards of themselves to live out normal lives which then get absorbed after death.

Light Novel:

• The story of Rishia Ivyred joining Naofumi is not a pleasant one. Her family is the noble of a town, yet they essentially lived like farmers compared to the more lavish lords in the series. Disaster after disaster leads to them needing to sell more and more of their stuff to a neighboring bully lord until Rishia is also taken. Rishia falls in love with the "heroic" Itsuki and his ideals, but becomes a pack-mule and is treated at the bottom of the pecking order in their party, both figuratively and literally. No respect is given in any way after she rescues all three of the knocked-out heroes in the Cal Mira Wave, and is then kicked out her party by a conspiracy just because she isn't a fighter, and also because she essentially saved the day by preventing Naofumi from repeating a very dangerous self-torture Cursed Ability that he once used to obliterate the corrupt Pope Balmus, but at the cost of him nearly dying, instead using Colhol casks to great effect on his enemy. Luckily Naofumi saves her from suicide but by that point she is in well deserved tears.
  • The fact that Naofumi had an indirect hand in Rishia's dismissal. Earlier he helped a rather seedy merchant sell his wares by spreading a rumor that accessories made in the area raised levels faster and let the user get more EXP. Itsuki bought one and let his party break it to frame Rishia and give a reason to kick her out. Even if the accessory did work as advertised, the fact that Itsuki would willingly help frame someone just because they did better than him is just the Start of Darkness for him.
• As Naofumi start setting up his village, he is trying to put priority into finding the villagers that were sold into slavery. Thanks to Raphtalia's infamy in the wake of the Spirit Tortoise attack, slaves from her village are in high demand and the price skyrockets from a handful of silver to hundred golds for a single one.
  • What's even worse is how Silvelt is unintentionally making things harder for Naofumi. Nobles start sending their daughters disguised as slaves to the slave market in hopes that Naofumi will buy them and take them as concubines. In turn, Naofumi turns them away and has to pay out of his own pocket to send them home. Others simply abandon their children at the borders of his lands in hopes that they will either gain his favor or will have a better life. Given how demi-humans are still treated as inferiors in Melromarc, it is most likely the latter. It takes barely two weeks before the food stores run out and Naofumi has to start peddling again, with the children helping him.
• When the slavers who raided the village before return, they gloat at how they're untouchable since they come from noble families in Melromarc so the most the Queen can give them is a slap on the wrist given the current political situation. Something inside Raphtalia snaps and she suggests that the slavers be sold into slavery themselves, specifically to Siltvelt.
• Itsuki's indentured servitude in the Zetoble Coliseum. He's told that if he wants his party back, he has to fight in penance for failing to defeat the Spirit Tortoise. When he finally makes the demanded quota, he goes back to his party's lodging to see them gone, leaving behind a stack of various loans they took out in his name along with multiple I.O.U. slips to various establishments and bars in the area. Naofumi can't help but pity Itsuki and sells whatever he has in his inventory to pay off the Bow Hero's debt. Even after selling multiple high end and rare items, including at least half a dozen Elixir of Yggdrasil, it's still just barely enough to pay off Itsuki's debt. The poor teenager is left completely despondent and his Curse Series makes it so he can't make decisions for himself, including eating and dressing himself. He's willingly doing whatever somebody tells him to do no matter what is asked of him.
• Raphtalia turns out to be royalty from the nation of Q'ten Lo thanks to her father being their runaway prince and there have been spies watching her family ever since. When the village was attacked by the Wave raided, they did nothing but stand back and watch as the villagers were killed since associating with Raphtalia's father was the same as associating with a traitor.
• Atla's funeral in the aftermath of the Houou Phoenix battle. Since she requested Naofumi absorb her body into his shield, there is no body to bury, just an empty casket filled with flowers. Even Trash puts a flower in the casket.
  • The kicker? It's implied in the novel that the flower was Lucia's, Trash's sister and Atla's mother, favorite kind.
  • Despite not having his staff, Trash is still very good with magic and was sent to the treatment tent to act as a medic during the battle with the Phoenix. However, without his staff, many of his skills and his endurance are heavily reduced. When Atla is brought for treatment, he's useless because while he has knowledge of a spell that can help, he does not have the strength to perform it.

Manga:

• Raphtalia praying over Rifana's remains. Unlike the anime, Rifana had died before Raphtalia was sold off and was left to rot all the same. When Melty tries to comment on how horrible the dungeon is, Naofumi and Van let her know that despite it being against the law to torture slaves, much of the nobility doesn't care and does so anyway since the Queen is away and the King demoted or banished any nobles that were pro demi-human.
• Raphtalia's face when Naofumi falls unconscious due to the recoil of Blood Sacrifice.
• Naofumi's flashbacks to his time with L'Arc and Therese during their training. He genuinely came to like them as comrades and almost trusted them enough to consider them friends, then the Wave happened and they were revealed to be spies and allies of Glass. Naofumi can't help but sound resigned and hurt when he realizes that he trusted them, complete with an image spot of L'Arc and Therese joining his team.
• Chapter 69 of the manga has a small one, mixed with Heartwarming in the form of Naofumi having an imagine spot of Himself, Raphtalia, Fitoria, Filo, Melty, Éclair, Erhart, Queen Mirellia, Van Reichnott, Motoyasu, Itsuki, Ren, Granny, Risha, Kiel and most notably, Ost Hourai, Naofumi lamenting on the thought of having a picture taken, with everyone he knew standing with him. It's notable, considering how Naofumi thought of the other heroes previously, that he had them as friends in his imagine spot.
• Kyo spelling out to Yomogi that he was only using her as a tool and that she never meant anything to him.
• Sadeena ranting on how much she hates herself for being out fishing when her village was attacked by the Wave. The village was in ruins when she returned and she decided then and there that she was going to get everyone back no matter what she had to do in order to raise money.
• Sadeena's patron trying to invade her home and steal the slaves she rescued because she threw the match and lost him some money. It takes a threat from Beloukas and the accessory merchant to get him to back off.
• Raphtalia having to go to the auction to vet out which slaves are pretending to be from her village and which ones actually are, tearing up when she sees one of her friends. When Rishia later asks her what they're going to do about the children falsely advertised as being from her village, Raphtalia gives an empty smile and says that they have to focus on getting back the villagers and everyone else is a footnote.
  • Raphtalia having the same empty smile when she suggests selling the bandits who raided her village into slavery.
• Going by the number of slaves Sadeena was able to buy back combined with the handful Naofumi was able to find, the manga shows there were at least two dozen children sold into slavery from Raphtalia's village that they were able to find.

Anime:

Season 1

• Episode 1:
  • Naofumi's situation following Myne's false accusation is certainly this, coupled with extreme nightmare fuel. Here is a young man that was ripped away from his family, life and homeworld without consent, to fight in a war that he knew nothing about. Now, thanks to the actions of somebody he trusted everybody thinks that he is a scumbag, whether they knew him or not and are not interested in hearing his side of the story. He has no friends, no allies, no money and no way to get home. Gone is his original kindness and optimism. Instead, the Shield Hero has become a bitter, angry man who understandably (and accurately) trusts nobody.
    • Made even worse by two things. We as the audience, know that Naofumi is completely innocent, but has no way to prove it. Then comes the horrifying revelation after watching episode four, when you learn that the King and the Princess framed him deliberately.
• Episode 2:
  • We get a glimpse of Raphtalia's past. Her parents were fleeing during the first wave, but they were cornered atop a cliff, and had no choice but to throw their daughter down to the sea so she would have a chance of survival. And then, the poor girl had to see how her parents were mauled to death as she fell down, unable to do anything.
  • When Raphtalia gets paralyzed with fear and becomes unable to fight, Naofumi seems more than ready to perform a You Shall Not Pass! so she can escape and save herself. Which means, Naofumi was willing to die for a girl he (at the time) barely knew, most likely because he thought he had nothing to live for in that world! Thankfully this snaps her out of her panic and she fights back, saving them both.
  • Really, just the image of Raphtalia tearfully begging Naofumi to not to die and leave her alone.
• In Episode 4, even if it's just a hallucination, the image of Raphtalia leaving Naofumi is pretty depressing. He even tries to push her away saying that he only saw her as a tool, but it's clear he's lying to himself.
• Episode 9:
  • After Melty reveals she is the Crown Princess, Naofumi forbids Filo from playing with her anymore on the basis of what the King and Malty have done to him. Since he refuses to go into detail, he can't really explain the full context to Filo, who cries over not being able to see her friend.
• Episode 13:
  • Melty begging Naofumi to go back to the capital to talk with her father. Worse, she does not know the full context of Naofumi's hatred towards the royal family since the Queen kept her out of the loop regarding the current affairs other than Malty and the King overstepping boundaries.
• Episode 15:
  • We finally get to see what Raphtalia had to go through after the first wave and before meeting Naofumi. One second, she's happily chatting with her friend about love, and the next, the skies turn red and all hell breaks loose.
  • Raphtalia does her best to stay strong and tries to give hope to the survivors of her hometown. Her speech raises their spirits and they start rebuilding their town, and then it seems they've gotten help from the capital... only for the knights to brutally slaughter the adults like animals and sell the younger children as slaves.
  • Raphtalia refuses to scream while being tortured and all the while she keeps a smile in her face to give hope to everyone, especially to her friend Rifana. Then Rifana becomes sick, and they're separated when Raphtalia is sold to the slave trader. As if just to twist the knife further, the knight nonchalantly informs her that Rifana "won't last much longer". This seems the breaking point, as Raphtalia even forgets how to smile after this.
  • The biggest one, when checking on the dungeons, she's happy to find that her friend Keel is still alive, but then she asks about Rifana. By then, all she finds are her skeletal remains, still holding the flag in her hand from the last time they saw each other.
  • Really, every scene between Rifana and Raphtalia is a massive tearjerker, from her saying that she wants to go home, to her dream of asking the Shield Hero to make her his bride when she meets him.
  • When Melty remarks that she can't believe such cruelty was allowed to happen, Naofumi and Van lightly chide her that what happened at Idol Rabier's estate is happening all over the country of Melromarc and that Sayette was needed to act as a neutral ground or safe haven for demi-humans.
• Episode 21
  • Malty and Aultcray finally get what is coming to them, but it is not a happy time, not even for the one who suffered the most at their hands. Naofumi has a nightmare about their upcoming execution, not a pleasant cathartic dream but a nightmare. He feels guilt at Malty's coming death but she will definitely cause him more trouble if she lives. A bane on his existence, that is sad.
  • Even after all the unforgivable acts they have committed, Mirelia still cares about her husband and daughter. She doesn't want to order their execution, but her role as queen demands that she punish them. She was hoping that Naofumi would give her an excuse to spare them, and was planning to risk her own life to convince him to give her this excuse.
  • When Malty's plan to assassinate Melty is brought to light, everyone is horrified, including Aultcray. Hearing proof that one of his daughters tried to kill the other is enough to distract him from his own trouble and misdeeds. One must also consider the implications of this revelations, the Shield Hero that he hates so much and caused so much trouble for, is the only reason his youngest daughter has lived this long.

Season 2

• The death of Ost Hourai to stop Kyo from controlling the Spirit Tortoise and destroying the World in Season 2, Episode 6. To further twist the knife, Kyo manages to escape anyway, forcing her to use the last of her life-force to grant Naofumi and his party access to other worlds and allow him to pursue Kyo.
• Kyo separating Raphtalia (who was reduced to her child form due to her level being reset to 1) from Naofumi, Kizuna and Risha by preventing her from being warped by the Dragon Hourglass at the end of Season 2, Episode 8.
• All the stuff Filo goes through in Season 2, Episode 9. She is captured by a sadistic slave trader, who then puts a talisman on her to keep her in a baby bird form, and then cruelly uses her as a sideshow in an attempt to make money. When Naofumi, Rishia and Kizuna go to locate her at night, she is seen locked in a cage with multiple talismans keeping her trapped, desperately calling out with bird sounds and looking very teary eyed. With all the animal and child abuse that has happened, is it any wonder Filo was bawling her eyes out as she was rescued by Naofumi?
• Naofumi and his party leaving a bouquet of flowers at the Spirit Tortoise's remains in memoriam to all those who died in the rampage and to Ost, who appears as a ghost one final time before passing on.
• Season 2, Episode 13 is Filler, but it still contains several sad moments.
  • Kizuna tells Yomogi of what happened when she was imprisoned in the Infinite Labyrinth. The loneliness got so bad that she nearly hanged herself out of despair.
• As horrible as he was, Kazuki's harem finding out that there was never a way to truly bring him back and that they became science experiments was All for Nothing.

Season 3

• The Opening, we see a few scenes that allude to some things that have already happened or will happen in the upcoming season:
  • We get brief glimpses of Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu's lives before the summoning. We see Ren changing out his shoes for the day, Itsuki picking up his things off the floor while others laugh, and Motoyasu clutching his bleeding stomach trying to staunch the wound that caused his death.
  • There is a brief scene of Ren with his bandit king mask, his eye glowing red.
  • Itsuki is despondent as he fights in the coliseum.
  • There is a brief scene where Naofumi is walking on a piece of land between a road lit with lanterns and the dark ocean. A golden ghostly version of himself smiles and goes towards the lit road while his despondent body starts walking into the water. Before he can fall in, Raphtalia and Atla catch him.
  • Malty comforts Motoyasu, who then shifts to Ren, and then Itsuki before she gives a chilling smile.
  • Naofumi starts coughing up blood from an unknown injury.
• Episode 1
  • There are rumors spreading that Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki were the ones to awaken the Spirit Tortoise despite the three of them fighting it. The reason? They could not produce results or evidence that they made any impact on the Spirit Tortoise like Naofumi did. Even fighting the artificial Wave Kyo created did nothing for their reputations.
  • Even with all of the Queen's reforms, demi-humans are still treated like lesser beings in Melromarc.
  • In his bid to find Raphtalia's neighbors, Naofumi has been purchasing any child slave he can find even if they are not from her village, but has been unsuccessful in finding the villagers.
  • Just like in the Light Novel and Manga, slaves from Raphtalia's village are in high demand and the price skyrockets from a handful of silver to hundred golds for a single one. There are even slaves who pretend to be from her village since it means they will be sold at a higher price and thus to richer families, where they will have more privileges.
  • Fohl makes his first appearance in the anime, being forced to fight in rigged matches he is paid to throw so that he can make money to tend to his sister.
• Episode 2
  • Raphtalia recognizing that the gladiator Nadia is actually her friend Sadeena.
  • The apothecary Fohl visits knows he is fighting in order to buy medicine and gives Fohl free items to help his ill sister.
• Episode 3
  • Naofumi gets mad at two girls who were begging him to buy them at the slave trader's tent. They turn out to be from Siltvelt and were pretending to be starving, tortured slaves by orders of their families to win Naofumi's favor. He coldly rebuffs them.
  • Fohl begging Naofumi to buy both him and his sister Atla. As prideful as he is, even Fohl knows he won't be able to afford the necessary medicine with his fights.
  • Crosses over with Heartwarming, but Naofumi is able to find all the children from Raphtalia's village and bring them home.
  • The slavers that raided the village and sold them into slavery after the first Wave return and try to repeat past events, only to be defeated by Naofumi and his party. The slavers don't mind and gloat that they can't be punished with a little more than a slap on the wrist since they're nobility and the Queen's position is in dire straights, so she can't afford another scandal. Naofumi opts to sell them into slavery instead, heading straight to Siltvelt.
  • Trash has fallen quite far since he was last seen. In the season 1 finale, he at least allowed to wear the same clothes as when he was king, sans the crown and jewelry. Now he's in rags and looks to be under house arrest, living in quarters separate from his wife. From the looks of things, he's probably been sent to live in a different building too.
  • Trash meeting with Fohl and Atla, the latter of whom has him go into shock over her resemblance to his dead sister.
• Episode 4
  • The consequences of the Spirit Tortoise attack are shown, as many people have been left destitute and living in the streets. Special attention is given to the orphaned children who are sleeping on the streets.
  • Naofumi meets up with Motoyasu and Ren again. It's clear the two have reached the end of their Karma Houdini Warranty from Season 1.
    • Motoyasu has been looking for his former teammates and coldly gets rebuffed by Elena, who tells him to become more like the Shield Hero and that she was only with him for the money and fame.
    • It's revealed that all of Ren's party died fighting the Spirit Tortoise, or rather the Spirit Tortoise Familiars. Ren failed to adequately prepare his team and they all died at the hands of mooks. had it not been for Bitch showing up at the last minute and tricking Ren, Naofumi would have been able to bring back to his village.
  • Malty manipulates Ren into thinking the trial was a farce by showing off her malfunctioning Slave Crest and how it isn't shocking her anymore before giving a sob story about how Motoyasu abused her and her teammates. Before she teleports off with Ren, Motoyasu clings to her, only to get kicked away. Bitch then makes the same Eyelid Pull Taunt she did to Naofumi when she first accused him of assaulting her before teleporting away with Ren, leaving a heartbroken Motoyasu behind.
  • It's finally happened in the anime: Motoyasu has been so mentally broken that he sees all females aside from filolials in human form as squealing pigs.
• Episode 5
  • S'yne Lokk reveals that she is a Vassal Weapon user from a world destroyed by those responsible for the Waves. She practically begs Naofumi to be allowed to stay because she doesn't want to see anymore Heroes killed.
  • Due to being from a destroyed world, S'yne's speech is often fuzzy so she can't communicate well.
  • There is a brief shot of the throne room when Mirellia is talking to Trash about Fohl and Atla. Before there were two thrones, one for the Queen and one for the King. Now there is only one.
  • The leader of the bandits Naofumi and his party are hunting down is revealed to be Ren.
• Episode 6
  • Ren's aloof attitude was a mask to hide his anxiety and how he doesn't do well in large groups of people.
  • Ren's Humiliation Conga after he wakes up:
    • He find's Bitch's note, which states that she stole all his money and gear as compensation for following him, much like what happened to Naofumi in episode 1.
    • He accidentally ends up in a random house and is threatened by the resident to leave. He is pushed out while being told that he was useless against the Spirit Tortoise and that he will just bring bad luck.
    • He awakens his Cursed Series after being found and insulted by a nearby group of bandits, taking over as their leader.
  • Ren's death is actually shown: he was stabbed protecting his best friend.
• Episode 7
  • The monsters Naofumi has been raising have started to lay eggs and the children have been hiding them out of fear he will get rid of them. Thankfully, Naofumi allowed them to keep the eggs but only if they can take care of the monster that hatches from them.
  • S'yne is able to communicate in unbroken sentences, but only if she uses a stuffed animal familiar since her Vassal Weapon interferes with the translation tool.
• Episode 8
  • When Filo is eaten by the Demon Dragon, everyone believes her dead until Naofumi says otherwise after checking his status screen.
  • It is revealed that the Zombie Dragon from Season 1 was Wyndia's foster father Gaelion. After he was killed, slavers took Wyndia away and sold her into slavery. She admits to having hated all Four Cardinal Heroes solely due to Ren's actions and would have continued to do so were it not for Naofumi taking her in.
• Episode 9
  • More of Wyndia's backstory is revealed. Her biological father died protecting her from slavers and ran into Gaelion. As he laid dying, he begged Gaelion to take care of his daughter.
  • Wyndia praying at the memorial to her biological father and crying over her dead father as she is dragged away by slavers.
  • Naofumi goes back to the village he helped cure during the epidemic caused by the Zombie Dragon to tell them what happened. They immediately throw Ren under the bus, completely ignoring that the entire thing is their fault because they wanted Gaelion's treasure in the first place.
• Episode 10
  • The episode opens up to the full scene where Rishia is falsely accused of breaking one of Itsuki's bracelets, with her own teammates falsely stating that they saw her do it.
  • When Rishia recognizes Itsuki and attempts to talk to him, he slaps her hard enough to send her sprawling onto the ground.
  • The reason Itsuki is battling in the coliseum is to raise money to free slaves. Given how Malty is the one holding the funds, it is obvious that there is no way it is being used for the intended purposes.
    • When Itsuki leaves to fight his next battle in the coliseum, his party members all agree that they hate his personality and are tired of hearing his justice rants.
• Episode 11
  • When Itsuki is ranting to Naofumi about the latter's sins, he brings up the time a woman asked Naofumi to help her son, only to be turned away because the boy was already dead. Given Naofumi's very brief hesitation as he remembers the matter, it seems to have stuck with him.
  • When Ren tries to dissuade Itsuki from using his Curse Series, Itsuki angrily rebuffs the Sword Hero. It's sad to see that the friendship the two developed in the first season is in tatters.
  • As Itsuki falls under the influence of his Curse Series, we are treated to a brief image of him alone in a crowd of people glaring at him for failing to stop the Spirit Tortoise.
  • We get some glimpses of Itsuki's life before he died. He lived in a world where people have super powers but was bullied for having a low ranked one and told he could never become a superhero by his peers. After a while, it seems that he became a shut-in from the bullying and turned to video games.
  • Itsuki rushes out of the coliseum and back to the inn his party is staying at, only to see it trashed an abandoned. Ren reads off a note left behind by Malty about how they took all the money he won, which was supposed to be used to buy slaves to free them, and left him with debt notes stamped with his seal.
  • Unlike the novels, where Naofumi pays everything off for Itsuki on spot, it seems that Itsuki will be working for Naofumi to pay back the debt with some help on Naofumi's part.
  • Itsuki developing Dull Eyes of Unhappiness when his Curse Series finally rebounds on him. He can't even hold a piece of fruit without someone ordering him to do so.
    • According to Naofumi, the Bow has rejected Itsuki for the time being. While the others can use their weapons even when under the influence or recovering, it's implied Itsuki can't use his weapon at all until he recovers.
• Episode 12
  • Just like the light novel, assassins from Q'ten Lo have been watching Raphtalia's family since her parents fled the country in favor of Melromarc. They have watched Raphtalia since the First Wave and did nothing but stand by and as the other villagers got killed or sold into slavery.
  • The flashback of Sadeena coming back to the village, only to see it destroyed and looted in the aftermath of bandit attack following the first Wave.

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