The Rising of the Shield Hero (盾の勇者の成り上がり, Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari) is a 2019 television anime series based on a light novel series written by Aneko Yusagi and illustrated by Seira Minami. The anime was adapted by studio Kinema Citrus and published by Kadokawa Pictures. The series aired during the Winter 2019 anime season in January.
Note: This post has been updated in May 2025 to add additional notes to the original write-up.
Background:
“Geeky university student Naofumi Iwatani goes from 2nd class citizen to 2nd class hero when he’s summoned to the videogame-like kingdom of Melromarc. Known as the weakest of four heroes, the Shield Hero, he’s tasked with defending the world from calamity. But when Naofumi ends up betrayed and belittled from the start, will this cynic even be willing to help?”
Plot Synopsis via Manga Entertainment, June 2020.
Yep, you guessed it, another Isekai series gets an anime adaptation. This time however, it was Crunchyroll that brought it up to Kadokawa to make it happen and it ended up being a success with two more anime seasons greenlit during Crunchyroll Expo 2019. Shield Hero did spark some controversy due to specific plot elements involving Naofumi, the main character at the beginning of the story but honestly I wasn’t fussed by it and really enjoyed watching the series as a whole.
As I mentioned, Crunchyroll acquired the English speaking rights for the series and is one of the last anime to be released as part of the partnership with Funimation. This is also one of the first Crunchyroll simuldubs so if Funimation didn’t handle the later seasons, the dub cast will remain consistent. Funimation provided a home video release for the series as a Blu-ray & DVD combo with both parts released on the same day in the US. UK distributor Manga Entertainment handled the UK & Ireland rights on behalf of Crunchyroll and Funimation but production issues caused by the global situation meant that Part 2 had to be delayed by a month, so it’s Part 1 for now.
Limited Edition Contents:
Manga Entertainment did bring the limited edition release over to the UK & Ireland thankfully, because it’s not cheap to import. The limited edition offers a rigid box to house both parts of the show’s first season and the artwork used for the case is the same for the standard edition (like the North American version of this release, and like RADIANT was).
Included in the limited edition release we have the first half of the series, presented in an Amaray case with an o-card sleeve to house the Blu-ray & DVD discs, alongside a 120-page Artbook and a cardboard box that contains Linkable metal keychains of Raphtalia, Filo, and Naofumi, Vinyl sticker shields, and a Fabric poster of Raphtalia and Naofumi. The artbook contains character designs, other designs, illustrated artwork, a manga segment and interviews with the Japanese staff.
The rigid box artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Manga Entertainment releases. The limited edition Blu-ray & DVD has an unspecified number of units printed for an SRP of £69.99, with a standard edition Blu-ray available for retailers at an SRP of £39.99.
I ordered my copy from retailer United Publications for £41.99 + Postage as it was the best place to grab these for a low price during pre-orders.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Clean Artwork, Title on Spine and Info Sheet for Specs
- 120-page Artbook
- Linkable metal keychains of Raphtalia, Filo, and Naofumi
- Vinyl sticker shields
- Fabric poster of Raphtalia and Naofumi
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Manga Entertainment
Released: 22nd June 2020
The limited edition release for The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 1 Part 1 contains episodes 1-13 across two Blu-ray discs and two DVD discs using the Funimation author. The audio options available include the main Japanese language with English subtitles and the Crunchyroll English dub. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to B for Blu-ray and 2 for DVD in NTSC format.
I should also note that Shield Hero‘s English dub uses an English version of the theme songs rather than the Japanese version, which is a rare occurrence.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 (1 BD-25, 1 BD-50) |
DVD Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Video | Standard Definition in NTSC format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | 2 |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 2:
- Promo Video
- TV Spots
- Textless Opening Song “RISE”
- Textless Closing Song “Kimi no Namae”
DVD On-Disc Extra Features:
No extras across all discs
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 1 Part 1 is available to own in limited edition Blu-ray & DVD combo pack and standard edition Blu-ray and DVD over on Amazon UK.
The Normanic Vault 
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