The Rising of the Shield Hero

Naofumi Iwatani was an easygoing Japanese college student until he read a unique book and got summoned to another world. He is summoned with three other young men from alternate Japans to become the Cardinal Heroes. Each one is equipped with a Legendary Weapon that comes in the form of a sword, spear, bow, and shield. Naofumi has been gifted with the Legendary Shield looked down upon by the kingdom and the other heroes. One person allies herself with him, a young woman named Malty, but then his luck turns for the worse. She then turns out to be the Princess and falsely accuses him of an act most foul. His name is tarnished and treated like a felon; he becomes incapable of trusting anyone but gains companions nonetheless. Naofumi learns how to survive in this new world while gaining allies and strength on his journey.

The Rising of the Shield Hero started as a web novel by Aneko Yusagi on Shōsetsuka ni Narō from 2012 to 2015. The light novel was illustrated by Minami Seira and began publishing on August 22, 2013, by Media Factory. The manga was published by the same company on February 5, 2014. A 25 episode anime has been produced by the studio Kinema Citrus; the first season premiered on January 9, 2019, and finished on June 26, 2019. The second season starts airing on April 6, 2022.


 * Actor Allusion: Ren's voice actor played a sword-wielding black-haired man who plays VRMMOs.
 * Alternate Realm Boon: The four young men summoned are each given one of the Four Legendary Weapons: a sword, a spear, a bow, and a shield. These weapons grant their users different abilities while also having various forms unlocked through conditions and what materials the weaponry can absorb.
 * Alternate Universe: The Cardinal Heroes each comes from an alternate version of Japan.
 * Anti Christ: The Church portrays the Shield Hero this way, which is in fact a Malicious Slander with the intent to discredit him.
 * Aristocrats Are Evil: Let's see, where to start here...
 * While it would be easy to assume King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII and his daughter Princess Malty were Unwitting Pawns of the Church, they were both willing accomplices for selfish reasons, mostly for political power and wealth.
 * Lesser nobility was no better, using false justifications for higher taxes simply to fund the Church.
 * While Queen Mirellia is on the protagonist's side, even she is Not So Above It All. In the original Light Novel, she was rather vindictive towards Aultcray and Malty, her recommendations their punishments very harsh, suggesting having them crucified in public or worked to death via slave labor.
 * Blind Idiot Translation: Erst Shield, one of Naofumi's skills, got turned into Air Strike Shield instead of First Shield as the actual translation.
 * Break the Haughty:
 * Blatant Lies: Melty's lie about how Naofumi tried to rape her where he is Level 1 with stats towards defense, and she's at a much higher level with powerful fire magic.
 * Cap: There is a level cap at 40 where a Dragon Hourglass needs to be used to break it.
 * The Chosen Many: The Cardinal Heroes are the only ones who can wield the Legendary Weapons when they have been summoned.
 * The Church: The Church of the Three Heroes is a sect of the Four Saints Faith that branched away to worship the Spear, Sword, and Bow Heroes. The Shield Hero is seen as the devil who will destroy the world, while the other three are divine.
 * Clingy MacGuffin: The Legendary Weapons have to be on their hero's person while they also can't wield any other weapons.
 * Combination Attack: Skills and magic can be used in combination of two or more people to create more potent attacks.
 * Corrupt Church: The Church of the Three Heroes, the national religion of Melromarc (well, former national religion now); technically an offshoot of the far more benign (but mostly forgotten) Four Saint's Faith, the church has degenerated into a politically motivated and corrupt cult intent on demonizing the Shield Hero and normalizing discrimination against Demi-Humans; and speaking of the Church:
 * Sinister Minister: Biscas T. Balmus, High Priest and current leader of the Church is a guy who seems about as threatening as a kindly old grandfather, but underneath,  he's the mastermind behind all of the Cult's atrocious actions,  using both Aultcray and Malty as willing pawns.
 * De-Power:
 * Dracolich: Ren slew a dragon, but since its corpse wasn't correctly disposed of, it resurrected as a Dracolich that spread disease to a nearby town.
 * Empathic Weapon: A hero who feels powerful negative emotions can unlock one of the Curse Series based on it. They have powerful skills, but it intensifies the emotion and brings other disadvantages.
 * Evil Weapon: The Curse Series of the Legendary Weapons grants powerful stats and moves. The problem is how they can curse the user and corrupt their soul.
 * Evolving Weapon: The Legendary Weapons level up with their hero while also being able to absorb material from monsters and other objects. The absorption method unlocks new forms that come with new stats and skills.
 * Fantastic Racism: Kingdoms like Melomarc discriminate against demi-humans and beastmen to the point they can be enslaved.
 * The Four Gods:
 * Functional Magic: Magic is a power system found in the world that is usually an invisible matter that few people can actually see. The potency is determined by MP or mana and the caster's skill. Spells can be categorized by function but aren't limited to Attack, Support, Recovery, and Illusion. There are also classified under elements such as Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Light, and Shadow. Magic is tiered on three levels from weakest to strongest: First/Fast, Zweite, Drifa, Sacrifice, and Liberation. There are three main types of magic:
 * Ritual Magic is the most common type where people can learn any spell, but most people stick to their affinities. It requires vocal chants, which can be customized for multiple targets.
 * Way of the Dragon Vein is a rare type of magic usually used by high-class monsters. Rather than using MP, it takes energy from the environment. This means that the surroundings determine what magic is used.
 * Cooperative and Ceremonial Magic is magic that needs many people to use. Cooperative Magic needs only a few people to cast, while Ceremonial Magic requires a large group. It is difficult to cast due to the casters needing to be in unison. Ritual and Way of the Dragon Vein magic can be used for both Cooperative Magic and Ceremonial Magic.
 * Gold-Silver-Copper Standard: 100 copper coins equal 1 silver coin. 100 silver cost the same as a gold one.
 * The Goomba: The most common and weakest enemies are Ballon. They look like angry ballons with sharp teeth and come in three different colors: orange, yellow, and red.
 * Happiness in Slavery:
 * Hate Sink: Malty, who not only ruins Naofumi's life, but schemes to murder her own sister. Even when she's in court, she shows no remorse for any of her actions, and she continues to lie while under oath. It's a small wonder she was sentenced to execution. Fortunately for her, Naofumi shows her mercy...but not for her sake, but rather for her sister's sake.
 * Hero of Another Story: The other Legendary Heroes go throughout the land to fix problems that plague the areas.
 * Horse of a Different Color: The kingdoms use Knight Dragons or Tyrella for transportation. They are smaller than other species of dragons and do not possess wings while resembling dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs.
 * Filolials are also used for transportation, especially when pulling carriages. They are giant birds that look like Chocobos from the Final Fantasy Series.
 * Ki:
 * Level Grinding: Level grinding is done by killing monsters
 * Little Bit Beastly: Demi-humans look like humans except their animalistic tails and ears.
 * Lost in Transmission:
 * Matriarchy:
 * Otaku: All of the Legendary Heroes are geeks
 * Psychic Powers:
 * RPG Mechanics Verse: Everyone in the world of the Rising of the Shield Hero works quite similar to an RPG. Everyone has MP, which represents their mana, are used for magic and skills. The Cardinal Heroes have SP, which is used for skills from the different forms of their weapons.
 * Slave Brand: The Slave Crests makes the person marked with them incapable of disobeying orders from their master. If they try to disobey them, they are shocked until they complete it.
 * Shout-Out:
 * The Filolials look similar to a particular species of giant chickens that are also used as beasts of burden with intelligence from the Final Fantasy franchise.
 * The tenth episode of the anime has this quote from Itsuki " Someone needs to be taught that with great power comes great responsibility." Naofumi even questioned if he's been bitten by a spider.
 * Supernatural Martial Arts:
 * Stat-O-Vision: People can check their stats and levels through an interface that can pop up on command. Heroes can use this to manage their weapons' functions.
 * Otaku: All of the Legendary Heroes are geeks
 * Psychic Powers:
 * RPG Mechanics Verse: Everyone in the world of the Rising of the Shield Hero works quite similar to an RPG. Everyone has MP, which represents their mana, are used for magic and skills. The Cardinal Heroes have SP, which is used for skills from the different forms of their weapons.
 * Slave Brand: The Slave Crests makes the person marked with them incapable of disobeying orders from their master. If they try to disobey them, they are shocked until they complete it.
 * Shout-Out:
 * The Filolials look similar to a particular species of giant chickens that are also used as beasts of burden with intelligence from the Final Fantasy franchise.
 * The tenth episode of the anime has this quote from Itsuki " Someone needs to be taught that with great power comes great responsibility." Naofumi even questioned if he's been bitten by a spider.
 * Supernatural Martial Arts:
 * Stat-O-Vision: People can check their stats and levels through an interface that can pop up on command. Heroes can use this to manage their weapons' functions.
 * Stat-O-Vision: People can check their stats and levels through an interface that can pop up on command. Heroes can use this to manage their weapons' functions.