The Rising of the Shield Hero is a popular isekai anime series that recently returned in the Spring 2022 anime season for more adventures in the faraway Melromarc kingdom. By now, protagonist Iwatani Naofumi has formed an excellent party of adventurers to aid him, but eventually, they will have to say goodbye.
Since the beginning, Shield Hero has upturned one of isekai's core elements: the one-way trip. Heroes such as Rimuru Tempest and Ainz Ooal Gown have no hope of returning home, but once the Waves are over, Naofumi and the other Cardinal Heroes will be sent back home, never to return. And Naofumi's best friend, Raphtalia, isn't ready for this at all.
Why Raphtalia Must Learn To Say Goodbye
Naofumi's first party member in Shield Hero is the tanuki demi-human Raphtalia, whom he bought as a slave before appointing her as his party's main sword fighter. Soon, they formed a foster father/daughter dynamic, with each of them trusting and relying heavily on the other, even when the other party members such as Filo and princess Melty were added to the mix. Raphtalia is personally attached to Naofumi in the story of Shield Hero, but she is also aware that eventually, all four Cardinal Heroes will be sent back to Earth, never to return, and she is not prepared for this to happen.
Raphtalia is somewhat co-dependent on Naofumi, as he is the first person outside her home village to treat her well and value her. Naofumi gave Raphtalia a new purpose as a powerful warrior who can defend the innocent against the Waves, and Naofumi personally cares for all of Raphtalia's needs without hesitation. Naturally, this made Raphtalia strongly attached to him, and she panics slightly and is almost reduced to tears at the thought of them being forced apart in the future.
Raphtalia does have the rebuilt Lurolona Village to appreciate, along with all its inhabitants, but Naofumi is another matter entirely. If Raphtalia doesn't want to totally break down when Naofumi is forced to leave, she must learn to form stronger bonds with her fellow natives and begin acting and thinking independently. For her own sake, she must gradually phase Naofumi out of her mind and replace him with her fellow villagers, Filo, princess Melty and the like, and make them the most important people in her heart instead.
Fortunately for Raphtalia, all those characters are equally fond of her and are worth Raphtalia's affection. They should provide a strong emotional cushion for Raphtalia when Naofumi returns to Earth, and Raphtalia could find the mental strength necessary to bid him farewell and move on without him. Even when Naofumi is gone, Lurolona and its demi-human denizens will remain, and they will need Raphtalia and vice versa. Naofumi must be Raphtalia's role model and inspiration, not her lover or perpetual guardian. Naofumi helped Raphtalia regain her freedom and encouraged her to face her painful past. Now she must honor Naofumi's gifts by learning how to live a post-Naofumi life when the time is right.
What This Means For The Isekai Genre
This subplot in the story of Shield Hero has intriguing implications not just for Shield Hero itself but the subgenre of isekai as a whole. While isekai is not a formal literary genre, it is a well-established subgenre with some core rules to it ever since the early days of Sword Art Online, such as the main character having slim to no chance of returning home; often, the hero previously died or was summoned by magic to end up in the new world.
It's not an absolute law that an isekai hero must remain trapped in this new world forever, but that is the norm, and perhaps some anime fans are getting tired of it. This often leads to abstract, open-ended stories where there is no real end goal, since the hero cannot return home under their own power, and such stories end up becoming typical power fantasies as a result.
That's where Shield Hero comes in, where the hero actually can return home under the right circumstances, and that gives him an end goal. He must survive and fight not just to defend the innocent but also to return home at last, and that gives Shield Hero a sense of direction. Most of all, this plot twist creates palpable personal stakes for Raphtalia and Naofumi, as Naofumi's eventual return home will drive them apart, and they must be prepared to say goodbye. Just the idea of that is heart-wrenching, and it sets an example that future isekai series could stand to follow.