The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 is coming soon, and anime fans are excited to see the return of one of the most popular isekai titles. The third season was officially confirmed in April 2023, nearly a year after the second season finished airing. The first season of the anime, which aired from January 9 to June 26, 2019 and consisted of 25 episodes, was widely praised for its beautiful animation and epic story, but the second season received mixed reactions from the audience, who criticized its overall pacing and shorter 12-episode run.
Despite the widespread disappointment among fans regarding Season 2, the imminent arrival of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 presents an opportunity to address the shortcomings of the previous installment. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that Season 3 faces a challenging task in attempting to recapture the enchantment of the first season.
Based on the light novel series by Aneko Yusagi, the dark fantasy anime follows the storytelling trope of the genre known as isekai, which means "different world" or "otherworld" in Japan, but it distinguishes itself in one unique way: The protagonist, Naofumi Iwatani, is swiftly met with disdain by the realm of fantasy he was supposed to save due to a false allegation of sexual misconduct.
In July 2023, a key visual for the third season was revealed featuring Naofumi and other characters:
Here's everything we know about the third season of The Rising of the Shield Hero so far, including its release month, plot, voice cast, staff, information on where to stream the upcoming episodes, and more.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 Release Date
The third season of The Rising of the Shield Hero is scheduled to begin broadcasting in Fall 2023 season, with the first episode being released on October 6, 2023, according to an official announcement shared along with a teaser trailer back in April.
However, a specific release date hasn't been announced yet, but expect an official update for the premiere of the anime this month as we approach the Fall 2023 anime season.
The exact number of episodes for the third season has not yet been officially confirmed. However, considering the relatively short interval of one year between the second and third seasons, as opposed to the two-year gap between the first two seasons, it is reasonable to anticipate a comparable quantity of episodes.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 Plot
The third season of The Rising of the Shield Hero is set to adapt the Rebuilding arc and the Fallen Heroes arc, which are based on the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth volumes of the light novel series. It is not surprising for those familiar with the series that Season 2 of the anime covered only parts of volumes 6 through 9. However, fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the second season as it omitted significant content from those volumes to fit everything into 13 episodes. Therefore, the fact that the third season will seemingly draw from fewer volumes is likely to be viewed positively.
Without spoiling much, the Rebuilding arc sees Naofumi and his fellow heroes grappling with the aftermath of the Spirit Tortoise incident. Throughout the arc, the anime's protagonist, the Shield Hero, assists the other three prominent heroes in coming to grips with the consequences of the catastrophic defeat and working through the implications for their respective lives.
The Fallen Heroes arc features the arduous journey of Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu as they grapple with the aftermath of the Spirit Tortoise catastrophe. In the wake of this tragedy, all three heroes lose their sense of purpose and disappear from sight. Naofumi, having liberated some former slaves from Raphtalia's hometown, endeavors to locate the missing heroes. However, his quest is impeded by the presence of assassins who are tailing him.
The official synopsis for The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 Episode 1, which is titled Underground Colosseum, reads:
After recovering the Spirit Tortoise energy, Naofumi tries to to buy all the Lurolona villagers who were forced into slavery. However, the slaves have been been bought up for one reason or another. Shobun heads for Zeltobul, the land of merchants and mercenaries.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 Voice Cast & Animation Studio
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 will be a co-production by DR Movie and Kinema Citrus, the animation studios of the anime's first two seasons.
The voice cast of the third season remains largely the same. You can check out the names of the anime's talented voice actors below:
• Naofumi Iwatani - Kaito Ishikawa (JP) / Stephen Fu (EN)
• Raphtalia - Asami Seto (JP) / Erica Mendez (EN)
• Filo - Rina Kidaka (JP) / Brianna Knickerbocker (EN)
• Ren Amaki - Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (JP) / Alan Lee
• Motoyasu Kitamura - Makoto Takahashi (JP) / Xander Mobus (EN)
• Itsuki Kawasumi - Yoshitaka Yamaya (JP) / Erik Kimerer (EN)
• Rishia Ivyred - Natsuko Hara (JP) / Kira Buckland (EN)
Over the years, the primary production team and leads of the show have undergone changes. Notably, Season 3 was helmed by Hitoshi Haga (assistant director of Made in Abyss), who had previously storyboarded and directed certain episodes of the first season, in contrast to Masato Jinbou, who directed Season 2.
Other new staff joining the production of Season 3 include Franziska van Wulfen (animation director of Bocchi the Rock!) and Sana Komatsu (animation director of The Rising of the Shield Hero), who are credited for character designs with the previous seasons’ Masahiro Suwa.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 Trailer
On September 27, Kadokawa released the first official trailer for The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3. The video features the opening song SIN by MADKID. The ending theme song of the third will be Suki ni Natte wa Ikenai Riya by Chiai Fujikawa.
And here's the latest trailer for the anime:
Where to Watch The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 and The Previous Seasons
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 will be available to stream on Crunchyroll, so expect new episodes to premiere on the streaming service starting in October 2023. The new season is confirmed to have a total of 12 episodes.
If you want to catch up before the new episodes come out, you can also watch the first two seasons on Crunchyroll, which has subs and dubs in various languages. While you can watch the first three episodes in English for free, you'll need a subscription if you want to watch the dubbed version beyond that point. However, you can watch the original Japanese version with subtitles, even without a membership — though you will have to contend with annoying ads.
The first season of The Rising of the Shield Hero is also available to stream on Hulu, but don't expect the new episodes to come out on that streaming service anytime soon. Of course, the availability of where you can stream Season 3 will also depend on your region, but there are currently no plans to release the new episodes on Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, HIDIVE, and other streaming services, so Crunchyroll is your best bet.
So, that's everything we know about The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 so far. Note that we will update this page with more details as the production team release more information, so stay tuned!
