Ok so I’m late to the train as always but hey I’m glad I eventually caught it. Rising of the shield hero was released earlier this year, specifically in January. I have taken several pictures of cosplayers cosplaying as characters from the series with the most recent being of @Battyneko and @Glitchedvisualmedia from QCanimecon. To see those pictures feel free to click HERE! Anyways, I finally watched this series and man o man was it impressive. But more importantly, I really felt that I could relate to this series and believe most of us can.
Of course, I’m not talking about any of the crazy rape allegations or events involving stealing but all of the other terrible events that happened to this character. People not believing in him, judging him based on previous iterations of the hero and then simply acting like everything is ok once the truth comes out. I definitely want to address these topics in this post so let’s go ahead and dive into it. Side note if you have not seen this series you may not want to read this as I’m sure I will include some spoilers!
Lies and Allegations
First of all, I want to address one of the biggest issues of them all, the lies or inaccurate allegations brought against the shield hero. I’m sure we all have been falsely accused of things and made to pay the consequences of said allegations. Hopefully, the lies were not as serious but the concept applies all the same. What I learned from this series is that despite people trying to do you wrong, the universe will right itself in the end and the truth always comes out. The Shield Hero did not do what we all want to do which is argue, contest and get even. Of course, his immediate reaction was to become angry but instead of exacting an extravagant revenge plan, he decided to continue getting stronger and letting the situation right itself.
It seems that lies and misconstrued information can only stay hidden for so long. I have found this situation to be true time and time again throughout life. The more I try to exact my own revenge or get even with others the further the plot thickens or the deeper the hole becomes. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to clear your name but trying to get even is not necessarily the right thing to do either. Just sit back, take a deep breath and let your actions speak for themselves. The Shield Heroes’ actions spoke much louder than the naysayer’s words and eventually, he came out greater than anything he could have imagined.
Judging a Book by its Cover
Second, we have the old fable of judging a book by its cover. I know most of us have done this at some point in our lives. We judge others based on there appearance, comments or life choices. Let’s be honest, we all know the cosplay world is really bad for this. But, just like the shield hero, we don’t know what that person is going through. We view such a small piece of others’ lives and are quick to make assumptions based on one or 2 scenes from 18, 24, 32 or how ever year old film that is still being developed. I’ll admit I am definitely guilty of doing it but am trying hard to change it.
What’s even funnier is that after we are wrong, some people still try to prove there point or are not ok with admitting they were wrong. Such as in the shield hero when the slave crest was placed on Maltys Melromarc chest, she continued to lie. There’s no way these themes are limited to or only intended for a fictional world. I mean come on, if you’re not buying into the judging a book by its cover theme then you have to see some correlation between the calamities and the heroes. World/Country ending events only preventable by governments “randomly chosen heroes”. Awfully suspicious!
Believe In Yourself
Last but not least we have believing in yourself. This is probably the most important lesson learned from Rising of the Shield Hero. Believing in yourself and knowing that you are capable of amazing feats is really all that matters. Who cares what others say or think. You have nothing to prove to them and by the time you have achieved everything you set out to accomplish, they will be forced to acknowledge your achievements. This applies to every facet of life and not just your cosplay creation or exhibiting techniques.
Of course, there’s always room for improvement in nearly all areas of life but learning to be happy with what you have is vital. If you never learn to be happy with what you have then, of course, you will never be happy. Bruce Lee said it best “Always be yourself, express faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it”. It’s so easy to look at others and wish you had what they had. Instead, do as the shield hero, believe in yourself and let your actions speak for you. Others may laugh at you’re goals or designs now, but no one will be laughing when you win first place at the next convention.
Go Against the Norm
Ok, I know I said the previous paragraph was the last point but I really have to touch on one more. This point is one that we all know so well which is go against the norm. In Rising of the Shield Hero, ALL of the characters were attack types. You had your sword, bow, and spear. But, you don’t see any series called rising of the sword or spear hero. Why, because going against the flow makes for a much more legendary story. Actually, I have no idea if this is true but its what I’m choosing to believe. I mean I’m sure alternative storylines with either Motoyasu, Ren, or Itsuki, being the protagonist could have been just as good. But since it wasn’t, were going to assume they choose the shield hero because he’s different. And they stated this in the series so it must be true.
As promised, that’s it for my life lessons learned from the rising of the shield hero. I really enjoyed this series and took a lot more away from it then I’m sure it intended. If you also enjoyed the series, feel free to leave a comment below. Id love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the series. Well, that’s going to be everything for today. Feel free to check out more awesome cosplay related information HERE. Until next time, stay boundless!!!
