• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Why do people like Rising of the shield hero but hate Sword Art Online?

Konradleijon

Banned
Jun 7, 2020
310
I don't see lots of "subversions" in Shield hero. After the first episode it's a pretty standard Isekai with a Overpowered Protagonist that's sometimes messes up, and isn't flawless (in shield hero)

at least in Sword Art Online Kirito's harem isn't made up of his slaves.
 
OtakuCoder

OtakuCoder

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,376
UK
A lot of those who don't like SAO won't be going to bat for Shield Hero either.

(I'm not big on SAO and noped out of SH at the premise)
 
FluxWaveZ

FluxWaveZ

Persona Central
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
10,890
Who are "people"? If you're talking about ResetEra, people don't like either.
 
Htown

Htown

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,320
I've been operating under the assumption that both are trash

I say "assumption" because I've intentionally skipped Shield Hero. Having seen all of SAO, I can confirm that it's garbage. Makes a decent hate watch though.
 
iWannaHat

iWannaHat

Member
Jul 1, 2019
1,327
I enjoyed the firstish season of SAO. Shield Hero can fuck right off. that show was trash.
 
Cap10Deku

Cap10Deku

Member
Dec 2, 2017
591
Seattle, Wa
I actually liked Shield Hero as it was at least a little different as the MC was the "outcast" in this trope. Or that he originally thought he would be the "hero" like most stories, but was turned around and he was hated, pretty much for all of it. But everything else is pretty on point with how it goes (MC gets a harem pretty much).

SAO honestly went bad after the first season for me. I don't remember if the fairy place was part of the season 1 or season 2 but pretty much once they were free of the game the story wasn't as captivating.

I have kept up on SAO, but mainly it's something to watch when I have nothing else because at this point I know the characters and such.
 
Astral Lovelace

Astral Lovelace

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,722
SAO has like a five minute period where Kirito isn't the MC and it's actually pretty good.
It also has a spin off by some other dude, that's also pretty decent.

But SAO is garbage.
I'm also pretty sure that Shield Hero is probably equally garbage.
 

Deleted member 52442

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 24, 2019
10,774
I liked shield hero because he was hated and was doing super shady stuff to deal with it, the circumstances of his situation were very interesting

then they went the harem route and i lost interest
 
AnansiThePersona

AnansiThePersona

Started a revolution but the mic was unplugged
Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,682
One is set up as a "subversion" of the kind of anime SAO is (but after the first arc, wasn't). One is "edgier" and "more realistic" compared to SAO. Making it cooler in that sense. This is just based on what my brother has told me about Shield Hero. The protag seems like an alternative kind of "self-insert" character Kirito is.
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,689
They're both awful.

But at least SAO is the reason Sword Art Online Abridged exists soo.....
 
golguin

golguin

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,757
I like both. Also keep in mind that SAO popularized the isekai genre so those that came after are more or less subverting it. Two goes examples would be Konosuba and Re: Zero.
 
Gaia Lanzer

Gaia Lanzer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,672
Not a fan of either, but I'd be more open to Shield Hero because I loath the "MMORPG is REAL!"/"I'm IN the game now!" theme of Sword Art Online. It's similar to why I could never get into .hack. Give me the fantasy world without explaining it's a game with servers and shit.
 
Homura

Homura

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Aug 20, 2019
6,110
Rising of the Shield Hero is shit while Sword Art Online is really good (or at least Alicization) so I don't get it either.
 

Deleted member 16876

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
39,148
I hate both.

I do like SAO Alternative though. That one is SAO with the good parts and the rest of the trash is thrown away (No Kirito and his harem, no edgy plot, no rapist trash). It was just people having fun with 80's movies refrences and game jokes.
 
OP
OP

Konradleijon

Banned
Jun 7, 2020
310
Astral/H3X said:
SAO has like a five minute period where Kirito isn't the MC and it's actually pretty good.
It also has a spin off by some other dude, that's also pretty decent.

But SAO is garbage.
I'm also pretty sure that Shield Hero is probably equally garbage.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
No it's much worst, the lead character gets falsely accused of of rape and in like a day or two gets Edgelord enough to buy a literal slave, and he shocks her with his magic slave crest if she refuses to fight for him,

but then he realizes he has been a dick and resolved to treat her better. He never actually frees her from her magic shock coller crest.
 
OP
OP

Konradleijon

Banned
Jun 7, 2020
310
Richter1887 said:
I hate both.

I do like SAO Alternative though. That one is SAO with the good parts and the rest of the trash is thrown away (No Kirito and his harem, no edgy plot, no rapist trash). It was just people having fun with 80's movies refrences and game jokes.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I heard that Shigusawa Keiichi, the writer of alternative made some pretty racist comments about Korean "comfort women"
 
Hexa

Hexa

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,738
Most of my friends either like both, or dislike SAO now but liked it when it started. With SAO it may just be that people are getting tired of it and the same may happen to Shield Hero after the next two seasons.
 
Raxus

Raxus

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,510
I see the overlap on the hate but very rarely do I see one like one and not the other.

Shield Hero is just as bad and even worse in some instances.

Both feature characters so outlandishly evil that they stop being believable characters.
 
TalonJH

TalonJH

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,875
Louisville, KY
I enjoyed the a bit of the 1st season of SAO even though I was way more of a Log Horizon fan. I liked it less and less as it went on to the other MMOs but continued to watch because I didn't have anything else I was really into at the time. Alicization broke me and I just stopped watching.

As for Shield Hero. I tried to give the manga a chance because it seemed popular. I understood the slave thing going in but I had to nope out. The slave girl appreciating/loving her master(the hero of the story) mixed with Loli factor was just too much for me to get very far.
 
zashga

zashga

Losing is fun
Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,202
I've never watched SAO, but Shield Hero was trash. It had a tiny hint of a fun idea (outcast hero traveling around cleaning up the other heroes' messes) crushed by an avalanche of overwrought angst and really gross misogyny. The less said about its literal child slave harem, the better.
 
Astral

Astral

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
28,115
Isn't Shield Hero like really misogynistic? How can any non bigoted person like it?
 
Roliq

Roliq

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Sep 23, 2018
6,196
Shield Hero is literally incel trash, even in r/anime people mention how it sucks and will get worse
 
Pau

Pau

Self-Appointed Godmother of Bruce Wayne's Children
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,847
Is this the part where I plug in amazing, older isekai that treat women as if they are people and where the world doesn't revolve 100% around an overpowered main character?

Vision of Escaflowne is your bet if you want one of the best anime soundtracks ever, an interesting world, one of the best villain reveals, and cool mecha designs.

The Twelve Kingdoms is your bet if you want great character progression, a protagonist who is competent but not perfect, and intricate fantasy politics.
 
Saucycarpdog

Saucycarpdog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,351
They're both bad but Shield Hero has some really misogynistic shit from false rape accusations against the hero and his slave girl falling in love with him.
 
andymcc

andymcc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,316
Columbus, OH
Pau said:
Is this the part where I plug in amazing, older isekai that treat women as if they are people and where the world doesn't revolve 100% around an overpowered main character?

Vision of Escaflowne is your bet if you want one of the best anime soundtracks ever, an interesting world, one of the best villain reveals, and cool mecha designs.

The Twelve Kingdoms is your bet if you want great character progression, a protagonist who is competent but not perfect, and intricate fantasy politics.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

it's pretty cookie cutter and tropey but i'd even plug Magic Knight Rayearth. At least it has a pretty good video game based on the property to boot (the ARPG on Saturn).
 
Mauricio_Magus

Mauricio_Magus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,022
I've watched both and both are pretty meh.

I do like Shield Hero more but I wouldn't care if we wouldn't get more of it, they made the Shield Hero too OP way too fast imo.
 
Roliq

Roliq

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Sep 23, 2018
6,196
Saucycarpdog said:
They're both bad but Shield Hero has some really misogynistic shit from false rape accusations against the hero and his slave girl falling in love with him.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Remember how she finally removes the Slave crest only to get regain it later because in her words "I want proof you believe in me." also the crest is now in her cleavage

I literally had to see the Subreddit to find the convo and only saw a bunch of apologist incel trash such that it's fine because the MC distrust people, even people calling Raphtalia an example of how a female character should be written, makes me sick
 
Last edited:
Swiggins

Swiggins

was promised a tag
Member
Apr 10, 2018
11,452
This is the wrong forum to ask that question.

Shield Hero has lots of problematic elements (false rape accusations being a primary element of the plot, the treatment of slavery, etc.) that are more or less either swept under the rug or given very stupid justifications.

SAO is generally accepted as the series that kick-started the isekai free for all we're currently living through as well as having a Gary Stu for a main character and some REALLY problematic treatment of female characters (we're up to...what...5 rape scenes now?)

If you're trying to enjoy either you really have to turn your brain off.
 
Thrill_house

Thrill_house

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,622
They both suck. SAO's first season was decent and I felt like they were on to something...then the show shit the bed.

.hack did that kind of thing far better imo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.