After it was announced that Season 4 of The Rising of the Shield Hero would release during the Summer 2025 anime season in July, Kinema Citrus, the studio producing the anime adaptation dropped a stunning trailer to hype the new season, featuring an interesting blend of already animated materials with scripts and storyboards of what’s to come. In addition to the trailer, the studio also released a gorgeous promotional visual depicting Naofumi, Raphtalia, and other characters that will be featured in the anime sitting on a throne-room illuminated by sunlight. Tickets have also gone on sale for a live exhibition in June, SHIELD Fes ～The LIVE of the Shield Hero～, which promises diehard fans of the series an unforgettable experience featuring the voice cast and live performances from MADKID and Chiai Fujikawa, who produced the opening and ending themes for Season 1 of the anime.
Based on the promotional materials for The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4, the anime will be, at the very least, adapting volumes 13 and 14 of the original light novel, opening with Naofumi and the rest of his party preparing for a confrontation with Q’ten Lo, and finally showing Raphtalia return to her birth country for the first time. The new visuals for the season include the tagline, “The return of the exiled,” a phrase which undoubtedly alludes to the reveal that Raphtalia is a descendant of her homeland’s royal family.
[RELATED: The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4 Poster Released]
The Rising of the Shield Hero Finally Has the Opportunity To Win Back Fans That Felt Scorned After Season 2
When The Rising of the Shield Hero originally released its anime adaptation in 2019, fans and naysayers of the isekai genre were blown away by the series’ take on the “born in another world” trope, and despite its controversies, managed to grab the attention of a sizable fanbase around the globe. Following the successful release of its first season, a second was swiftly announced to follow it up, but, unfortunately, ran into a number of undisclosed production issues that led to chapters from the original novels being completely cut and numerous story jumps that left fans feeling confused.
For anime only audiences, the sudden jumps felt jarring and rushed, and fans of the original novels were left feeling utterly betrayed for missing out on seeing some of their favorite scenes animated. Despite this, the overall popularity for the franchise remained strong and the anime’s third season, which released in 2023, shot back up to having a respectable 7.10 on MyAnimeList after Season 2 had a less respectable 6.52.
With Season 4 right around the corner, and with the marketing being released by Kinema Citrus, it seems as though the production team is truly looking forward to showing off all their hard work to fans of The Rising of the Shield Hero. It’s the perfect time to solidify the anime adaptation of the light novels as one of the better long-running isekai series in the genre, and to finally earn back its reputation among fans who have been kept on something of a rollercoaster as they keep up with the show.
The post The Rising of the Shield Hero Returns With First Season 4 Trailer: Watch appeared first on ComicBook.com.
