Tate no Yuusha took the anime world by storm in 2019 with a gripping revenge narrative, a cool world, a unique mechanic with the MC only being able to defend, an awesome Kevin Penkin OST and one of the most popular waifus in recent memory. The show seemed poised to break into the proverbial stratosphere as one of the mainstays of the anime community. I mean, not only did it get another season, but they announced two at once which was unheard of! This franchise was on top of the world. Then it all came tumbling down with an absolutely God awful adaptation in season 2. The biggest issues being adapting more books than the first season in half the time which inevitably led to awful pacing issues, and horrendous CGI.
Season 3 addressed those shortcomings by only adapting 2 books over 12 episodes, which was actually better pacing than season 1. This allowed for characters to be introduced and fleshed out a lot better than in the last season. The show plays out a lot slower than before as result. We actually get some nice intimate moments with Naofumi and the new characters. For me personally, the books that this season and a potential 4th season are adapting, are my favourite in the series so I’m a little biased here. This is really when this series starts to become peak. Not to mention the best girl(Atla) being introduced. I really enjoyed the instant impact that she and her brother had on the story and how they interact with Naofumi, Raphtalia and the others. And of course, you can’t forget new faces like Shadeena and S’yne.
This season cleaned house from last season and has totally different staff and directors involved. A rather peculiar situation where there’s 3 directors actually. It worked out for the best though, as the direction is noticeably improved, scenes flow better and you have plenty of time to actually understand what’s going on. Unlike in season 2 and 1, it’s apparent that the staff have actually read the books and care about the source material. They know what to emphasise and focus on, and more importantly what scenes are meant to convey. While the season is not as action packed as season 1 for example, I think the characters and world building more than make up for it.
Now, my biggest issue with this season is not really a knock on the anime specifically, but the writing in general of two of the main mini arcs in this one. They’re extremely repetitive and revolve around Malty. By now we’ve all realised what kind of person and character she is, so seeing characters continue to fall for her tricks one after another is a little boring. Luckily those were only a few episodes, but even when reading them didn’t enjoy those parts of the story.
The production values are massively improved on this season 2. There’s only really noticeable CGI during one big fight towards the end of the season, but it was pretty decent. The art and animation generally look amazing, much sharper and more refined than last season. It’s very clear Kinema Citrus put their A team on this and it paid off.
Look, I’m going to be honest. What made this franchise really appealing for a lot of people was Naofumi getting screwed over and going out for revenge. Now that that’s kind of gone, this may not be the story for you anymore. I won’t call it generic, but it’s definitely not the same type of story the first 20 episodes or so of season 1 was, and it’ll never really be that again. I personally enjoy the characters, the world, conflict against the waves and other lore about this story the most, so even without the edgy revenge goal, I’m content.
Here’s to a hopeful 4th season..
Tate no Yuusha gets 8, out of 10