The Rise of the Shield Hero has become one of the most followed exponents of the isekai genre. The story of Iwatani continues to flourish thanks in part to the anime's second season, but what do writer Aneko Yusagi and manga adaptor Aiya Kyu think of the series? Let's look at her relationship to work, characters, and fans.
Thanks to their willingness to answer a few questions, both authors revealed some pretty interesting background and curiosities. The first part of the interview was dedicatedapproach Kyu had and continues to have in adapting such a story in a serial manga. "I thought a lot about how to make the manga interesting" Kyu commented before specifying that that's what he was focusing on, at least initially artistic rather than textual componentwho tries to capture and convey Naofumi's emotions.
We then proceeded to talk about how Kyu decided to become an artist and the mangaka quickly backtracked Milestones in his careerfrom the specialist course to winning a competition and publishing his first job to going through the various posts as an assistant.
Instead of talking about the success of the series and its adaptations, Kyu admitted he was still surprised how many people follow the story of Naofumi and show empathy for the protagonist. Finally, the artist indicated which characters he enjoys drawing the most: Naofumi, Raphtalia, Glass, and Kizuna.
The interviewer then asked Yusagi what was the best thing about writing The Rising of the Shield Hero novels and got an answer: "It's funny when I reveal scenes I secretly expected". Yusagi also revealed which are his favorite characters, namely Motoyasu, Rafu-chan and Sadeena. In addition, the author admitted that he was moved by the vivid portrayal of Naofumi and his companions.
Eventually both were asked if they had anything to say to western fans and while Kyu simply replied that he will keep doing his best with the manga, Yusagi invited her to read his works unrelated to the universe of The Rising of the Shield Hero. Finally we leave you a great Raphtalia cosplay and our review of the second season of the anime available on Crunchyroll.