Naofumi Iwatani's Shield

Lore & Background

Naofumi was written by Aneko Yusagi to be a character affected by morality and how he forges bonds with other characters to recover himself from the presented crime. The anime staff aimed to portray him carefully when dealing with the character's relationships, most notably Raphtalia. Naofumi is a university student who was summoned from another world after finding a book about the Four Heroes. Originally an open minded person, he becomes cynical and distrustful of others due to being looked down by his fellow heroes, subjected to religious prejudice from citizens, and being robbed and falsely accused of attempted rape by Malty. It is only after Raphtalia defended him and proclaimed her loyalty that Naofumi began to slowly open up to those around him and realizing his mistakes. Viewing his role as a Hero burdensome, having been summoned against his will, Naofumi shows little remorse in using underhanded tactics to ensure the survival of his party despite the criticism of his fellow heroes. Generally reluctant to trust strangers, often asking to be paid upfront or using slave curses to prevent lying, he tries his best to live up to the expectations of those who have placed their faith in him or treat him as an equal.

In Their Own Story

After defeating Kyo and ending the threat of the Spirit Tortoise (the Cal Mira Wave in the anime), Naofumi is given control of Raphtalia's hometown. He soon plans to rebuild and make a makeshift army to fight against the Waves and remaining Guardian Beasts, purchasing the original displaced inhabitants and other slaves to repopulate. He often enjoys pretending to be the villain, much to Raphtalia's annoyance and the reluctance of his allies, and working as a merchant/craftsman in his spare time. Believing he'll one day return home, he considers himself a foster parent to Raphtalia and Filo and desires to make sure they can protect themselves in his absence. Although Naofumi has a slow start because of the public's perception of him and being unable to attack enemies directly, he is still able to keep up with his fellow heroes and even outshine them due to unlocking a wide variety of shields that boost his allies and passive skills. Given his high defenses, he is able to shrug off most attacks and displays immunity to most poisons, being only vulnerable to attacks that use his stats against him such as Hengen Muso. His strongest shield: the cursed Shield of Wrath, allows him to counterattack opponents with black flames that rise with his anger at the cost of temporarily decreasing his stats and threatening to allow his inner darkness to take control. While the Legendary Shield is temporarily disabled in Kizuna's world, he is chosen as the new Vassel Mirror Hero.

Reader's Guide

In regards to his fighting abilities, Naofumi was found interesting by the anime staff for how his only weapon is a shield and thus he has to rely on tactics as well as Raphtalia to fight. In order to make combat more appealing, the shield was animated to have multiple forms. The staff found it challenging to properly adapt the light novel's details about Naofumi's weapon. Anime director Takao Abo aimed to portray him as the weakest of the summoned heroes due to his relative lack of aid when fighting. Screenwriter Keigo Koyanagi described these hardships as common in the isekai genre but described Naofumi as a different type of protagonist, aiming to make him come across as unique. Producer Junichiro Tamura elaborated on these difficulties and specified that ones Naofumi has to face involve unspecified dark areas as a more realistic hero. The anime staff elaborated on the difficulties of dealing with adapting the parts of the light novel when Naofumi buys Raphtalia as a slave, reminding the audience that since the character is aware he is hated by society, having a slave would not affect his popularity. Abo considers Naofumi's growthing relationship with Raphtalia and the rest of his allies as the concept of a family-like story he wanted to make.

Did You Know?

• Naofumi is voiced by Kaito Ishikawa in Japanese and by Billy Kametz (season 1) and Steve Fu (season 2–present) in English.
• Billy Kametz's voice acting as Naofumi earned him an award from Crunchyroll.
• Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo appeared as guest characters in the comical spin-off Isekai Quartet.
• Naofumi's strongest shield is the cursed Shield of Wrath, which allows him to counterattack with black flames that rise with his anger.
• While the Legendary Shield is temporarily disabled in Kizuna's world, Naofumi is chosen as the new Vassel Mirror Hero.