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.

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.