The isekaid, Naofumi Iwatani just has too many options when it comes to waifus. Although the anime is no harem. It can be observed that not only one female character is interested in the unfazed shield hero. It is not unusual for an anime character of any genre to have a love interest; hence, there is no doubt that Naofumi will eventually end up with one of her admirers someday.
The main character finally living a peaceful life with his wife after surpassing all the obstacles in the series is how a story usually ends. After all, happy endings are usually formed that way. And the series The Rising of the Shield Hero is no exception to that. Many fans believed that at the end of the original manga and anime adaptation, Naofumi will somehow end up with one of the girls he fatedly encountered in Raphtalia’s world.
All shield hero fans no doubt wants Naofumi to eventually end up with someone by the end of his story. In the past years since its release, different ships rose, such as NaofumixRaphtalia, MeltyxNaofumi, and the newest is NaofumixSadeena. Like most of us, it is very hard to enter a relationship when you still have some things to deal with. Naofumi’s girl trauma must first be surpassed before we get to see him ending up with someone.
What is Naofumi’s Trauma?
The one and only bitch or bicchi is the one who gave our shield hero trauma. At the beginning of The Rising of the Shield Hero, he wasn’t that serious and still. When he got isekai’d into Raphtalia’s world, Naofumi took it from a very positive perspective. Even being the shield hero (which people consider the weakest) he was very excited to be part of the four Cardinal heroes and was vocal about his opinions.
When the former King of Melromac held the choice of party members for the new heroes, none of them chose Naofumi because of a rumor circulating that he knows nothing about the parallel world. This made him anxious and questions his capability to be stronger as he had no members at all. However, Mayne Sophia, the eldest daughter and former princess of Melromac, step forward and volunteered to be part of Naofumi’s party.
In the first episode, fans would have easily assumed that Mayne is Naofumi’s love interest for he expressly said that he finds her cute and a very considerate girl. But his easily trusting personality backfires as Mayne framed him. An evil in disguise if you say. Mayne falsely claims that Naofumi sexually assaulted her leading to him no longer trusting people easily.
As everyone seemed to believe Mayne over Naofumi, the Spear Hero even said to him that Naofumi Iwatani should know his place for he is not the main character of the parallel world. I mean, it’s not like The Rising of the Shield Hero is the title of this series, right? Moreover, Mayne’s false accusation led Naofumi to lose everything, his credibility, money, honor, and dignity as a hero. This situation drastically changed the positive Naofumi resulting in him becoming untrusting to others. But, everything changed when he met a demi-human named Raphtalia.
Raphtalia: Naofumi’s Top Waifu Candidate
Naofumi is very rich when it comes to love. So many girls who she encountered as the story goes on eventually developed feelings for him. In the web novel of The Rising of the Shield Hero, Naofumi ended up with a lot of wives and kids. His known wives are Raphtalia, Melty, and Sadeena. However, this information is only according to the web novel, which light novels and anime adaptions do not usually follow.
As far as how the original manga and anime are going, the thought of Naofumi having more than one love interest or wife is impossible. Hence, there will only be one. Based on what we have now the top candidate would none other than be his beloved demi-human, Raphtalia. Raphtalia has been there for Naofumi ever since. As they say, actions speak louder than words. The skilled swordsman of Naofumi has continually shown her love and affection for her master.
Even after the trauma she got from the ‘bitch’ incident, Naofumi was able to trust Raphtalia. He cares for her and wants nothing bad to happen to her. So many moments between the two caused NaofumixRaphtalia shippers to believe that their ship is finally sailing. For instance, in episode twenty-five of season one, Raphtalia cried at the thought of the shield hero dying or going back to his world. She is also very competitive when it comes to Naofumi’s attention, and wants him to always compliment her.
Other characters in the series, such as Kizuna also noticed Raphtalia’s feelings for her master. Furthermore, in season two they had one of the sweetest moments. When Raphtalia became the Katana Hero in Glass’ world, she had to fight by herself. In episode ten, she couldn’t fight anymore and decided to not give up against the white tiger after she lost too much strength. Thinking it was the end for her, Naofumi suddenly shows up and defended her. Everyone who was able to watch the scene can feel the relief in Naofumi’s eyes after finding Raphtalia.
Why Naofumi and Raphtalia’s Relationship Is Complex?
Hold up your thoughts first because there is one major problem! Raphtalia may be the best waifu candidate for Naofumi; however, fans still have mixed feelings when it comes to their relationship. Naofumi became like a father figure to Raphtalia. In general, he was her guardian; hence, many fans believe that their relationship is quite complex.
Some fans claim that Raphtalia’s affection towards Naofumi is very similar to Stockholm syndrome. Raphtalia has suffered so much since the death of her parents. Naofumi being kind to her was a once-in-a-blue-moon for her. However, most fans debunk this theory by arguing that it is no Stockholm syndrome as Raphtalia is willing to go to lengths for Naofumi with or without her slave mark. She is probably the only one who can easily influence Naofumi’s decision making her the person he trusts most, including Filo-chan.
Naofumi and Raphtalia’s relationship might be described in many ways, like master-slave, father-daughter (which Raphtalia does not agree on), ally-to-ally, or a man-woman relationship. What stands out most above all these relationship statuses of the two is the sword-shield relationship. No matter what happens Raphtalia will always be Naofumi’s sword, and Naofumi will always be Raphtalia’s shield.
Read More: Does Rishia Like Itsuki in the Rising of Shield Hero?
