Naofumi Iwatani, an uncharismatic otaku who spends his days on games and manga, suddenly finds himself summoned to a parallel universe. He discovers he is one of four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction. As the Shield Hero, the weakest of the heroes, all is not as it seems. Naofumi is soon alone, penniless, and betrayed. With no one to turn to, and nowhere to run, he is left with only his shield. Now, Naofumi must rise to become the legendary Shield Hero and save the world. – ANN
Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation
Episodes: 2-cour (22-26 episodes)
Source: Light Novel
Episode Summary: Note – the first episode is double-length (45 minutes).
Naofumi leads a relatively comfortable life, which he lives while indulging his otaku habits. One of his favorite activities (after spending all his money, that is) is checking out light novels from the library. On a particular day he discovers a book he’s never seen before, which describes 4 legendary weapon-wielding heroes. As he’s paging through it, a glowing light envelopes him and he finds himself drawn into another world. He’s joined by three other young men and discovers that they have taken on the mantle of the 4 Cardinal Heroes described in the novel. They learn from the local king that they were summoned to stop the prophesied “waves” of malevolent attacks that have already begun.
Naofumi’s three companions seem to have familiarity with this scenario whereas he does not, and he soon discovers that they hail from alternate versions of Japan in which this story is part of a video game environment. Another bit of bad news is that the shield hero, which Naofumi represents, is generally reserved for poor and inexperienced players, since all the character class is good for is defense. Worse yet, word of Naofumi’s naivete has quickly spread, and no experienced adventurers want to join with him to form a party. After some protests he’s eventually joined by Myne, an attractive young woman. She shows him the ropes, helps him kill some low-level monsters, and even eats dinner with him. But the relationship turns out to be a set-up; Myne uses Naofumi’s trusting nature to rob him blind and frame him for a terrible crime.
Left without resources and essentially exiled without aid, Naofumi begins to learn more about the specific power of his legendary shield while contemplating his revenge. The experience has hardened him and he stops trying to make nice with anyone, including vendors to whom he sells his meager earnings. Without a partner on the offensive, leveling-up his powers is essentially out-of-the-question. Learning of his plight, a mysterious man offers him a way to gain a party companion, though it’s a particularly distasteful method of doing so.
Impressions: Content warning – discussion of misogyny, incel culture, sexual assault accusations, and slavery.
The Rising of the Shield Hero has been heavily-advertised by Crunchyroll over the last month or so, and as one of their first forays as a major contributor to a production committee, that certainly makes sense; they want to make back their investment, I’m sure. While the official broadcast doesn’t start until the 9th, they posted the first episode as a preview for subscribers early. Not an entirely unexpected move, but it’s helpful for those of us who are kind of dreading the onslaught of new episodes as the week goes on.
This being an isekai series, I was prepared to deal with certain tropes as part of the package – a sullen male protagonist, RPG-informed mechanics, cute demi-human girls… there are a lot of commonalities between these types of series, and this episode has all of them and then some. What I wasn’t quite expecting to have to deal with, though, were narrative details that seemed to be pulled straight from a misogynist internet rant, and that, unsurprisingly, kind of spoiled the entire experience for me.
First I want to talk about the successful parts of the episode, because much of it is actually more interesting than I expected. I think that this episode strikes an interesting tone from the moment Naofumi arrives in the other world. The atmosphere is instantly awkward, because the “heroes” of legend don’t behave in the way that one would expect of heroic saviors. Typical anime characters, no matter how surprised they might be about being forcefully sucked into an alternate dimension and then asked to save it, take up the challenge anyway; it’s just the way these stories unfold. In this case, the heroes, whether it’s through cynicism or foreknowledge of this world’s mechanics (possibly both), behave as if their heroism comes at a price. They speak about having been called there without their consent, that this situation is an inconvenience to them, and they’ll only be willing to participate if the price is right. While I generally dislike cynical behavior, I think I myself might be getting a teensy bit cynical about this genre of anime, so their reactions seem fitting in a way.
Another thing that this episode does well is build tension. Myne’s betrayal is forecast well beforehand, and while that’s sort of a basic-level plot twist, in a strange way it goes a long way towards making the first two-thirds of the episode (or so) very tense. It’s not so much an “if” as it is a “why and how?” and so there’s a sense of dread that comes along with waiting for the answer.
While I found a lot of the episode to be entertaining, it makes some epic-level stumbles that cost it the majority of any good will it builds. As is unfortunately common, its biggest stumbling block boils down to gender relations. Myne’s betrayal of Naofumi involves her falsely accusing him of rape and planting false evidence to support her claim. There’s a strong suggestion that Kitamura, one of the other heroes who seems to attract various women, put Myne up to the task, but it’s Myne who’s framed by the narrative as being both responsible for the lie and cunning enough to fool everyone else. There’s a lot to unpack here, and none of it is good. The first and most important thing worth mentioning is that false rape accusations of this nature aren’t really a thing (think about the social consequences for women even when their accusations are extremely credible; people don’t do this kind of thing for fun). It’s as if Myne’s actions sprung fully-formed out of a misinformed, misanthropic incel fantasy; Kitamura is even depicted as some kind of an alpha male who gains women’s attractions unearned. I feel like Myne’s betrayal could have come in any number of different forms and not been half as problematic; unfortunately this choice reads to me as having been made with particular intent.
The consequence of this is that it positions Naofumi to harden his emotions, come into his anger, and embody the type of toxic masculine traits that just make him into an unlikable protagonist. He begins to violently hassle shopkeepers and threaten people by confronting them with the low-level biting monsters he keeps hidden beneath his cape. He turns into the kind of world-reviling jerk that goes on to commit mass violence, inspired by the type of event these sorts fantasize as a common truth. It’s dangerous and vile.
If that weren’t enough, the world in which Naofumi ends up is one that seems to allow slavery of “lesser” demi-human entities. As he’s taken by a mysterious man into a back-alley tent, Naofumi is surrounded by cages upon cages of zombie-like humanoids and monstrous, animal-like beings, all available to him for the right price. This is a world that, according to the slave trader, practices “human supremacy” (*shudder*). Of course, the cage before which Naofumi stops doesn’t contain a decrepit thrall or terrifying beast-man. Instead, it contains a cute, waifish, dead-eyed girl with animal ears (perhaps the same one who appears in Naofumi’s dream). Again, this seems straight out of a terrifying incel fantasy, for what would misogynists deem most desirable in a potential coupling? I would imagine probably a slave who’d bend to their will without protest, and who didn’t have the ability to speak or think.
What I find frustrating (as usual) is that this episode has some very good qualities – the animation is fairly nice, its take on “being in an RPG” is different enough, and the story of someone starting from absolutely nothing to become a hero is a perennial favorite of many different types of audiences. The way in which it chooses to frame its protagonist and the women around him, though, is just so unappealing and awful, that it taints the entire viewing experience. While I imagine I’m in the minority in terms of these particular criticisms, especially since I get the sense that this series is bound to become pretty popular, I hope that perhaps other viewers will at least take the time to stop and consider their implications.
Pros: The first episode builds tension well even while broadcasting the “twist” before it happens. It twists the tone of more straightforward isekai series. The underdog hero is sort of an interesting take.
Cons: One of this episode’s major plot points involves a woman making a fake rape accusation. The world of this series allows slavery.
Grade: D+
15 replies on “Winter 2019 First Impressions – The Rising of the Shield Hero”
As someone who has read most of the original web novel, it’s interesting to see the reaction of someone without any knowledge of the series. There are a number of points that you miss or misinterpret, yet it’s also easy to see how you’d reach the conclusions you do, lacking broader information about the story (and, particularly, the more detailed story of the web novel, rather than the simplified version in the light novel that the anime is based on).
For example, the implication that the rape accusation is what led to his change in personality, which is not really the case. Rather, it was only the event that got the ball rolling, leading to a large series of events that ground him down over time. For example, he only started carrying the balloon monsters under his cloak after being robbed and assaulted by thieves. It wasn’t, “I was accused of rape, therefore I’m an Angry Young Man who’s going to start using monsters to attack people!” Similarly with respect to merchants refusing to buy from him, or sell to him (leading to him sleeping in the fields outside the city), and so forth.
There were a whole host of things that led to him reaching rock bottom in his utter lack of trust in humanity, but the anime takes the shortcut method of giving a few quick hints of what’s happened over time, because of usual runtime limitations, and puts basically all the heavy lifting on the rape accusation.
It’s also important to note that all the bad things that happen to him are not because he’s a supposed rapist (as some might accuse it of using that for a political message). Rather, it’s because he’s the Shield Hero (hinted at by everyone’s attitudes towards him well before the rape accusation happened). The rape accusation is just a convenient excuse to allow people to be openly prejudiced against him. It’s the first active act that allows everyone else to think it’s OK to take action against him from then on. For similar events, see: A Silent Voice.
If I were to put a theme on the story, it would be “bullying”, and its associated trauma. In fact, they even hint at it in the intro, in relation to Naofumi’s younger brother (and the coverup that’s likely the reason his life expenses are being paid for). Note: This is not future knowledge. The author basically never goes back to Naofumi’s past anywhere else in the novel, that I’ve read. It’s just really easy to see if you understand the overall theme of the story. I suspect it’s a bit more obvious for a native Japanese, because of a culture of being willing to pay to make embarrassing events go away. (There might have also been some veiled implications from the girl that bumped into him while he was walking to the library, vis a vis politeness in Japanese society. I’m not entirely sure of things, there.)
Of course it’s more than that. There’s racism, abuse of power, slavery, plus all the headaches that the other heroes represent (which we only got hints of in the first episode). It takes the isekai idea of, “I’m in another world with amazing powers! Everything is going to be great!”, and flips it over, showing that the world is very much sucktastic, probably worse than the real world, and that being a “hero” is an order of magnitude more difficult than you might have fantasized about, for reasons entirely out of your control.
There’s a lot more involved in the whole slavery side of things, too, that touches on a number of plot points going forward. (Though I’ll note that there’s at least one aspect that I don’t like, due to the overall story implications, but that really only comes into play after the point that I’d consider the ‘end’ of the real story, and the beginning of the “milk the cash cow” phase of the product.)
Final note: For all that, it’s still a light novel. Don’t expect amazing things out of it. But the world does have a lot more complexity to it. Of course getting into all that would involve huge amounts of spoilers.
After note: Since you mentioned the ANN reviews, I’ve read over them, and wow, James and Nick get things so horribly wrong it’s painful. There’s a massive amount of projection that doesn’t at all map to the actual story — except that, to get all of that story, you have to go well past the first episode. So, bad first impressions, I guess?
Hi, thank you for your comment. You’re correct, I don’t have broader context for what happens in the rest of the story (aside from having read through high level plot descriptions following my viewing and this review, just to sate my curiosity. Thank you for your detailed plot exerpts/commentary, though!). My “First Impressions” reviews are just that – first impressions, based on watching an opening episode of an anime series. While it’s true that some series change as they progress, first impressions are a good way for me (and other readers) to get a taste of what might be in store and whether or not the series itself might be to my tastes to continue. So consider them a tool for me to organize my watch-list, and for those of a like mind to get information when they themselves may not have time to watch.
Though I don’t know that I can respond to all your points, I’ll mention that I addressed my own reviewing context fairly completely in my reply to BB’s comment below. While I see that some others have been accusing more critical reviewers of having an agenda or projecting, if I may be so bold as to speak for them along with myself, I think it’s more likely the case that they, along with me, are just recognizing familiar attitudes, phrasing, and scenarios in this piece of fiction that we’ve experience in our own lives or those close to us. So that context causes something that may be “just a light novel” to take on different meaning and have more powerful implications. Since this is my personal reviewing “space,” that’s the kind of perspective my writing has.
I like the point you make about bullying in the context of the story. I have some different opinions about how things like bullying and abuse are typically framed and portrayed, though every story and character is obviously going to be different. The “Mob Psycho 100 II” First Impression I posted a short while ago outlines why I really like the way that series handles the topic, and why it always comes to mind in that context. To put it really briefly, I like how it demonstrates that the aftermath of bullying/abuse does not always include perpetuating that sort of violence and anger against others.
Thanks again for posting; I know this is a hot button issue for a lot of viewers and I’m certainly not trying to call anyone out or anything. I’d like people to understand, though, that there are very legitimate reasons why someone may be put off a story, and whether the story’s plot is woven into and around those reasons to explain them may not really be reason enough to refute their opinion.
I honestly don’t generally comment on reviews, but I wanted to point out one of your statements and make a slight correction.
“The first and most important thing worth mentioning is that false rape accusations of this nature aren’t really a thing (think about the social consequences for women even when their accusations are extremely credible; people don’t do this kind of thing for fun).”
I think this is completely true in real life. While I could point out at least one case I remember where a woman accused two men of raping her only to later admit several years after they were thrown in jail that she lied, most women would never do that because they always come under fire just for claiming someone raped them. I’d say that more than 99.9% of all cases where a woman accuses a man of rape is true. It’s honestly a shame that our social justice system is so flawed that it lets men get away with minimal or no punishment.
However, the country of Melromarc where this anime is taking place is a Matriarchy. They actually state this in the preview episode. The king of Melromarc is a figurehead who acts on his authority only while the queen is absent. Women hold more power in this society. Since women have more power than men, I think it is conceivable that some women might actually do something like this.
I’m not going to say much more. Your opinions are your to have, and I think it’s important to respect that everyone’s opinions might differ. I can state that there is a real reason behind Myne’s actions beyond just simple cruelty, but it would spoil one of the biggest plot twists of the first arc or two. Of course, if you don’t plan on watching anymore, then it probably doesn’t matter.
Hi, I appreciate you taking the time to comment, and sincerely thank you for interpreting the quoted portion as I intended it.
I think that we likely approach fiction in different ways, which I respect. I think in this particular case one way to approach this is to accept the matriarchy at face value – just how this society is in the universe that’s depicted. I think the book wasn’t written to heavily speculate on what the implications of a woman-centric society might be; it’s a plot attribute that’s meant to contribute to something meant to be entertaining. There are also not a lot of real-life examples (at least on a large scale) to compare to, so it acts mostly as “flavoring” that we can’t really corroborate.
I tend to interpret media more as it relates to the society in which it’s created. So while the author/creator outlines a matriarchy, they’re still influenced by what they know from the environment in which they live and are familiar (most likely a patriarchy, assuming they’re Japanese), and that’s reflected in the narrative either intentionally or not. I think it takes a very self-aware and socially-aware person to divorce themselves completely from what they know and come up with an idea that doesn’t reflect some other influence.
For example, one thought experiment that I like to do involves trying to picture what alien beings might look like, assuming they environment in which they evolved was completely unlike Earth. Looking to something like “Star Trek,” most of the “aliens” are humanoid (due to various reasons both in-universe and in real life), but even the ones that aren’t are still influenced by creatures that exist on our planet. We likely don’t have the ability to fathom what extraterrestrials actually look like because they originate from a context that’s completely unfamiliar or unthinkable to us.
I’m sort of dancing around the point I’m trying to make, which is this – I understand that a lot of people think I (and other critics who are much more visible) are picking apart this story for reasons that don’t hold up at face value (meaning, not explicitly stated in the text), or just to pooh-pooh popular things (I can’t speak for everyone, but I personally try never to do that). For me personally, I don’t believe anything really exists in a vacuum. Myne’s actions might be logically explained as more complicated than they’re being interpreted after one episode of an anime (and having read spoilers myself now I can see that that’s the case). But the fact is, her actions, along with the other narrative elements – the consequences Naofumi faces, the reactions of other characters, etc. – hold very close to the myths and attitudes that some people who hate women in real life believe, to the point that it was immediately recognizable to me, a person who has dealt with those kinds of individuals in the past. Whether the author themselves has that particular agenda or whether the story was created before the recent social shifts that are more likely to recognize sexist/toxic behavior is something I see as mostly irrelevant, because the social context is here, now, in *this* world, where these types of attitudes have resulted in harm to others.
All of that’s much too long for a first impressions review, unfortunately 🙂 But I hope it’s helpful in at least getting a better picture of where I come from when I write about anime. I do thank you for commenting.
“I tend to interpret media more as it relates to the society in which it’s created. So while the author/creator outlines a matriarchy, they’re still influenced by what they know from the environment in which they live and are familiar…”
I’d like to emphasize this, if you don’t mind! I think it’s a critical point.
I’ve had a number of folks on Twitter tell me that both the King’s actions in the context of the Matriarchy and Myne’s actions, neither of which made any sense to me, will make sense later.
I respect a of of those folks, and I noticed that BB here made the same point. So it’s likely I’ll keep watching the show.
However.
Building a new world with dramatically different ideas than ours takes work. The best example I’ve seen recently is a book called “Children of Time” by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It might be the best alien civilization book I’ve ever read. Its world was utterly believable, in part because the writer painstakingly built it, one concept at a time. When a major event or plot point happened, the world supported it.
Future episodes might prove me wrong, but I still maintain that The Rising of the Shield Hero did not perform its world building due diligence before it threw major plot points at us.
Worst of all?
As you said, Jessi Silver, these events “hold very close to the myths and attitudes that some people who hate women in real life believe.”
So I amend my statement of concern: Either the writer failed at preparing the audience by presenting dramatic events that make no sense in context of the story, _or_ the writer allowed events to mimic real-life themes that are, to put it mildly, not acceptable to a civilized people.
I really hope I’ve misinterpreted this story. But recently, I’ve seen things, at least in the US, that I never imagined even in my darkest dreams. Because of that, it’s becoming more difficult to interpret a character in a positive way when he says that a princess looks “slutty” — when the picture of her is no more than a silhouette.
Yep. Those might be actual character traits. I have no objection to that. Let’s just not try to explain them away as something innocent and harmless, because they are neither.
I’m not sure about recent social shifts. Is Japan having the same problem as the US? I feel like the “toxic masculinity” issue is a purely western problem. Japan has their own problems with declining birthrates, people killing themselves from stress, incredibly harsh work environments, etc. While Japan is a very patriarchal society, I don’t think toxic male masculinity is really an issue over there. You can feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
I don’t know when the social problems started, but I can tell you that volume 1 of the light novel series was first published in 2013. While I think the issues you stated have kind of always been a problem, I don’t think it was something that was actively talked about via social media until the past two or three years. At the very least, I only began seeing it on social media at that time.
Anyway, you have a very valid opinion. Thanks for responding to me. It’s interesting to see how people take different approaches to looking at entertainment.
Though we don’t hear about it so much, the “Me Too” movement did have some amount of traction/exposure in Japan (http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201712220046.html) but as to what I was referring to, I was mostly speaking in a Western sense of how we’re beginning to acknowledge and understand the extent of how sexism, racism, etc. affect our lives (something that not everyone might agree about, but which I personally accept as fact).
I think the publish date is a valid point, and applicable to lots of source material well beyond just this light novel series. I would counter that there may be times where it would be in the best interest to change some non-essential story details in an adaptation when those details were from a time when such things were more socially-acceptable. The example that comes to mind is “Peter Pan” which I think is a timeless story, but runs into issues by including very stereotypical “Indians.” There’s probably a way to tell the story in a way that retains its essence, but isn’t insulting to an entire group of people. I think “Shield Hero” has some interesting details but runs into problems due to its (maybe accidental) representation of the aforementioned views towards women. I feel like there would be a way to retain the essential plot elements but re-frame the betrayal (and find some other way beyond “slavery” for the hero to gain a companion) so that the end product doesn’t run afoul of basic decency (if you have the inclination/opportunity, I attempted a bit of this type of re-framing with my “Gokudols” first impression that went up a few days ago).
Thanks again for sharing and for the conversation. It’s helped me get my thoughts even more in order and given me things to think about.
I’m a little surprised to know Japan is having the same problems, and kinda bummed. I know no nation is perfect, but I’ve always been told that Japanese people believe in decency and politeness… though I’ve heard they do have quite a few issues regarding pornography.
As to changing the source material, I feel like there’d be a few problems with that. The first is that we don’t actually control what Japanese studios make. I hear this project was funded by Crunchyroll, but at the end of the day, Japan will do what Japan wants to do. Their biggest fanbase is still citizens in their own nation. I honestly don’t think they particularly care about western opinions enough to change something to suit our sensibilities and ethical points of view.
I think there would also be a problem with Myne’s characterization and the plot of the story. Say they did change Myne’s accusation to something less offensive. The first issue we run into is that of her character. Myne embodies some of the worst character traits a human being could possibly have, using others for her own gain and dropping them when it suits her. We learn later on in the LNs that she slept with Motoyasu and Ren to get in their good graces. She will use any nasty trick she can to get what she wants, and was even willing to kill her own little sister in order to become Queen. While the false rape accusation is a really big issue in our society, I do think it actually fits her terrible personality, which is emphasized when she sticks her tongue out at Naofumi when he’s trying to plead with her.
The issue with the plot development comes in the form of Naofumi’s treatment after he is betrayed and his subsequent downward spiral into despair. Would they be able to effectively create a valid reason for everyone to distrust and hate Naofumi? It’s specifically because of the scorn, derision, and isolation he receives as a result of this event that Naofumi becomes the person he is, which plays a huge role in his development as a character and his redemption at the hands of Raphtalia. And ultimately, what Naofumi hates isn’t women; it’s the entire world that summoned him and then accused him of a crime he didn’t commit. Of course, Myne and the king receive the brunt of his hatred.
I also feel I should mention this plot device is never used after the first episode. Unlike Goblin Slayer where rape was a constant theme, this one is sort of a one and done.
The slavery is actually Akeno Yusagi’s reflection of corporations in Japan. I read an interview with him about how company employees have a lot in common with slaves (you can read it on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/LightNovels/comments/3jdxdb/jp_a_short_interview_with_aneko_yusagi_author_of/). However, slavery is also heavily embedded into the plot as well. Aside from the simpler aspect that slaves have magic that prevents them from betraying their owner, there is an entire arc dedicated to Naofumi attempting to rescue Raphtalia’s friends from her destroyed village, who were all sold off as slaves. In one of the earlier arcs, we are also introduced to the man who sold Raphtalia as a slave, and it’s a really big turning point to her development.
I can’t condone slavery in any way, shape, or form, but given how heavily the entire story’s structure relies on it, I can’t see any way for them to change this aspect since doing so would literally change the entire anime–which would piss off the fanbase.
The fanbase is the last problem in changing things. I generally dissociate myself with fandoms because of how toxic they get, but anime adaptations are made with two purposes in mind: advertising the LN/manga and pleasing the fans who already read the LN/manga. Can you imagine how much fans would rage if this anime suddenly made so many drastic changes that the entire anime became something completely different? I’ve seen this happen so many times with so many fandoms. I don’t think the studio will do something that could cause such a big backlash from their fanbase.
Ultimately, anime is a business meant to make money, and while a lot of people hate the first episode, this is also one of the biggest productions currently being made. I can’t see them changing anything from the source content to fit the US’s current social views, especially since the controversy is probably helping them because more and more people are hearing about it. I’ve read on Twitter about how several people watched this specifically because of @B0bduh’s Tweets. This might be a case where bad publicity is good publicity.
You’re welcome, and thank you for sharing your own thoughts with me. I think this will be my last post on this review, but your views are very insightful. I appreciated your take on the series.
I missed a lot of the nuances of this episode today. In my defense, I’d like to point out that until today (just about 30 minutes ago, reading a tweet from @B0bduh), I’d never heard the word “incel.”
Revisiting the episode with that idea in mind sure leaves a different impression!
I’ve learned to associate the imposition of agenda with unrealistic character actions or plot developments. Take Myne’s actions. If these four heroes are supposed to save their world, what could possibly justify her smearing one of those heroes — even the one that unspecified rumor painted as the weakest?
It makes no sense, especially in light of the King’s revelation that they can only summon new heroes if all four of them die.
To me, that level of irrationality tells me there’s another reason for the development; a reason not tied to the needs of the story. In other words, an agenda from outside the story.
I really hope I’m wrong. I want to enjoy the show, but the agenda seemingly driving it making that really hard!
I debated over using the term “incel” since it’s a hot-button word and didn’t want to draw too much negative attention, but the narrative seemed to adhere so closely to those types of ideas that I couldn’t come up with anything else that really encompassed it so succinctly.
Having read Nick’s (@B0bduh’s) review at ANN now I’d say I agree with him on a lot of points, though he put it more eloquently than I could muster in the short time I was trying to get it done. It just feels like the person who created the story has a bone to pick with certain segments of society. It’s a bummer; while I’m not big on the “otaku power fantasy” type of story, I really did think this one started off kind of interesting.
You are wrong.
I could spoil the whole story for you, but I refuse to out of principle.
Rest assured, her actions are justified from her point of view, which does not make her a good person though.
Same for the king.
Thanks for that — I’ll probably keep watching. I can’t imagine how they’d justify it, but your saying they do does make me curious!
Just because an event is justified in a “Watsonian” sense (that is, it makes sense in-universe once more information is available) does not mean that it doesn’t have “Doyleist” implications (metatextual issues related to what the author means to convey versus what the audience receives due to their own life experiences.)
I’m going to “first episode spoiler” an older isekai series as an illustration. In “Lord Foul’s Bane”, Thomas Covenant has an extremely bitter outlook on life due to slowly dying of advanced leprosy, he hasn’t gotten laid in years due to (again) his leprosy, he’s suddenly horny because being magically cured of leprosy means that his life energy is full again, and perhaps most importantly, he thinks that he’s merely having a very vivid lucid dream because in reality there’s no such thing as a magical cure for leprosy. So in-universe, it’s justified that when Covenant finds himself alone with an attractive woman in a situation where there are no consequences (he thinks), he goes ahead and rapes the woman.
Covenant’s guilt once he realizes that it’s not a dream and his actions are inexcusable drives his character development, there’s interesting ideas and characters, and the final confrontation with Lord Foul is powerful stuff. But the readers who “noped” out of the series after that scene because a) the author felt the story needed a rapist protagonist and b) Covenant considering rape okay even if he thinks it’s a dream weren’t “wrong.” They were right to choose not to go further, and to warn other people who might have issues with the content and its implications.
So, because this series didn’t seem like my kind of thing even before the review, I decided to thoroughly spoil myself. The protagonist and audience do eventually learn what the heck Myne is thinking here and why she was confident the trick would not rebound to harm her. Not having watched the episode, I don’t know if there is foreshadowing that makes it clearer if you already know.
That said, the big surprise doesn’t excuse that this plot point was used in the first place, and that the story goes out of its way to justify our protagonist’s slave-owning being an awesome win-win situation for everyone involved.
I suspected there was some way the story would try to explain itself out of this ethical conundrum, but I can’t imagine a scenario where that explanation would be good enough to convince me that I’d want to watch it. Of course, that means I can just go look up spoilers, too 😀