Crunchyroll Reveals The Rising of the Shield Hero 2 Anime's English Dub Cast, May 4 Premiere

Crunchyroll announced on Monday that the English dub for The Rising of the Shield Hero 2, the second season of The Rising of The Shield Hero television anime series, will begin streaming on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. EDT on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Stephen Fu will replace Billy Kametz as the voice of protagonist Naofumi Iwatani, following Kametz's break from voiceover work due to his diagnosis of stage IV colon cancer.

The English cast, which features returning members from the first season, includes:

• Erica Mendez as Raphtalia
• Brianna Knickerbocker as Filo
• Amber Lee Connors as Ost Horai
• Dawn M. Bennett as Eclair Seaetto
• Sean Chiplock as Kyo Ethnina

Steve Staley is directing the dub.

The anime's second season premiered on the AT-X channel on April 6. The anime was previously delayed, as it was initially slated to premiere in October 2021. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime alongside the Japanese airing.

Masato Jinbo (Chaos;Child, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei Herz!) is directing the second season at Kinema Citrus and DR MOVIE, replacing Takao Abo. Keigo Koyanagi (Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars) is again in charge of series composition. Masahiro Suwa (Chaika the Coffin Princess animation director) is again adapting Seira Minami's original character designs for animation. Kevin Penkin is returning to compose the music.

MADKID perform the opening theme song "Bring Back" and Chiai Fujikawa performs the ending theme song "Yuzurenai."

Crunchyroll had announced in 2019 that the anime would have a second and third season.

One Peace Books is releasing the original novel series and Aiya Kyu's manga adaptation in English. The publisher describes the novels' first volume:

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!

The Rising of The Shield Hero anime series premiered with a two-hour special in January 2019 and ran for 25 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan. Crunchyroll premiered the first dubbed episode at Crunchyroll Expo in September 2018 with guests from the anime.

Source: Press release