Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious (Episode 11) – The Truth Is Too Much to Bear
Seiya agreed to meet up with Ristarte, Mash, and Elulu for some rest and relaxation, but only once he’d completed some necessary preparations. When he didn’t return, they started to worry and headed to the Divine Realm for help.
Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious (Episode 11) – The Truth Is Too Much to Bear
What happened?
Ristarte was excited for some time to relax after everything they had been through. Their first stop was a clothing store to get some swimwear. However, Ristarte managed to insult the owner who offered her some questionable items. Then, when Ristarte jumped at them, they seemed to develop a new understanding for one another. Mash and Elulu had no idea what was going on, and thankfully, Seiya was busy making preparations for their next target – the Demon Lord! They returned to their hotel after a busy day, expecting to find Seiya waiting for them. However, He wasn’t there, so they waited a little more. After a while, they started to worry and headed back to the Divine Realm to see if Ishtar could offer some advice.
However, instead of Ishtar, they found Ariadora waiting for them, and she had been crying. She took them to a sacred place that few have ever been. Ishtar was waiting for them. She told them that Seiya had gone to face the Demon Lord alone to protect his friends. There was more to the story, but it wasn’t something Ishtar could explain; they had to see it for themselves. They were shown a vision of Ariadoa with a team of adventurers on a mission to defeat the Demon Lord of Ixphoria. Her party included a princess, a ranger, and the hero, Seiya Ryuuguuin. However, Seiya was not overly cautious. If anything, he was careless and impulsive.
They watched as the party skipped quests that would provide them with insights in order to wrap things up faster. After a harrowing battle, the Demon Lord was defeated, but it took almost all of their strength, and then something unexpected happened. The Demon Lord revived, devouring the ranger and Ariadoa. Seiya tried to fight back, but he was spent from the first battle. If only they had known that the Demon Lord had two lives. Then, it snatched up the princess and dragged her towards its mouth. It revealed that the princess was pregnant. Seiya could only watch as it devoured her and their unborn child, before it turned on him. Ishtar asked Ristarte what she would do next. Of course, they had to go and save him even if it meant breaking the rules.
What did you think?
The first time I reviewed this episode, I didn’t want to say anything about the big twist, but thankfully, this series has been out for ages, so I get to really dive into what happened, and if you’ve been reading my earlier posts, you’ll have seen the foreshadowing as it happened. Back in episode three, Ariadoa revealed to Ristarte that she wasn’t as perfect as she appeared, having been defeated on one world, losing it to the Demon Lord. There was a hint that she recognised Seiya when she dropped the teapot. Later in the same episode, Ishtar told Ristarte that gods were humans who had been reborn, losing all of their memories. Of course, all of this is connected. Ristarte was Princess Tiana from Ixphoria.
Basically, Tiana was reborn as Ristarte to make up for the horrors she endured. When she was finally given a world to save, she summoned Seiya as her hero, unaware that they were once in love. Of course, he didn’t know either until he accessed his storage. Remember how he opened it with a different phrase. That was the hint that he had done this all before. Ishtar told us that sometimes memories from past lives find a way of reappearing. It’s not clear exactly how much Seiya was aware of at this time, but that will be cleared up in the next episode.
For a series that is classified as a comedic adventure fantasy, Cautious Hero managed to deliver a stunning twist. It managed to do this by cleverly seeding tiny nuggets of information throughout. Nothing was too obvious and was relevant to the situation, explaining another more timely issue, but when the big revelation happens, everything that we’ve already seen and taken in is suddenly pulled to the front of our awareness. Great twists should be surprising, but also completely inevitable after the fact. That’s what gives us that wonderful a-ha moment, even if this one was utterly heartbreaking!
Series Information
| English Title | Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious |
| Japanese Title | Shinchou Yuusha: Kono Yuusha ga Ore Tueee Kuse ni Shinchou Sugiru |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Isekai, Parody |
Anime
| Season | Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious |
| Released | Fall 2019 |
| Animation Studios | White Fox |
| Episodes | 12 |
| 1 | This Hero is Too Cautious |
| 2 | Too Much For a Novice Goddess to Bear |
| 3 | This Hero is Too Self-Serving |
| 4 | I So Don’t Need Any Allies |
| 5 | This Goddess is Too Spooky |
| 6 | The Great Dragon Mother is Too Sneaky |
| 7 | This Lady Knight Is Too Doglike |
| 8 | Neat and Tidy but Overly Nymphomaniacal |
| 9 | This Reaper is Just Too Invincible |
| 10 | This Man Is Too Strong for Being So Old |
| 11 | The Truth Is Too Much to Bear |
| 12 | The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious |
Bonus Posts
| Saturday Spinoff | Valkyrie |
