The Rising Of The Shield Hero: Kizuna Kazayama's Powers Explained
At the beginning of "The Rising of the Shield Hero," the show introduced fans to the four Legendary Weapons and their respective users. Each of these heroes, our protagonist Naofumi Iwatani included, was summoned from another world for the express purpose of protecting the realm and fighting against the Waves of Calamity that are causing turmoil throughout the land. At first, these four weapons — the sword, the spear, the bow, and the shield — were all the weapons that fans knew about. However, as time has gone on, the original light novel has revealed many more magical weapons, and many other heroes summoned to wield them.
Enter Kizuna Kazayama, the wielder of the Legendary Hunting Tool. Like Naofumi and the other Legendary Heroes, Kizuna comes from a world resembling modern day Japan. Instead of being summoned to Raphtalia's world like the first four Heroes we meet, however, she is instead summoned to be one of the Legendary Heroes of Glass' world, where the Waves are also a threat.
However, it almost seems as if Kizuna is ill-equipped for her job as a hero. Like Naofumi's shield, a hunting tool isn't exactly ideal as one's only weapon in a dangerous situation. Nonetheless, it is the only kind of weapon that she can wield so long as she is a Legendary Hero. Despite this, Kizuna manages to overcome these barriers and be a great hero, and it's all thanks to the powers afforded to her by the Legendary Hunting Tool.
The Legendary Hunting Tool is deadly, but only sometimes
We previously mentioned that the Legendary Hunting Tool seems like poor equipment for an adventurer. At first glance, however, that statement seems obviously false. The Legendary Hunting Tool is a blade just like any other, so Kizuna Kazayama should be able to use it in a wide variety of situations, right? Wrong. The Legendary Hunting Tool is a weapon made for hunting monsters. Against humans and similar races, it does nothing. Against monsters, however, it really shines.
Not only does the Legendary Hunting Tool boost the hero's stats against monsters, but it also has a number of special abilities. Like any other Legendary Weapon, it can transform into any weapon (magic or otherwise) of the same type. Additionally, it has a number of unique "power up" mechanics that make it stronger as the wielder fulfills certain criteria. One of these are its aforementioned bonuses against monsters, but the weapon itself can also gain Exp and level up just like a person. Kizuna can also attach pieces of paper to the tool, which changes the properties of the blade itself.
Kizuna also has Chris to help her on her journeys
Even with all that, Kizuna Kazayama is woefully at a disadvantage whenever she has to fight something that isn't a monster. Much like Naofumi Iwatani, whose Legendary Shield does negligible damage at best, Kizuna is hampered by her weapon and must rely on companions. In Naofumi's case, he ended up purchasing Raphtalia from a slave market, raising her to be his closest companion and the sword to his shield. However, Kizuna took a different — perhaps less controversial — method in gaining a follower.
While we first meet Kizuna in Volume 8, she isn't the only new character we are introduced to. We also meet Chris, the cute little penguin familiar who serves Kizuna. Despite his small size and cute appearance, Chris is actually incredibly powerful. Whilst on a rescue mission with Naofumi to save his companion, Filo, Kizuna admits that Chris would not be able to attack Filo's captor without killing him in a single blow — though what exactly his attacks look like are a mystery to us.
Nevertheless, Kizuna's words are enough to convince us that this is one penguin nobody wants to fight.