Well, this is a bit embarrassing, but only after beating the game 3 or 4 times did I realize that the shield specifically follows where your mouse is pointing. I still think that it should be buffed, but now I realize that it is not quite as much of an issue as I made it out to be.
Oh, one last thing, the animations for the Finisher Hers are superb and I LOVE them, but I strongly believe that they should grant invincibility. They require full rage, rage does not get retained between lives, and only target one enemy. So, it's not like invincibility during would make it OP and NOTHING is more frustrating than finally landing it on an enemy you haven't used it on yet, only to be interrupted 0.3 seconds in by a projectile, because you are a sitting duck whenever there are other enemies around.