Shangri-La Frontier Tackles a Unique Theme Unseen in Most Isekai Anime

Shangri-La Frontier is making an effort to capture many of the elements of playing a video game while still telling a story of its own. Most of this is focused on Rakuro Hizotome getting a completely new experience from playing an actually good VR MMO, even though the genre has been around for a long time in the anime. Playing as Sunraku in the game Shangri-La Frontier is challenging enough to keep his interest while still using the many skills he’s developed through playing broken games over the years. Game mechanics could have been hand waved through the prioritization of this story or even on it being a VR game, but those are actually an important focus because of the ways Sunraku plays.

These mechanics are usually seen from the player’s end of things. However, even though none of the main characters have met them yet, the audience has seen some of the developer side of the game. Tsukuyo Tsukuri, Ritsu Amachi and Sakai Tsukuyogi are the heads of Utopia, the company that made Shangri-La Frontier. They are a passionate team who each bring something different to the table to make an excellent game. It would be very easy for the story of this anime to develop into a conflict between players and developers, but that hasn’t been an issue. Instead, Shangri-La Frontier is focusing on its original captivating premise and using the developers’ story to add depth.

The New Update is Good For the Game

Sunraku Loves a Challenge

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In Shangri-La Frontier Season 2, Episode 4 “Towards the Skies, Dreaming the Impossible”, Sunraku plans to farm crystal scorpions for materials by exploiting their simplistic AI. His plans are abruptly shut down because of a silent update that improved several of the world’s monsters. This makes him fail his first attempt and forces him to come up with a new plan. While the update frustrates and causes problems for Sunraku, it is a good thing for the game overall. On his end, if the game were too easy, he would lose interest. So, this is a good thing for him, too.

The crystal scorpions are supposed to be a difficult threat for players, but Sunraku managed to use a unique item to undermine them. Now, they are much better suited for the role they were meant for. They provide a high level crafting material for a suitable challenge. This new update didn’t just make the game harder, it balanced out those difficulties well. Sunraku is able to find a new skill to learn and make a new plan to defeat the crystal scorpions. His plans weren’t halted, just altered. The developers being willing to update the game so often is a good sign for the continued quality and investment that they’ll have in the game.

The Developers Want the Players to Have Fun

They Have Their Own Motivations and Goals

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The first real glimpse of the game developers is in Shangri-La Frontier Season 1, Episode 20 “Current Situations and Next Steps”. Tsukuri is unhappy at the defeat of Wethermon the Tombguard, but this isn’t being taken out on the players. Instead, the development team is balanced between the story Tsukuri wants to tell, Amachi balancing everything into an actually playable game and Tsukuyogi mediating the other two. This is what makes Shangri-La Frontier a game full of unique story lines and reasonable difficulty. Without all three of them, the game wouldn’t have succeeded.

Tsukuri didn’t want Wethermon to be the first of the Collosi defeated. The developers were paying attention to the player base to estimate when things like that would be likely to happen. They care about what the players are doing. Tsukuri wanted one of the other Collosi defeated first because that would be the best way for the players to experience the story in the game. Despite their frustration, this team is balanced, so they are focused on making a good game. Unlike other VR game anime, the developers aren’t the final boss for the players to face. They’re just the people who made the game for the players to enjoy.

Sunraku is not a character who wants to play easy games. The exact combination of directors for Shangri-La Frontier means that it is difficult but fairly balanced. He gets the challenge he’s seeking without having to break the game to overcome it. It would have been easy to make the developers into villains, but they’re just people. They may make the game hard, but that only makes Sunraku want to play more.

Rakurō Hizutome, a master of terrible video games, dives into the popular MMORPG Shangri-La Frontier, eager to challenge its secrets. Using his expertise, he skips tutorials and explores its vast world, uncovering hidden challenges and powerful foes as he seeks to conquer the game in his own way.

Release Date

October 1, 2023

Cast

Yuma Uchida , Azumi Waki , Yoko Hikasa , Makoto Koichi , Rina Hidaka , Akio Otsuka , Seiichiro Yamashita , Yumiri Hanamori , Sayaka Senbongi , Umeka Shouji , Asaki Yuikawa , Satomi Sato , Megumi Han , Saho Shirasu , Takuma Nagatsuka

Seasons

2

Character(s)

Sunraku / Rakuro Hizutome , Psyger-0 / Rei Saiga , Arthur Pencilgon / Towa Amane , OiKatzo / Kei Uomi , Emul , Weissasche , Orcelott , Momo Saiga , Animalia , Mana Iwamaki , Rumi Hizutome , Eika Hizutome , Faeria , Mia , Reiji

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