Shangri-La Frontier

As always you just can't trust critics. This show is amazing. It's got reallyGood characters a great story the fight scenes look very well done.

This anime is going to be one you don't want to miss out on. It's going to have 24 episodes as well which is a huge plus. 12 episodes are fine but when you double it, yessssssir. I'm not really sure what else to say because I don't want to ruin it with spoilers but just do yourself a favor and watch it I'd be surprised If you don't give it a personal rating of 8/ 10 For me it's. 10/10 I'm huge into anime and also video games so these ones just hit different for me.

Go watch it.

Right from the first episode, this anime hooked me with its vibrant energy and tight pacing, delivering an experience that felt fresh, even while playing on familiar tropes. Visually stunning, with crisp, fluid animation and vibrant color schemes. Action scenes are choreographed with precision, while emotional scenes are rendered with a soft touch that enhances the emotional stakes.

It's world building is phenomenal. One of a kind anime. The show excels in action and spectacle but struggles to deliver emotionally impactful moments. The stakes within the game are high, but the emotional stakes in the real world feel somewhat superficial. The connection between the characters' in-game and real-world experiences could be explored more deeply to make their struggles feel more grounded and relatable.

I think this anime biggest plus is the main character he is so fun seeing him yelling about I am the master of trash games I can beat this new good game. Is fun seeing all of the different ways. He has to do it because he's under levelness and his curse. It's what I am about. I think that is the funniest part and god I love the rabbit. She is god damn cute. I want her in every single frame.

I think the plot is fine. It is entertaining the character is very cheeky. So it is fun to listen them talk to each other and it has the right bro feeling to it. It's just that it's not really too much to the anime. It is what it is and what it is. Just a good fun time but nothing more nothing against it but that's just it what it is.

The fight scenes are good and it is very detaining to see him figure them out and how to do it by using his trash gamer skills. It's just that it can get too long in the tooth. It's one of the fights. I'm mostly thinking about ways. Just feels like it takes way too long but most of them are very fun because they only take one episode any short and good though out.

But the problem I have with the show is I'm trying to think about it and most of it is already gone. It is mostly it is for in the moment I enjoy it but it's gone I have watched all of the First season and I'm always forgetting most of it. It's just a fun forget about show and that's okay.

This feels like it was written by someone who actually plays games or at least did their research. The MC is a guy who hunts and exploits glitches and unlike a lot of the protags I see for this kind of thing he isn't a sad friendless loser, which is a nice change of pace. He actually has friends he chats with across games who each have their own weird approaches and playstyles. I liked the understanding the writer has that games are communal. The people who are breaking this game have a history of doing the same kind of thing across other games.

They're good at games because they test each other in competition and swap ideas. The protagonist wasn't born special, he's someone with a long standing hobby of playing unfair games and using solid meta understanding or exploits to get through them.

The world of the game itself is interesting, and actually sounds like something I would enjoy playing. It leaves the game's main story a mystery and then drops hints at it instead of front loading the viewer with infodumps over explaining everything like a lot of anime do. I think the show is building a mystery on the real life side on why the game works the way it does, and I'm interested in seeing how that pans out.

My previous review of the series is listed below:

SLF is a pretty unserious, low stakes and carefree exploration into the fantasy genre, which doesn't exercise massive stupid rules of the world on you, just shows you a guy diving into a good game, a bit like a dark souls style VR game, having fun. You don't get the stupid parts of an isekai no one likes but it feels a bit like it's set in an isekai world, and while the worldbuilding and characters don't show anything new to you, I think the plain and simple idea is refreshing in itself and low effort.

Episodes of the show go down easy - you don't have to devote your whole soul to reading into the plot, there's good production quality and music, and so far no blisteringly irritating characters. Looking for a chilled out show that isn't boring? This is it! You literally will not get bored watching these early episodes at least - things unfold fast and well, and with a small amount of comedy to keep it light and a standard MC who realises gaming is a hobby and anything but edgy, it's just simple to watch.

The most notable thing about this show for me? Nothing! Let me reiterate how formulaic and standard it has been thus far, and yet it's not remotely boring. I can't quite place my finger on what's so interesting about it. It almost has an air of uniqueness to it.

In what could've been summarised in 3 sentences - good show, not special but still worth your time. Better than most of its genre.

Now this was what I had to say 3 episodes in. I was thinking this show had potential but would succumb to shameless fanservice or the like within a couple episodes and the ideas would run out. We're now about halfway through tje first season, and I have to say this show is worth investing your time in.

Shangri-La Frontier may not seem immediately special, but the fact the intensity of the show is so huge when it wants to be despite no "you die in game you die in reality" or such tropes makes me think it is special. It's not a shameless trope or a generic show because it isn't forcing itself to do more to make the concept interesting.

The show is genuinely entertaining. The characters are all quite funny and while there hasn't been a major male character besides Rakuro himself the women in this show are treated as human beings. The worldbuilding is literally incredible - I was a skeptic at first but they genuinely have thought everything and the combination of sci-fi and fantasy is well balanced. The enemies are well designed like the author was actually trying to make a fleshed out real game rather than just having slime number 2 followed by the main character fighting solely in PvP for the rest of the show. They've made it clear now that they are invested in making a realistic game where the progress in PvE in the show is going to be a part of the plot.

So I really think I needed to amend anything I stabbed at last time I reviewed - this show is special, is actually original and I can feel the intensity and hype without the stakes of death on the line because it's well written. It's also not trying to drop sob stories on people which is great.

9/10. Genuinely higher caliber than expected.