Oct 13, 2024
Shangri-la Frontier blends video games and anime together into an interesting story of escapism and fantasy for both gamers and non-gamers alike. The story, is fairly straightforward with the character "Sunraku" switches from trash games full of bugs, bad writing and more, to a highly popular MMORPG. This immediately sets the tone for the anime and what I enjoyed most about Shangri-la Frontier.
The game Shangri-la Frontier, by no means would function as a real life game. There are one time only boss defeats, character exclusive quest lines and more. However it works as the perfect backdrop for the game experience combined with the escapism
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elements such as strong main characters, fun supporting cast and the ability to feel like you can put yourself in the main character's place. It blends exclusivity with video games in a way that allows the viewer to sympathize with Sunraku's experience with different game mechanics and empathize with the moments of victory when he figures out a skill combo or mechanic that lets him win a fight. It has just enough of video game mechanics for those that do enjoy playing games to feel the sense of *I've done that before* without necessarily feeling too exclusive that it's unfollowable without having played a lot of games of similar genres.
There's also enough tidbits around the storytelling that while there is exposition, it doesn't feel overly redundant. A character might gain a new stat increase, but we are shown rather than told how good it is with character reaction and how it changes the current or future fights. Information that is helpful for the viewer to know is often presented as the character acquires something new or another character is explaining their own skill set for a fight. Overall this makes the information feel more organically given and doesn't bog the viewer down with unnecessary statistics that will be redundant on the next new thing. It strikes a good balance between clarity needed to understand the story and background flavor for the MMORPG backdrop.
Overall Shangri-la Frontier offers an anime experience using a video game setting in a way that is fun and engaging without trying to be a let's play stream. It uses core video game mechanics to allow the viewer to feel connected to the main character while still allowing for the escapism to a fantasy setting that many fans will enjoy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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