Episode 23 – Shangri-La Frontier [2024-03-19]

Hey, remember when there was a massive in-game world-changing event that happened just a few episodes ago that was set to change the entire trajectory of how our players would interact with the world moving forward? Those were good times, right? It feels like the show’s pacing came to a massive screeching halt just a few episodes away from the season finale. The entire episode was just a boss fight, and we returned to the start of the episode to experience a different route. If the show wanted to be a series of random wacky adventures, that would be one thing. It would make my life incredibly difficult because it’s almost impossible to write about a show that is that basic, but at least it would be consistent.

At some points, I probably projected my expectations based on other shows of a similar nature onto Shangri-La Frontier. I feel comfortable judging the show on its own merits after getting a peek behind the curtain but then I’m being pushed off the stage and told to ignore everything I saw. We have an epic dramatic opening showcasing some new characters and locations with this big looming threat, but it doesn’t feel like we’re building towards any of that. When I found out that a lot of the combat showcased in the new opening was just the boss fight during this episode, I got slightly annoyed. The animation was great, and the music was catchy, but the presentation standard has already been raised so high that anything below that feels like walking around in a circle. Even Sunraku says as much during the fight! I didn’t hate this episode, but when I finished it, I thought, “What happened? “All I can say is that I hope we don’t spend the remaining episodes on uninteresting material.

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Shangri-La Frontier is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.