Shangri-La Frontier is a fun story about a VR MMORPG that focuses on the details

I recently had the opportunity to check out the first episode of Shangri-La Frontier, a new anime about a VRMMORPG. Now, this genre in particular has gotten a bit saturated in recent years due to the success of Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, and even Ready Player One. However, the art style of the trailer piqued my interest, and the press release indicated SLF would have a bit more of a focus on world-building and game mechanics.

A beautiful world

Shangri-La Frontier is by C2C Studio, a Japanese animation studio that has been around since 2006. C2C’s popular recent works include Reincarnated as a Sword and Otaku Elf. I have to admit, I only recently got back into anime and have been extremely picky so I haven’t seen either of those. But, after watching the trailers for both, I’m even more impressed with the visuals in Shangri-La Frontier. That’s not to say the other two titles look bad by any means, but SLF is definitely their best work yet in terms of visual quality.

The premise of Shangri-La Frontier is simple enough. The main character Rakuro Hizutome is an odd one, preferring to play scuffed games that are considered trash by others. He finds enjoyment in learning how to navigate and appreciate a title’s bugs, as opposed to getting upset by them. But after a recent playthrough of Faeria Chronicle Online, Rakuro heads to the game store to check out something new. A poster for Shangri-la Frontier, a massively popular VRMMO catches his eye. He feels it’s time to try what some would consider a god-tier game, as opposed to a trash one.

It’s fun watching an anime that clearly cares about gaming. While Rakuro is in the local game shop, a “Comic Frontiers” poster is in the back with the same font and art style as Sonic Frontiers. Not relevant to the story, but still fun to see.

Focusing on the details is what makes SLF entertaining

While creating his character, Rakuro settles on Twinblade Mercenary as his class and chooses Wanderer as his Origin story. His preference to focus on acquiring the best weapons and ignoring armor results in him selling all his starter armor. However, he doesn’t want to be running around naked if everyone can see his face, so he also grabs a blue bird mask to hide his face. And so his character, Sunraku, is born. Rakuro logs into Shangri-La Frontier for the first time, and his adventure begins.

It’s here that the worldbuilding and focus on game mechanics really start to kick in. Rakuro begins grinding on Goblins found in the forest he spawns in, keeping track of their spawn rate as well as the experience gains and item drop rates along the way.

He also encounters a rare spawn that gives noticeably more experience. More importantly, the rare spawn has a cool-looking weapon that surely deals more damage than his starting weapons. Unfortunately, the rare spawn doesn’t drop anything on death, but he’s convinced the weapon is on his drop table. Hours later Rakuro is dual-wielding the weapon, over-leveled, and still in the beginner area. He’s calculated the drop rate at this point but feels it’s time to move on. Better experience gains are out there.

I’ve been here before. I know that feeling. An accomplishment that’s not so meaningful in the grand scheme of things—after all I’m sure he’ll quickly replace the weapons. But in the moment, feels so rewarding. Maybe that’s what’s so intriguing to me about SLF. It doesn’t beeline through everything but rather takes its time and shows you all the details.

Another glimpse of where VR MMOs could someday be

The episode ends with Rakuro extremely excited to take on a boss higher level than him that the game recommends a party to take down. For the first time in a while, he can utilize his skillset as a gamer to take on a tougher enemy without the fear of silly bugs getting in the way. For a moment we see a glimpse of Rakuro lying in his bed, completely still, VR headset on. But with a smile on his face. I have to admit, I’m envious of Rakuro at this moment. I can’t wait until we can explore truly immersive VRMMOs like this.

If you’re a fan of Sword Art Online and Log Horizon, or even just an MMO fan, I recommend checking out Shangri-La Frontier. Especially if you care more about the details, mechanics, and even numbers when it comes to that sort of experience. I can tell SLF plans to tell its story while building the world around it, which is a refreshing take on the genre. I’m not a huge anime guy, but when a show properly mixes gaming into it, I’m all for it. And SLF does this well.

Shangri-La Frontier is available now on Crunchyroll and will continue to be simulcast on a weekly basis.