Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
owidx_123
Quick review no spoilers:
Overall a low 7/10
It's a fun background watch imo. The story is probably one of the most captivating aspects to Shangri-La. But my god do some scenes drag on way too long with little plot development.
It's like someone who has never played an mmo made this. So many frustrating things occur like how Sunroku somehow discovers things within less than a month that others who are supposedly 'top tier gamers' can't figure out. Not to mention the over dramatics of certain deaths which are just... re-spawns. Another frustrating aspect has to be the power of the main Protagonist - it's absolutely all over the place. He pulls out random things from nowhere, with a random explanation, and it's never to be seen again, but struggles with certain bosses that are meant to be…
Read at the sourceElaestu
Shangri-La Frontier is an anime similar to Sword Art Online, set in a world of highly advanced virtual reality games.
First, I will start with the positives:
The animation is surprisingly solid.
The C2C studio, which is also responsible for Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy, achieves fluid animation with well-choreographed battles and a brilliant use of colour. The effects in the fights against unique bosses, such as Wethermon, are impressive.
Now it's time to talk about the negatives:
Irregular pace. There are episodes where the story gets bogged down in explanations about game mechanics or side missions. While they contribute to worldbuilding, they can feel like narrative grinding.
Lack of emotional weight.
The focus is almost entirely on the game. Relationships outside of VR (for exampl…
Read at the sourceAeroGunz
“Shangri-La Frontier” is what happens when you hire Ubisoft writers to write your anime.
For an anime that has a score of 8 I was surprised how boring and pointless this whole show actually is. There is no real story in it, only plot. Not even a good plot, the most basic thing you could think of when thinking about a shounen spiced up with cheap pop culture references.
Before we start I would like to explain something. I will be talking about “plot” and “story”. Many people use those terms interchangeably. I’m not one of those people, so to make sure everyone is on the same page…
I use the definitions for “plot” and “story” as Lisa Cron describes them:
“What happens in the story is the PLOT, the surface events.”
“STORY is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a…
Read at the source1stDecame4Danime
This is a sincere comedy(noncomedy) joke of a videogame VR (generic shitty kiddy isekai) series. It could've at least been a self-aware parody of this shit like Bofuri was, but it is far too braindead for that. The bar is literally on the floor. This is at the level of Fruit of Evolution in pretty much every way.
Pure brain-damaging exposition dialogue. Constantly explaining basic videogame terms like PKing like a special children's education show. Generic slop art/animation. Generic slop nonstory. Generic slop noncharacters. Generic slop videogame world. And the real life aspect it periodically returns to is pointless filler devoid of anything let alone plot. Joke of a virgin's self-insert fantasy of boring nonromance of some perfect noncharacter classmate girl who has never spoken to yo…
Read at the sourceHeliusKontos
To be honest I didn't pay much attention while watching this, but it really didn't matter that much..? Whenever I looked back the same things were happening as one to two episodes ago - MC fighting the same monsters or the same boss, doing the same motivational speech to himself as every other time he fights something stronger than him.
The visuals are really good, there are beautiful sceneries and ton of intense fight scenes. Another thing to appreciate is how the MC does lose a fight from time to time, but this positive is quickly mitigated by effectively zero death penalty and every other exclusive unique bonus event thrown in to help the MC.
It really just boils down to good fight scenes, there's not much to carry the story and the characters feel one dimensional. This is not for a l…
Read at the sourceRaphides
The anime is great. Please, ignore the bad reviews.
Most of them are crying about “how dying in game has no consequences like the person dying too”, showing that some people here are trying to find SAO-like animes, not game genre animes. In games, being respawned far from the enemy is enough punishment. Maybe losing your items would be great too, but sorry, this is not happening (except for some specific players, no spoilers). Keep yourself motivated while trying to fight enemies and losing continuously is the grand battle of a gamer and there is nothing wrong with it. As a gamer, it is really relatable when Sunraku tries a lot and eventually win, but with mental damage.
Other critics say about how unreal and shitty a MMO like Shangri-La would and I don’t disagree entirely about it. Unre…
Read at the sourceCaldog__
This show must be some sort of deep state CIA psy-op to see just how much substance can be removed from a story without people losing interest. Whenever my opinion differs significantly from the general consensus I can understand what things people liked about the show even if I disagree. I truly can not fathom how anyone can enjoy any of this.
Characters are boring. Setting is boring. Music is boring. Plot is boring. Dialogue is almost exclusively wooden exposition or very forced humour. Stakes are non-existent as it is literally just people playing video games. If a character 'dies' they just respawn having lost a few minutes of progress. The lack of plot or stakes would be fitting for a slice of life but there is far too much action and the story takes itself way too seriously to reali…
Read at the sourceCaeruleus_CCXVI
5.5/10
I am very confused how this got a 8.07/10, this show is extremely mid by todays standard, Okay graphics and animation, okay character design, sub par plot, not great pacing, and tropes up the butt. However the thing that kept me going was the use of early 2000/2010 gaming humor that I dont hear alot these days, as someone that played alot of Vanilla wow, RuneScape, Ultima Online and FFXI some of the plot devices were amusing enough. I would say the first 13 or so episodes were a solid 6/10... maybe even a 6.5/10... but around episode 15 I realized there was a drop in quality that I cannot put my finger on, which really perplexes me. The drop in quality comes down to somewhere between 4.5 to 5.5 / 10 at most points, so I will average it out with the best parts at 5.5/10. And as I sa…
Read at the sourceJonsitoa
Do know why have positive reviews to be honest, its a pretty average and mediocre anime with anime above average animation, there is no real danger like solo leveling, there is no drama not complicated stuff, nor romance, not funny stuff it just a very ok anime virtual reality game with a vey forgettable plot and characters, anime fans need to be more demanding and ask for better stuff, this is not good, and they are giving good reviews only because of the pressure other otakus are putting in webs like mu animelist, and that's just sad af to be honest, that's not good and we need to do better than that ok.
Read at the sourceAntivist
I hope one day there's a study done on this anime. What's this phenomenon called? It's like when you talk to chat gpt and you purposely give it wrong information and it can't disagree with you. That's basically how people treat this anime, everyone says it's good and everyone accepts it as fact? This anime starts off okay, with good animation and a OP that seems straight out of a fanfic. But after the first few episodes did everyone just dream that the rest of the a one was good? Because I can't be convinced anyone could actually keep their eyes open for over half of this boring ass show with no stakes whatsoever. Characters are boring. Plot is non-existent. Pacing is SLOW. SO SO SLOW. But everyone says this show is good? Decent animation = good show? At least JJK season 2 had better pacin…
Read at the sourcenalist
MMORPG themed anime, when characters take what happens to them way too seriously, become pure cringe. Everything that happens to them is in a controlled environment meant to entertain, but they act like their lives depend on it. There are ways to make it feel justified and look cool, but this is not the case here. There are no real stakes here. You are constantly reminded that this is a setting where the enemies are programmed to lose, which removes any suspense.
Add to this the refusal to show or even mention the fact that any information about games is usually monetized via video or streaming sites. The moment someone finds something new, you are almost guaranteed to see a video about it. Information about how to play is so abundant that it is almost impossible to find anything new in a…
Read at the sourcenegatives
it is good, kinda.
i like and i don't like this anime, sometimes it kinda boring. the jokes are not that funny and its kinda cringy for me.. its average.
i enjoy it because "Action" genre and the animation is not that bad, anyone could enjoy the animation even if the story is boring or sum.. the characters react to situations and events in a realistic way in game but💀💀 i mean that was kinda strange and cringe to watch. the main characters tryna be funny but he was not. he just a silly blue bird naked, that avatar looks sucks
Read at the sourceinsertfilename
Just overall really fun!
It may be somewhat stupid in its premise and cringy/predictable with its execution sometimes, but it definitely managed the recreate the childish wonder and enjoyment I used to experience watching classic isekais when i was a lot younger. Not for anime snobs who are looking for refined writting and take themselves too seriously.
they want me to give more information to be able to publish this review, but i dont want to express more than I have with the beginning paragraph so here are some filler words that should make it possible for me to post this.
Read at the sourceKimbaBeans
Shangri-La Frontier is not the most revolutionary anime out there, as the story is based on a game in which plenty of people are playing. Think of Sword Art Online and Aincrad, or Log Horizon and Elder Tale. However, this anime doesn't force the characters into a fight-or-die isekai situation. Regardless, the lore of the game itself is what really captivates you, even more so than that of its counterparts. There tons of interesting places that the characters explore, tons of interesting creatures that the characters either fight or connect with, tons of items that help to develop the characters in the game, and tons of storylines within the game that the characters seek to resolve.
Worldbuilding (9.5/10):
Genuinely one of my favorite things about this anime is how captivated I am on the l…
Read at the sourceChuy_diazz
Shangri-La is the complete video game experience that you can find in any anime.
What this anime did with its world was dedicate itself entirely to building a true MMORPG world. It is appreciated that he did not use the already cliché resource of "If you die in the game you die in real life." By removing this condition you allow the player to play with all their creativity without being limited by the fear of death.
From character creation, to attribute points, to boss fights, it feels like the anime really understands the players and their way of thinking. At many points in the story you will encounter situations where you would say "that is something I have done or would do" or "I know players who act this way. The anime takes into consideration factors such as leveling, grinding, item…
Read at the sourcechii
Shangri-La Frontier feels like a very confused anime. The concept can be made interesting, but the series fails to achieve that. The story is very shallow, there's no aim to the actions taken by the protagonist or by the other characters in the game. There’s no common goal that everyone is going towards and there are no consequences for their actions. This makes the series very shallow and not enjoyable, in my opinion.
Main Story: There are many instances in the anime which have additional plot points, however it never seems to follow up on them - you're constantly thinking "so what?". The game mechanics are also poorly explained and seem like a side-thought, without being properly incorporated into the anime. It’s hard to review the story, when the anime feels like it just doesn’t have o…
Read at the sourceArchangelEST
Shangri-La Frontier is a fantasy themed MMO anime which boasts impressive production values, but fails to produce any real content within its 25 episodes, where half of it feels like meaningless filler.
Animation / Art / General Visuals - 9/10
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The world of Shangri-La is beautiful, and the animation quality is very impressive. Some of the fights, especially the one against the big boss was quite possibly some of the best I've ever seen in any anime. Very cool.
Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 8/10 ------------------------------------------
High quality stuff across the board. We get high octane opening tracks, some nice music themes through-out the show, and top notch voice acting for the main characters.
Story - 5/10
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And…
Read at the sourceKinesis1
Probably the anime wih most confunsing score on MAL that i've ever seen, wich is the reason i'm writing this.
I have no idea how this got 8.10 (current score).
I'ts an anime with okay-pretty good animation and some nice character designs here and there and that's where the positives ends.
The main character "Sunraku" is someone that cannot help but scream at every chance he gets.
Asta at the beginning of black clover got a lot of hate for hos constant screamimg in the first 20 episodes or so, but trust me when i say that Sunraku is a lot worse.
He scream when he is happy, sad, excited, angry, fighting, calling someone, breathing, existing...
The story tries to put an original touch on it being a game with unique scenarios and a character that loves bad games but in the end it's the same ge…
Read at the sourceDanreis
Shangri-La Frontier: Kusoge Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to su is an anime with good ideas but between good ideas and errors the final impression on me was neutral.
In this story we follow the player specialized in bad games known as Sunraku who, after a long time trying all kinds of bad games, decides to play a virtual reality game known as the best game today, Shangri-la Frontier. This is the basis of the entire story since the anime.
The premise of a story that takes place in a game world isn't exactly new, but this anime pleased me at first because it didn't resort to the cliché of the protagonist being trapped in the game or taken to another world like any Isekai, however, this point is harmed when the author does not add any other form of risk to the plot. In both the real and virtual…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
Shangri-La Frontier - Trash games are TRULY trash. However, God-tier games are TRULY the best of the best, for both newcomers and veterans like connoisseurs.
AniManga based on video games come in all sorts of flavours. Of course, that's not to say that every single one of them are good (I'm looking at you, Reki Kawahara with the SAO franchise), and most of them (like last season's Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki a.k.a A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life) are truly equally trash with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. However, while one can easily criticize the video gaming landscape when it comes to anime, few have come across as actual video games that have been done with much research and purposeful lore, mimicking virtual worlds and putting the viewers into their shoes as fell…
Read at the source