Shangri-La Frontier: Kusogee Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to Su

[neflight86]

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"Second-year high school student Hizutome Rakurou is interested in one thing only: finding "shitty games" and beating the crap out of them. His gaming skills are second to none, and no game is too bad for him to enjoy. So when he's introduced to the new VR game Shangri-La Frontier, he does what he does best—min-maxes and skips the prologue to jump straight into the action. But can even an expert gamer like Rakurou discover all the secrets that Shangri-La Frontier hides...?

Source: Kodansha"

Genre(s): Action, Fantasy, Comedy

Research

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1-5

Probably the best, most consistent animation this season. Nothing new- uber gamer tackles an mmo where everyone gawks at his mad skillz, which of course he isn't allowed to know he has, but Shangri-La never forgets to try to be fun. It doesn't always hit, but most of the time, we're having a good enough time. Worth a look.

[KrayZ33]

Yeah, I picked it up. The animation is great and constantly good. The rabbit mascot is adorable as well.
The only thing I don't like is that it has the typical flaw of being about game mechanics and what not, yet it has almost zero consistency with them.
Level doesn't seem to matter, weapons don't really matter either it seems. It would've been fine if they established it as such, but they didn't. In fact, they always bring it up (the level difference, getting a new weapon etc) when it does basically nothing. It's just some invisible value that has to be reached and now you are allowed to attack that monster/enemy.

Don't bring these mechanics into your anime/manga/story if you aren't using it properly, it's just annoying.
If I can fight a lvl 99 player as lvl 30 and not die instantly, what does the level difference matter?
SAO, at the very least, even though it's another horrible example, did at least point out that passive health generation of a high leveler is greater than what low level chumps can dish out in DPS.

Just make the game about movement/training/reflexes and skill usage and be done with it. MC is a game addict that beats buggy shitgames and super hard enemies while being underpowered in other games with unfair game balance... that would fit the story way more. It would also explain why he is strong even though he is low level (or has shitty stats)
Seperate Strength/Dex/Int/Wisdom/VIT builds from each other through classes/the job system and be done with it.
Why did the author make MC put 3/4 of his skillpoints into the "LUCK" stat, just so he can throw bullshit scenarios at us without us questioning why they happen to him?
It just makes me wonder why he can beat players that put 3/4 of their stats into dexterity and be quicker/just as fast as them and defeat enemies that are 50 levels above him, since his stat build sucks - and at the same time, I STILL won't see the mere LUCK stat as something that justifies all the plot armor and plot benefits MC gets. So it did basically nothing.


That, and the fact that each 25m episode is basically 5m recap/intro and 5m outro. I think I've seen the skill used by Psygo-0 during the PVP fight in episode 4-6 in all three as an opener scene. Like... come on. I almost thought I started an earlier episode by accident because I couldn't believe I would see it a third time.

Another weird thing, in episode 8 or so, MC got this cloak that supposedly hides his identity by hiding the mask and mark on his body.
Duh - the player name is still above your head you silly, so it shouldn't do shit.
Same thing with the bunny girl transforming into a human, no playername = NPC.
Or him being in a town makes him save from PKing, yet in 2 episodes later, the PKers just tried to hunt him inside the town and nothing is actually different from that and him being outside.
I'm not finished with this show yet (or up to date, that is), but it's super inconsistent overall with these things.
Like..it's not really inconsistent because the MC brings it up himself all the time, and the other players too... but why would the story bring it up then, it feels like a waste of time just for some gag scene/5 minutes and it feels weird to me.

A bit of a rant, but overall it's a good show for sure, it's just that bit about game mechanics that annoy me. I'd love to see an anime about a game that actually uses game mechanics properly and is written by someone who actually played a game in their life. (the upcoming Solo Leveling show is shit as well, or rather, turns into shit after MC gets to a certain power level)
The only series that comes to mind would be "Bottom-Tier-Chara", and that show isn't even about the Super Smash Brothers-like game he is playing, but some romance show. But at the very least, it felt like the player/mc knew what he was talking about when he plays or talks about that game of his.

[neflight86]

Consistency in mechanics is a major plus in my book as well. Tomozaki, as you mentioned, only cursorly references the smash clone, but what is there checks out. The only other anime off the top of my head that has game like mechanics and keeps the faith would be... Hunter X Hunter and some sports shows. A shame, because it's really fun when done right.

[neflight86]

18

The fight covered in the last 3 episodes was a real chonker. I enjoyed the dynamics, resources and win conditions that really felt strategic. Didn't hurt that the already above average animation went ham on the climax episode. Great stuff, though the believability is stretched by the likelihood of game devs hand crafting these elaborate, individualized one time side quests; too expensive for how few people will see it. Not that realism is the heart of a VRMMO show, mind you, but it is otherwise pretty level headed with its mechanics.

The highlight for me was when his two friends pictured him going full troll mode if they let a stray missile hit him from the side-boss, calling their skills into question. Hilarious. Also, a few episodes back when the leader of the PK guild called Pencilgon (apparently his sister IRL) an unkind word for betraying his organization like she did. Very funny.

This show is a great production all around.

[DarthEnderX]

Great stuff, though the believability is stretched by the likelihood of game devs hand crafting these elaborate, individualized one time side quests; too expensive for how few people will see it.

I mean, it's PRETTY goddamn obvious that some 'self-aware AI' and/or 'uploaded consciousness' shit is going on here. The NPCs are too much like people.

[DarthEnderX]

20

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I was worried the game company was going to be menacing, but they seem fun.

[DarthEnderX]

21

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I was worried MC was going become super OP. Then the show is like "Sorry bro, you ain't got batteries for any of this cool shit."