©硬梨菜・不二涼介・講談社/ 「シャングリラ・フロンティア」製作委員会
This is the first time a Shangri-La episode left me speechless at the end. I praised the show’s action, which was the best thing about it. But the drama and intrigue in this fight reminded me why I generally like well-choreographed action scenes. It may not be as complex as Naruto or Jujutsu Kaisen, but the blow-by-blow commentary makes you feel like you’re watching an unbalanced boxing match, where a lighter fighter has to rely on strategy and counters blows to defeat a heavier fighter.
Things like this happen all the time in action RPGs; you create your build specifically against a specific unstoppable boss and hope it works. One thing I wish we saw a little more of in this episode is the use of different fighting styles to take down the same boss. I wanted to see a little more from Katzo without it turning into a joke — and even though we saw a little more, it still wasn’t enough to satisfy that itch. However, the fight between Boss and Sunraku was more than enough to keep me hooked. The helmet counter is a fun reveal and leads to some pretty unique combat exchanges — and we finally get to see Sunraku use the “new” weapon he’s had in his back pocket for a while . We even have some good lore in there.
A lot of what the Boss revealed in his broken speech was interesting. The mention of a girl named Alice—and Sunraku appearing to be wearing partial identification—blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Maybe he’s lost his mind over the years or maybe there’s some misunderstanding going on. It’s interesting and considering how much the war escalated, we’re sure to get a satisfying explanation by the time the war ends in the next episode. While I’m curious to know exactly what this boss is underneath the armor, I’m more interested in how our cast will react since this has the potential to overturn everything they know about this game.
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Shangri-La Frontier is now streaming on Crunchyroll.