Shangri-La Frontier - Episode 9

When a third of an episode is spent with the protagonist standing on the sidelines, commenting on bugs fighting over territory, it's safe to say the pacing has crashed and burned.

While there were definitely charming moments in this episode, the only truly relevant thing was the group's change of location. The monster designs and landscapes are fantastic – Shangri-La Frontier captures that wide-eyed wonder perfectly when discovering new game mechanics. Nevertheless, everything felt frighteningly superficial, which is all the more painful because the episode started so strong.

Slow Development

The opening from Arthur's perspective was promising: she has a concrete goal, probably needs Sunraku's help, and maybe knows more about the game's background.

Are there real conflicts with players she previously interacted with?

Will her former companions betray her because she's suddenly "not on their wavelength" anymore? It's all exciting – but when is the series finally going to get to it?

Charming Moments

Psyger's scenes were cute. Kudos to her for finally sending that friend request. The contrast between her schoolgirl gestures and the hulking armor-clad avatar is just quaint. Will this have further consequences later? Doubtful, especially since Sunraku reacted so extremely cautiously.

Overall, one of the weaker episodes – but hopefully next week will be better!