The fantasy action-adventure web novel, Shangri-La Frontier, received an anime adaptation in October 2023. Produced by C2C (the studio behind Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy), the Shangri-La Frontier anime aired its season 2 finale in March last year, building anticipation for the next leg of the journey. Fans of the series will have to be patient, as season 3 of Shangri-La Frontier will start airing in January 2027. Although this is a significantly long wait, the anime’s official website has revealed a key visual teasing a new character in the meantime.
The story opens in the near future, where VR games can be used by players to transport themselves inside these fictional worlds. Due to the popularity of this thrill-laced format, a genre of glitchy, mass-produced “trash games” exists, which protagonist Rakuro Hizutome thoroughly enjoys. Experiencing burnout after mastering the most shamefully faulty trash games, Rakuro decides to play the acclaimed VR title Shangri-La Frontier. This begins Rakuro’s quest to master this beloved game, where he uses the bird-masked avatar Sunraku to navigate its challenging virtual world.
The first two seasons, while exposition-heavy, lay a compelling framework for a story that dissects the psychology of MMORPG gamers. One would think that a polished, glitch-free game like Shangri-La Frontier would be a breeze for a trash game enthusiast like Rakuro/Sunraku, but he experiences his first challenge while battling a giant wolf monster named Lycagon the Nightslayer. After Lycagon curses Rakuro’s game character Sunraku, he experiences in-game nerfs, such as the inability to equip some parts of his body with armor or being treated unfairly by other players. A top-ranking player named Psyger-0 also joins Sunraku’s quest to help lift the curse and reach the endgame, which makes such an uphill battle easier to navigate. After Sunraku bonds with the rare animal familiar Emul, he becomes a walking target inside a virtual world brimming with antagonists.
Image: C2C/Crunchyroll
Season 2 captured Sunraku’s shift from a solo adventurer to someone who appreciates allies, with the formation of in-game guilds requiring an exchange of intel about monsters or events called Unique Scenarios (rare side quests that get triggered after specific conditions are fulfilled). This paves the path for out-of-the-box thinking and strategy, allowing Sunraku and his allies to overcome near-impossible odds. As this is not an isekai, Rakuro can pause the game whenever he is stuck and hop onto other VR games like Nephilim Hollow to get his creative juices flowing. This brings him into contact with other players, who offer insight about Shangri-La Frontier based on their experiences — an aspect of gaming that mirrors real-life community building when it comes to puzzle solving, battle strategy, or theorycrafting.
The upcoming third season will be directed by Hiro Oki (Ninja Kamui), with That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime’s Kazuyuki Fudeyasu working on series composition. Toshiyuki Kubooka (Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina), who directed the first two seasons, will serve as chief director.
