You can stop, C2C studio! We’re already watching!
Summary:
- “Kusoge” is a term for “crappy games”. Kusoge have actual fans.
- Shangri-La Frontier is about playing a good MMO from a kusoge player’s perspective.
- Sunraku is basically Let Me Solo Her.
- The show feels very insecure about its writing due to the constant use of cliffhangers.
When we try to picture video games of the future, the most optimistic of us imagine VR, perhaps even with full immersion functionality (while the pessimists imagine a large, slightly radioactive rock with some pointy sticks stuck into it). Still, very few think of a very important part of a gaming experience: for every good video game, there are tens, hundreds, or even thousands of trash ones.
“Kusoge” (short for “kuso game”, or “crappy game”) is a term for a poorly made, sometimes downright unpleasant video game. And of course, there are people who love these kinds of games, be it ironically or genuinely. Our main character is such a person.
Not reincarnated, simply bought a new game
Rakurou Hizutome (known under the alias “Sunraku” in every game he plays) is an appreciator of kusoge. The more horrible a gaming experience is, the more satisfying he finds finally completing it — and over the years, he completed a LOT of horrible games, regardless of their difficulty.
One day, a video game store clerk suggests this kusoge enthusiast a very polished and bug-free “godly game”, VR MMO Shangri-La Frontier, as a palate cleanser (and secretly because a girl that likes Hizutome plays it). Though of course, things go off the rails the very second he boots up the game.
Guides? Don’t need them. Build? Extremely lopsided, with zero defense and maxed evasion and crits. Equipment? Just a funny mask and skivvies. And with Sunraku’s experience of fighting against horribly designed physics engines, he gets VERY good with this build. If you’ve heard of the legendary Elden Ring player Let Me Solo Her — Sunraku is basically him.
Constantly hanging off the cliff
If there’s one issue with Shangri-La Frontier: Kusoge Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to su, it’s how insecure its writing is. The first episode ends on a cliffhanger, as Sunraku is about to fight the boss of the first location — okay, that’s understandable. First episode is a hook, and sometimes it needs a little extra hook to its hook.
The second episode ends on a cliffhanger, as Sunraku is ambushed by one of the strongest roaming monsters in the game. The third episode ends on a (minor) cliffhanger, as he meets a very imposing NPC. The fourth episode ends on a cliffhanger, as Sunraku is about to face the boss of the second location. The fifth episode ends on a cliffhanger, as he is ambushed by a high level Player Killer (PK). And the sixth episode ends up on… You’ve guessed it, ANOTHER cliffhanger!
Shangri-La Frontier is not a bad show. It’s very entertaining, has good humor, and possesses that important spirit of discovery necessary for a good video game anime. Still, it’s a weekly anime that uses the same methods as a simultaneous release on Netflix — and that is quite regrettable. It’d do so much better without it.