Shangri-La Frontier was initially slept on, but fans noticed it when it started airing.
Episode 18 blew up because of its insane animation quality.
There’s still a lot of content for the anime to cover, indicating possible sequels.
Shangri-La Frontier has been decently popular since it started airing back in October. However, after Episode 18, the fandom absolutely exploded — it seems that everyone is talking about the series now.
It even started trending on Japanese X (formerly Twitter), a fact that was acknowledged by the official account behind the anime. What is the reason for it to have such a dramatic rise in popularity?
Initially, there wasn’t any hype
Shangri-La Frontier technically adapts the manga of the same name. However, said manga itself is an adaptation of the web novel, which has been pretty popular in Japan. When the anime was revealed to be in production, most people weren’t impressed with it at first, though.
It’s understandable why some people wouldn’t want to start Shangri-La Frontier. After all, it’s just another fantasy video game anime. The main character’s design also was a turnoff for many at first — a giant man wearing nothing but boxers and a bird mask isn’t exactly the most appealing main character.
Why is it good?
However, the opinions quickly changed after the anime started airing. Shangri-La Frontier is excellent at combining video game adventure with a bizarre sense of humor. Sunraku, despite his character design, is a great protagonist. His playing style was actually praised by those familiar with VRMMO games.
This all, however, doesn’t explain why the anime got a sudden boost in popularity after Episode 18. The answer is easy, though: the insanely well-animated action of that episode drew a lot of attention from those who haven’t been watching the series before, as fans have posted the videos on the internet.
Some of those who were following the anime but were on the fence about it have been convinced it’s actually good — if only for its action.
The action in Shangri-La Frontier was never bad in the first place. It just wasn’t as amazing as that of its contemporaries, especially with Jujutsu Kaisen S2 still airing when Shangri-La Frontier just started. Now, the animation in EP18 might have made the fight the best of the Winter 2024 season, even beating series like Solo Leveling (Ore dake Level Up na Ken).
A potential sequel season
Naturally, as the anime suddenly blew up, fans have been wondering if a sequel is possible. With how popular both the anime and the manga are, many feel optimistic.
There is a lot of content left for the anime to catch up to, though, especially considering the manga is ongoing. And if we include the content from the web novel, the anime might as well go on for hundreds of episodes. It seems that Shangri-La Frontier fans are lucky today.
You should be watching it if you aren’t already.
Summary:
Shangri-La Frontier was initially slept on, but fans noticed it when it started airing.
Episode 18 blew up because of its insane animation quality.
There’s still a lot of content for the anime to cover, indicating possible sequels.
Shangri-La Frontier has been decently popular since it started airing back in October. However, after Episode 18, the fandom absolutely exploded — it seems that everyone is talking about the series now.
It even started trending on Japanese X (formerly Twitter), a fact that was acknowledged by the official account behind the anime. What is the reason for it to have such a dramatic rise in popularity?
Initially, there wasn’t any hype
Shangri-La Frontier technically adapts the manga of the same name. However, said manga itself is an adaptation of the web novel, which has been pretty popular in Japan. When the anime was revealed to be in production, most people weren’t impressed with it at first, though.
It’s understandable why some people wouldn’t want to start Shangri-La Frontier. After all, it’s just another fantasy video game anime. The main character’s design also was a turnoff for many at first — a giant man wearing nothing but boxers and a bird mask isn’t exactly the most appealing main character.
Why is it good?
However, the opinions quickly changed after the anime started airing. Shangri-La Frontier is excellent at combining video game adventure with a bizarre sense of humor. Sunraku, despite his character design, is a great protagonist. His playing style was actually praised by those familiar with VRMMO games.
This all, however, doesn’t explain why the anime got a sudden boost in popularity after Episode 18. The answer is easy, though: the insanely well-animated action of that episode drew a lot of attention from those who haven’t been watching the series before, as fans have posted the videos on the internet.
Some of those who were following the anime but were on the fence about it have been convinced it’s actually good — if only for its action.
The action in Shangri-La Frontier was never bad in the first place. It just wasn’t as amazing as that of its contemporaries, especially with Jujutsu Kaisen S2 still airing when Shangri-La Frontier just started. Now, the animation in EP18 might have made the fight the best of the Winter 2024 season, even beating series like Solo Leveling (Ore dake Level Up na Ken).
A potential sequel season
Naturally, as the anime suddenly blew up, fans have been wondering if a sequel is possible. With how popular both the anime and the manga are, many feel optimistic.
There is a lot of content left for the anime to catch up to, though, especially considering the manga is ongoing. And if we include the content from the web novel, the anime might as well go on for hundreds of episodes. It seems that Shangri-La Frontier fans are lucky today.
