The Fall 2024 anime comes with an exciting lineup. There are a number of new series worth checking out, though anime sequels aren’t necessarily falling behind. After all, Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 is also releasing this season. But just like every time a new season arrives, there’s this initial sense of confusion, especially as to what’s happening in the narrative. After all, it’s quite a while since the first season aired.
With that in mind, here’s everything you need to remember before Season 2 arrives.
What is Shangri-La Frontier about?
Judging Shangri-La Frontier based on its cover alone, it’s easy to mistake it as an isekai anime. It, after all, seems to be set in a fantasy world with a half-human, half-bird character as the main character. While that isn’t entirely correct, it isn’t that far off either. Instead of being transported into a fantastical world with an overpowered game system as an ally, Shangri-La Frontier is a video game anime centered on the eponymous game.
The story, however, follows the student Rakurou Hizutome, who thrives on impossible challenges. In fact, his hobby is beating so-called trash games, which is exactly what it sounds like. The real-world equivalent of those games is probably these ones. But after defeating what he considers one of the worst games he ever played, he can’t find another to match it. A close game store employee introduces him to the god-tier game Shangri-La Frontier, and thus begins his new journey.
What happened in the first season?
Season 1 does a good job establishing the grueling gaming world that is Shangri-La Frontier, though Sunraku’s knack for making things harder for himself also helped a lot in that regard. The first thing he did after logging into the game was skip the tutorial town, fight the area boss, and then sprint into the second town.
The moment he got there, he encountered and attempted to defeat a nigh impossible opponent — Lycagon the Nightslayer. He dueled the wolf monster, landing hundreds of critical hits, yet he didn’t even get close to slaying it. Instead, he got obliterated with a single strike and received Lycagon’s mark, which came with a restriction that disallowed him from equipping anything on his torso and legs. And thus, Sunraku’s pervy character design was born.
Sunraku would later on learn that Lycagon wasn’t a single mob. It was actually one of the seven Colossi, which no player was able to slay. His defeat and the mark, however, did give him some benefits. For one, it triggered a unique scenario, leading him to meet Emul and discover Rabituza. After doing a series of quests and proving his willpower, a.k.a Vorpal Soul, he was acknowledged by Vash, the Rabituza’s boss and the one pictured above.
Naturally, it didn’t end there. After all, what’s a trash game lover if not a seeker of difficulty? Sunraku met with his long-time trash game companions, Arthur Pencilgon and OiKatzo. They teamed up to take on another Colossus — Wethermon the Tombguard. But before the big battle, they must first prepare and obliterate Pencilgon’s PK clan. Psyger-0, who belonged to a notable clan, played a major role in destroying the said clan and helping with the cleanup.
With all of that out of the way, the trio’s fight against Wethermon commenced. Sunraku took on the undead samurai, while Pencilgon and OiKatzo took on the Colossus’ trusty steed. After a grueling and tight battle, the trio triumphed. Pencilgon opted to turn over a new leaf, tasking Psyger-0 to do the honors of defeating him. Afterward, the trio decided to form their own clan whose sole purpose was defeating the six other Colossi. Pencilgon also ended up being the leader after she lost a game of rock-paper-scissors.
Wethermon, being another almost impossible-to-beat boss, did drop a lot of good items. There were a lot of powerful armor and weapons, though still far from usable. However, the item Inventoria allowed the trio to teleport into the storage space anytime they needed.
What to expect in Shangri-La Frontier Season 2?
After defeating Wethermon, the trio parted ways, opting to finish their own tasks first. Sunraku returned to Rabituza to figure out how to power up Ether Reactor. However, he learned that to re-activate the said reactor would require an Ancient Craftsman. Since Vash wasn’t around, Sunraku decided to train one instead, and his candidate was no other than Bilac, Emul’s sister. He then started to supply her with materials needed to increase her smithing abilities.
Given that Bilac had yet to improve her smithing skills by the end of Season 1, Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 will certainly pick up on that. It will also likely expound more on Shangri-La Frontier’s world as a mysterious character who introduced himself as Professor, the leader of a lore-dedicated clan. While Sunraku and the other are yet to accept Professor’s alliance offer, they will likely end up working together as it was revealed in Season 1 that slaying the seven Colossi is necessary to further the game’s overarching plot.
There is also the development of character relationships. Wolfgang, the trio’s newly-founded clan, will have to develop and recruit other formidable members. After all, they are planning to defeat the game’s supposedly unbeatable bosses. Furthermore, there’s also Sunraku and Psyger-0’s relationship. Given Psyger-0’s relentless pursuit, she hopefully gets closer to her beloved trash gamer.
When is Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 coming?
As the Fall 2024 lineup slowly rolls in, Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 is bound to arrive soon. However, it’s actually coming sooner rather than later. Crunchyroll officially announced that the new season will premiere on the streaming platform on October 13 (Sunday). Specifically, the pilot episode will drop at 2:30 a.m. PT.
Just like in the first season, studio C2C will be handling the anime’s production, with Toshiyuki Kubooka as the director. Other staff include Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (composition), Ayumi Kurashima (character design), and MONACA (music).
