Forum - View topicShangri-La Frontier (TV).
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24456 |
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Episode 36
Add me to the list of people who enjoyed learning about Animalia's backstory. I'm also glad that, prompted by Psyger-0, Sunraku had a change of heart and didn't remain fixated on keeping the bonus unique scenario all to himself or caring if he killed Lycagon first. That would have been douchey. |
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Edjwald
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It's like Sunraku's got Pencil-Gon over one shoulder with devil horns, and Psyger-0 over the other shoulder with halo accessory.
Although to be honest, given what we saw of Pencil-gon's last unique boss fight and the reason she chose Sunraku and Katzo over her brother's assassin clan, and the hundreds of millions in-game debt she accrued just to get a shot at ol' Tomb Guard,,I'm not sure she would have held back either. (She might have tried to trick Psyger-0 into getting killed quickly though?) Not exactly "God Bless us Everyone" as exit lines go, but Merry Christmas 
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Edjwald
Posts: 1837 |
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Bumping this back up so it doesn't get buried by all the new release threads I started....
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Edjwald
Posts: 1837 |
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One thing I occasionally complain about is prolonged battles that span multiple episodes. If they're not done well, I get bored off my @$$. If it's a show I like, I will take a break and then binge the show when the fight is finally done. But I was okay with the Wethermon tomb guard extravaganza last season, and I'm digging this unexpected Lycagon fight, mainly because it's cool seeing Sunraku and Rei-shi (he's even using her name like she asked) form a relationship. I'm not saying it's a romantic relationship, but at least it's based on something more than obsessive daydreaming on her part.
The Lycagon Wolf also gets more mileage than the average anime final boss because its so central to the series. I got the creeps while Sunraku was talking about how it was listening to them and understanding their conversation, playing chess while Sunraku and Rei-shi were playing checkers. I'm okay with the power ranger firebird for now. Pretty OP though. And it sounds like the new inhabitant of Rabbitzua is a Sunraku fan girl who's been looking for him. She can't be from Sunraku's high school or Rei would have seen her while staring at Sunraku behind corners and large binoculars 
So...she must have met him in other games like Pencil-Gon and Katzu? But maybe she's younger so she's been idolizing him and training since he left the trash game circuit? That's my best guess. Does this mean she's a potential recruit for Wolfgang Clan? And was she rushing to join Sunraku at the Lycagon fight, or was that just an unrelated cameo? Anyway, loved it. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1837 |
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I was just viewing this encounter with Lycagon the Night Slayer as a diversion and a welcome chance for Sunraku to get to know Rei-Shi a little, but the stakes have raised significantly, particularly with the inclusion of Emul who could be perma-killed if Sunraku loses. .
I mean...I know that they won't kill Lycagon the Night Slayer...right? The name of Sunraku's guild is Wolfgang, and their upcoming alliance with the Schwarzer Wolf is dependent on Lycagon staying an active plot point. And...they won't kill Emul...right? I mean, normally cute little avatar sidekicks make me dry heave, but I've grown fond of Emul against all expectations. She's a cute sidekick who's actually cute. How the hell are they going to resolve this knotty situation? And will Akitsuane (<==sp?) become a new member of Wolfgang? What about Rust and Mold? I'd love to see some clan building. And I'd like Pencil-Gon and Katzo to rejoin the main goings on too though the show is doing a good job keeping me invested. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2918 |
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I do not think that they will kill Lycagon. To clarify, I think that they will win the fight but that there is a catch like this Lycagon being a shadow or something similar. The lack of blood particles seems to imply something of that nature (the first encounter version of Lycagon was real and had blood particles after all).
As for killing Emul, nah, I do not see that happening since she plays a rather big role in the show and is the mascot character. Otherwise the fight is damn exciting like all the big fights are. Character wise it seems like both non Shangri-La games were in fact important in getting new people to join Sunraku on his adventure. Finally, the new opening and ending are nice and contain a lot of information. Seems like Rust and Mold are joining up with the current group to go on a mission. Said mission seems to include a creepy town, sailing on a boat and fighting sea monsters. That all seems related to the eldritch colossus. I do not see Katzo and Pencil-Gon though so maybe they are sitting this one out. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1837 |
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Two points my dear Smurk-meister: (1) The opening also showed Psyger-0 tagging along with Rust and Mold and crew, which is cool. It seems like Rei-Shi might be sticking around. (2) the second half of the opening showed Pencil-Gon, Katzo, and Sunraku in their IRL identifies, along with a fourth person who I'm thinking is probably Akitsuane since it didn't look like Rei. And they were going to meet some mysterious person wearing something that looked like a beret. So maybe Akitsuane is joining Wolfgang, and they're going to meet up and make some moves IRL? Hoping so anyway. That could be cool. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11681 |
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I like the new ninja girl. She's fun and genki in a non-irritating way and knows her stuff. Hammerbunny is cool too. Glad they're sticking around.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24456 |
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Episode 38
As I have said before, I fully understand that this show has only one real interest: showing Sunraku fight... sometimes by himself, sometimes with various allies du jour. The show has made no bones about this, despite dropping the occasional hint that it might have something else on its mind other than, "zomg, isn't Sunraku just, like, the best!!!" I've kinda made my peace with that BUT not enough to completely stop griping about its style of story-telling. Watching this show is like listening to a wide-eyed kid with ADHD yammer, "A happened an' then B happened an' then C happened an' an' then D happened an' then E happened--" where there is no real connection between A, B, C, D and E. Case in point: the introduction of Akitsu and Ceecrue as characters. Don't get me wrong, I like them both, I have no beef with them. But didn't we just meet Rust and Mold? Can't we explore one new thing a little bit before dropping it and jumping into something new? "An' an' then F happened!" I'd be less irritated if I thought that the whole gang was eventually going to be brought together for a cogent storyline but after 38 episodes of not seeing that kind of story-telling, I have my doubts. Remember way back in season 1, we were introduced to some characters who were involved in making the game? Haven't heard a peep from them since. ("An' an' then G happened!"). Pencilgon and Blondy and clan alliance? Dropped. ("An' an' then H happened!") *sigh* Well, at least Psyger-0 is getting some screen time so I guess I should just count my blessings. "An' an' then I happened!" |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1837 |
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@Smurky - I meant "ending piece." obviously.
@Blood - you mentioned in the Solo Leveling thread that you were expecting me to do my anime lawyer shtick here, but I actually agree with a lot of your post (Note to self - check medication  ). The difference is in the degree to how much some things bother or appeal to me.
I wouldn't mind if they had shortened the Tomb-guard battle by two episodes last season, and I wouldn't mind it if they'd shortened this Lycagon battle by an episode or two this season either. I think that would be easily doable without losing any important bits, But I still enjoy the battle, and they've managed to work in some fairly significant characters and character interaction in, and to be fair, Lycagon is pretty important to the anime. And I too wish the anime would spend less time on Sunraku adventuring alone or leapfrogging from episode guest to episode guest and spend more time with the Wolfgang clan en toto. But aside from that one golden scorpion episode that pushed my limits, I've stayed engaged. And I could argue about the world building in this show like I did over in Solo Leveling, but I think the difference in degree really comes down to how much we each love gaming and how much better my tastes are tha(Koff) I mean, *individual preferences*.<--closest I could come to air quote emojis .
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24456 |
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*sniffle*
You had me at "...I actually agree..." |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1837 |
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Episode 39 - Welp, that was a logical way to resolve things. Don't know why I didn't think of that while I was chewing possibilities over. Once Lycagon demonstrated a certain ability, there was no reason why it couldn't logically be taken one step further,
I can only assume that Schwarz Wolf and the Professor will be going into orgasms when they get all of this new intel on The Night Slayer.. I enjoyed this arc - especially the Rei-shi progress, but I do still think the fight could have been cut down by an episode. I love the show, but I really don't need to see all these Killer moves where they just scream a name (Detroit Smash!) and then have lots of explosive special effects without really differentiating them greatly from all the other killer moves out there But these bosses are really distinct and interesting, to me at least, and the show does interaction well when it gets to it. - also, I looked at the closing piece again today, and it looks to me like Pencil-Gon, Katzo, Surako, and hopefully Akitsuane are in real world civies walking toward a girl with slight helmet hair, not a beret. Brown hair too, so maybe it's Rei Shi. I would love to see some IRL interaction. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24456 |
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Great way to end the episode. I'm very curious what Sunrako getting swallowed up by the Chibi Lycagon avatar actually means. Selfishly, I hope his armor curse isn't lifted because I can't imagine him without the bird mask. If I were Psyger-0, I think I would take an auctioneer course just to train myself how to speak faster for those all important chant recital sessions. Geez, she didn't exactly spit out the words in double time, that's for sure. Really happy to see her get a chance to shine, though. So I wonder what's next? Are we actually gonna get some story accumulation and have Sunraku meet up with Mold and Rust or are we in for Side Adventure 148?
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2918 |
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The wolf at the end eating Sunraku aside that kind of went how I expected it to. There was no way that the gang was defeating Lycagon when that fight is being set up as something towards the end of the whole adventure. I also do not expect the curse to go anywhere, I do hope Sunraku gets something good for all that work though.
The boss fights in the show are indeed long but I love how varied they are and how gamey they feel. The colossi in particular demand intricate strategies and a unique approach every time. Just tanking hits and doing damage is not nearly enough to win and that makes sense given that they were undefeated until not long ago. Given the OP/ED it kind of seems like we are getting two arcs/events up next with there being the ship/eldritch adventure and the pro gaming event. The latter becomes clear due to the opening and it mentioning two teams. The IRL meeting might also refer to that. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1837 |
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I watched the new OP for the first time - usually I hit the skip intro because I'm in a hurry to get to the story - and I find myself wondering what all those chain images are about.
Exactly what chains does Sunraku have to free himself from? Perceptions of reality? Boundaries between the game world and the real world? Do Rei-shi's slightly obsessive stalker tendencies take a strange turn in the near future? I like that Rei-Shi is again featured in rank with the rest of the Wolf Gang, joining them shoulder to shoulder, as well as featured as part of the quest with Rust and Mold in the closer. And it occurred to me that the newest addition will be able to go with Sunraku to Rabbit land, making that less solo player action. Things seem to be developing in a promising way IMHO. |
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