Shangri-La Frontier Season 2

Episode 38

While I didn't necessarily think that anybody would get a game over during this episode, there were certainly a lot of moments of tension. The moment where Psyger-0 had their head ripped off and was being chewed on almost got me, but I always kept in mind that the ninja girl from earlier was going to show up in the nick of time, and turns out I was right! We get a proper introduction to Akane who, much like Sunraku, was marked by one of the game's unique encounters and earned the right to visit Rabituza. It was played up a bit like a mystery that she knew Sunraku, but it didn't take much to deduce that she was, in fact, that one character who showed a lot of potential in that buggy fighting game Sunraku played back in season one. I don't necessarily like the way the show structures its detours, but at least we get a significant payoff for that one in this episode, and based on the new anime opening, there's a chance we'll have more payoffs in the second half of the season.

Akane seems like a fun character, definitely more of the cheerful and excitable type of gamer compared to everybody else, who seem a lot more selfish. It's actually kind of refreshing. I also like the fact that the show doesn't try to emphasize that she is overpowered or anything. She is here to assist while Sunraku and Psyger-0 are still the ones doing the main fighting. I also like that it's implied the AI for our wolf friend is learning and getting more aggressive towards Psyger-0, making their fight strategy harder. But it's also cute that the inclusion of Emul actually inspired Sunraku to fight harder, since there's a chance she can be deleted.

It looks like they were able to fulfill the necessary conditions that they needed in order to perform the ultimate finisher. Next episode will probably be the final climax of this fight, and I am genuinely curious where it's going to go. I don't think they are going to take down Lycagon, but it would be interesting if this fight also led to a definitive difference in status quo. At the very least, I hope the show keeps making things flashy and entertaining!

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