In a post-apocalyptic society, much of earthquake-riddled Japan has been left to ruin, resulting in an abundance of greenery. Governments manage much of the world's emissions, resulting in a massive class divide and economic disparity. The Japanese government launches "Project Atlas," a utopian city that will replace Tokyo but can only fit a certain amount of people. This limitation means that some people will have to live outside the city in jungles, as refugees.
However, with any flawed plan comes those who are willing to challenge it. These include Kuniko Houjou, an heir to a renegade town; Mikuni, a mysterious and powerful child kept in a secret temple; Kunihito Kusanagi, a soldier for the high-tech and exclusive monopoly Atlas; Karin Ishida, a genius economics whiz with her hand in markets across the world; and the villainous Ryouko Naruse, leading Atlas in its domination of this future world.
Can this group of rebels, forming a movement known as "Metal-Age," band together to demonstrate that inclusion and teamwork prevail over cruel segregation?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Archaeon
Everybody knows of at least one anime that, while being rather decent for the most part, is sorely let down by certain rudimentary failings which a little more planning could have easily resolved, and it's unfortunate that as anime has gradually become more commercially viable, this phenomenon steadily been increasing. It's a sad fact though that one of the main avoidable flaws is also one that a little common sense could fix. A case in point is Shangri-La. Adapted from the manga of the same name, which in turn is an adaptation of a series of science fiction light novels by Ikegami Eiichi, the anime version isa reasonably good envisioning of the story. In what is effectively his first time directing a full series (movies notwithstanding), director Bessho Makoto has done a pretty decent job of bringing the series to life.
Set in the mid 21st century, the world has become a very strange place indeed as an international committee forcefully imposed a "carbon tax" on all the CO2 producing nations of the world in order to mitigate the effects of Global Warming. The financial and economic markets of the world altered greatly because of this change as more nations poured their money into the carbon markets in an effort to offset their current tax levies. Unfortunately, Japan suffered a major earthquake which destroyed most of it's infrastructure during this time, and to further compound matters, Japan's carbon tax rate was not lifted out of fear it would set a precedent, making Japan one of the poorest nations on earth.
However, a lifeline has been thrown to the ailing nation in the form of ATLAS, a project to rebuild Tokyo far above the ground, while the land itself is given over to the jungle.
The story begins with a young girl being released from a Japanese detention center, where she has been for two years. She is Hojo Kuniko, the "leader" of the anti-government group known as Metal Age, and her newfound freedom sparks a chain of events which will shake the world.
As far as the story goes, it can honestly be said that Shangri-La has almost everything anyone could possibly want, however this is also it's Achilles' Heel. The plot, which is generally paced quite well, has a tendency to go off the beaten track in an effort to justify events in the anime, and this is where the whole thing begins to unravel.
Quite simply, Shangri-La tries to cram far too much into 24 episodes. The rather lengthy introduction to the story earlier is an example of just how much content is in this anime, and while one can appreciate the effort that has gone into producing a viable screenplay, an experienced screenwriter like Onogi Hiroshi should really have known better than to try and put the whole story on screen. Likewise the director, having had some experience with the Ah! Megami-sama and Armitage: Dual Matrix movies, should have made the effort to keep things a little more simple.
As it is right now, Shangri-La isn't a bad series, however the numerous twists, turns, plots, counterplots, double crosses, extortions, blackmails, vendettas, factions, and characters who have a stake in the future of Japan, all serve to cloud the story proper, and confuse the viewer who may be left scratching at some new direction to which the show has suddenly veered. While the series does try to tie up the various loose ends and explain what has actually happened, there is simply too much to absorb in one go, and many people may find themselves stretching the series out just so they can absorb what has already happened (and maybe make sense of it).
For the most part the series is fairly well animated and the characters move nicely. However, whenever the show takes a turn towards action or combat, then the cracks begin to appear. The action sequences are decent enough in their own way, but there are numerous occasions when the characters somehow defy the laws of physics (Kuniko's spinning boomerang attack outside of ATLAS being a great example of this at work). One can only attribute this to a marked lack of attention to detail, or an attempt to make the show look "cooler" than it is. Whatever the case may be, Gonzo have let themselves down with Shangri-La as it is a long way from being their best work.
On the plus side though, the backgrounds and settings are failry well realised. Likewise, the characters are also reasonably well designed, although there is degree of naivety inherent in this, especially in the case of Kuniko, as while the characters appear as individuals facially, their clothes never really seem to change at all (except for Momoko).
To be honest, I was expecting somthing a little more in keeping with the theme and setting of the series given that the characters were designed by Range Murata (who also designed the characters for Last Exile and Blue Submarine No.6), but like everything in this show, this department is a bit of a mixed bag.
Musically the show is a bit hit and miss. The OP, a boppy little J-Pop track called "Kimi Shinitamo Koto Nakare" by May'n, has some extremely well choreographed visuals to go along with it. The ED is another J-Pop track, this time by Midori, called "Hajimari no Asa ni Hikari Are", and while it's a nice enough little ditty, it's not really memorable in any way. Both the OP and ED are decent enough tracks, but the series is let down by some poor and cliched thematic music. That's not to say that all of the mood music in the anime is bad, no, it's simply that the usage of certain tracks is a bit on the silly side. One example in the very first episode occurs when the viewer is shown ATLAS for the very first time - cue the dark and foreboding "Castle of Ultimate Despair" style music. It's this cliched music usage that really spoils certain parts of the series as the viewer is left in no doubt who the bad guys are.
Even if the show had tried to be a bit more ambiguous with their definitions of right and wrong (and oh how I wish they'd gone down that route), the music would have simply given the game away.
As far as the voice acting goes, it's pretty good on the whole. The cast are fairly talented, and are able to express a good degree of emotions, however there are several occasions where the drama is really "hammed up", which somewhat ruins the mood of the scene.
One of the biggest problems with Shangri-La is it's wealth of characters. The show has several leads and numerous supporting characters, which on paper would make for some great development if handled correctly. Unfortunately,the development of most of the characters is often haphazard, or stunted completely, and the reason for this is because the series attempts to justify everything. In simpler terms, the show tries to give every regular character a reason for their actions, thoughts, idealogies, feelings, etc, and because of this there is no real focus on the lead roles because the show simply runs out of time - which is why many people find the ending to be extremely rushed.
Shangri-La isn'ta bad series, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy it. The show has many interesting concepts to recommend it, but none of them are ever fully explored due to the attempt by the screenwriter to cram the entire novel series into 24 episodes. The sci-fi twist is coupled with a supernatural angle later in the story, and while this is not a bad thing, the show uses this as a justification for certain actions and events without ever fully explaining the link. The trade shenanigans in virtual carbon could have made for an OVA at the very least, as could life in the show's version of Akihabara.
Somewhere along the way the environmental message also went missing. Being ambitiousis all well and good, but it shouldn't be taken so far as to be a detriment to the series.
On the whole this series has much to criticise about, however don't be fooled into thinking it's godawful because of it's flaws. It's said that the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts, and Shangri-La is an example of this at work. Even with the numerous flaws I was extremely surprised to find that the story was pretty engaging, the characters were amiable and relatable, the settings were nice to look at, and the majority of the music was fairly easy on the ears. It's these positives that are the reason why the series is raised above the level of medicority, and while the plot may be a little garbled and far too convoluted and involved for it's own good, that doesn't mean that the premise or story are bad. It simply means that one has to work that little bit harder to figure out what's actually going on.
It's just unfortunate that, with so much potential inherent in the story, we didn't get to see the show as it should have been. Still, better luck next time, and hopefully Gonzo et al will learn from their mistakes.
CherryHawk
I happened to have caught the first episode of this anime on it's air date and I stuck it through all the way to the end. I must say that I am very pleased as upon finishing this anime I am left with that "epic journey" feeling. Well lets get to it... STORY 6/10 - It was interesting, but I suppose I wouldn't say that it's breathtakingly captivating. Sometimes there will be discussions about the worlds fictional economy and to the less sophisticated the dialogue might go in one ear and out the other. Towards the middle you might feel the plotbegins to go into tangents but it does eventually tie together. All in all, it had it's "awesome" moments and it's "touchy" moments, and as for the ending... it was good.
ART 8/10 - I'm personally not that nit-picky about this kind of stuff, but it looked good to me. Lots of awesome explosions, nice backgrounds, action scenes and the characters were drawn well (particularly the transsexuals who definitely looked like transsexuals)
SOUND 7/10 - I personally can't remember any of the background music and I don't think there were any notable inserts which says enough for itself. The SFX were up to date and what they should be, sounded great. I give it a 7 cause I enjoyed the opening and ending credits which to me can sometimes make or break an anime if it's borderline.
CHARACTER 8/10 - Main character is very like-able, cute but not drenched in "moe" which is a plus in my opinion. A lot of the other notable characters are cute little girls as well. What I found the most interesting was the presence of a couple transsexuals in the main cast that played a big role in the story. They fit their roles really well, ironically playing motherly roles with those touchy family like bonds as well as having their own sense of transsexual humor. They may be one of the more memorable assets to this anime.
ENJOYMENT 7/10 - Simply put, I enjoyed it : ). I wasn't tossing and turning in bed waiting for the new episodes to come out, but I didn't skip a beat to watch them when they did. I probably won't watch it again but I'm glad I watched it.
For those who haven't watched it I would give it 3-4 episodes before you decide you don't like it. If you like animes where the main character can seemingly do anything then you should check this one out.
Fratele9
I find this anime extremely underrated. This anime was outstanding and a jewel of the genre. It is as enjoyable as it is clever, as fun as it is sad in a sense, and kept me hooked from start to end. It gives the Code Geass sort of feeling, so it was not a shock that I enjoyed it. The only negative sides I really saw were that they could have developed a few of the characters a little more. But I see an unfathomable amount of potential in this series if they were to extend it, giving it a chance to do as such. The plot itselfwas interesting and got complex at some times. But I like some complexity in plot lines, for it keeps the audience wondering, guessing, and wanting to know more. And this was the case with the beautifully drawn, beautifully enacted, and beautifully thought over Shangri-La.
mouthpiece
Shangri-La came out at a time when people were finally beginning to realize what a crapfest studio GONZO was all along. It took them 10 years but after the repeated failures even the fanboys started to have their doubts. So as soon as this show is announced, most tried to find some hints that may lead to the series being good for a change. The cover picture sure didn’t look promising, since all we see is a pink-haired loli with a boomerang. But alas, the character designer is Renge Murata, who drew the casts of Last Exile and Blue Submarine No.6. With such a greatcharacter designer, this show can’t possibly fail!... Or that is what they thought. Silly gonzotards, this was the best claim they could come up with; anything vaguely reminded of Last Exile is auto-win. Since when was Last Exile a great show to begin with? And since when is something as unimportant as character looks the most important thing in a show? Maybe in storyless moe this stands true but this is not the case. Anyways, the show turned out to be indeed nothing more than what the main picture was showing all along: A pink-haired loli with a boomerang. OBVIOUS OR WHAT?
So what is the story about anyway? Basically it is a retarded version of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. It is about the world being taxed on how much they pollute the environment, and how some cities are redesigned as places where the air is filtered. It is about jungles and cities mixing together and security organizations attacking civilian areas if the slightest change in carbon dioxide is spotted. This interesting concept is of coursed completely trashed at the hands of the idiots writing the script, so all attempts at trying to make the series to appear intelligent, pro-ecological and social-political are turned to a travesty… Oh, did I tell you there are actual transvestites in this series?
Although the setting is a mature sci-fi dystopia, the characters living in it are a bunch of shounen and moe archetypes, completely irrelevant to their surrounds. This alone destroys any credibility in getting to like the themes, since what you get is like a tropical forest full of pink polar bears.
- Here you are watching a world trying to recover from a devastating ecological catastrophe and then a loli appears that to the most part she is being vulgar to her peers and jumps all over the place while her mini skirt mysteriously doesn’t follow the laws of physics and stays down all the time. She fights by using a boomerang that somehow is more powerful than a hundred soldiers and a dozen tanks that are constantly firing at her. She is not all alone of course; she is aided by her transvestite friends who love to molest soldiers during battles. Yes, you just see the quality oozing from the scriptwriters’ armpits.
- Here you are watching a rather complicating economical system of taxing based on carbon dioxide emissions which is deciding the fate of entire nations. And then a blond hacker loli with a teddy bear hacks everything with a magical creature and the balance of funds changes as it feels like it. Woah, amazing tactics there you guys.
- Here you are watching a jungle that feels closer to a Wizard of Oz forest.
- Why the devil is the heroine dressed as a school girl in a setting that has no high schools? Why is her hair pink? Half-assed otaku bait bullcrap; that’s why.
- Everything is explained in forced monologues and in your face, in the most fake way possible. There is no way they would be so explanatory about things they know so well for decades.
- And despite the forced explanations, almost nothing seems to make sense in the logrun. It’s like the characters break the fourth wall to tell you how their unicorn turns invisible but otherwise never tell you where the devil did they found the unicorn in the first place.
- The directing is horrible as usual. Most events are hardly presented with the gravity they deserve, they are either too superficial, or too vague, or too slow, or too rushed. It makes you thing everything is, like GONZO, a farce.
The production values are also not good. Although the sceneries are quite captivating with their detailed jungles and industrial areas, the foreground is one big mess of generic and usually crudely drawn character figures, random action scenes, and messy BGM that is thrown almost randomly at each scene. So much for Murata’s designs saving the show you gonzotards! They look awful! Especially the trannies.
What is even worse is that you will not be able to remember any of the characters. Theirs looks and personalities are so simple and stupid, they get automatically deleted from your brain five minutes after the episode is over. Most of them don’t even have backdrop stories, and those who do are barely hinted but never clearly explained. Their motivations also make no sense at all and they seem to change their minds for no reason, all the time. You can’t even remember them based on their clothes because the main loli is dressed as generically as it gets, while the more flamboyant personalities such as the trannies and the crazy company mistress change clothes on every episode. So no wonder that the only things I remember from the over fifty characters in this show are a boomerang thrown by some generic moe girl, some power that kills you by telling a lie to another boring loli, and TRAAAANIEEES!
And now for some excused scorings.
ART SECTION: 7/10
General Artwork 2/2 (looks good superficially)
Character Figures 1/2 (generic)
Backgrounds 2/2 (eye-catchy)
Animation 1/2 (basic)
Visual Effects 1/2 (basic)
SOUND SECTION: 3/10
Voice Acting 1/3 (retarded and corny)
Music Themes 1/4 (forgettable and unfit)
Sound Effects 1/3 (basic)
STORY SECTION: 4/10
Premise 2/2 (interesting)
Pacing 0/2 (chaotic)
Complexity 1/2 (not much)
Plausibility 0/2 (none)
Conclusion 1/2 (rushed and messy)
CHARACTER SECTION: 2/10
Presence 1/2 (generic)
Personality 1/2 (generic)
Backdrop 0/2 (barely exists)
Development 0/2 (random to the point of not existing)
Catharsis 0/2 (what who where what?)
VALUE SECTION: 1/10
Historical Value 0/3 (none)
Rewatchability 1/3 (no point in doing so)
Memorability 1/4 (it will give you nightmares but you will forget it eventually)
ENJOYMENT SECTION: 2/10
Nice setting but otherwise horrible. A completely tasteless, insulting, poorly-written mess. In other words, just another GONZO anime to play Frisbee with your dog.
VERDICT: 3/10
TevishSzat
To all the budding writers and screenwriters out there, I say this: there are a lot of models of what to do. No doubt you know them, stories you've watched or read that moved you, made you feel, or made you think. But if you ever need a sample of what not to do, or how to put things together wrong, I have good news! You've got Shangri-la. In some ways, this is a hard one for me, because when I review something, even something bad, I'd rather be sparing with the vitriol. There are plenty of reviewers who curse a lot,or even come up with good creative smackdowns, so I try to keep a somewhat more academic tone. But there are only so many times I can say “That didn't work.” “Why was that here?” “That was pointless.” or other such critiques before the litany becomes nothing more than conceptual noise. I suppose that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, however, as 'Conceptual Noise' is a fair descriptor for Shangri-la.
In that vein, let me introduce you to a concept you may have heard of, but probably not in the context of reviewing an anime: Signal-to-Noise Ratio. Basically, it's the ratio of what you actually want (Signal) compared to the meaningless garbage that does nothing but waste your time and effort picking through it (Noise). Shangri-la's Signal-to-Noise Ratio is terrible. I think this is the biggest problem of the show – screen time is constantly wasted on themes, ideas, characters, and plot arcs that go nowhere and ultimately add nothing to the core of the show. They exist, they waste your time, and if you cut them out entirely you would find you missed out on surprisingly little. Here's a quick list of the characters who were utterly worthless: Kunihito (a theoretically main character), Yuri, Souichirou, Nagiko, Leon, Shion, Kanaria, Shougo, Takehiko, Tarsian, and Tomoko (though at least she was briefly entertaining). More characters like Karin (along with her supporting cast of Klaris, Zhang, and Medusa. More on them later.) and Mikuni (along with her supporting cast of Sayoko and Mi-ko) failed to amount to anything in the grand scheme of things, but don't really count as completely wasted because at least they provided some material of intrinsic value in the middle.
Some of this is down to the fact that the actual conflict in the climax comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere. I'm not opposed to twists, not by a long shot. But to do a twist well – and this can surprise amateur writers – it needs to be set up, and still flow from what came before. When the truth is revealed in the movie Psycho, it's entirely consistent with what you've seen up until that point, even if it is surprising for the unspoiled. Just because something couldn't be predicted doesn't make it a good twist. I wouldn't have predicted it if after 22 episodes of Shangri-la everybody was eaten by Titans in 23 only for Eren Jaeger to show up in 24... but that wouldn't have made it a good twist or a good climax. Shangri-la doesn't quite do that, but it gets about as close to an unintentional Outside Context scenario as a real narrative, even a poorly-constructed one, could be expected to come.
The thing is, it's not just the climax. The climax is the worst about it by far, but the whole show establishes and sheds elements, clearly not caring about how its universe ties together, disregarding any concept of thematic consistency. Its structure is a wreck, a decaying Frankenstein's Monster made of pieces cobbled together and not caring when one happens to fall off. The show starts with an environmental message that's about as subtle as a brick... but that falls by the wayside pretty quickly. There's a major plot about market manipulation, but while that's setup for more of the show, it really isn't supported as a theme itself. Even Kuniko's revolution isn't the point in the end; at about the two-thirds mark it falls by the wayside, never to return to focus. Instead we get new, different arcs, that are often not really predicated on what came before, and many of which don't bear on what comes after.
As a result, the story is a wreck. It's a rare failure in that any given component part could be at least decent in isolation, or if supported by a different plot or setting but here's the thing... Lego bricks are fine in isolation. They're great toys that can be used to build up any number of creative constructions. But if you take a bunch of Legos, put them in a bag, squirt in superglue, and shake until the glue dries, the mass of plastic waste you'll dump out won't have any of the good qualities it could have had despite the quality of the parts. Shangri-la is like that, and the more you stick with it and realize that, the more painful it becomes to watch.
Even the characters, while better constructed than the plot, suffer the same problem of adapting to serve the flavor of the moment, disregarding logic, consistency, and their own potential. For instance, when we're first introduced to Mikuni, we see her use her psychic powers to kill a retainer who lied to her. Over time, her habit of asking tough questions to those who see her is referred to as a “test”. She seems unrepentant, even pleased with such an outcome, and I labored on the mistaken assumption that her abilities were mind-reading and psychokinesis until at least halfway through the show and that she deliberately killed liars. Only towards the end are we supposed to believe that the painful death is out of her control and not something she likes to see happen. It doesn't add up. There are a lot of other reveals like that; some of them aren't set up or given the time they need to have an impact, while others feel like they downright contradict themselves.
The flaws, though, do extend all the way down. They're more glaring and terrible when the show has built up, but from very early on you can start to recognize something wrong: the show doesn't have consistency in its theme. Far be it from me to say something like “You can't have a setting with both cyberpunk and magic”. Because that's blatantly false. A ton of good pieces of media can have very unique settings that include both a scientific understanding of the world and a mystical one, advanced technology right alongside arcane sorcery. There is, however, a right way and a wrong way to create a setting like that, and the hallmark of the right way is going to be that the disparate elements feel like they're parts of the same whole.
In the RPG Shadowrun, you can have elves and trolls and shamans alongside megacorps and hackers and techno-future cityscapes because the trolls can be hackers, or the elves might be executives in a megacorp, or the shamans cast their rituals in the dingy alley of the futuristic city. In Shangri-la, the themes it juggles spend a lot of time compartmentalized. When we check up with Mikuni, she doesn't feel like she belongs in Atlas, or the world that Atlas exists in: her palace of perpetual moonlight, for most of the show, could be an entirely separate dimension from the one in which Kuniko and her Metal Age friends live. If it weren't for the occasional character visiting the 'other world' you wouldn't even know you were in the same show. Karin and Kuniko aren't quite as far from each other as either of them is from Mikuni, but they still represent fairly divorced ideas from one another.
Kuniko is, at least in her pitch, a rebel. The story she wants to engage in, that her existence naturally gravitates towards, is a story about the struggle of have-nots against oppressive elites. Karin, at the same basic level, is a white-collar criminal. A likable one, perhaps, but that's what she is. Her “natural” story is much more of a high-concept thriller, about the nature of AI or attempting to get ahead within a broken system. They're both cyberpunk stories (more or less) but they're so different that they shouldn't intersect. These characters shouldn't be in the same narrative with the emotional weights and investment they're given. Kuniko's character type doesn't exist in Karin's story, and Karin's is a villain in Kuniko's sort of story, which isn't how she's portrayed.
It seems like that was probably deliberate, but it wasn't a good choice. With a lot of skill and effort, some writers might have been able to pull it off, to have these characters from different sub-genres or even genres meet and interact and make it interesting and consistent, but that's not what the writers behind Shangri-la do. And it gets dramatically harder to pull off when there are at least three 'worlds' rather than just two. And the narrative capable of pulling off the X meets Y meets Z scenario would know how Outside Context Problems work, and how to make them compelling for the viewer. It could be interesting to have a Mikuni-type character living in this strange bubble world-within-a-world have to go out and encounter a whole new genre, but to do that, and to get the emotions of the viewer on the same page with the emotions of the character, you'd want them to explicitly have an initial separation. Mikuni both exists in Atlas and in her own little world. Kuniko both follows her own story, the arguable main plot, and gracelessly intrudes on Karin's. This is a case where the writers tried to have their cake and eat it too, and it just doesn't go as is.
And... I've talked about the climax already, and how a show with an already cracked foundation falls apart, but I think it's worth the time to say: it's worse than that. The downfall of Shangri-la isn't just that the core problems add up and cascade into major issues. Which they do, but it goes beyond. The skill showed in setting up Shangri-la, or the lack thereof, continues throughout and frankly gets worse in the story's final act. Multiple times in the last third, increasing into the final few episodes, my train of thought came to a screeching halt to demand “Why?!”. Reveals are made that are utterly nonsensical. Why? Characters drop in and out of the story in a continuous roulette wheel of appearing to die only to show up fine. Why? Entire new plot elements emerge that belong to nothing before and sometimes have no effect on anything that comes after. Why? We waste tons of time on lame exposition telling us things that had already been explained in fewer words, with no emotional investment in the new explanation and no reason to do it with soulless narration when it could have been effective with either real scenes or visual storytelling. Why? The vast majority of everything done by every character over the course of the show has absolutely no bearing on the final act, which has different stakes and different conflict from anything that was set up before. Why? Why any of this? Why did we even bother with the vast majority of the show?
The answer is that the writing is just that bad. If the writers knew what they wanted to do they didn't know how to do it, and I'm not sure they even knew what they wanted.
The closest thing we get to a good story is the story of Karin and Medusa. Barring the episode with Kanaria, which comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere the show couldn't have gone without it, her story is internally consistent and has some good emotional notes. If you just threw the main plot in the trash, and many of the other side plots, Karin's storyline at least resembles the skeleton of a good story, rather than jumbled pieces. It has a beginning, middle, and end that go together alright; I felt like I understood her character and her struggles; her chain of events was logically consistent; she had a solid and consistent theme; and I even felt something from the climax of her arc – which is more than I can say for the main plot or any of the other side stories that Shangri-la throws away.
There are aspects of Shangri-la that aren't bad: the technical aspects. The art looks pretty decent, and while you should tone your expectations way down from the opening (this isn't an action show, and the action scenes there are run the gamut from alright to actually kind of bad) I can't say it's actually terrible. At least there's some flow, some good backgrounds, and the characters do move when they're supposed to be moving, which is more than I could say for some other shows where the writing is as bad as Shangri-la's. The sound too, is... fine I guess? The music is inoffensive and usually fits the scene, and the character voices usually sell what they are pretty well. There can be times when a performance is just a bit annoying or a delivery sounds forced, but I'm not sure what actors could make some of the lines they're given sound natural. Some, particularly Nagiko and Tarsian, could have done better about not sounding like they were reading off a script they didn't really care about, but even if they didn't give 100% they gave more than the writers.
Shangri-la is a disappointment. A huge disappointment. It didn't start strong, but even with that being the case it just got weaker and weaker as it progressed. Sometimes Karin or Kuniko approached at least decent writing, but Shangri-la as a whole utterly fails to accomplish any level of quality.
SCORE BREAKDOWN
Story: 2 (and one of those points is just for Karin and MEDUSA in isolation.)
Art: 6
Sound: 6
Character: 3
Enjoyment: 2
Total: 3 (3.8)
Verdict: Unless you want to spend about twelve hours getting an object lesson on how NOT to create speculative fiction, skip Shangri-la and try to forget you ever looked its way.
HiroShotgun
Shangri-La is a weird show to me because I honestly can't tell who this show is for. With a long list of story lines and plot threads all mashed up together, all trying to tell there own stories with varied tones and subject matter, you would think in all of that there would at least be something you can like about this show, or at very least something positive to take away from it. In actuality this show feels like what was intended to be many different ideas that were intended to have their own series devoted to them got crammed together like some sortof anime soup. I don't mean to take away from the writer though, in actuality I thought that many of the plot elements in this show had potential.
What could have been is sort of the tune I'll be singing to though. From the very start of episode one I felt this way. At first it seems like a interesting take on the post apocalyptic setting, In which the worlds polar ice caps are melting at such an alarming rate that populations across the world are forced to consolidate their living space and leave most big cites to be taken over by the forest out of necessity to keep the worlds carbon balance at bay. This show also shows what a word economy based on carbon would be like, these are actually some of the most entertaining parts of the show to me but I realize I'm not everyone.
And this is where the biggest problem this series is put in full spot light, the main character Kuniko is one of the least interesting people in the story. There are a TON of interesting sub-plots in this show that easily overshadow the "main story." The only interesting things that happen in this show are things that usually have little to nothing to do with Kuniko. I guess I just personally dislike her to some extent simply because I was much more interested in the side characters. So I beg ask the question, Is it that Kuniko is badly written or that the supporting cast is just written better than she is? I don't rightfully know myself, if you decide to watch this then I guess you will come to your own conclusions. The supporting cast I mentioned before is quite interesting, and in some resects is worth checking the show out for. You have Momoko, the trans-sexual motherly figure to Kuniko ( wow, I never thought I'd write that). Karin the carbon terrorist (sort of) and just over all economical badass. And Mikuni-sama, the mysterious little girl that carries a strange disease that doesn't allow her to go out in the sun, but does seemingly give her some horrifying powers. And Kuniko has a boomerang, riveting. The characters do give this show some redeeming qualities so if you are just looking for a few neat characters to tickle your fancy (not like that) then you could pick a worse show.
The story is still a mess though.
"Okay, lets have an episode with a lot of action in it!"
"Wont that drain our budget and force us to spend way too long focusing on the supporting cast since Kuniko is a action based character?"
"Shut up! No one will care about this show if we don't blow most of our budget on the first half!
Now animate some more explosions and have that one chick beat up the waiter guy again, that doesn't make people feel uncomfortable at all."
Shangri-La is very average in my opinion. It has some good things going for it, but at the same time a lot of stupid crap as well. Mediocre is probably the best way to describe this in short.
This show has been licensed by Funimation, and is relatively cheap on DVD. If you are wondering there is a english dub that is quite serviceable. There is also a French dub if thats you thing.
This show gets a 5/10 in my book, but I do recommend it if you don't mind sitting through a bit of a mess. Thank you for reading, please tell me if you found this helpful.
LuckyCeci
Story: It has a nice start, giving you a slight air of mystery while not overdoing it. I won't say it's the best plot I've seen but it's better than some of the animes I've seen. Plus, I do like some futuristic animes once in a while :) Art: It's good, with some nice explosions and action scenes, but it's not terrific either. It's of average to me but I'm not the sort to be very picky on the subject. Sound: I like the sounds but as I said with art, it's average. Character: Kuniko is a cute and likable character but I think she's a bit toonaive and foolish at her age of 18. The other characters are pretty good, with some nice backgrounds that are interesting, especially the cute Karin's.
Enjoyment: I did enjoy this show very much though I wish they did a better job with the ending, I just felt the ending was too swift. The plot twists weren't very surprising but it added a nice flavor to the show.
Overall: It's great, nice action scenes and even some cute romantic scenes. I can't say it's the best show ever but it certainly ranks pretty high in my book.
Joe_Devaney
Overview: The post-apocalyptic genre is one that has been done to death in just about every form of media you can think of, yet has proven to remain popular even to this day. "Shangri-La", an anime by Gonzo originally released in 2009, is one of the lesser known examples of the genre, and is in equal parts an example of what to do and what NOT to do with it. It's an intriguing series to be sure, but it never manages to make the most of that intrigue, and is a very mixed bag overall. Story (6.5/10): Set many years after an earthquake ravaged Japan, the human populationhas been split into two main factions- the elite, who live in a grand, futuristic tower named Atlas, and the refugees, who live a ramshackle town called Duomu and have to regularly take up arms in order to get through day by day. Belonging to the latter group is our protagonist, Kuniko Hojo, an 18-year-old girl who has recently been released from a detention centre and is being trained to become the future leader of a resistance group called Metal Age, who serve as the main providers of supplies for people in the slums. While Kuniko and her friends are performing a raid on Atlas, Kuniko discovers an unpleasant truth- Atlas has more than enough vacancies for everyone living in Duomu, which can only mean the higher-ups are selfish jerks who would rather keep it all to themselves. After this, Kuniko becomes determined to take what she and her people are owed and fight for a better future.
The story sounds interesting and complex, and it is. Unfortunately, it also has a serious problem with getting to the point! Even though the truth about Atlas is revealed at the end of the third episode, it isn't until just over halfway though the series that any meaningful attack on it is launched. Between all of this is a set-up that feels like it goes on for much longer than necessary. There's even some attempt to question as to whether Metal Age are really doing the right thing, which would probably have had the intended impact if it wasn't for the fact that the supreme leader of Atlas is clearly shown to be a selfish psychopath who openly admits that she sees everything and everyone as tools for her amusement, and whatever problems the people in Atlas might have can't even begin to compare to those of the people in Doumu, something Kuniko herself even points out. There's even an arc where Kuniko is sent back to the detention centre for a few episodes, during which pretty much nothing noteworthy happens aside from Kuniko's first face-to-face meeting with the main villain, making it feel like empty padding more than anything. Fortunately, I can say that the second half of the series is a lot better than the first, but that really isn't saying much since it was a pretty low bar to clear.
Even beyond the very slow-paced beginning (which I've honestly come to expect from Gonzo anime, anyway), the series often ends up confused and entangled in its own narrative. Throughout the series, there are no less than four stories going on simultaneously, and while some of them are decently enjoyable (Mikuni's story being a highlight), there are others that I couldn't make sense of for the life of me. The biggest example of this would be that of Karin Ishida, a young girl and genius programmer who enjoys messing with the world's economy at her leisure. Throughout the series, I couldn't make heads or tails of the scenes involving Karin and couldn't really figure out why they were even in the series, considering the plot mainly revolves around a resistance group trying to overthrow a tyrannical government, and Karin's economic endeavours don't exactly lead to anything important. Ultimately, it's hard to say whether the series would have benefitted from more episodes or less, since while it does try to ram an awful lot into 24 episodes, a lot of the stuff it puts in feels really unnecessary and the series wouldn't lose much by removing it.
Art & Animation (7.5/10):
As is typical of a Gonzo anime, "Shangri-La" visuals are... not great, to put it bluntly. While the animations are good enough and there are some pretty decent character designs and minimal fanservice, dull colours, muddy textures and rough edges are very frequent. While the series doesn't look horrible by any stretch of the imagination, there's nothing about the visuals that stood out to me either, and so the best way to describe them would be "average".
Sound & Dialogue (8/10):
There really isn't all that much to say about "Shangri-La"'s soundtrack. It's barely even there a lot of the time and even when it is there, it mostly just blends into the background. The opening is also rather forgettable, though the two ending themes are both good in their own way and I will admit I enjoyed listening to them. The voice acting is generally very good, with Lindsay Siedel and Apphia Yu being particular highlights as Kuniko and Mikuni, respectively, and Austin Tindle doing a respectable job as Kunihito. Still, it can be very jarring to hear the voice of Kent Williams coming out of a transgender woman like Momoko, and I don't really know why they didn't go for a softer voice. All in all, the sound design has its problems, but it is still probably the best part of the series.
Characters (7/10):
The best way to describe Kuniko is that she's determined- once she has her mind set on something, she will not give in until she sees it through, and sometimes gets pissed at people who are easily willing to give up simply because they see no point in trying. Of course, determination won't get you far unless you have the strength to back it up, which Kuniko thankfully absolutely has, skilfully wielding a boomerang as big as she is and showing no hesitance to kill if necessary. What's more is that you can certainly tell that's she's been trained for a long time to take over Metal Age, as once things get going, she proves herself to be a very capable and charismatic leader. Unfortunately, while she is a likeable protagonist, she doesn't really undergo any major growth over the show's 24 episodes, which is especially noticeable give that she's the character we see the most of. The closest thing she gets to character development is becoming more determined to improve the lives of her people, something she's attempting to do even in the beginning. Also, and this is a rather minor criticism, but I found her character design to be rather lacking, as she looks like a kid despite being supposedly 18. Personally, I think they should have either made her a few years younger or have her look closer to her age. I'd have been fine with either, honestly, because what's the point in making her older than the usual anime protagonist if she's not going to look it?
Second in importance to Kuniko is Mikuni, a very pale young girl who lives in Atlas and is treated as royalty over there. Initially, she comes off as really creepy and ruthless, even habitually putting people to death for lying (which she is able to see through easily). However, it's later revealed that this isn't her fault, with the heavy implication being that she just doesn't know any better due to her upbringing in Atlas (as well as the fact that her power appears to be out of her control), and she is actually quite innocent and kind, if also rather annoying at times, as any child is. She also suffers from a condition that makes her vulnerable to sunlight, and as such rarely leaves her chambers. Her story runs parallel to Kuniko's for the majority of the series, with it not being until the second half that the two girls meet. While she's not quite as important to the story, I slowly but surely found myself liking Mikuni more than Kuniko (and every other character, for that matter), due to the fact that she actually has a character arc and undergoes some very noticeable changes over the series. Her story also has easily some of the most emotional moments in the anime, and towards the end I just wanted to give the poor girl a hug after all she had been through.
The last member of the main cast is Kunihito Kusanagi, a military officer who resides in Atlas and works for their corporation, which naturally puts him at odds with Metal Age, whom he initially sees as a bunch of selfish rebels. That said, it's hard to call him a villain, as at the end of the day he's just a soldier doing his job and is more than willing to negotiate, even if he's not the best at it due to his refusal to see others' points of view. Unfortunately, there isn't an awful lot to say about him compared to Kuniko and Mikuni, with his character type being one you'll find in many other anime, especially the "Gundam" franchise. Besides the main three, "Shangri-La" has a pretty sizeable supporting cast, some of which are interesting and likeable while others are forgettable or annoying. Among these is two transgender women, who rather than being treated as offensive jokes, are instead major characters with their own feelings, dreams, friendships, and roles to play, which is practically unheard of in anime. In general, the women in the series tend to have bigger roles and importance than the men do, with even the main villain being a woman who constantly expresses dominance over her male subordinates. As a whole, the cast is good, but there isn't anyone I found to be all that memorable.
Enjoyment (7/10):
"Shangri-La"'s poor pacing not only hurts the storytelling, it also means the series can be pretty boring in the first half. While there are some action scenes, they aren't as common as you might think and multiple episodes can go by without their being any action at all. Ultimately, whether you're invested in what's going on or just bored out of your mind really depends on what part of the series you're currently watching, though I can at least say that things get a lot more exciting in the second half, though it can also be rather dark at times, with a number of notable character deaths.
Overall:
While "Shangri-La" isn't a bad anime per se, there isn't really anything about it that makes it stand out among other stories of its kind. The plot is all over the place, the visuals are dull, the soundtrack is passable at best and the characterization varies wildly in quality. It's worth watching if you're a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, but if you've already had your fill of the genre, I would recommend either giving it a miss or saving it for when you have nothing else to watch.
Score:
6.5+7.5+8+7+7=36/50=7.2/10
ggultra2764
I didn't think I'd be hopping back to Shangri-La again. When I think of this series, I think wasted potential. A post-apocalyptic anime focused around themes such as reduction of a country's carbon footprint for economic stability and dealing with the corrupt creator of a utopian city would seem like interesting ideas on paper for an anime series. However, Shangri-La chooses to mix said ideas around while sticking to conventional territory in its focus on our lead heroine Kuniko and her comrades of the radical group called Metal Age. This results in some pretty mixed and often sloppy results as the anime attempts to spinmature storytelling with exploring the dark side of Atlas, yet also tries to pander to otaku and has some immature comical elements it usually incorporates into its episodes. The anime does explore some interesting aspects and developments to its world with pollution affecting the grounded populace and corporate corruption running amuck with some exploiting the strict carbon laws enforced in the world of Shangri-La for their personal financial gain or abusing their power at the cost of the impoverished who are trying to gain citizenship into Atlas. Yet at the same time, the series has ridiculous characters like Kuniko's transvestite bodyguard known to creep out male soldiers with his flirting in battle and a trio of otaku living in the remains of Akihabara who are black market dealers that Kuniko and Metal Age buy supplies or information off of. Comical moments such as the mentioned flirting of the transvestite bodyguard and jokes cracked about Kuniko's chest add to the show feeling a bit juvenile despite the seemingly mature themes it pushes with its setting and story. Many other characters in the series were either cliched (Kuniko and Ryoko, the former being the always optimistic and lively youth who is always right in her convictions and the latter feeling like a clone of Last Exile's Maestro Delphine), are lacking in depth or their characters are too over-the-top for me to take seriously (Shion and Sayoko are masochist and sadomasochist respectively).
The storyline for Shangri-La also has its fair share of ups and downs. The series mixes focus around between several characters at differing points between Kuniko, Kunihito, Karin Ishida and Mikuni. While the four arcs may seem irrelevant at first glance, they slowly come together as more about the darker side of Atlas and Ryoko are revealed as all have their connections to Atlas that are hinted upon. Kuniko's story is fairly typical, yet engaging, as she tries being outsider to the activities of Metal Age before prolonged exposure to the corruption of Atlas drives her to make decisions that lead her to become more involved with Metal Age and Atlas' dark side. Kunihito serves as an opposing side to Kuniko for the first half of Shangri-La, but he doesn't get as much focus as the other characters and is fairly dull character as a result. Karin has the better developments in this series as her seemingly corrupt actions have purer motives that are revealed throughout the course of the series and she learns to accept experiencing the world. Mikuni's developments are also weak here as she is one of several catalysts that introduce mystical elements to Shangri-La that are poorly incorporated into the series and her character doesn't get much in the way of development. The later episodes to the series build up to the mentioned mystical elements that Shangri-La attempts to mix in with the anime's futuristic setting, yet feel very out of place and do not feel smoothly integrated into the show.
The one element that the series managed to pull nicely is its visual presentation. Scenery shots such as the inside of Atlas, toxic jungles and Kuniko's hometown of Duomo sport vivid color and high levels of detail. Character designs are drawn in a typical style, yet sport just as vivid color and detail as the scenery. Action scenes sport solid choreography with some unique approaches like Kuniko's use of her boomerang and Sayoko's use of medical equipment as weapons, though there are occasional animation shortcuts and the CG-animation employed at points still sticks out from the regular animation.
Overall, it felt like Shangri-La was trying to juggle too much throughout its run. The series tried to implement mature themes and storytelling with its setting, yet features elements of pandering to its audience and implements humor and content that make it seem juvenile. It sets up a solid futuristic setting, yet sloppily tries to incorporate mystical elements. It lays out focus on several character storylines with some occasional solid developments, yet two of said characters are bland or lacking in development. This is yet another subpar effort from Gonzo in its continued hit-or-miss efforts with dishing out anime titles.
lakshika
i have never given an anime this much of a low rate,i don't know what happen to this anime it makes me so upset that i watched it.people who watched it said it was bad but i still wanted to give a chance but i was disappointed and felt like im watching a very sad bad joke.oh...boy.....i have never wrote a negative review and its harder than i thought coz we adore anime so much..ok to make it easy for everybody lets talk point by point..first the good points even though its not much....1-it has solid beginning,with mystery.
2-fantasticly interesting characters.
3-strong woman lead character.
4-good sounds(just good nothing else)
5-great voice actors.thats all now the bad ones... 1- the story unfolds its self but the mystery remains a mystery and the story is based on carbon index that i don't get no matter how many times you re watch it when you think you get it then something else happens in that market that we cant grasps,its the main point of the story wich they don't take time to fully explain it its like they didn't care if the fans get it or not.
2- the English voice actors was great(thats why i gave characters 7 otherwise it would have been 4 if i watch in subs that is)but some dialogs sucked so bad specially the explaining of the story ,history of it was horrible it was filled with poems and riddles and words that i have never heard and it was done in one minute can you believe it.i got so mad because the explanation was more confusing than the story it self.now im telling you this my head aces thinking about it and when something serious and heartfelt moment goes on they threw a joke in to fuck the Sean up,i hate the dialog director because some dialogs was too americanish,not heartfelt or touching it was like somebody is reading a book.(he is the one guiding the voice actors)
3- the animation was good-7,backgrounds was good but the characters facial expressions sucked actually they didn't have any facial expressions,they where not animated at all and their eyes was not animated either(its like they where dead inside the art was weird too)specially they should have animated them top to bottom because they are anime characters not cartoon it was like looking at puppet show or dolls dance around,if someone watch this anime for the first anime of their life(to get into anime loving) they will hate the industry trust me for the love of god don't watch it you will start to hate yourself for watching it like i do now!!!!
millguy
I watched this show from start to finish because I thought the tropes were interesting and surprising, which a strange combination of post apocalyptic/ global crises type fiction and magic and science, featuring the unlikely protagonist who is something of a 14 year old terrorist leader in a short skirt. The plot was often very decompressed and... weird, it was never clear where the writer was going with it... but by the end it all came together in a novelish sort of way. In conclusion, I guess the series is good but not great.
bedheadred
Sometime in the future, the Earth is ravaged by the effects of Global Warming. The flora fights back, violently overtaking civilization. In Japan, a perfect utopian society, Atlas, is built and shelters the chosen few, while the rest of society fend for themselves in the ruins of civilization. The global economy is based on carbon. The CO2 producing nations of the world owe large tax levies. Businessmen, hackers and terrorists alike battle for control of the global market and power. The story revolves around a spirited young girl, Kuniko, who is heiress to a "terrorist" organization called Metal Age. Metal Age opposes the exclusionist principles ofthe Japanese government and wishes to protect all people by gaining access to the safety of Atlas. We follow Kuniko as she battles her personal demons and inspires her people to action. With strength and resolve beyond her years, her decisions change the world.
Shangri-la succeeds in creating unique characters. The most memorable characters in my mind are the three codgerly otaku, who deal in underground goods, and Momoko, a transsexual who acts as Kuniko's foster mother and confidant. They provide much needed comic relief to the anime. There are a myraid of supporting characters. Each character is adequately fleshed out with back story that explains their personal motivation.
Shangri-la is visually appealing. There are drastic color palette differences between the sterile Atlas, the encroaching jungle and the ruins of society. These differences really serve to accentuate the segregation of these three equally important pieces of the plot. The character design and wardrobe (a sailor type school uniform) for Kuniko emphasize her young age. Transsexual Momoko's wardrobe changed frequently and was as unique as her personality.
The audio for Shangri-la was uninspiring. The voice actors, although competent, are relatively unknowns. The OP by May'n called "Kimo Shinitamo Koto Nakare" really didn't create a mood for me. The audio wasn't bad, it just wasn't noteworthy.
With its tangled plots, Shangri-la misses the mark in making a comprehendible story line. Rouge computer programs; governmental power struggles; environmental issues; and personal and interpersonal struggles are all very interesting themes, but together they become a mess of overflowing ideas. What the author seeks to accomplish might have been fulfilled in a 50+ episode anime, but I really think simple is better in this scenario. Pick a plot and a subplot and weave your story.
Hikiku11
This show is set in a time where the world would revolve around the carbon economy. In the same time period, Japan has built a city called Atlas which takes the form of a humongous reinforced fortress. Hojo Kuniko, the protagonist, wants her fellow Duomo island inhabitants to be able to have good lives in Atlas. However, the Japanese government would not readily open their doors literally and figuratively. This puts the government against the Metal Age, basically Duomo's anti-government faction. Then there are other parties, such as Carbon Tycoons (people who make their money off of playing with the carbon economy), a shrine organisation/following(Idk the correct term for it) and even three otaku old men. How would these parties act, interact and be related to one other?
The show was off to an all right but relatively slow start. I felt that it was very worth the wait imo as the show just takes us on a roller coaster ride of action and some good sci-fi. Additionally, it nicely connects the parties involved and ties up loose ends with a barrage of twists and revelations towards the end of the show. A great choice for people who would love a good plot. There are transsexuals featured in the show, so that might not appeal to some people. However, if you’re looking for a cool female lead, Kuniko might fit that list.
