Given that I already discussed several of the deconstructions and strong suits of Shangri-La Frontier, now that season 2 has finished airing, I decided to revisit what I said, explore some new tropes that were used as well and make a comparison with a sort of a classic – Log Horizon. In other words, we are once again discussing anime that are set in a videogame world, bordering on the Isekai genre…sort of.
Before I start rambling on, I will say that the second season of Shangri-La is overall a decent watch. It builds up on the world that was previously constructed and furthers the lore and mystery. It manages to find a good equilibrium between plot progression and charm of the video-game world setting. Add to that the fact that the creators know the tropes that anime watchers and gamer alike are familiar with and it becomes easy to see why it manages to be a solid series. Furthermore, the fact that the episodes interpolate the stories of the protagonists through other videogames (other than the main one I mean), gives it overall a good pacing. This time around, the animation in certain moments tends to be a little bit sub-par (when confronted to the first season), and here and there the use of CGI or the lack of proper backgrounds is a bit irksome, but other than that it still manages to deliver.
Off the top of my head, the tropes that were used in the second season are mainly the ones already seen, such as a decent understanding and deconstructing of the game mechanics themselves (never with an excessive need for exposition). Farming for loot is a staple mark after all. Some of the newer ones (recognizable by anyone who has navigated the internet long enough) are the for instance the use of loli avatars for middle-aged men, furry lovers, in-game clans/guilds as well as their dynamics and finally constant updates and patches. One thing that I assume would echo in the old-time gamers is the existence of good player communities for games that are technically considered dead: there are so many niche and dedicated communities of people who, for one reason or another, fall in love with a game and still care for it (instead of following the constant trend-of-the-moment game).
Because of these various elements, I wold argue that who wrote the story is either a hard-core gamer or, at the very least, is adequately informed of how the gaming industry and market work. That is also why I wanted to make a comparison between Shangri-La and Log Horizon. For those who remember, Log Horizon is also set in the gaming world (although the premise is more similar to Overlord, since the players cannot log out). In this context however, given how the series is a bit older, the explanation for the various interactions and game mechanics tends to be a bit excessive.
It is almost as if the creator of Log Horizon assumed that those who watched anime were either unfamiliar or unknowledgeable with games in general. This translates within the anime with tedious moments of exposition that, for even the most casual of gamers, is utterly unnecessary. This understanding and circumvention is a key factor that makes Shangri-La better in that aspect. Regardless, both series create a sense of allure and mystique that is meant to be captivating for the viewer. Shangri-La is about the mythical creatures of the game world (that are meant to be unbeatable world-bosses and evolve with the story), whereas Log Horizon is about escaping from the gaming world and understanding why the players were trapped there in the first place.
Furthermore, I would argue that in both cases the liminality between game-world and reality has a quintessential role; for Log Horizon, playing the game is understanding how the game itself became reality, whereas in Shangri-La virtual reality mimics realism to perfection. Both tend to present interesting reflections and points of view in a light-hearted way, becoming at times either whimsical or absurd. To an extent, I would say that the series explore human behaviour when their environment changes and are given a higher degree of freedom, but also how this conduct is a reflection of their truer self within the real world.