Shangri-La - 06
Having a flawed character as Kuniko is always a bit of a double edged sword, since she often ca get on people’s nerves, but I find her to be surprisingly solid as a lead character. This episode was mostly meant to build up and shed more light into what kind of powers she has, as she seems to be able to track down Medusa when it’s manipulating the carbon industry. It’s already been hinted that there is some kind of connection between Kuniko and Karin, and the two of them might have some similarity that allowed Karin to so easily take over the carbon industry.
I’m personally a big fan of mystery-series, and that part is getting pretty well developed in this series. Kunihito for example: we learn that there’s more to this guy than meets the eye, which when you think about it makes sense: why else would Atlas send a rookie out to such an important mission? We know that he is in some way important to Naruse Ryouko, and important enough for her to consider his record as secret.
And where does Kuniko’s grandmother fit in all of this. She clearly plays a role, since she’s able to follow the world carbon markets, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she played some part in getting Karin to the place she is now. With her daughter highly placed in Atlas, and her granddaughter having someone related to Mikuni as her mentor, she sounds like one of the key persons in this whole mystery.
It’s obvious that this series is still building up, but what makes the difference between this show and Valkyria Chronicles, which is doing the same, is that with Shangri-La, I can really see some potential for the future: there are lots of things going on and built up that can promise to be so interesting for the future, while Valkyria Chronicles is just stuck in stereotyped side-characters and formulaic battles. I’m not sure how many others still like this series, but I’m pretty much sold and eager to watch the second half of this series.
Rating: * (Good)
The animation turned buggy again but it’s still much better than the first four episodes. This pretty much was an episode of building up, and it did this well.
I LOVE KUSANAGI IN THIS EPISODE!
He’s so entertaining and I love it how naturally honest and pretty rude he was to Mikuni! Haha! And it’s so cool that even putting aside that he had that sword, he’s still no ordinary person!
And oh, though I still like Valkyria Chronicles . . . for me I can’t compare it to Shangri-La. S-L is still more level higher than VC. Hehe.
Comment by Sapphire Pyro — May 11, 2009 @ 17:22
Loved the episode :)
Comment by Lightning — May 11, 2009 @ 20:03
Episode was solid, per usual. The somewhat odd CGI makes me ohh-err a bit, plus the overdramatised hacking wizard scenes, but I guess it’s all part of the charm. The rest is still entertaining and interesting to watch, and Shangri-La has become one of my current favourites.
So yeah, i’m still liking the show and looking forward to it’s direction.
Comment by Denizen — May 11, 2009 @ 21:42
How did Kuniko get her boomerang back? I thought Kunihito had it.
Comment by Zelda — May 11, 2009 @ 23:28
@Zelda: Momoko made her a new boomerang, that’s partly why Kuniko is practicing with it, getting used to the way it behaves.
I think this episode did a fine job of braiding together the separate strands of the story, and even added a bit more depth to Ryouko.
I don’t know about there being links between Karin and Nagiko, but I wonder if the screaming girl in the eye-lined shrine (I didn’t catch her name when Ryouko said it) isn’t another avatar like Medusa.
You’re right that this series keeps opening up possibilities for future development. I’m growing increasingly interested in reading the novels.
Comment by dm00 — May 12, 2009 @ 17:58
@dm00: Hiruko is the name of that mysterious character.
Comment by Lightning — May 17, 2009 @ 21:32