Shangri-la: final thoughts

Yesterday I finished watching all 24 episodes of Shangri-la via Crunchyroll’s simulcast. Despite all the hype that the series received when it first came out, I can’t say that it lived up to expectation. I don’t think it was the worst series of the year, but it could have been better…

I felt that Shangri-la suffered from the same flaw I’ve seen in other Gonzo series such as Dragonaut and Romeo x Juliet; they have excellent premises but do not effectively execute those premises. I found Shangri-la’s setting and overall premise very interesting – the post-apocalyptic world and its “new look” for well known Japanese cities such as Akihabara, the carbon-centered society and the complex carbon market, and the stratification between those who live in Atlas and those who don’t. Despite the fact that I’m not good with political details in anime, and much of the talk about the carbon credits went over my head, I still found the concept interesting.

But although these plot devices in Shangri-la were good, like with other Gonzo series, I didn’t feel that they were well executed. By the end of the series, I didn’t feel that enough information or background was given about all the subplots such as Atlas, Himiko, the AAA, the worshiping of Mikuni, Medusa, the carbon market, the war on the Daedulus plants, the Digmas, etc,. The origins of many of these concepts were not well explained, and even after watching all the episodes, I can’t feel any overall unity between these things and how they come together in the story.

Another flaw in Shangri-la lay in how certain revelations came about, for example, the fact that Ryoko is Zeus, Kuniko is the same as Himiko and is sisters with Mikuni, Takehiko’s sudden betrayal and even more sudden reappearance, Nagiko’s connection to Atlas and Talsian, etc. I didn’t feel like any of these things were planned out well or were revealed to the audience in a thorough, organized way.

While I found the Shangri-la characters appealing in general, they also had their share of flaws. To me, Kuniko seemed too good to be true; she was so righteous and unwavering all the time, from the beginning of the series to the end – it would have helped her character significantly if she was given some personality issue or inner conflicts, regrets, or fears to deal with. I felt that Mikuni turned out to be a more dynamic character than she did. The two okama, Momoko and Miiko, were also pretty fun to watch. But for other characters such as Kunihito, Sayoko, Furukawa, and Ryoko’s servants, while they showed development over the course of the series, we hardly learn any background information about them despite their frequent appearance in the show. Karin and Takehiko were given some background info, but I still felt that their stories and motives were kind of vague, especially for Takehiko.

When I watched the first episodes of Shangri-la, I wasn’t too impressed – the scene in which Momoko is able to defeat an armed soldier just by kissing him was pretty ridiculous. But I was willing to give the show more time, and from then on its quality fluctuated between good and bad, but never that good. My inability to follow complicated political and technological details in anime probably helped hinder my enjoyment of Shangri-la. But overall, I felt that the series didn’t follow through with all the subplots and concepts it threw at its audience, and many things were left unexplained or disorganized. But what kept me watching it was the unique, interesting setting and a handful of appealing characters. The music, especially the opening song by Macross Frontier sensation May’n, and the character/setting designs, were very nice as well. The flaws in Shangri-la were more obvious to me than other series, but it had its good moments too. I didn’t dislike Shangri-la, but I can’t really recommend it when there are so many better series of the same genre out there.