Shangri-La Frontier

by Liz | Feb 21, 2025

Set in a future where videogames are all virtual reality (VR) based, Shangri-La Frontier (SLF) is a multi-player fantasy game with lots of unique characters, scenarios, and items, making it stand out from other VR games that are not well-developed and full of bugs and broken mechanics. Sunraku is a player that tackles these terrible games as a challenge; however, he picks up SLF during summer break and discovers his own unique scenario that keeps drawing him back to the game. His unconventional choices come from his many hours playing broken games and wanting to maximize his fun.

In volume one, Sunraku skips the beginning tutorial town and almost dies from the area boss monster guarding the second town. Wanting to get ahead of most of the players, he goes back to exploring after purchasing some new gear. While exploring, he runs into one of the unique boss monsters of the game, which don’t respawn after being beaten by players. He puts up a good fight but is no match for Lycagon; however, the beast acknowledges the strength of the player by cursing Sunraku to not be able to wear armor on his torso or legs and lower-level monsters will avoid him. Shortly after that, Sunraku finds a unique scenario involving a vorpal rabbit leading him to a hidden area called Rabituza.

In volume two, Sunraku is targeted by a group of player-killers (pk’ers) after an image of him with the unique non-player character (NPC) vorpal rabbit Emul is posted to an online forum without his permission. One of the pk’ers is an old gaming buddy, so we learn more about Sunraku’s other gaming adventures with Pencilgon and Katzo, who joins the game later. Sunraku is saved from being pk’d by a player known as Psyger-0, the “Attack Master,” who’s a female classmate with a crush on him but is too shy to even say hello. Next, Sunraku goes back to Rabituza to tackle the unique training scenario he was offered. He must fight a total of ten bouts with monsters, using only vorpal weapons, and wearing an item that lowers the experience he earns.

Volume three shows Sunraku finishing the epic training scenario and Pencilgon deciding that her clan has failed her game aspirations, and she needs to form a new group who can help her. After helping him escape pk-ers a second time, Psyger-0 sends a friend request to Sunraku, which he accepts to be polite and because he didn’t want to offend such a high-level player. This is when Sunraku explores the world by going into the Prismatic Forest Grotto and observing the monsters that populate the area. Pencilgon explains her plan to Sunraku and Katzo to take down one of the unique NPCs, Wethermon. The rest of this volume and the fourth shows how they prepare for this epic fight as well as its beginning.

This series is a unique contribution to action manga that utilizes isekai tropes, explores multiple game settings, and the interactions of characters in the game as well as outside of it. Due to the on-page violence and use of adult language, this is firmly a teen and up series; however, it is not much different from videogames that this audience plays anyway. In fact, gamers are the target audience. Adult readers would also find a lot to enjoy, especially the extras found in between chapters. This is where you can find additional lore about the games, monsters, items, and characters. Sometimes it repeats information that was explained during the story but sometimes it is new information that wouldn’t necessarily be easy to convey in the story without interrupting the pacing but enhances the reader’s knowledge. The illustrations have great detail and add to the world building as well and are one of my favorite aspects of this series after character building.

There are currently fourteen physical volumes available to purchase with the fifteenth set to be released at the end of February. If you have access to a platform that provides digital manga, there are eighteen volumes available. Another note is that we featured this series in our recent anime column, Anime Club Picks. The first season of anime covers the first six volumes of manga while the second season picks up immediately where the first stopped. Patrons who want to read ahead of the anime as it airs will find plenty of material as will readers looking to learn more about the world presented.

Shangri-La Frontier Vol. 1-4
By Katarina
Art by Ryosuke Fuji
Kodansha, 2022
ISBN: 9781646514823

Company Age Rating: 16+
Series ISBNs and Order
Related media:  Comic to TV

NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)