Shangri-La Frontier – Season 1 Episode 15 Recap & Review

Episode 15

Setsuna walks lovingly with someone in a flower field as episoe 15 of Shangri-La Frontier begins. The scene ends and we see two players complaining they can’t find resurrection items to buy. Despite their efforts, someone is wiping clean all the stores. Simultaneously, Pencilgon listens to their talk and smiles, clearly knowing something they don’t know.

Psyger-0 is continuously walking around a room, nervous about a letter she wants to send to Sunraku. After a while, she creates courage and sends it. Almost instantly, she gets one herself, but it isn’t an answer, it’s a message from her sister. She says that someone leaked the location of Ashura Kai’s base, so Rei needs to join her clan.

Sunraku and Emul are in Rabituza when an eagle delivers Psyger-0’s message. It’s so formal that, although she is inviting him to explore the game together, firstly he thinks it’s an invitation to a duel. As he is about to turn her down, another message comes. This time, Psyger-0 cancels her invitation and apologizes about having an urgent personal matter.

Vash briefly encourages Sunraku, telling him to win and never forget his vorpal soul. Emul also has something for him; she gives him a necklace. He says the amulet, on top of his incredible skills, will make everything even more awesome. The narration says it has no effect, but the necklace was surely the proof of someone’s existence once.

At Ashura Kai’s hideout, their members are waiting for Pencilgon before going to fight Wethermon. However, she is secretly watching them from afar. Suddenly, Psyger-o arrives killing a player with one attack. Then, the rest of her clan, Schwarz Vulf, and many others start ganging up on Ashura Kai.

Orcelott and a few other members try to escape to the Hidden Garden, but it’s closed, as the protagonists are already inside. Ashura Kai’s leader thinks for a bit, soon realizing they were tricked by his sister, Pencilgon.

Pencilgon, Katzo, and Sunraku accept the mission to fight Wethermon and enter a new place. The beautiful flower field transforms into a deserted and cold place with a single tree in the middle. When the unique monster appears, Sunraku steps up and charges at him. He equips the Empire Bee Twinblades and starts parrying the enemy’s attacks.

Before the battle, the party had a meeting to discuss how they would deal with Wethermon. They concluded he’s likely a “special condition” type. That means they need to achieve something, like surviving for a certain amount of time, to win. While Sunraku tries to survive alone for 10 minutes, the duration of the first battle phase, Katzo analyses the monster’s movements.

Not even one of Sunraku’s attacks fazes Wethermon. Suddenly, the unique monster activates a new attack and, even before he lands it, Katzo realizes it’ll kill Sunraku. So he runs and throws a Rebirth Tearjewel, a resurrection item. The episode ends as Sunraku opens his eyes.

The Episode Review

The battle is finally upon us! Even though seeing Sunraku and the others fighting Ashura Kai would be fun, Pencilgon’s plan is surprising. Things like that show us that she is the brain of the team. Also, seeing the clan being destroyed and all the players getting desperate was very funny.

Speaking of funny, there’s no way not to love Rei. All her scenes, be it in the real world or as Psyger-0, are great. I live to see the day she’ll actually get to hang out with Sunraku (and hopefully join his party).

Again, their attention to making the anime feel relatable is always one of the best things. Before the fight, Katzo and Sunraku talk about energy drinks and compare the new one they’re trying with another. It’s such a small moment, but many people will laugh and remember when they recommended one to their friends or something similar.

Now, to the actual fight. Wethermon’s design is great. It’s not the most unique thing, but him being a robot samurai gives him the right amount of coolness he needs. Also, the action is very fluid and, even though a lot is happening, it’s easy to understand. One of the best things is that although Sunraku is the only one fighting, you never forget the other characters. Pencilgon and Katzo feel as important as him. It’s a nice start to what might be a great battle.