Shangri-La Frontier – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap & Review

Episode 8

Aberrant Woodmage sends roots flying towards Sunraku, who realizes the endurance test will be harder than he thought. After he evades them, he tries to attack the monster, but it has no effect. The creature quickly sends chains to attack him, and Emul warns him only one minute has passed.

Besides the roots and chains, Aberrant Woodmage can also use spells. And, as the fight continues, it varies them, being able to conjure electricity, fire, and ice. The battle only gets harder as the attacks get denser and more powerful.

As Sunraku hits the 3-minute mark, he thinks about giving up. He’s tired and won’t be penalized for dying. He can just go to sleep and try again later with better chances. But then he realizes he has been doing that a lot lately, like when he fought Mud Digger. He regains his confidence and thinks up a new strategy.

Sunraku jumps up one of the roots and uses it as a path to the Aberrant Woodmage. He counters all the chains trying to hit him and leaps toward the monster. Sunraku kicks its magic wand and steals it. Vash is surprised to see that, but the protagonist still has to survive for two more minutes.

The creature is crazy and goes on a rampage. Sunraku doesn’t need to deal with any spells, but the roots and chains are as dangerous as ever. When it only has 45 seconds left, the Aberrant Woodmage uses the roots to create a wall, stopping Sunraku. One of the chains grabs his feet and causes many debuffs on him. Realizing he can’t avoid the next attack, he throws the wand far away.

The creature stops everything it’s doing to catch the wand, but it doesn’t realize that’s Sunraku’s plan. He mocks it as the time runs out and he completes the test. However, the Aberrant Woodmage doesn’t disappear and prepares a new attack that will surely kill him. Vash jumps and smashes the monster, saying the creature is weak to physical attacks when it doesn’t have a wand.

After he clears the task, the Vorpal Soul Collar fades away. Sunraku is annoyed he doesn’t receive any items, but a new scenario appears: Vorpal Epic. He takes the VR glasses off and goes to sleep.

The other day, he ponders about what he should do. He doesn’t understand what the scenario’s story is. Not to mention, it’s recommended for level 80 players, while Sunraku is only on 31. He decides to go to a new city, but the other players might want to hunt him again. That’s when Emul says she has an idea.

They go to the shop Emul’s cousin owns and buy a disguise for Sunraku. When they are at Thirdrema we see the disguise and it’s as flashy as the bird’s head. He is using a keffiyeh that covers his whole body. It’s a meme costume based on an Egyptian god named Medjed.

There are three different areas they can access through Thirdrema. While Sunraku confidently explains his reasoning for choosing the Prismatic Forest Grotto, Emul notices something strange. She says there’s someone they already know over there. When the image changes, we see Rei trying to hide behind a building while staring daggers at them.

The Episode Review

The first test is a mixed bag. While it’s interesting to see a new monster, and it makes sense for Sunraku to only be able to avoid its attacks, the fight is a bit monotonous. The anime tries to introduce a variety of attacks and dive into Hizutome’s feelings (not a strength of the series, to be honest). However, the animation nor the direction make those things interesting enough to take half of the episode.

Understand it’s not bad, but it’s a pretty mid fight. At least we get a glimpse of hope. In the previous episode, it was teased that this won’t be Sunraku’s only battle against the Aberrant Woodmage. So, as the next one won’t be an endurance test, it might be more exciting.

What sticks out in the rest of the episode is how well the anime makes you feel like you’re in a game. Not obtaining the items you want, meme costumes, and choosing where you should go next. It’s nice to experience you really are on an RPG. Speaking of it, with Rei appearing at the end, we might get another aspect of that, a party formation.

Rei is funny, and we’ve known since episode 1 that Sunraku is going to be in a team, so it’ll be a good development. Let’s hope we get a good sense of what their dynamic is going to be in the next episode. Probably, by the end of the season, he’ll have all his 3 teammates already, excluding Emul.