Shangri-La Frontier Anime and Game Adaptation: A Look at Upcoming Releases

The upcoming TV adaptation of Katarina's web novel Shangri-La Frontier is drawing closer, as the second promotional video and character visuals have recently been released online. This adaptation is set to debut in October.



At the same time, game developer Netmarble Nexus is working on a related game, which will be published by Netmarble.

The cast includes Yūma Uchida as Sunraku/Rakurō Hizutome, Azumi Waki as Saiga 0/Rei Saiga, Yōko Hikasa as Arthur Pencilgon/Towa Amane, Makoto Koichi as Oicazzo/Kei Uomi, Rina Hidaka as Emul, and Akio Ohtsuka as Viceash. The cast members, particularly Uchida and Waki, were already featured in a promotional video back in 2021.

Ryōsuke Fuji's manga adaptation of Shangri-La Frontier tells the story of Rakurō Hizutome, a second-year high school student. The plot revolves around his quest to find and master less-than-stellar games. His encounter with the new VR game Shangri-La Frontier becomes the centerpiece of his gaming journey.

The series is directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka, with Hiroki Ikeshita as assistant director, while Kazuyuki Fudeyasu oversees and writes the scripts. Character design and chief animation direction are handled by Ayumi Kurashima, and the music is composed by monaca.

Other key contributors include Satoshi Sakai (Action Effect Director), Masato Takagi (Color Key Artist), Inspired (Art), Azusa Tamura (2D Works), Hikaru Yamamoku (Compositing Director of Photography), Gō Sadamatsu (Editing), and Akiko Fujita (Sound Director).

Katarina's original novel series, which began in May 2017 on the website "Let's Be Novelists," followed the heroine Saiga 0, a top player in Shangri-La Frontier. Later, a manga adaptation titled Shangri-La Frontier ~ Crappy Game Hunter Challenges God-Tier Game was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine, with the 14th volume scheduled for release on July 14.