REVIEW: ‘Shangri-La Frontier’ Season 2 Episode 2 — “The Uncompromising Gatekeeper”

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Episode 2, “The Uncompromising Gatekeeper,” continues to keep the essence of the first season alive. It brings back two core members. Their dynamics couldn’t be better. This episode does a great job accomplishing what most gamers would call a mini-quest or side quest and smartly sets characters on their next paths.

In Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Episode 2, Sunraku, Emul, and the magic operations team continue through Ruins of Past Glories after taking down some serious ancient technological golems. They find an abandoned elevator shaft but just a dark chasm with no elevator. Right when the team thinks about getting some rope to get down there, Sunraku meets familiar faces: Arthur Pencilgon (Yoko Hikasa) and Oikatzo, aka Katzo (Makoto Koichi). Katzo immediately wraps his whip around Sunraku’s neck to keep him from running away.

Pencilgon says, “It’s not nice to leave people on read.” This is in reference to an email Sunraku clearly read but decided not to respond. The comedy here is golden, as Katzo keeps strangling Sunraku, and Pencilgon keeps committing a Freudian slip of calling Sunraku and Oikatzo her “pawns” instead of “friends.” This is the perfect reunion of Clan Wolfgang, a team-up they created in Season 1 to put to rest a unique monster and one of The Seven Collosi, Wethermon the Tombguard.

The ultimate goal of Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Episode 2 is very clear: They need to go down the chasm to retrieve a Non-Standard Ether Reactor to repair the Magic Operation Unit. This unit is one of the two things Bliac needs to become an Ancient Craftsman, the other being the Legacy Weapon from the Age of Divinity. Sunraku’s Wethermon sword, Harbinger, counts towards the Legacy Weapon.

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Episode 2 does a great job tying up this side quest, as the short-lived 6-person team-up takes down a robotic gatekeeper to get to the laboratory storing the Reactor they require. As the team gets the Unit, they head back to the Eightfold, the main nearby town. Here, Bilac and Aramis portal back to Rabbituza to work on repairing the Unit in Bilac’s smithing shop.

This fight alone solidifies Shangri-La Frontier as one of the best modern isekai around. Even though this is just another side quest and this robot is barely a mini-boss to fight, the teamwork is displayed masterfully. The animation, mixed with the camera work, highlights the best parts of where each character is in the fight. Sunraku is running across the wall; Bilac and Katzo pin the robot on both sides of the robot; Aramis and Emul are casting a spell; and Pencilgon stands ready to deal the final blow with her special item called the Holy Spear Caledfwlch. This is a cool and hilarious nod to many RPGs and MMOs with some interesting special weapon names.

But the storytelling of this fight is so good, putting it on the level of the hallway fight scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 or the fighting chemistry between the Avengers in The Avengers at the Battle of New York. Not only is it cool, but it makes a lot of sense. Last season, these characters fought together and built a sense of comradery and synergy, especially for Sunraku, Katzo, and Pencilgon. But the same could be said with Emul, Bilac, and Aramis, who have proven in other fights that they have a lot of battle experience.

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Episode 2 opens up many cans of worms. In the laboratory, Sunraku finds a hologram of a minotaur-spider hybrid beast, which is what he assumes is the boss of the Ruins of Past Glories area. He connects the omega-looking symbol from the carvings around the area with the symbols the creature is wearing. This hints that he may face it later this season or in the future.

Another intriguing plot point comes back to the Magical Girl avatar man Sunraku met, The Professor. When the Wolfgang Clan trio (plus Emul) are left walking around the Eightfold, Sunraku brings up how he mentioned Katzo and Pencilgon to the Professor. Of course, his companions are pissed at him for doxxing them like that. While Sunraku didn’t reveal their real identities, there was no reason for him to tell the Professor who his teammates were. Less of a dick move from Sunraku and more of it being a harmless mistake, though.

One of the other best parts of Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Episode 2 is how it provides backstory for various characters through other characters’ tales. The one that stands out the most is when the gatekeeper robot doesn’t drop a key, keycard, or passcode to unlock the door to the laboratory, so Katzo’s high-level RNG (random numbers generator) skills unlock the door. Katzo makes a snarky remark directed at Sunraku, pretty much saying how he finally did something Sunraku struggles with.

Pencilgon explains that the door must be RNG-based and that she remembers when Sunraku played one of the trash games they both played in the past called “All-Heart Chronicles.” According to Pencilgon, Sunraku couldn’t pull the item he needed to cure the female lead’s illness and spent three weeks straight doing RNG checks. Sunraku has a great comedic line here: “More like Fall-Apart Chronicle.” The storytelling does so much chemistry-building with these three and shows it so well.

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Episode 2 leaves off with the main group set to take on the issue that Katzo and Pencilgon want Sunraku to help with. It also leaves the audience wondering about all of the questions/story teases throughout the episode. Above all, this is a great second episode to set up what will probably be the season’s next main quest. This shouldn’t be the last time audiences see Bilac and Aramis up to their will, they/won’t they antics, and finally see Bilac finally becoming an Ancient Craftsman.

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Episode 2 is now streaming on Crunchyroll.