English Dub Review: Shangri-La Frontier “Black Wolf Nightslayer”

Overview

The battle with Lycagon the Nightslayer leaves Sunraku in an unexpected situation. Soon after, he’s barreling down the rabbit hole to a new adventure!

Our Take

Picking up from the previous episode, Rei learns Rakuro’s wereabouts. In the process, other players notice that Rei belongs to one of the seven clans formed to hunt the seven unique beasts, in Rei’s case her clan hunts Lycagon. Despite executing perfect strikes on Lycagon’s critical weak points Rakuro’s legs are bitten off but he swears to find and defeat Lycagon before he completes any more of the game. Respawning from the Hotel, he finds himself afflicted with Lycagon’s Curse which makes him unable to equip armor to his legs or body, though they are now immune to magic, he can no longer fight monsters weaker than himself and NPC’s will treat him differently. Plus the curse is permanent unless removed by either a Saint removes it, or killing Lycagon.

Forced to return to his swim shorts, (Which is kinda dickish and broken for the game if you think about it), Rakuro suddenly encounters a Unique Scenario, an invitation to the rabbit city Rabituza which he accepts, unaware the recommended skill level is 80 which he’s nowhere close to reaching so far. Inside the scenario he is congratulated by the cheerful white rabbit Emul for embodying the spirit of the Vorpal Rabbit; willingly attacking a superior enemy while hitting only the weak points. But for Lycagon to curse his ass, it could also signify him as a worthy opponent, as such, Rakuro is the first player ever invited to meet Rabbit King Vysache. But in the post credits, we get a brief flashback that shows the events that lead up to Rei playing the game under Mana’s advice, with the promise that Mana would play matchmaker by having Rakuro/Sunraku play the game so the two can meet…

Overall, this episode should serve as a wake-up call for Sunraku to realize just how dangerous this fictional world can be. Then again, he fought with heart so gotta respect that. The RPG elements are also in full swing with levels, stats, etc. And part of me is kinda glad he didn’t instantly beat this creature which gives the plot and the character a bit of a goal while also keeping things realistic. This also explains the red markings across his body which according to the promotional material are meant to be iconic at this point. At the very least, I’m curious to see how Sunraku manages his curse, especially seeing as how he can equip items. And with that cliffhanger leaves me curious to see what direction it takes next!