Interview: ‘Shangri-La Frontier’ Creators Dive Into the World of ShanFro at Anime NYC [EXCLUSIVE]

When Shangri-La Frontier premiered last October, it took one look at the character designs to pique interest. They were vibrant and ridiculous, and the concept of a “trash game player” alone was intriguing. Within the first episode, I was already hooked. From the storytelling, to the dialogue and bright, vivid colors within the incredible animation, this series was such a highlight of the Fall 2023 season.

Rakuro Hizutome only cares about one thing: beating crappy VR games. He devotes his entire life to these buggy games and could clear them all in his sleep. One day, he decides to challenge himself and play a popular god-tier game called Shangri-La Frontier. But he quickly learns just how difficult it is. Will his expert skills be enough to uncover its hidden secrets?

The story written by Katarina first debuted as a web novel on Shōsetsuka ni Narō in May 2017. The manga followed in July 2020 written by Katarina with art from Ryosuke Fuji. Both are still ongoing.

At Anime NYC, we had the chance to sit down with the author of the light novel and creator of Shangri-La Frontier, Katarina, as well as the manga artist, Ryosuke Fuji, to get a little more details on how they felt seeing the story animated for the first time to building the world of ShanFro and creating the whacky and endearing characters within it.

Nerds and Beyond: Shangri-La Frontier was one of my favorite series of the past year, I talked about it to everyone, and this anime project has been in the works for a while. How did you both feel after finally seeing the anime series?

Katarina:  Finally seeing the animation, I was very moved. There’s nothing I would want to complain about. It was perfect.

Ryosuke Fuji: Seeing the characters in motion really helped me understand the characters even better. So it’s easier for me to draw them now, and I’m a little worried about the animators, because the quality of the animation is incredible.

Nerds and Beyond: How has it been seeing a whole new audience come to love the world of ShanFro and all its colorful, wonderful characters?

Katarina: Sometimes, I doubt it. “No, is this true? Am I dreaming?”

Sometimes on X/Twitter you see the reactions and feedback from the fans, like, “Oh, I started watching it, and it’s really good,” reading something like that … I’m glad to see that new people are finding this work.

Ryosuke Fuji: When I was asked to [do the] character design, Sunraku especially, I was a little concerned. I was worried. But it looks like the fans accept that character design. So I’m a little relieved, of course.

Nerds and Beyond: What came first, building the world of Shangri-La Frontier the game and finding the characters to fit inside it, or building a world around the characters?

Katarina: I started with the world-building first. I think about what kind of world it is, and then I come up with a character that fits into that world.

Nerds and Beyond: The way you create the action scenes is amazing, they’re so easy to understand just from the art, what helps you map those dynamic scenes out from Katarina’s words?

Ryosuke Fuji: So one thing I’m really careful about is to draw action scenes where the whole body of the characters are seen. Also, the dynamics of the scene, where before a punch or something explodes comes, there’s a pause. You have to kind of build up the energy before the release happens, and after that impact maybe I’ll pull back a little bit so that you have a bigger view, so that you see the reaction of what the release does to the rest of the world.

Nerds and Beyond: What led you to having Saiga, with the schoolgirl crush on the main character, Hizotume, the most formidable character in ShanFro with Psyger-0 coming to Sunraku’s rescue when typically it’s the other way around?

Katarina: So, like Princess Peach, a lot of times is a stereotype of a damsel in distress, but I wanted to draw somebody who can be fighting alongside the main character, standing next to it. It’s almost like a buddy relationship. And so that’s what I initially had in mind. Then, I kept on writing, and somehow she ended up like that. [laughs]

Shangri-La Frontier season 2 premieres in October 2024.

You can watch season 1 of Shangri-La Frontier on Crunchyroll. Take a look back at all our Anime NYC coverage from this year and check out Otaku Stroll on YouTube for more anime interviews!