Shangri-La

With the spring anime season just kicking off, a bunch of interesting new shows have risen. One that particularly stands out in my mind is Shangri-La, a new series based on a novel.

While I usually stay away from series like this, I was intrigued by the premise so I decided to check it out. While I can't really judge from just the first episode, I enjoyed what I saw. The protagonist is a wild girl named Kuniko. Her weapon of choice is a boomerang with an interesting design. As displayed in the opening, Kuniko seems to be able to cause massive destruction with the boomerang. Check it out.



After being released from prison, we see a futuristic city with some notable forest-like surroundings. We learn that carbon seems to be an important part of this dystopic future as there has been a tax placed on it. That's all I've been able to gather from the first episode, scratching my head over the remaining information given.

While I am interested in the world, I'm not sure how much I like the overuse of little girls in important positions. Why is a girl that can't be older than 8 or 9 making a deal with important government officials?

Then of course we have the transvestites. I have no problem with this archetype in general, but there should not be more than one in the main group of characters. While one of them seems to be cool, the other just seems to be useless.

All in all, I'd say the series is off to a good start. While Gonzo does seem to have a habit of messing up adaptations, I'll remain hopeful that this will be one of the better shows of the spring season.