With Ryoko reluctantly on board, Kuniko takes her bombers to the Daedalus.
What They Say
SHANGRI-LA is the story of a young woman fighting for her survival in a real "urban jungle." Only 18 years old, Kuniko Hojo finds herself the heart of the battle for humanity's future when she discovers that the government which rules Atlas intends to continue marginalizing the less-privileged masses outside the tower - by force, if necessary.
Follow and her rag-tag group of guerrillas, Metal-age, as they fight for survival in the amazing surroundings of a bustling metropolis reclaimed by nature. Even in this superheated future, both bravery and the human spirit can persevere and hopefully win.
The Review!
Content: (please note that content portions of review may contain spoilers)
After setting it up over the past couple episodes, this episode of Shangri-La is all about wiping out the existence of the Daedalus. The refugees have moved into Atlus, Kuniko has acquired her military, and the operation is executed. A meeting between Granny and Tarsien finally nets the myth that explains the existence of Hiruko and the purpose of Atlus, even if Ryoko is bending her will to circumvent that. And Karin gets her wish to be told the day of the bombing run in advance, so she is able to play the carbon market like a flute. But in the confusion, the UN outlaws the use of MEDUSA and preauthorizes a quick counter-strike if MEDUSA is detected, meaning that Karin is unknowingly backed into a corner.
A few times throughout Shangri-La, I have felt as if the story was not really going anywhere, almost like we were treading water. I have finally figured out what my problem has been: it has not been so much that we were treading water, but more that I feel like we are deviating from the stated goal of the storyline. The Daedalus storyarc has been fine in its own right, but I am currently unsure as to the purpose of it, other than to have a handy way to get Ryoko to open Atlus's doors to everybody. I am not against the Daedalus storyline, per se, but I do feel as if it has gone on far too long for what its ultimate impact to the story has been. With the surface Daedalus now wiped out, I hope we can start moving on with the story, although the presence of the Daedalus Kuniko fired into the 8th floor of Atlus suggests we still have a little bit of this story to go. But I am ready to move on.
As a final note, Crunchyroll no longer seems to be offering the Shangri-La simulcast title for free. For the first 18 episodes, Shangri-La was available to any visitor of the site during the simulcast period, but episode 19 was not the case. On the one hand, it was nice of them to give it away for so long, but if they were not going to offer the entire series, they probably only should made the first episode or two available to the general public and left the rest behind their membership service.
In Summary:
I have to say, the Daedalus storyline is starting to distract me from the main purpose of the storyline. I am ready to move on with the final confrontation between Ryoko and Kuniko, as it seems we have spent far too long away from that. Maybe it will all make sense by the end, but at the moment, I cannot help but slowly lose interest.
Features
Japanese 2.0 Language, English Subtitles
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