The opening video for Gonzo’s upcoming conservationalist anime Shangri-La has been leaked and reported by Moetron who lets you watch it here.
I already had plenty of reason to watch Shangri-La – first of all, I love Gonzo (I may be the last one) and second of all, the designs are by Range Murata, who is without doubt one of Japan’s great artists. (his site here, links are thankfully in English). Murata and Gonzo collaborated in the past on both Last Exile and Blue Submarine no. 6 which are both ten kinds of awesome. Shangri-La doesn’t look terribly original, and I’m a little leary over the amount of seriousness which may be present. It’s based on a novel, though, and that’s usually a good thing.
The preview has me very psyched. The animation is pretty much drop-dead gorgeous, as expected from a Gonzo op, but much more exciting is the lush art which brings back memories of Last Exile. If the show’s art is as good as the op, this will be an instant favorite for that alone. The buildings covered in moss were like a shoutout directly to me, haha. Really looking forward to this.
EDIT: Oh, and I guess the song was okay too.
My Sword Is Unbelievably Dull 
Yeah, your thoughts resonate with mine, but the setting does seem rather original (as far as I know), what with the CAPTAIN PLANET themes and
environmentalistpropaganda?whatnot.I don’t know. There are plenty of environmentalist anime. Earth Maiden Arjuna, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Origin, and the occasional bullshit ones like This Ugly Yet Beautiful World. As for the futuristic setting, it just sounds like another future-in-domes story, and the whole anti-government/high society has been done a buh-million times.
So I’d hardly call any of it original.
i don’t see how this is going to be a “serious” show. more likely they’ll throw in an educational discussion here and there and then make war for the rest of the time. let’s hope that’s the way it goes, anyway..
You’re not the only one left that still loves Gonzo! Though I will say that as of lately the studio has been gradually losing favor with me. Hopefully Shangri-La will reverse that trend. A sprinkling of Range Murata certainly helps.
@animekritik: it won’t be a serious show at all, I mean I’m worried about it taking itself seriously. Like a lame shounen action show that preaches morals.
@Micheal: See, IMO, their ratio of good-to-bad has always been the same, so people getting on them now are not seeing the big picture. This will be another of hteir ‘good’ shows.
I liked Druaga (the first season at least, will marathon the second), so why not?
Also, a May’n OP!
i guess we’ll see how the story goes, but the character designs look great and the backgrounds were absolutely beautiful. “lush” is the perfect word. hopefully gonzo will put much love into this.
Reminds me of Real Drive almost, now that I think about it.
If we ditch the old guy and make Minami …a power ranger or something.