Shangri-La (novel)

Shangri-La (シャングリ·ラ) is a Japanese science fiction light novel, written by Eiichi Ikegami and illustrated by Ken'ichi Yoshida. The novel was initially serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's  Newtype magazine between April 2004 and May 2005. The chapters were collected into a single bound volume on September 23, 2005, and was later re-released in two volumes by Kadokawa both released on October 25, 2008. A manga series adaptation drawn by Tasuku Karasuma started serialization in Kadokawa's Ace Assault in January 2009, but was later transferred to Shōnen Ace. An anime television series, directed by Makoto Bessho, written by Hiroshi Ōnogi and featuring animation character designs by Range Murata, premiered in Japan on April 6, 2009.

Plot
In the mid-21st century, the international committee decided to forcefully reduce CO2 emission levels to mitigate the global warming crisis. As a result, the economic market was transferred mainly into the trade of carbon. A great earthquake destroys much of Japan, yet the carbon tax placed on the country is not lifted, so Tokyo is turned into the world’s largest "jungle-polis" that absorbs carbon dioxide. Project Atlas is commenced to plan the rebuilding of Tokyo and oversee the government organization, which the Metal Age group opposes due to its oppressive nature. However, Atlas is only built with enough room for 3,500,000 people and most people are not allowed to migrate into the city. The disparity between the elite within Atlas and the refugees living in the jungles outside of its walls set up the background of the story.

Duomo

 * In a city surrounded by killer jungle is where the main characters live out their lives. Duomo is home for both citizens as well as the headquarters of the Anti-Government organization; Metal-Age. It is eventually destroyed during the burning of Tokyo to eradicate the Daedulus.


 * Kuniko Hojo (北条 國子)


 * Affiliation: Citizen/Metal Age
 * A young girl who wields a boomerang in the defense of her town from the military or anyone who seeks to intervene. She is extremely athletic and has a rambunctious personality. Kuniko is affectionately known to the residents of Duomo as Kuni-chan. In the beginning she is recently released by Atlas in the women's detention center after a two year stay for being a domestic terrorist, but is released to Momoko, Miiko, and Takehiko while still in her old high school uniform. Although not part of Metal Age, she is the future head of the anti-government organization. Referred to as "The Sun", she is also known as Digma 2.


 * Nagiko Hojo (北条 凪子)


 * Affiliation: Citizen/Metal Age
 * Kuniko's grandmother, the head of Metal Age. She places a firm emphasis on learning and is much sterner and reserved than Kuniko is.  She wants Kuniko to become the next leader of Metal Age, but Kuniko does not want to be. She also disagrees with using the internet for information, and gets her knowledge from the many books she has. Nagiko is actually the first CEO of Atlas Corporation and received funds from Sergei Talsian in order to build the futuristic city for their descendants. After Kuniko confronts her about this fact and receives no explanation, she is forced to expel her grandmother from Duomo. However, Nagiko reappears later on to help Kuniko to negotiate with Ryoko to grant temporary shelter inside Atlas for the inhabitants on the surface so that Metal Age can eradicate Daedulus by burning Tokyo down.


 * Yuri Gamagori (蒲郡 由里)


 * Affiliation: Citizen
 * Kuniko's friend. A slow-paced girl who always tries to see the bright side of life, often ending up in just not seeing anything at all. Desperately wanting to free herself from her family name, she has a strong wish to be married. She is very interested in boys and dates many guys.


 * Tomoka Yamazaki (山崎 友香)


 * Affiliation: Citizen
 * Kuniko’s friend who goes to all-girls high school. A girl-next-door type with slightly gloomy air. Though she is yielding toward Kuniko, she is not afraid of reproving Yuri. She had stabbed a citizen before, although this was not revealed until later.


 * Momoko (モモコ)


 * Affiliation: Citizen/Metal Age
 * A transsexual with a flamboyant personality. Tends to pick on Miiko but seems to care for Kuniko almost as a daughter.  Her weapon of choice is a whip that is coiled around her arm until she activates and uses it. She has a liking towards men, and is displayed attacking them through the use of an uncomfortable encounters for the soldiers. One of the owners of Tropical Fish.


 * Takehiko (武彦)


 * Affiliation: Atlas/Citizen/Metal Age
 * A driver and a rough and tumble guy. He regulates the electricity production in the town of Duomo. He is often reckless but easily dependable. It is revealed that Takehiko was an agent sent by Atlas to watch over Kuniko, under the code-name #13. He strongly believes in the construction of Atlas, but this belief was shattered when he found out that his younger sister Yasuko was kidnapped by Atlas and used as a sacrifice with other children in the city's construction. Losing all hope, he attempts to kill Kuniko in order to ruin Atlas' plans but is stopped by her and Kunihito. He tells Kuniko her true role as inheritor of Atlas before seemingly killing himself by jumping into a storm drain. He reappears at the ending where he tries to destroy Atlas.


 * Miiko (ミーコ)


 * Affiliation: Former Citizen/Metal Age/Moon Palace
 * A younger guy dressed as a girl. Miiko seems to tend to cry a lot and tends to be picked on by other members of the group. One of the owners of Tropical Fish. The winner of the Atlas Lottery, he is entrusted by Momoko to reopen the Tropical Fish in Atlas, however he is sent to serve Mikuni in the Moon Palace. Two-thirds through the anime storyline, Miiko is forcibly turned into Hiruko's newest vessel, but he is able to fight the lord's personality and temporarily gain dominance over his body. Sayoko takes him and Mikuni away from Atlas. He sacrifices himself and Hiruko to save Sayoko and Mikuni by shielding them during the bombing of Neo Akihabara. At the end, he reappears in front of Sayoko and Mikuni to bid Mikuni a final farewell and to cure her of her disease and ability. He also asks Sayoko to take care of Mikuni like a real mother before disappearing with the souls of the other children who are sacrificed to protect Atlas.

Akihabara
Some of the characters met from the Black Market; Akihabara.


 * Old Man Army (軍爺)


 * Affiliation: Broker Trio
 * An old man who claimed to come from the Army, this person acts like the main leader of the trio. His characteristics are wearing Army clothes and uniforms, acting like a commander, as well as his use of vocabulary, including words like "Arch-rival" and "ambush".


 * Old Man Camera (カメラ爺)


 * Affiliation: Broker Trio
 * An old man with a fetish for taking pictures, he carries a camera around with him all the time, snapping pictures whenever he can get the chance. He refers to historical examples when he talks, and wears camouflage clothes.


 * Old Man Loli (ロリ爺)


 * Affiliation: Broker Trio
 * Probably the weirdest person in the trio, Old Man Loli is a fan of anime things, and tends to make weird sound effects when he talks. In fact, sound effects are pretty much the only thing you will hear from this old guy. He also uses hand gestures and facial expressions to explain what he wants to say. He wears girly clothes, long hair, and cat ears, which, when paired with a mustache, provides comical relief for watchers.

Atlas
The following list of people are rich and privileged, and are living in Atlas tower because they either live there or work to assist someone who lives there.


 * Mikuni (美邦)


 * Affiliation: Moon Palace
 * A very pale, little girl. She is referred to as "The Moon" and suffers from a collagen disease and thus cannot bear sunlight. She also has the uncanny ability to see through lies and subsequently puts liars to death by some unexplained ability to manipulate and crush the offenders body. Carries a sacred dagger identical to the ones Kunihito Kusanagi and Kuniko have as well as an ear ring matching the one Momoko wears. She is also called Digma 1.


 * Sayoko (小夜子)


 * Affiliation: Moon Palace
 * Mikuni's protector. She watches in delight as Mikuni sees through the lies of people and puts them to death. She also experiments on people to her delight and loves to be insulted by them while she does it. At one point, Momoko refers to as a sadist. She tries to end her live to enable Mikuni to become the successor of Atlas but is rescued by Momoko.


 * Ryoko Naruse (鳴瀬 涼子)


 * Affiliation: Atlas Corporation
 * A domineering woman who wants to control everything around her. She seems to possess a bad temperament and lashes out at others but mostly towards Sion, a boy who serves her whom she treats as a slave.  She also seems to only care about the development and advancement of Atlas. She is the human interface of Zeus, the supercomputer that controls Atlas.


 * Soichiro Hata (秦総 一郎)


 * Affiliation: Atlas Corporation
 * One of the people working for Ryoko, he looks after information and updates for Lady Ryoko.


 * Shogo Kudo (九土 省吾)


 * Affiliation: Atlas Corporation
 * The main analyst for Atlas Corporation, Shogo works for Lady Ryoko.


 * Leon Imaki (今木 烈音)


 * Affiliation: Atlas Corporation
 * Working for Lady Ryoko, Leon is the older brother of Sion and leads the military for Atlas Corporation.


 * Sion Imaki (今木 紫音)


 * Affiliation: Atlas Corporation
 * The younger brother of Leon and one of the workers for Ryoko, his main job is to care for Lady Ryoko's needs, which includes serving food and drying her off after a bath. He is the victim of most of Ryoko's temper, but he seems to hold a crush for Lady Ryoko and enjoys these punishments.


 * Kunihito Kusanagi (草薙 国仁)


 * Affiliation: Atlas Corporation
 * A military officer who does not want to hurt others as much as the Atlas military wants to. Works for Atlas Corporation under Leon's lead. Carries a sacred dagger identical to Kuniko's and Mikuni's, except that the tip of his dagger is broken. He is referred to as "The Land" and is Digma 3.


 * Karin Ishida (石田 香凜)


 * Affiliation: Ishida Finance
 * A little girl who is interested in the world economy and how she is able to control the carbon credit market, and one of the creators of MEDUSA. She hides her true face when talking to others through her computer console because she doesn't like people. She possesses a teddy bear (named Pudding) which she talks to as if it were a real person.  Pudding "responds" to Karin's comments though one would assume it is actually Karin talking to herself in a funny voice.  Her parents are actually dead during an air crash, but she is made to believe that they are very busy with work, leaving her alone all the time. Karin buys out the entire Akihabara for her own after getting tired from shopping around. After she tries to hack into Zeus, she is pursued by Atlas authority. She escapes arrest by escaping to Akihabara. As the story progresses, her personality becomes slightly accepting of people as she only hides her eyes with sunglasses when she talks to them. She tries to make Mikuni the successor of Atlas when Mikuni seeks refuge in Akihabara.


 * Klaris Lutz (クラリス·ルッツ)


 * Affiliation: Ishida Finance
 * A friend of Karin's, she works for Ishida Finance. A woman who loves money, hates being poor, and buys lavish things (including a Ferrari company). She is only known from instant message conversations with Karin until the ending where she visits Karin. She actually looks more mature than what her instant messenger portrays.


 * Zhang (張)


 * Affiliation: Ishida Finance
 * Another friend of Karin's. He is believed to be the creator of MEDUSA. He is known only from instant message conversations with Karin until the ending where he takes a private jet to visit Karin..


 * Sergei Talsian (セルゲイ·タルシャン)


 * Affiliation: Ishida Finance
 * A friend of Karin's, Talsian seems to have a connection to Karin's parents, and doesn't talk during instant message conversations. Talsian makes a physical appearance from halfway through the series. He is chairman of Atlas Corporation, and apparently knows Ryoko well. It is revealed that Talsian and Nagiko, the first CEO of Atlas, both helped create Atlas for a better future for their descendants. He is placed under arrest by Ryoko under allegations of having assisted an unknowing Karin to shut down Atlas' critical systems.


 * MEDUSA (メデューサ)


 * Affiliation: Ishida Finance
 * A snake like animal, MEDUSA is a computer program built for Ishida Finance and used to find debts around the world in countries who's CO2 Emissions and Carbon Credits are not equal. Using these "debts," MEDUSA generates vast amounts of money for Ishida Finance through various manipulations of the Carbon Market (similar to the Stock Market). MEDUSA is originally believed to be the only program in the world that can perform these manipulations of Carbon Credits, but it seems that there are other programs similar to it operating across the globe. MEDUSA is hidden in the Marshall Island and is protected by a typhoon created by a weather satellite.

Others

 * Canary (カナリア)


 * Affiliation: Unknown
 * A mysterious boy in his teens who first appears to Karin and tries to communicate with her and persuades her to leave her office and go outside. His intentions seemingly is to let Karin remember the world outside and the lullaby her mother sang to her when she was an infant. After accomplishing this goal, he disappears. It is revealed that the boy is codenamed Canary (with no real name) and was called Digma Zero, a prototype to the other Digmas (Mikuni, Kuniko and Kunihito). However he was never allowed to step into the world outside, having lived his whole life inside a facility, and died five years before the start of the series. This information also confirms that Canary lives on as a spirit of sorts. In the profile pertaining to him, his appearance is that of a blonde long-haired youth in a white jumpsuit, and keeps a black cat (which is presumably deceased as well) with a yellow bow tied around its neck as a pet.


 * Hiruko/Lord of Atlas (水蛭子)


 * Affiliation: Unknown
 * A young boy whom Ryoko refers to as the Lord of Atlas, the highest authority in the city. He is partially covered in what look like bandages, with a strange glow in his left eye. Hiruko resides in his throne room deep below Atlas, with eerie-looking eyes decorating the walls. He appears to be immortal, however his method of attaining it comes at a price: the body he uses often breaks down after a short while, requiring the use of new vessels to maintain his spirit before it dissipates permanently. The unwilling vessel is pushed into a pool, and floating talismans partially cover the body. After a while, the memories and personality of the original body will be destroyed, and Hiruko's spirit will take the place of the vessel, changing the body's appearance to his original self. According to Ryoko, Hiruko made a prediction twelve generations ago, that the Sun and Moon (Kuniko and Mikuni) will meet, and as the children of God, the pair will bring harmony to the world. While predicting the prophecy, he often goes into hysterical fits. Sayoko reveals that Hiruko was used by Talsian to control the oscillation of the spiritual forces around Atlas, and once removed from his abode, the area around Atlas will start to destabilize. After Miiko is made his next vessel, Miiko is able to suppress his personality temporarily. Sayoko takes Hiruko/Miiko away with Mikuni in tow and escape Atlas.

Locations

 * Atlas
 * A tower filling the horizon, Atlas is a project promoted by the Japanese Government and run by Atlas Corporation. This tower was built to relocate the rich and privileged, away from the Jungle-polis covering much of Japan. However, the government had lied to the citizens, promising everyone a place on Atlas once the construction finishes. The only citizens allowed in Atlas are winners of a famous "Atlas Lottery".


 * Duomo
 * The city where Kuniko hails from. Surrounded by old ruins of Tokyo now overgrown with much vegetation, the city is very ramshackle, and is the home to the Metal Age group. The people of the Metal Age group seem to put more of a focus on nature and learning.


 * Ikebukuro
 * A forbidden forest surrounding Duomo, this jungle can be accessed by an old abandoned railway track. Ikebukuro is filled with dense oxygen and poisonous swampland, and can not be safely entered without wearing protective gear and air masks to protect the skin and lungs.


 * Akihabara
 * The "Market" City, Akihabara is famous for its "Black Markets" and is filled with many people from different cities who operate the many businesses there. This is where Kuniko decides to sell Graphite and also homes the three old otaku who make the fake IDs Metal Age uses to enter Atlas.

Light novel
Shangri-La began as a light novel which was initially serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype magazine between the April 2004 and May 2005 issues. A single 592-page volume was released on September 23, 2005. The novel was re-released in two bunkobon volumes both released on October 25, 2008.

Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Karasuma Tasuku began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Ace Assault magazine in January 2009. After that magazine was discontinued in March 2009, the manga was transferred over to Kadokawa's Shōnen Ace magazine. The first bound volume was released on November 26, 2008, followed by the second on April 25, 2009.

Anime
An anime adaptation of the novel was produced by the animation studio Gonzo, and was the first Newtype work to be animated for television. The series was directed by Makoto Bessho, written by Hiroshi Ōnogi, and featured character designs by Range Murata. The series premiered on April 6, 2009 on Chiba TV. The first DVD compilation volume was released by Kadokawa Entertainment on July 24, 2009. The Internet streaming media service Crunchyroll also aired the series on simulcast with episodes airing one hour after they were released in Japan.

The anime has three pieces of theme music; one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is "Kimi Shinitamō Koto Nakare" (キミシニタモウコトナカレ) by May'n. The first ending theme is "Hajimari no Asa ni Hikari Are." (はじまりの朝に光あれ.) by Midori, and the second ending theme is "Tsuki ni Kakuseshi Chō no Yume" (月に隠せし蝶の夢) by Midori.