Shangri-La (anime)

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Shangri-La is a series of science-fiction Light Novels (with supernatural elements) written by Eiichi Ikegami in 2004 and 2005, which was adapted into a manga and an anime by GONZO in 2009. An odd duck if there ever was one, proposing a world driven into poverty by carbon taxes, into chaos by arbitrage in carbon credits, and awaiting a savior - in the form of a Genius Ditz Magical Girl with a Precision-Guided Boomerang.

At some point in the near future, the UN tries to stop Hollywood Global Warming by imposing extremely heavy carbon taxes. This has the effect of turning the world economy into one based entirely on the trade of carbon. Meanwhile, an earthquake destroys the entire Kanto region of Japan. Because Japan is now in a horrible economic situation, and the carbon tax hasn't been lifted, Tokyo is turned into an incredibly dense jungle. The plants there are supposed to absorb carbon dioxide from the air, reducing the taxes the country has to pay. Tokyo is rebuilt as Atlas, an enormous tower that can hold millions of people.

But of course, it can't quite hold enough people, so the majority of people have to live in villages in the middle of the jungle, where they're typically treated as second-class citizens by the elite living in Atlas. The organization Metal Age opposes the construction for this reason.

The story focuses mainly on Kuniko Hojo, an 18-year old girl who lives in the city of Duomo, where she was brought to be the leader of Metal Age, even though she doesn't necessarily want to be their leader. Kuniko wants all people to have a higher standard of living, like what she hears Atlas is like, and devotes herself to pursing that goal, by whatever means necessary. And while Kuniko is trying to better the lives of everyone, those in power in Atlas are concerned with a prophecy of sorts, that requires that one of 3 people eventually inherit Atlas.

Tropes used in Shangri-La include:

• Adaptation Distillation: Just compare the original novel's drawings with the anime designs (which include an Adaptation Dye Job for Kuniko).
• BFS: In the final battle, Kuniko uses a boomerang that is several times larger than she is.
• Big Bad: Ryoko, of course.
• Empty Quiver: MEDUSA hacks into every country on Earth and attempts to fire every single nuclear missile in the world at the same time, but is stopped by Karin.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: Atlas.
• Eye Of Gold: One of Mikuni's eyes is gold.
• Fast Tunnelling
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Mikako Takahashi as Kuniko.
  • Then Joji Nakata as Camp Gay Momoko!
• Hollywood Hacking: Hacking attempts are rarely depicted the same way more than once, and every single depiction has remarkably little in common with any computer-related task at all.
• Human Sacrifice: The continual sacrificing of children is necessary for Atlas to remain standing.
• Idiot Heroine: "No plan, no idea!"
• Karma Houdini: Nagiko and Tarsian created a system of child sacrifice. Nobody really seems to mind.
• La Résistance: Metal Age.
• Larynx Dissonance: Momoko and Mi-ko are both transgender. They look like women, but have male voices.
• Living Lie Detector: Mikuni. And in her case, anyone who lies to her is instantly killed, though apparently she doesn't do it on purpose.
• Magic Skirt: Kuniko (though there are many comments about her underwear, and she gets an almost undetectable Panty Shot in the finale.)
• Mismatched Eyes: Mikuni.
• Older Than They Look: Kuniko's 18 as the series begins, though her height and... assets... make her seem maybe half that.
• Otaku: The 3 Akihabara old guys.
• Pettanko: Kuniko. Momoko teases her that it's anorexia resulting from her time in prison.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: For Atlas not to be destroyed, Hiruko must be in his room in Atlas. And for this to happen, he needs to take over the body of a maiden, which will end up eventually being destroyed.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: Kuniko's weapon of choice is the boomerang. Naturally, this leads to a lot of this trope.
• Stripperific: Most of Ryoko's outfits are this.
• Talking Is a Free Action: The first fight of the anime, apparently Kuniko has enough time to put on some makeup while fighting.
• The Tokyo Fireball: Before the beginning of the story, Tokyo was completely destroyed by an earthquake. And then Kuniko destroys it again later on to stop the Daedalus.
• Transgender: Momoko and Mi-ko are both male-to-female transgender.
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Cutting the cannon of a tank with a frickin' boomerang.
• Whip It Good: Momoko uses a whip, though, she does a lot more tying things up with it and swinging on it than actual whipping.
• Your Size May Vary: Apparently they either couldn't agree on a uniform size for Kuniko's boomerang, or she has a Hyperspace Arsenal of boomerangs ranging in size from pocketknives to claymores.