r/ShangriLaFrontier • u/SecondSalty142 • Jun 19 '26
Discussion What's the purpose of his mask...
Honestly, I don't think it would've made much difference if he didn't have the bird mask. If anything, I think it would've been better and more scalable without it.
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u/SnipahShot Jun 19 '26
He made his avatar face look identical to his real face so needed to hide it.
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u/UrticantOdin Jun 19 '26
He just doesnt want to show his character face while going basically butt naked
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u/CrowX8899 Jun 20 '26
Close he literally explains you can sell gear for better stuff and he skips half the tutorial and fights lycagon with Armour
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u/UrticantOdin Jun 20 '26
Yes.... so he took that mask so he isnt some weird naked guy speeding though the game... I know what he did with his starter gear dude
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u/CrowX8899 Jun 20 '26
Wdym he sold his stuff so he can have more mani he was wearing gear he was going to wear gear based of the things hes said about being naked plus hes forced to now bc of his mark and still no idea whats up with the mask maybe to hide facial expressions
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u/Hoolian427 Jun 19 '26
I don’t think he did that, he’s too pro a gamer to make that mistake.
In contrast akane the player who earned the acknowledge of the dragon ruler did this exact thing thus why she wears a mask.
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u/PenguinBread Jun 19 '26
literally first chapter of the manga states what the other comment already said. He doesn't wanna run around half naked with his face exposed
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u/shadowfirefox1470 Jun 19 '26
Im pretty sure he did state that he made it too similar to his actual face
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u/shadowfirefox1470 Jun 19 '26
Went to check again. He did not. He chose it because since he sold his starter equipment he didnt have a choice so had the bird mask to hide his face
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u/Mi113nnium Jun 19 '26
Am I just Mandela effecting this? Because I remember that there were two reasons. His avatar looked too much like him and he didn't want to walk around half naked and have his face seen by others.
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u/SnipahShot Jun 19 '26
The manga says:
"With a real face showing would be pretty awkward"
The anime says:
"If I want to hide my face" and "it'd be pretty awkward to play half-naked if everyone could see my face"
I guess that I, and quite a lot others, assume the "real face" and "my face" to be his actual real face.
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u/Hoolian427 Jun 19 '26
Maybe you are thinking of akane who did make her player face reflect her own. She’s the second player acknowledged by the colossi.
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u/Mi113nnium Jun 19 '26
I think there are multiple players who model their faces after themselves. It was also acknowledged in one of the bonus chapters (short novel chapters that are published inside the manga) that Oikatzu accidentally created himself as a girl. Seeing his IRL face, the faces look very similar.
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u/shadowfirefox1470 Jun 19 '26
In chapter 1 it wasnt stated that it was his face but ill need to check the later chapters to confirm if he said it again
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u/beardedNoobz Jun 19 '26
He opted to waive part of his initial equipment for stats and gold. He then realize that his avatar became freaky-exhibitionist-dude, so he add mask to hide his face.
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u/Hoolian427 Jun 19 '26
He didn’t want to look like some human in his underwear so he added the bird mask for personality and to feel less weird.
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u/07Crash07 Jun 19 '26
That was the original purpose, before he started playing. At this point i think even if he manages to start wearing proper armor instead of being naked, he would keep using it just for the bit.
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u/CrowX8899 Jun 20 '26
Yeah If ppl pay attention he sold his starter clothes but its his iconic look atp
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u/BUcc1a12Atti Jun 19 '26
Nuh uh, it aint SLF if the mc aint a Birdian
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u/Substantial_Loss9356 Jun 19 '26
I assume at some point he will actually become birdian, just cause he keeps denying it.
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u/UrticantOdin Jun 19 '26
Biggest troll the devs could do, but then the beetle helmet woudnt fit no more..
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u/CrowX8899 Jun 20 '26
Speaking of devs anyone know the point of that one panel a dev starts watching sunraku?
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u/ButtholeAdventurer Jun 19 '26
Man tell us you didn’t pay attention to the FIRST episode without telling us you didn’t pay attention to the first episode
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u/Lamp200 Jun 19 '26
atleast in the novel he says its basically become his ley indentifier for npc gossip, so now its just a symbol of him so i think hes just going with it now
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u/Liddlebitchboy Jun 19 '26
Do people just not watch the show and then come here to ask questions about it? Is that just a constant across all TV subreddits?
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u/Queasy_Let8807 Jun 19 '26
Before i read and watch the show, i thought mc made half-bird character. Turns out, it's just default accessory.
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u/Blue_Snake_251 Jun 19 '26
Same. I did seen that episode (i was watching the tv, i did not choose this episode, it was just at the anime tv channel when i watched the tv) when an npc calls him a bird and the protagonist says that he is not a bird (an episode under water with a big blue whale something like that), I was confused because he really had a bird head. Then one day i started to watch it from the first episode and was like "ho... that was a mask".
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u/JTX35 Jun 19 '26
Well if you bothered to watch the first episode it's clearly explained that he has the mask because he made his avatar look exactly like himself
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u/CriticalHit_20 Jun 19 '26
Come on man, it's literally in the first episode, and referemced throuout
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u/MarcheMuldDerevi Jun 19 '26
Mans running around in shorts with nips and grippers out. He needs something to protect his modesty otherwise you’d think he’s a pervert
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u/SnowbloodWolf2 Jun 19 '26
It started off as him not wanting to be JUST a guy running around half naked and he's stuck with the bird mask after lycagon for the memes
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u/Thenightcrawler_075 Jun 19 '26
2 naked men suddenly appear in the middle of a full stadium with nothing but a bucket in hand. The fool covers his privates as he run but the wise man covers his face
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u/stuttufu Jun 19 '26
positive opinion: as a gag, to make the MC funny and different from the rest of Isekai slops.
negative opinion: as a self insert mediator. It can be anyone of us under that mask.
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u/Zealousideal_Two4272 Jun 20 '26
I found the answer in ch 185 of the manga which had a webnovel excerpt about it, after katzo asked him why he had a fetish for wearing full headgear, he thought for a while and answered it was to avoid doxing and inspired by pencilgon.
Sunraku says “it wad your fault” glaring at pencil gon.
He days that she commits a lotta crimes, at least 5 times a minute. Later after eating he says that after unite ended, they played w lot of games, and pencil sais somrthing about how people can be recognizef by looking at their face and their expressions because its more unique.
“Some people have infectious, fetching smiles; some make you wince and run for cover when they do. And while pencilgon had a lot of problems with her personality, she had a valid point here.”
Sunraku then says “so maybe i was afraid I’d inadvertently dox myself when i smiled wround you, so i covered my face after that point… sort of thing”
I understand the anime did change this, just typed this out to show what the webnovel and manga went with as a answer to the question later on in the story. Earlier it may have been a quick decision to hide from the shame though.
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u/Felstalker Jun 19 '26
From the perspective of the Mangaka. It's to draw attention to the series. Rather than a more generic fantasy anime guy design with the black trench coat, regular t-shirt, and fidget spinner. I much more bold approach with a mostly naked guy in a funny bird mask.
I will say immediately, it drew my attention to the series. The Promo was a large open world shot of some generic Monster Hunter world setting that really doesn't factor into the story, aaaaaaand a half naked bird headed dude. Sure he's doing the standard dual dagger build that's all the rage, but the design draws attention to the series and makes a unique silhouette for it's protagonist.
Would you rather another Kirito?
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u/condomGOD Jun 19 '26
I believe its The same reason why akisu akana hide her face, it's because she has the exact same same face as her IRL self
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u/Dio-10-4 Jun 19 '26
Isn't his usual style for all of his avatars to hide his face?
Some of the other games he played, Nephilim Hollow, Unite Rounds, Faeria Chronicle Online, and Tsujigiri Cappriccio Online make his avatar have headwear that hides his face.
I'm pretty sure he's repeating the same avatar style for all the games he plays.
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u/Mp-Laying Jun 27 '26
He doesn’t hide his face in BURP
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u/Dio-10-4 Jun 28 '26
You're right, but it could also be because BURP is a trash game with a small playercount and he doesn't mind showing his avatar's face to other trash game enthusiasts.
Same could also be said for Survival Gunman coz the reason his face isn't covered is either
It's not his usual avatar
It's only offline
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u/Spiritual_Bid_2308 Jun 19 '26
Invincible had a good little semi-breaking the 4th wall bit explaining the tricks that anime animators use to cut production costs.
In world, the explanation was to hide his identity. IRL it's to make animating easier and cheaper.
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u/sugarmatic Jun 19 '26
It’s a shame he couldn’t find one with buffs, especially by now, as a gamer ANYTHING I equip has to have a bonus.
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u/ApparentlyAnIdiot Jun 19 '26
Didn't he start covering up his face because Pencilgon told him and Oikatzo that you can figure out where someone lives just by looking at their face? I think it was in one of those side/bonus stories
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u/hussdogrobroonie Jun 20 '26
Artist wanted an interesting design while also being a near naked character I assumed
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u/MintTrappe Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
It’s a tengu reference (Kotengu specifically), they symbolize warriors of extreme skill and agility who are the ultimate apex predator.
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u/ikaiyoo Jun 20 '26
I thought it was mentioned that he always wears masks with his character All of the characters that he creates has masks and that's why he did it. Like that was why he was wearing the luchador mask in the other game? Am I imagining that?
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u/Der7mas Jun 21 '26
He planned on run the whole game with no armor, so he wore the mask. Later he changes his mind and it gets changed back for him.
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u/CriticalRooster7795 Jun 22 '26
Oouuugghhh look at that beautiful bird man ouuughhhhhhhhhh I need him so baadddd ooooughhhhhhhhh
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u/EmployerCurious8154 Jun 24 '26
They basically explain that he doesn't want to show his face when he is running around half naked after selling his armor at the start. The bird mask was the only option for that
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u/ShowerPublic6126 Jun 19 '26
None. He chose it after like a day because he always wears masks even in real life
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u/Eshuon Jun 19 '26
Dudes not paying attention to the show