Log Horizon review and discussion

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Log Horizon 2 is starting soon, have a wall of text about season 1.

Admittedly this text was written with the intention of being more addressed to people who already watched the series, but I kept the spoilers at the bare minimum and I think it can still make you want to watch it if you haven't already.

 

Also feel free to discuss my ramblings or anything else about Log Horizon here.

 

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Log Horizon is an adaptation of a light novel written by Mamare Touno (also known for Maoyuu Maou Yuusha), and its synopsis is not without reminding that of a certain recent popular anime. Which will come handy as a comparison to highlight the way Log Horizon works.

The story focuses on a group of players of the MMORPG Elder's Tale, who somehow ended up incarnating their avatar as flesh and blood people in the world of the game.
The formulation I chose is not fortuitous and already outlines the different approaches of Log Horizon and the famous SAO. Rather than seeing the game as a virtual reality inside which players are trapped and must accomplish a definite objective in order to come out (clear a hundred stages, beat the evil guy, save a princess...), the currently quasi-nonexistence of any explanation regarding the mechanism that led them inside the game makes it a sort of parallel world where our adventurers have been transferred.
Faced with the fact that they don't have the slightest hint of how they ended up here and how they could get out, this aspect is quickly and indefinitely postponed.
Arguably this is not a bad idea. From a logical point of view, although it would feel natural to worry about these issues, we can assume that unfruitful researches during a few days that weren't shown on screen led them to stop looking rather quickly. But more than anything, it's interesting from a narrative point of view: as soon as the notion of "having to get out" is introduced, it should immediately become a main point of interest for the characters, which would steal the focus from what the author wants to do with his universe.
And Log Horizon is more based on exploration. The assimilation by the characters of the situation they are in and the inner mechanisms of this new world, to begin with. This is a particularly interesting part of this anime: how did the rules of the game transpose to what became a tangible reality? What changed, how can it be exploited, all of this leads to the building and the discovery of the rules of the universe, which then leads to plot twists and strategies that will leave you with a huge grin plastered on your face.

That "exploration" aspect keeps being present during the whole series but two others are quickly developed, and are incarnated by two different group of characters.
The first one, the group of the low-level players, could be labeled "MMO for dummies". A number of classic mechanisms and basic strategies, such as the importance of the group and its balance rather than the individual talents, the different existing roles, etc...
With them we will explore a few dungeons and encounter a few skirmishes, which allows to see how does Log Horizon positions itself in terms of game system. This part is not always well executed but probably necessary.

The reason being that the main characters, the other players, are veterans that have already finished the game, and leveling, low quests and basic strategies are necessary components of a MMO. Log Horizon transpires of Touno's love for MMOs, and he couldn't possibly not have included this.
However, admittedly, seeing kids fighting against slimes and mooks and learning how to cast healing spells is not exactly as exciting as seeing Shiroe adjusting his glasses kicking asses.

The other reason why the veteran players end up unable to showcase the MMO parts of Elder's Tale is because the series also evolve in the direction of being a medieval-fantasy world rather than a game.
What are the hallmarks of a good medieval-fantasy fiction? Yep: politics, economics and warfare. Which is exactly what Log Horizon does. Those veteran players I'm talking about are evolving in the decisional areas, and take care of large scale organization, various politic shenanigans and conflict resolution. And this time, it's extremely well executed. Lovers of medieval-fantasy, do come in.

All in all, the approach of Log Horizon is thus very interesting.
In a series like SAO, the approach is something close to a phantasm of virtual reality. The hero is powerful and badass, he beats the game in solo (that's not how MMOs actually work folks) and even gets to live the perfect romance (or later the perfect harem...). Rather than an anime about a MMO, you could even call it a projection of the wish-fulfillment one could expect of virtual reality.
On the contrary, Log Horizon is all about game mechanics, importance of the group and strategy. I would even go as far as to draw a parallel between it and the concept of "social" science-fiction, developed for example by Asimov when he tries to imagine in a credible way what kind of impact the introduction of a new concept (here the existence of androids) would have on society.
The situation in Log Horizon is as such: a large population of immortal adventurers appear in the middle of a medieval-fantasy world, and the existence of in game, virtual rules and events is transposed and adapted into this world. What happens then? How will the adventurers react? How will they organize? And how will the world itself, presented as a regular fantasy world, react to them?
Without judging how good and realistic what is done in Log Horizon is, the idea itself is here and the result is to the least credible and fascinating to watch. Without going to the length of political and societal commentary, the primary goal still being entertainment, this aspect is well executed and, in my opinion, the selling feature of this series.

Let's stray away from all that conceptual stuff, though. Log Horizon is a series. What this means is that particular care has to be given to the characters. Good news: most of them are in my opinion very likable and varied. There's a lot of them, but surely nobody can beat the most badass ones like Shiroe, Akatsuki or Nyanta. Most of Log Horizon is placed under a lighthearted, joyous atmosphere, and those characters definitely play a central role in this.
The weak point is, of course, the group of low-level players. At the center of a small melodramatic sub-plot and overall lacking charisma, they sadly fail to inspire much interest.

Speaking of drama (more accurately of danger), this is an important point to mention as well. In the world of Log Horizon, the only effect of death is to bring you back to the cathedral - like in most MMOs. There's a bit of a twist about this later in the anime but overall what that means is that the stakes are weak. Dying isn't a huge deal, which is detrimental to the capacity of the anime to provoke emotions.
Arguably it does work well in this series, though. Typically, a series like SAO tries to create powerful emotion through drama and this works because of the impending and oppressing feeling of danger and death that surrounds the characters. SAO is not the most brilliant example of doing this right, but a better case would be Shingeki no Kyojin.

However, Log Horizon does not try to create drama. It's a rather lighthearted series, based on humor, cool character interactions and fights focusing on the strategic aspects rather than the importance of what is at stake. This is what makes it so easy to qualify the series as "sympathetic", as it is what it inspires the most.

If I didn't mention the technical aspects of the series so far, it's quite simply because there's not much to mention. Most of the time, the bare minimum is done in terms of animation and direction, but a lot series don't do more than that, so it's hard to hold it against it. I could mention the rather ugly monster crowd effects in 3D, for example, but it's not of the utmost important.
Let me mention though that Log Horizon has one hell of a cool opening. (DATABASE, DATABASE)

Log Horizon is a very solid series. We can feel the love of MMOs and fantasy of the author through it, and he does an excellent job at thoroughly building its universe. Add a cast of likable characters and a bunch of politic, economic and warfare strategy shenanigans to that and I think most of the flaws can be easily overlooked to leave a definitely pleasant experience.

8/10

[ilegend]

Can't wait for Season 2, Log Horizon was one of my more favorite shows to watch in the past year. Seeing how much fighting and superpowers animes that I've watched, a show that brings in tons of explanation, logic, strategies and careful planning to fights/battles and overload my head add some spice to watching it 

[Freestyle80]

That was a nice read,yea your right actually the author must be a big fan of MMOs to be writing this series as he has,didnt notice that xD perhaps thats why i also liked this series a lot,it kinda brings back a lot of memories of my many years playing MMOs and can relate to it a lot.

 

The series was also paced really well,never got boring even though there is almost no action. The comedy in it was also quite good and i liked how they touched the romance part only towards the end (shiroe and the 2 girls going to the cake shop was funny) ;d

SAO on the other hand,while the initial setting was quite good,later on just pissed me off when seeing the MC soloing raid bosses,gaining a unique skill that no one else has :/ The romance was sappy too,not to mention there is a mad rapist in every arc(like wtf?)

[Rose]

I almost never watch animes that are airing, but I made an exception for Log Horizon. I liked your review and I do share most of your thoughts, but I do enjoy the low-level characters. No one will deny that seeing Shiroe being a badass is way more awesome, but I find it extremely enjoyable to see the game through the eyes of the kids (Btw, it's funny that the only low-levels are children so far). Learning about the game mechanics, even if they don't differ from the typical mmos, is interesting in it's own way, who knows when a special one might appear, right? It also creates a nice contrast to the always serious political approach, a good balance between the adult world and the child world.

 

I'm really hyped for the new season, in special, I'm hoping to see more of the guild masters in action. I read a bit of one of the many mangas adaptations, and if they are the same in the anime, get ready to see some imba bullshits.

[Mr. Meogii]

Log Horizon is an exceptional Piece. I came across it when I was searching for new romance anime to watch. Now, Romance itself is not the central theme of this series so I was a bit disappointed at first but the Comedy kept me watching it. I'm also a big fan of adventure so that was a big plus. 

 

I am really looking forward to season 2

[Mephisto]

i just started watching season 1 and I like it. 

 

Edit: Now I've finished it. 

 

Log horizon is very reminiscent of playing a Eushully game as there is a huge emphasis on world building. This isn't SAO, where you have some hero guy saving the world and collecting a harem (which is closer to Rance). The individual relationships and management of politics are done really well, and the insight in to motivations / character depth is extremely impressive. 

 

The show also scales up properly, an important part of world building (the last time I've felt so impressed by the scaling steps was in Aiyoku), and it just leaves you thinking holy shit what are they going to do next this is going to be awesome. 

 

It is close to an insult to compare this anime to sword art online, since the writing quality and depth are on completely different levels. 

 

Also a shout-out to the newbie arc they snuck in, as it was done extremely well, and have a lot of core themes that can be applied to games, and other things as well (CLG should watch this anime). The way the battles were conducted were impressive as the fights actually felt organized and intelligent, rather than just being OP and beating everyone else through power levels. 

[Chewy]

Anyone watching Log Horizon 2 or watched 1? What are your thoughts on it?