Anime Review
Log Horizon: Season 1
Summary
The game Elder Tales is a very popular MMORPG that has lasted twenty years and still going strong. However, on the day of it's latest expansion, Homesteading in the Novasphere, thousands of players find themselves trapped within a world just like Elder Tales, stuck within their own avatars. The gamers Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Akatsuki join up to face their new reality and the obstacles that really comes with becoming stuck within an MMORPG.
Pros
- Story- Log Horizon's story is what I always expected from seeing "MMORPG" based stories and then some. All parts of MMORPGs are used instead of it just being a setting like Sword Art Online. No, I am not bashing it. This is just a pet peev of mine as a gamer. I love seeing how people take a game media and try to put it in a different format to use the game elements to tell an amazing story. Log Horizon anime does what it's web novel(yes, Log Horizon is a web novel that is published into a light novel) brought to the table very well. We follow the socially awkward Shiroe as he turned the chaos being trapped in the game has caused and turns it into order and deal with the results of both said chaos and order through his own means. Now, even though there will be some spoilers, I am going to try and avoid as many as possible. So, to sum this up, Log Horizon took the cliche of "trapped in a fantasy world" and turned it on its head by focusing on how to really turn the fantasy world your stuck into a place to live in instead of just an adventure and returning home. It does this by trapping the characters in a MMORPG with already established guilds and gamer politics within said world and many of the characters know the game like the back of their hand. We see not everyone really cares about returning and instead try to figure out how to survive in this world were death is not permanent and other things that has turned this awesome chance into a living hell created by boredom and bad ideas. Once said living hell is fixed, the gamers then discover the world's back story and such still exists and now has created a deeper world than before with its own politics and such that they have to deal with as they are Adventurers, the main fighting force against monsters. Because the story gives us many POVs from different characters, it easily gives us the amazing story even with our protagonist having little screen time for a normal main character. However, it fits his roll as a strategists who uses his knowledge and skills to work in the shadows to do his objectives and gives use far more insight if we have seen it mostly from one character. Now, this story does not get a lot of action till after where this first season left off, hence I am really curious of how Season 2 will be done as the next three volumes(6-8) have much more actions than Season 1 and the first season had executed the action perfect to match the story.
- Characters-Now, this will be short, but due to their is so many characters, I would need several blog posts to cover them all. However, the anime does well like the source material to give us believable characters who work together with natural chemistry to tell the story. Even the once NPCs are now human and real characters, hence why I am keeping this Pro point short. Log Horizon really pulled off the characters damn well, though there is some minor annoyances where the light novel did better. But, they can be overlooked considering nailing such traits is hard in a moving media like animation. These characters all give us a view of a gamer community now stuck in a real version of their favorite game as well as the view of people who lived this world their whole like, a.k.a. NPCs.
- Visuals and Music- Now, Log Horizon gets some slack from critics due to the characters look "generic" instead of a unique style. However, to me, this is a very good thing. This story uses even aesthetics of MMORPGs to get us into the story and allow the character's traits and personalities be the defining factor. You actually find yourself relating to these characters more due to their simpler designs and appearance. Aesthetic does not mean amazing graphics, just like in games. In fact, just using the right style to work with your story works damn well like real video games Okami and the Tales of series even though they are not up to photo realistic quality visuals. However, Log Horizon is animated quite nicely with the backgrounds beautifully done and has the nicest 3D animation mixed in I seen in a good while. Even the little action of Season 1 feels perfect due to how they animated it and even the censors are done perfectly to fit the game feel of the world Log Horizon has built. Even the talking and exposition scenes feel important even though it might bore some people who are used to action packed anime. The music score helps bring this aesthetic to its peak, just like any well crafted game which uses mechanics, visuals, music, and such to really immerse you in this new world and that's what Log Horizon does best. The fact we are getting this from an anime is pretty damn amazing.
- First Episodes Execution- Okay, now here's where there will be some spoilers. Now, the anime did do pretty good with the beginning that saves the rest of the anime from getting dropped right off the bat by watchers who are not video game fanatics like me. However, this slow start up really hurts this anime, especially since it is a niche market type for anime. So, what could the anime done to help it? This is one of those rare times I really wished the anime stuck to the source material more closely. Now, reason for not doing this is because of the station Log Horizon aired on, NHK Educational TV. Hence Log Horizon had to be kid friendly which I give Satelight Studios kudos for the awesome way they worked around this problem. They made the censors to death and blood like game mechanics instead of annoying ones like in Tokyo Ghouls. However, due to leaving out several important details in the beginning and then bringing said detail up several episodes late, it really throws watchers for a loop if they never read the light novel. This is hence the first four to six episodes of Log Horizon look like a bait and switch instead of a proper build up for actually the Round Table Arc of the story. Here's the spoilers, but they are needed these to make it work better. The reason Crescent Moon Alliance is so worried about Serara(their guild member in Susukino) is because she barely escaped being raped by Brigandia members. Brigandia was human trafficking in Susukino which is barely mentioned in the first episodes before whammed when brought up at the Round Table Arc. Sure, this is a bad crime, but it is not worth censoring as the way Log Horizon deals with it in the light novel. In fact, if they used a similar method to the light novel, it would have work for NHK and would have been a great way in educating people how damaging even treating people like slaves can be. I mean, even Serara was scared shitless towards Brigandia for almost having their way with her. Add the fact she ticked off the leader of said guild by tricking him to escape really would have added to the tension better than the anime done. However, even though the Rescue arc was was rough, the anime left out the biggest thing that the first part of Log Horizon that made it more than just another story taking place in an alternate world. The fact the players themselves complicating what is going on and if they want to even fix it and return home like in the Light Novel. Now, I understand they edit out some things to ensure their 25 episode limit. If they had just added one episode and added the parts of the light novel where the Shiroe and others thought of the old world and explained on their own mindsets along with just Serara enslavement issues(just had left out the rape part), then the first episodes would have actually felt more of what the rest of Log Horizon was and gave a much better build up to the Round Table Arc. In fact, the first episode clearly the first three chapters of the light novel plus a different prologue and should have been spread out into two episodes instead to properly built up the characters and their situation.
- Missing Details and Character Elements- Now cameos to fanfiction, spin-offs, and other things are awesome. Log Horizon takes this to a new level as actual fanfiction characters from the author approved fanfiction D.D.D. Diaries and details relating to spin-offs already made appear in Log Horizon's anime. Now, seeing your favorite spin off joining the main storyline is great. But, not keeping up the details(again, just spreading out the one episode, one damn episode) really hurts both the anime and the shout outs. More spoilers, but this is actually from a manga spin-off called Honey Moon Logs. It shows the Crescent Moon Alliance side of the story and shows why Maryelle is so affectionate towards Naotsugu. Without reading this, some of what Maryelle in the anime says confuses people, especially after Shiroe's group brings Serara back to Akiba. Also, the anime tends to leave out small traits which would make characters more likeable. A good example is Naotsugu as his pervy, underwear showing side is shown in the anime, but they don't keep his tic of referring to various things as "festivals." In fact, due to showing his pervy side way too much in the anime has made him a somewhat flat character instead of the deeper one I seen in the light novel and manga. Other characters suffer this as well, though Naotsugu is one of the most hurt by this.
- Identity Confusion- I will be talking about two versions of this, one related to the anime story and the other through the viewers, but both hurt people looking into wanting to watch and enjoy an anime. As well as hurts how anime are made since studios are watching what people say about current anime airing and such. Since the former will have some spoilers, I will hit the first one so those who want to skip major spoilers can skip the story part.
- Now, one thing that irks me is the fact people keep comparing Log Horizon with Sword Art Online. I have no problems with Sword Art Online and I have read it a bit. In fact, my big issues with SAO is pacing and the damn "second editions curse." Gets good series of all media all the time, so it's something I am used to. My problem comes from the fact Sword Art Online and Log Horzion are two different anime types being compared for just the fact they are set trapped in a video game. This is not true, even though they follow the video game version of "trapped in a fantasy world" genre of story. The difference is Sword Art Online is a wide audience type anime that aims for a wide audience while Log Horizon is a niche type anime that aims for a narrow audience range. You might be confused by what I mean, but it's actually a common thing many people don't notice. You look at anime in genres, but there is a ton of sub-genres many people don't realize exist that create the variety within these genres. A wide audience type anime tries to hit a lot of sub-genres like Sword Art Online with wanting to hit the same success as mainstream hits like Naruto and Attack on Titan. Irony is, Naruto and Attack on Titan are actually niche anime, aimed for specific fans and it just grew due to fans spread the word and people coming to like the story while reading or watching it. Don't get me wrong, there is niche and mainstream types that have flopped as much as been hits, but it is almost always niche anime will always have an edge over wide audience types. It is really hard to pull of wide audience type stories that focus a lot on characters without a deeper defined background and world to help support it like with niche type stories. Log Horizon is a niche anime aimed at gamers, political/economic story lovers, and fantasy world lovers. However, because it's story and characters is so well defined and built, even people outside these fan fields can find themselves enjoying this anime if they give it a chance. Even Sword Art Online fans if you stop bashing it as a knock off and look at it as just another story. It really annoys gamers like myself who actually want an anime geared towards MMORPG lovers instead of just an anime using our favorite past time as a setting and plot device.
- And, now to Log Horizon's own issue of identity crisis. I will be hitting some spoilers, so if you want to just avoid this, skip down to the final verdict and season predictions section that is next. As mentioned in the first part of the cons, the first few episodes of Log Horizon gives it a feel of an adventure anime with a slow start. This due to details left out and such, but sets up the wrong expectations for those who jump into an anime expecting pure adventure and action. This is not bad, as what Log Horizon turns into is still good... Just some fans don't like the bait and switch feeling it gives. After the first episodes, Log Horizon gets it identity, but hits a bump near the end. Now, I did expect some slice of life which Log Horizon does well, but the Scale Festival arc went away from the slice of life you expect from a game fantasy world and tried a bit too much towards real life slice of life. I understand this was to give a nice little breather before the last climax, but it was a bit of a turn off seeing it was more "normal real life" instead of closer to the life these gamers had made for themselves. Geeks are geeks, though I also understand any type of slice of life is hard to do and the same part of the light novel suffers from this as well. However, thankfully, the anime shifts back to its identity with the crisis created during the Scale Festival, ending it with an awesome introduction of a major player for next season.
Now, to the final verdict. Log Horizon is an excellent anime for anyone wanting a good story and a breather from constant action titles. Even though a niche anime for gamers, it has a lot of things everyone can enjoy. Though, fans of pure action anime might be disappointed as there is not much action this season, though next season looks promising if you want to give Log Horizon a try. It even gives a new light on how the "trapped in a video game" story can be told and shows the deeper parts of MMORPGs that keep the players around. This anime can also always be rewatch over and over again, yet you will always find something new, especially if you read the spin-offs or light novels. It's actually fun seeing all the little Easter eggs in this series. I recommend buying this anime over streaming it. English fans won't have to wait much longer for the DVDs as they will be out roughly this Fall or Winter for the US.
Season 2 Predictions
Huh? There's more? Well, since this anime has a Season 2 on the way, announced right at the ending of Season 1's last episode, this reviews deserves a next season prediction. Now, this is my opinions, but this will be short due to I am going to avoiding as much spoilers as possible. So, here's the facts. At this moment, only Volumes 6-8 are out for Log Horizon's light novel. However, there is also confirmation from the author of the light novel we will be getting some cameos from a replay done by four authors who have played Log Horizon TRPG in Season 2. So, what are my predictions with pointing this out. Well, I am actually hoping for two ways this Season 2 plays out. The first would actually be the best to make up for some of the cons of Season 1, which is actually use the whole three volumes for the majority of the anime. The next three volumes start to dig deeper plot elements that the anime can really use one-up the light novel and make up for things they missed in Season 1 if they actually expand on those elements. However, we could also go the usual route of fillers in this season. Now, usually I am not a fan of fillers. I do like good filler, but anime have a bad rap sheet of using them in the wrong times and using the wrong subject matter. Log Horizon, however, just gave me a good expectations with hearing the cameos on the replay appearing in Season 2. If Log Horizon actually uses it's various spin-offs for filler instead of just filler made by the studio, then Log Horizon will be a very good anime and have a chance to really dive into the other characters which these spin-offs focus on. Add the fact Log Horizon has hints and cameos of these spin-offs and more, this path looks to be ripe for the picking for Season 2.
Well, I all hope you enjoyed my review. I probably won't be doing another one till next year since I need to focus on my own stories. I just wanted to get this one out due to Season 2 of Log Horizon coming out soon. Thanks for dropping by and have a good day! Auto out!
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