Log Horizon
| Just finished watching Log Horizon (marathoned seasons 1 and 2), and had heard beforehand how season 2 is terrible and a mess and ends on a horrible cliffhanger, so I was prepared for the worst, and... Season 2 is great. Better than season 1, in my opinion. NOTE: I read the light novels volume 1-6 before watching the anime, so I had already read essentially all of season 1 and part of season 2. It was slightly a slog to get through season 1 because of that - I feel like it overall really does a poor job of adapting the source material (side note: if you enjoyed season 1, read the light novels. You'll freaking love them. Every character is better, and the world and stories just stand out and are much stronger). There's also the poor animation and odd character designs (comparing to the light novel's illustrations, Marielle looks... weird. And Naotsugu and Akatsuki just look a little off. It's odd). But anyway. I still enjoyed the first season, and thought it was good, but it was definitely a shadow of the source material. So season 2 comes along, and honestly, I'm nervous. Is this gonna be the trainwreck I've been led to believe? Nope. It started strong, combining the stories of volumes 6 and 7 (which run concurrently to each other anyway) to make for some tight narrative structure, in comparison to season 1. The pacing just jumps to a strong start already. Shiroe's Abyssal Shaft Raid story is awesome, and I love that the raid takes time, and they struggle and have to deal with that and re-strategize. The kids' arc where they travel along on their mission to get materials for magic bags is really great, not only as character development for them, but as story development for the overarching narrative. We meet more of Plant Hwyaden, dig into their motivations, we meet Roe 2 and find out more about what the heck's going on in this crazy world, and introduce the Odyssey Knights and their crazy revival altar thing. Nyanta also gets a sweet fight on top of a train. (Also, season 1 has an arc for the kids, too, so people who complain about the kids' arc in season 2 can't use that as evidence for season 2 being worse) And then we have a final push of trying to figure out how to get home, then facing one final raid and coming up with the new plan: connect the two worlds! The story's great, and I thought much better paced than the first season while also developing characters and constantly building the overall storyline, continuing to introduce new elements and mysteries and build out the world and the overarching question of "how do we get home?" and "what even is this world?" The animation, I also thought, was a step up. Battle animation in particular is a huge improvement. Neither season 1 nor season 2 are that well animated in a general sense, but season 2 at least was an improvement, and character designs had a bit more detail and life to them, compared to the more plain designs of season 1. Also, the music across both seasons is awesome. Worth watching for that alone if you want. So where does the hate come from? Why is season 2 considered such a downer compared to season 1? I don't get it, and I was honestly waiting for the whole thing to come crumbling down as I watched, and it never did. It just kept getting better. And it concluded, not with a cliffhanger, but with an open ending comparable to the first - a sort of "the main story isn't over, but here's a good stopping point." |
| I think he covered most of the problems |
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Yeah I actually watched his review before watching the series, and now I just watched it again. My points in my first post still stand. I disagree with his thoughts on the animation (I would say both seasons aren't that well animated, but that s2 I think is slightly better), as well as the ending, which honestly felt, to me, like a "hey, now you know what we'll do in season 3" which was kind of how season 1 ended. I find their endings comparable - it's just that season 2 overall just amped up the story and stakes, making its ending and lack of season 3 feel more painful. But it isn't even close to a cliffhanger. And I never felt like there was real "filler" in the story. It felt better paced, to me, than season 1. I just don't get it, honestly, and I'd like to hear some other perspectives. |
| the kid's travel wasn't necessary useless but it took forever could be done in one ep or half ep it took out main time from the new villains shiroe and the guild must face the raid in first few eps and the speech from one of the players reminded me of lenessia's it was dope ;p |
  "When the time is yours, the future is waiting, The person you become, and the people you're creating." |
| i like S2 as much as S1 both 8/10 |
| Why? Because a shitty sequel. Log Horizon was cool when characters were fighting for world-building. Random cute kawaii stupid popping up characters; that boygirl idol, Kanami, Nureha, another girl with black hair. If original creator thought that he could get more readers by cuteness, then he was insulting everyone. Because, his creations are just uncanny valley with no subtle image of persona. That stupid bard girl learned that the music in the game world was limited to 42 songs, so she started to cry, pffft. That Minori, she was very promising at first season. But at second season, as Wyvern attacking, she was trying to figure out what her life purpose was, tried to be cool, but pathetically failed. In a die or live situation, our characters were suddenly started to ponder life purposes. In other words, we are dragged into some shitty kiddy characters' personal drama-stupidity going on. Akatsuki is a college student in real life, why assuming the other kid characters are kids in real life? Only good thing from second season is that cool total raid into ultimate dungeon. That's all. So, my rating is a mere 5/10. |
| I agree the kids took too much screentime when we actually don't give a f about them , they are all annoying screaming and all, but most of all the romance between adults and kids :( And wtf why is Akatsuki considering Minori as a love rival that's so pathetic ... The raid was cool tho |
 yikes |
| thought it was great. Much better than sao big titty garbage. gave it a 10 just like s1 |
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| The Abyssal arc was great, but the rest of the season was preoccupied with little girls whining about how they're "not good enough", little girls trying to trick older men into eating cake, and grown men talking about whether running things "is a man's job". Besides Shiroe and Krusty, every other character in this show is like if Naruto and Yuri Yuri got isekai'd. All the kids are annoying as fuck. It's like a Kindergarten daycare center where all the girls secretly and not so secretly want to fuck Shiroe, even though they look like they're 6 years old (but are supposedly more like 13). The only difference between this and Death March is that they're not slaves. The most annoying part has to be when Tohya was insisting that the Odyssey Knights "still don't understand" that they're wrong about taking death lightly. He's like the stereotypical shounen MC ranting about morality when he doesn't know shit himself and couldn't articulate his beliefs to save his life. Yet, everyone presumptuously believe that he's objectively right -- why? Just because Shiroe told him a truism to prevent him from rushing ahead in a raid? I don't know why Log Horizon tried to incorporate a CGDCT/harem into a political fantasy drama as if the politics couldn't stand on its own two feet. I guess it just really wanted to be like Sword Art Online. |
| My subjective reviews: katsureview.wordpress.com THE CHAT CLUB. |
Aeoness said: Akatsuki got mad she was treated like a kid in season 1. In season 2, all she wanted to do was to tug on her Lord's shirt sleeves like a little girl. Unless Log Horizon was trying to imply that she fell into the role of her character as it was suggested in the Roderick Lab meeting (about how guys with girl characters become more girl-like), this has to be a plot hole.Akatsuki is a college student in real life, why assuming the other kid characters are kids in real life? It's also such a coincidence that all the lower leveled main characters are children, as if their level corresponded to their game age. That makes no sense whatsoever. When Hamelin was collecting those Exp Pots, apparently they only found childlike newbies. I think, like many other decisions in this show, the author just wanted to use cheap tactics to heighten dramatic effects, like he's specifically targeting the audience that likes tropey anime. Cause Log Horizon fell right into that pocket. Keep in mind that not only do the children look like children, they all act like children -- every one of them. Also, when we see Shiroe in real life, he's a child, but he acts like an adult in the game. It really does just feel like the author forgot his own setting. He tried to make it as real as he could and forgot that Elder Tale was a game. |
| My subjective reviews: katsureview.wordpress.com THE CHAT CLUB. |
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