Log Horizon

[Kraco]

Episode 24 - HS




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Bloody Minori. I couldn't anymore stand the absurd amount of screen time she gets for no reason whatsoever, and had to skip parts of the episode. But forgetting those annoying parts, this managed to be a mildly interesting episode. It's as if the enemy knew beforehand Shiroe would be the opponent and thus no plan was better than a solid plan. Although it would have been more impactful if it had develop a bit more and had some false leads for Shiroe. But I suppose that would have been overdramatization since I still fail to see how this could lead to anything life changing. If it ends up changing something like preview suggests, I don't think this disturbance necessarily has much to do with it. This was more like a minor scuffle between people of the land groups with the Akiba being caught in the middle of it.

Looks like Crusty isn't there to save his princess every time. But of course if he had been there, we probably wouldn't have seen much drama. One funny thing is that it looked like the foreign noble intended to discredit the princess as well, but in reality she doesn't need to do anything but smile, look pretty, and say she's sorry, and the adventurers will automatically forgive her. At least the male ones.

[MFauli]

Episode 24 - HS
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THAT CLIFFHANGER!

Better episode than the past couple ones, but still not that exciting. Except for the end. Now that is the sort of clash I wanna see. The hero mastermind meeting the villain mastermind. From how openly Lord Marves shows himself and how small-town his attack against the princess appears, I hope he´s not just some lowly minion. Shiroe needs to win, but let Lord Marves have a part-win, too. This anime needs a proper villain, and an equal thinker-type like Shiroe would be a perfect fit.

And then this qeen is super hot. Sorry, Akatsuki, you lose.

Quoting myself because that guy above me buried my posting

[lelouch]

Was really hoping for Crusty to fly in and knock some heads with some good animation like in SAO. If the writers of LH paired with the animators / soundtrack of SAO, this would be a great show.

[Kraco]

Was really hoping for Crusty to fly in and knock some heads with some good animation like in SAO.

Yeah, I know I would have enjoyed immensely such a scene, but I suppose it was better this way: The princess wouldn't have much character growth if she was saved by Crusty (or somebody else) immediately every time. Shiroe did appear, but he came late, allowing Lenessia to cope on her own for a while. Maybe this will allow Shiroe to get rid of some of his evil rep as well.

[Munsu]

Are People of the Land also beholden to the rule of no fighting in cities?

[Archangel]

Are People of the Land also beholden to the rule of no fighting in cities?

No, but the knights won't come to their rescue either.

[NeoCybercoin]

Yeah from what I understand it's to stop players fighting players in town.

[MFauli]

I mean, at some point Shiroe will find out that there´s a new p2w (pay-to-win)-system, access his real world bank account and just pay for his victory. Dat twist, eh? :>

[shinta|hikari]

They cannot fight in town? Then what is the point of the tension in that room then? All involved were adventurers.

If they CAN fight in town, Akatsuki should have just offed the Ryuk dude without showing herself. The politics are interesting, but it is made superficial by the fact that Crusty can kill an entire army by himself, and there are a lot of (immortal) people like him. Power struggles are only interesting if there is no absolute power that can be wielded so easily. Influence, money, nobility, or whatever are only artificial replacements for martial superiority. If you have an absolute edge on that aspect, the former assets are rendered meaningless.

Akatsuki should just shove her naked crotch in Shiroe's face so he would finally get what she wants in their relationship.

[Kraco]

It's clear it wasn't Shiroe's intention to build a tyranny, so it goes without saying they don't consider abuse of power the first solution to problems, despite having the resources to solve everything external with it. His intention, that the other members of the round table seem to agree on, is to build normal relationships with the surrounding people of the land. If they relied too much on power, I don't think they would easily win the trust of all the adventurers either. I don't believe the players at large still consider the round table a real government with authority the same way they tought of the governmental system of Japan back in RL. The majority probably views the round table as a gathering of guild leaders who handle foreign affairs and laid down some internal codes of conduct that majority could accept and thus live more easily in Akiba. But that's still no different from joining a random web forum and honouring the posting rules, more or less. Maybe the round table members are more like the moderators of Akiba in their minds.

Besides, this whole incident, like I said earlier, is so far largely between people of the land with Akiba and the adventurers being used as tools in the middle of it. That might naturally change, and the preview suggested as much, but there's not really awfully much for Shiroe to be concerned about right now, certainly not to the point of resorting to assassinations. He could even view this as a fire drill. Who knows what might happen in the future, so it's good to have some experience in handling public disturbances and such.

[shinta|hikari]

That's not my point. I am saying that the suspense is superficial because they aren't really in danger, like you said.

[Kraco]

That's not my point. I am saying that the suspense is superficial because they aren't really in danger, like you said.

Isn't that the thing we everybody discussed when the show launched? Since people can't die, or rather can afford to die a dozen times before they lose something they would really regret, the suspense is necessarily somewhat lessened. However, my point, although I admit I could have misinterpreted you, is that when Shiroe, and the round table, set a certain kind of goal, they can still fail to reach or uphold that goal. So, there would be suspense there. If the round table collapses, Akiba would again be an anarchy to some degree, although the guilds, especially the biggers one, might still look after themselves. But it would be bad for non-guild members, members of random smaller guilds, and the resident or visiting people of the land. It seems like discrediting round table was one of the goals of this attack.

[shinta|hikari]

What was discussed before was the lack of depression or suspense from combat because they cannot die.

What I am saying is political struggles against PotL seem like role play because they hold absolute martial power.

[Kraco]

What I am saying is political struggles against PotL seem like role play because they hold absolute martial power.

Nah, that might make it more difficult, in fact. Both sides know adventurers hold the upper hand in martial power, however, for now the adventurers don't want to rely on that. They want normal relations with the surrounding people, not "this is how it will be, or we will raze your cities" kind of relations. But that tension still remains there, from the NPC's point of view. So, the goal of normal relations might fail more easily. Of course it wouldn't endanger adventurers but it'd be a failure nonetheless. But if you must think of everything in terms of military strength, then naturally you are correct. But not once during this show has that actually played such a big role. Right now is the first time people of the land might be threatening Akiba and, as it happens, it's not a military threat.

[shinta|hikari]

I am quite annoyed by that Ryuk dude. It is as if he does not understand how small and insignificant he is compared to the adventurers.

[Kraco]

Episode 25 Final - HS





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Hohoo... I guess this didn't sell as bad as some forum posters in the internets were telling, since the end of this ep already announced S2 in the fall. I somehow would find it hard to believe merely boosting the LN sales would make them animate another season because lots and lots of series haven't shown such behavior.

I'm kind of divided in opinion about Shiroe leaving Akiba. It's good for the adventure, hopefully especially action, which this show was sorely lacking, but on the other hand I fear the Crusty & Princess pair will disappear when the focus moves away from Akiba. Shiroe is so totally uninterested in women that I kept losing interest in Akatsuki as a consequence. Crusty was handling the princess deliciously in comparison.

No idea what the fox woman will amount to. Obviously she's not running her domain poorly because otherwise adventurers would have fled the place, possibly flocking to Akiba. Since they aren't, she should have lots of power and intel as a consequence, just like she was advertising to Shiroe. She's pretty shady otherwise, though, with the stupid plot against Akiba. If that was all to show her power and make Shiroe want to leave the place to join her, she's no master of socialising with people. She probably used ugly methods to make Minami hers.

[Archangel]

SEASON 2 BITCHEZZZZZZZZZZZ!!

Fuck, i wish they had managed the pacing better though. That second part needed a whole episode just for itself. Definitely looking forward to another season though, this was all kinds of good.

[Buffalobiian]

Leaving Akiba is the correct decision. As much as I like watching Crusty's fight a show and its characters have to stick to their aims to make it worthwhile. In this case, Log Horizon was all about "seeing a new horizon before anybody else". You can't stay in one place if you're pushing boundaries unless you're a researcher inventing items in a lab.

In fact the real bad about Log Horizon leaving is that we'll continue to get more Minori.

[MFauli]

Somehow I didnt like the sudden introduction of a villainous other player in the west. It may have been known before, but it never felt like something of significance. Its just too easy of an anti-pole to build a plot around. But maybe Im too cautious.

What season 2 definitely needs, though, is a firm pairing with Shiroe and SOMEONE else. I dont care if it´s Minori, Akatsuki or, the best, the vixen girl. But I for sure hate harem anime, where the hero is super popular but too dense to ever initiate something of substance. I can stomach it for one season, but not for another. Give me some real romance.

[lelouch]

Not sure if it's because I watched this episode baked, but I didn't understand a single sentence this episode. Can you IMAGINE if people tried talking like that in real life? Like wtf was going on in that conversation with the fox woman? Like... wha... just..what?