Log Horizon Anime General Discussion Thread (NO SPOILERS)

[Winterson]

Done watching the first ep. Okay, this is another series with online gaming facets featuring deserted players being whisked away from the real world. Although the plot is interesting and everything looks promising, it's less serious than expected. I like the show already and will keep up with the story as it progresses. It may not be that awesome yet, but it's good. I like comedy being added into an action anime. LH is unpredictable and I can only wonder what will happen next. It gives off good vibes so it's like a bonus.

So it seems that the players of the game never used any enhanced neural equipments like nerve gears or sensory inception devices to play the game, but they're sucked into it , though it may just be their minds that are linked up with the virtual world. A frail-looking strategist as the protagonist, a butt-kicking ninja-assasin and a tin man as the main sidekicks, this show has it to impress viewers. Too bad for them that they cannot log off and return to reality, as well with deathless treatment?

How unfortunate for these players who're logged in at the time the expansion happened to be trapped in a world unknown to them though familiar with the game settings and sort. I cannot imagine myself waking up in what's supposed to be a neverland or I'll definitely see myself in a man's body.

And for some reason, it reminds me of .Hack//Sign which I find more appealing than SAO. SAO is just. . . mediocre? Sorry if I bring up this sword whatever suddenly. Anyways, I was never a SAO fan, and it is far different to Log Horizon nor .Hack//Sign. The only thing they have in common is that they're both base on MMORPG.

[Hypernova]

Why is Akatsuki so... in character?

[Dark Faith]

Originally Posted by Hypernova

Why is Akatsuki so... in character?

Some people enjoy roleplaying, even moreso when her character wasn't even the same gender as the player behind it.
Guess she stuck with the personality even after what happened Or maybe she's young enough to be going through that phase.

[Winterson]

Originally Posted by Hypernova

Why is Akatsuki so... in character?

Because she's simply like that?

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by Hypernova

Why is Akatsuki so... in character?

http://youtu.be/0KbqRPuQetY?t=53s

[Benigmatica]

Originally Posted by Winterson

Because she's simply like that?

Akatsuki wants to be in the shadows 'cause that's what assassins do! Now, she's a snarky ninja under Shiroe's command. Historically, ninjas have a master too!

[Winterson]

Originally Posted by Benigmatica

Akatsuki wants to be in the shadows 'cause that's what assassins do! Now, she's a snarky ninja under Shiroe's command. Historically, ninjas have a master too!

Okay. I just thought of her as a silent ninja ready to hit any perverts that come her way.

[aohige]

Oh god
The Gentleman Swashbuckler Cat is voiced by Joji Nakata?

Oh this is going to be delicious.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Hypernova

Why is Akatsuki so... in character?

To help sell Blu-rays?

[Kirito]

Just finished the first episode and I've got to say: I'm truly impressed. It's like Sword Art Online meets Slap Up Party meets .Hack//Sign.

It's really interesting that the MC is a strategist/mage rather than a typical warrior or fighter class etc. So parties have been made and it looks like gamers trapped in the world kind of premise like and the reason as to why they're trapped it'll be interesting to see the reasons. I wonder if it'll be a little "twisted" compared to what the creator of SAO did in that series.

I really like Akatsuki's character. There's no way this assassin class can be this cute! Anyway, the characters look great and I'm interested in knowing how this series will progress in action, plot, character development, and hopefully in the romance department.

I'll definitely be following this weekly. This looks to be a really fun series, and hopefully, more Akatsuki.

[aohige]

I did not realize there's a gaiden of Log Horizon running on the web.
It chronicles story of a small band of players overseas (players from American servers and whatnot) journeying to Japan (Yamato).

Gonna go check it out while I wait for the novels to arrive.

[NorthernFallout]

Watched first ep. The OP aside, which is god damn awesome, this series gives me that good feel I rarely get about an anime right from the start. This might become one of my favorites depending on how things go.

Looking forward to more, and hoping it doesn't go downhill later on.

And Akatsuki killed my heart.

[ZabiLegacy]

Man, was I the only person who watched this episode and realized that they just totally could have stripped out the MMO aspects and just had the exact same episode with only a few tweaks? it's a generic fantasy story with a generic fantasy lead. Everyone keeps claiming it's a rip off of Sword Art Online or Hack Slash, but it's really more a rip off of every fantasy anime ever.

[Estavali]

Originally Posted by aohige

I did not realize there's a gaiden of Log Horizon running on the web.
It chronicles story of a small band of players overseas (players from American servers and whatnot) journeying to Japan (Yamato).

Gonna go check it out while I wait for the novels to arrive.

If you can read Nihongo, there's also the online novel: http://ncode.syosetu.com/n8725k/

Surprisingly it even includes chapters from the to-be-released volume seven


Back to the pilot episode. It's essentially the prologue + first two chapters condensed into one day. Usually this means a lot of details would be changed or left out - which happens here as well - but whoever that wrote the script managed to keep enough in to keep things going. No doubt I would have loved either an hour-long pilot like Fate/Zero or an one-episode-per-chapter format to retain the details that had helped flesh out the world and characters in the novels. But nonetheless the first episode has done a fairly acceptable job (imho) in laying out the foundation. Hopefully whatever important detail that wasn't included here would be revealed in future episodes.

A few observations as well as comparisons with the novel:

Spoiler for Might have spoilers:

• All the named Akiba-based Adventurers made at least a cameo in this episode.

• Akatsuki appeared a lot earlier than she did in the novel. As mentioned this episode condensed the events in the first two chapters into one day. Shiroe and Naotsugu actually met Marielle way before Akatsuki found them (or to be exact, Shiroe).
  
  A simple list for the events in the novel would look like this:
  Day 1:
  1. Shiroe and Naotsugu meets up.
  2. S+N meets Marielle while gathering info in Akiba's city square.
  3. Marielle brings S+N to Crescent Moon guild house so that they can speak more privately.
  4. Both sides exchange info on what they know. Due to the discouraging state of affairs, Marielle becomes a little depressed but Naotsugu cheers her up with some pep talk. Ensue friendly skinship as a touched Marielle sekuharas Naotsugu .
  5. Enter Henrietta, who rescues(?) Naotsugu from Marielle's lusty (busty?) embrace. Marielle extends guild membership to S+N. Shiroe refuses and Naotsugu joins him in that decision but both men promises to help out whenever the Crescent Moon calls.
  6. Chapter one ends (also, Day One of Akatsuki's intimate experience of the male physique )
  
  Day 1+~5 morning:
  1. S+N experiences this strange new world, including actual combat and tasteless food (Akatsuki continues her human male experience). The food in particular is a major turn-off; eating no longer comes with its pleasure but the Adventurers still can't do without food.
  2. S+N meets Akatsuki. Note that (s)he only used one pebble in the novel to catch their attention; the boulder comes from the manga.
  3. Akatsuki acquires the avatar reset potion from Shiroe. Cue form reset with loud and disturbing noise (like many chopsticks broken at the same time, or tearing a wet cloth apart at full strength).
  4. Akatsuki is released from her humiliating (and totally unwanted and unexpected) cross-gender experience.
  5. The bishoujo roleplayer has joined the party!

• The damage that our level 90ers took is seriously exaggerated in this episode. In the novel, Naotsugu, our tank, for example took single-digit damage from level 40~50 monsters. Even Shiroe, the magus with paper-thin defence, fared better in the novel than he did in this episode. I suspect this was meant to highlight the difficulty the Adventurers experience when fighting in this new world as well as to create some suspense.

• The pilot didn't really highlight the frustration that Shiroe felt towards those people who chose to lie around and whine. It's one of the things that drives him on: the desire not to end up like them.

• Unlike in the anime, where mobs magically pop into loot, characters have to manually skin/pillage monster carcasses to get their drops. Carcasses will vanished into particles of light after some time, but still it's a messy process.

Btw, a note to any subbers who happen to read this post, please note that Shiroe's race is Half Alv(?) (ハーフアルヴ) not Half-Elf (ハーフエルフ).

[jeroz]

so essentially we missed out on the fun time that is Akatsuki playing with her male body?

[MartianMage]

So yeah I was right in assuming that the anime made an error in the first fight. I mean seriously lvl90s versus lvl27s?

[Klashikari]

I wouldn't say Log Horizon pilot episode was "incredible" by any means, considering it felt rather laid back despite the plot, but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the details addressed quite early regarding the characters' predicament. It definitely did a better job than SAO or .//Hack regarding how people would react to this (save perhaps Akatsuki exaggerated "in character" behaviour) and the MMORPG detail.

Likewise, the main protagonist being a strategist/spellcaster is refreshing for once, because the series will potentially focus more on tactics and intel gathering than just hack and slashing mobs like crazy.

Really, the series has done little to no fault for the setup, although the characters are a bit lacking. Not that they are not interesting, but their attitude is quite laid back despite their reasonable course of actions. Well, they did show players in despair, so not like it is necessary to kick the dead horse with more angst.

The only little nitpick I have is that the design in general is a bit bland, and the soundtacks department is rather weak and discreet. But aside, it is definitely a strong pilot episode.

[jeroz]

considering the pedigree of the writer, I wouldn't be surprised if the MMO frame is just a set up and more focus would be on the new world exploration, setting up new civilisation, player politics and so on. Does it matter what brought them into the place? The bigger question is always how they shall adapt to the new environment and make the best out of it. In some way, it would be like those stories you hear from EVE online. The emergent tales that happens spontaneously solely from player interactions and not from quests.

If this is the direction the story will go on, I would be really satisfied.

[liro]

Spoilers

Spoiler for Unofficial basic info

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[Dark Faith]

Originally Posted by ZabiLegacy

Man, was I the only person who watched this episode and realized that they just totally could have stripped out the MMO aspects and just had the exact same episode with only a few tweaks? it's a generic fantasy story with a generic fantasy lead. Everyone keeps claiming it's a rip off of Sword Art Online or Hack Slash, but it's really more a rip off of every fantasy anime ever.

So you had an episode full of MMO references and you're talking about how you could've just stripped all of those and still have the same episode?

...What?

And I know people love doing comparisons between new anime and famous ones, but really? This feels like SAO?
The only thing those have in common are the fact they take place inside a game...and even that isn't technically true here.