Project #138: Log Horizon S2 Part 1

Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s time for the second half of the VR arc, Log Horizon. Yep, SAO made a return in the summer of 2014 and Log Horizon made a return in the fall of 2014 and they aired on the same day if I recall so it was a battle trying to see who could get the most ratings. This time the anime was done under the production of Studio Deen (The Bandit King Jing, Hell Girl season 2&3, and Is this a zombie?). Rumor has it Satelight was working on other animes at this time and just didn’t have time to make the season. Other rumors say that the studio didn’t want to make the second season and that the committee responsible for financing Log Horizon didn’t have enough money to pay Satelight so they went with a much smaller studio. To be fair Studio Deen has done some good work in the past but when it comes to their animation it’s usually a hit or miss. Does it surpass or live up to the first season. Let’s find out. This is Log Horizon season 2.

 

Opening and Ending Theme

 

The opening is the same opening as the first season, “database” by Man with a Mission ft. Takuma of 10-feet. My thoughts remain the same it’s a good opening and one that I really enjoy but at the same time I do see this as an act of laziness. They really didn’t have time to find or make a new opening for the season? That just seems a little odd to me. The ending this is “Wonderful Wonder World*” by Yun*chi. It’s a very cute song and one that you will get stuck in your hit. Once again Yun*chi does a good singing and her voice just sounds so nice and lovely. I also enjoy the animation that goes with the song it’s just so adorable. Akatsuki is taking a nap and almost everyone comes by to see her. While she’s sleeping we see a few dreams she’s having and at the end she finally wakes up to the sight of Shiroe smiling at her and her blushing at us.

 

Episodes 1-4

 

The season starts off with a bang by having an after Halloween party since they got too many pumpkins left over (if you got lemons make lemonade if you got pumpkins have a festival to get rid of them). While everyone is enjoying the festivities the Round Table is facing a serious crisis. They are running out of money fast and if they wanna keep the city out of danger they need to find some way to get 80 trillion gold pieces before it’s too late (I think I just had a small heart attack). In order to get this money Shiroe leaves with Naotsugu and Regan to meet Kinjou a member of the Kunie Clan who run the banks in Elder Tales (oh so these are the bastards who have my money). The game of wits begins between Shiroe and Kinjou where Shiroe just comes out and say he wants a large sum of money as well as be friends with the Kunie Clan (geez you wanted all you greedy bastard). Kinjou tells him that due to an ancient treaty he can’t grant Shiroe a large sum of money (not that Shiroe would be able to pay them back even if he had 100 lifetimes to do it). But Shiroe tells him that he knows about a whirlpool deep within the Palm Mountains that’s filled with treasure however a powerful Kunie spell is blocking the entrance. Kinjou finding it amusing that Shiroe was able to find out about all of this decides to give him a chance to get all that gold however he’ll need an army to get to the whirlpool safely (he has a Hulk, will that work?). This poses a problem since Shiroe doesn’t wanna use members of the Round Table because he believes that spies from the south have infiltrated the city and are spying on him and the members of the Round Table but Shiroe has a good idea where to find players who will gladly join his greedy suicide mission (people from Craiglist).

 

In episode 2 Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Regan return to Susukino (good times) where we see that an air of peace and control has taken over since the last time we were here (you can actually walk the streets without getting mugged). This is all thanks to Silver Sword and their leader William Massachusetts (that has got to be the most Americanized name I have ever seen in an anime) the guild that walked out on the Round Table in the first season (I bet he’s regretting that now). After walking out on the Round Table he took his guild and set up shop in Susukino where he established control and made Demikas as well as his guild work under him (I like his style). Also, Demikas got married to one of the People of the Land (she must be some woman to be able to control Demikas. Hate to see what their kids will look like). Shiroe tells William that he wants to lead a raid down to the lower levels of Palm Mountain and before Shiroe can tell him anything he agrees to do it (that bored huh? Can’t say I blame you, playing in the snow and building snowmen can wear a guy out). He even gets Demikas to come along for the trip and Naotsugu finds another player named Tetra a self-proclaimed idol and healer who’s character is identical to those shallow high school girls you see in movies mixed with the bubbly but cute high school girls you also see in the movies (scene here: //youtu.be/Szl_7SsKrWY). They enter the Palm Mountains in a raid party of 24 people and make their way down to the bottom with no sweat despite their lack of teamwork (please nobody pull a Leroy Jenkins) but little does Shiroe known Demikas plans to thwart Shiroe’s goal whatever they might be (good luck with that). Back in Akihabara Christmas is just around the corner and everyone is excited. Marielle hopes Naotsugu will be done in time to be back for Christmas (this is a pretty nice couple) and Akatsuki performs her mission by guarding the princess while also dealing with her struggles to be of more use to Shiroe.

 

In episode 3 Shiroe’s raid party enter the dungeon known as the Abyssal Shaft (known for its long- (Seras): Shut your mouth. (Nitsuj): I’m just talking about the dungeon) a large dungeon with multiple floors and huge areas to cover filled with powerful slime creatures (run ladies) and raid bosses which are buffed up stronger versions of previous bosses (lazy developers). During all of this we see how intense these raids can get as the group actually gets stuck a few times trying to defeat the raid bosses and actually have to retreat a few times in order to study the boss, figure out its tactics, and come up with an effective strategy to win. Combine that with the fact that their weapons start to wear out during the raid and food as well as crafting supplies start to get low and you have yourself one intense play session one where nobody is gonna see you for days if not weeks. Back in Akihabara Christmas is only just 6 days away and everyone is excited but unbeknownst to them a mysterious shadowy man is watching the city (a new challenger has appeared).

 

Not much to say about episode 4. Its 5 days until Christmas and Akatsuki is feeling down because she misses Shiroe and feels that she’s becoming dead weight to him. We also see that Lenessia has put a wall between her and the other players. She feels that because the players are so different and special than her she doesn’t have the right to be friends with them (that’s the stupidest thing this anime has ever given me). This episode however does end on a rather scary note. The shadowy man comes into town and actually stabs one of the players and blood begins to drip from her body as she falls to the ground (are we about to pull an SAO?).

 

Episodes 5-8

 

In episode 5 the Round Table finds out who the Akibahara Murderer is. A guy by the name of Embert Nelreth who we find out later isn’t an adventurer but instead one of The People of the Land (so it’s war they want? Well by God we’ll give them war). While the adventurers don’t permanently die (they avoid copying SAO once again) Sojou decides to take Embert down since he attacked one of his guild members and now he’s gone all yandere on us (you don’t mess with another man’s harem). Later that night Kinjou goes to Lenessia to inform her that this Embert guy stole armor from the Defenders basically the guys who stop players from fighting in the city making them stronger than the actual players themselves (this game loves to cheat doesn’t it). Because Embert has this armor it doesn’t matter how strong the players are or how high their level is in the end they’re doomed to lose because the game won’t let them win (ain’t that a bitch). Lenessia wants to know if they can just turn the defenders off and turn them back on after they’ve captured Embert but Kinjou says if they did that it would takes decades to restart the magic that operates the defenders and doing so would turn off the magic defense of the city leaving Akihabara wide open for attacks (so it’s either learn to live with the crazed murderer in the city or get attacked by wild monsters which I’m sure they out power and can build a new defense system to keep them out. It should not be hard to decide what to do). After hearing this information and finding out that one of her own is attacking the adventurers she’s unsure of what to do (um, tell the other adventurers and work up a plan to catch this guy) but Akatsuki comes in and let’s her eat some red buns to make her feel better (if only all the problems in the world could be solved with food) where she says she’ll deal with Embert herself. She leaves Lenessia’s mansion and finds Sojou fighting against Embert in a battle where he cannot win (story of a man’s life once he’s married). Akatsuki shows up to help Sojou but just like Sojou her attacks do nothing and in the end she gets defeated (scene here: //youtu.be/AmYwx0Z8xNs, Akatsuki lost? My Akatsuki lost!?). Back on Shiroe’s side of the story he gets killed in the dungeon with Naotsugu (O_O I don’t know what to believe anymore).

 

Episode 6 is all about Akatsuki. After dying we see her get teleported to the lake of memory fragments where she runs into Shiroe. The two have a cute moment together just walking and talking (which we don’t get to hear) and they finally give up one of their memory fragments to return saying they’re going to try again (//youtu.be/h5SNAluOj6U?t=5s). Akatsuki wakes up in the cathedral with her hair down completely (man, she looks adorable with her hair down. Too bad she can’t stay like that) and exits the cathedral where she’s greeted by Marielle, Lenessia, and of a few other side characters where Akatsuki says she wants to catch Embert and needs their help as well as their Teachings. After that Akatsuki and Lenessia tell the group the whole story on the murder where everyone is pretty upset they didn’t tell them about this sooner and instead of relying on others they tried to handle this themselves (yeah, that was kinda dumb of them). Through this conversation Akatsuki learns that all this time she’s been keeping everyone at a distance not trusting anyone and only being content with being with Shiroe (again, dumb on her part). Lenessia also learns that all this time she’s never once tried to learn anything about the players which is why there’s always been a gap between her and them. She never once took the time to get to know them or ask them stuff, she’s just been keeping her distance and only doing the bare minimum (in other words she’s been a very lazy princess). But now their eyes have been open and they want to help each other out as well as bring peace back to Akihabara. Back on Crusty’s side of the story his adviser’s scythe goes berserk and begins attacking her out of nowhere (is this because I didn’t give you that power boost stat earlier?). Crusty saves her but the scythe begins attacking him and winds up killing him (O_O what the hell is going on?).

 

At the start of episode 7 we find out that the reason the scythe went crazy is because of flavor text. For you non-gamers or non-card players out there flavor text is basically used to add realism or characterization to an item giving the item more of a background and depth making it seem and feel a lot cooler. For most games flavor text is used to describe special weapons that were once held by great warriors from the past that carry that warrior’s spirit or emotions. This explains why the scythe went berserk in the last episode, the flavor text on the scythe became real and thus attacked on its own (coming completely out of nowhere). Now to this anime’s defense the characters actually did theorize that this might happen in the future they just weren’t sure how or when it would happen. With this information the group figures out that Embert has become possessed by the spirit of a fallen knight since the katana he uses to fight has a flavor text that says the sword once belong to a knight who used to be one of the Izumo Knights and like I said in the previous season these knights are the only NPCs who can fight and win against the players (kind of unfair on the part of the game if you ask me). This means that he has 3 powerful effects when fighting. One, freeze status, freezing his opponents entirely. Two, additional status buffs for every additional person he fights and for every player within 50 meters his attack and defense increases (okay this has got to be the best weapon I’ve ever seen in a MMORPG). Finally, a huge boost to HP, depending on the number of people within the zone his HP will change greatly (best katana ever) and that armor which allows him to teleport at will wherever he wants (okay no matter how you look at this guy this is basically the game giving you the middle finger right to your face point blank). In order to beat Embert once and for all a raid party is created containing the young and strong maidens of Akihabara (hell have no fury like a group of angry women and having Akatsuki in the team makes them even more dangerous) where they’ll be split into teams of 2 and search the city looking for Embert. The plan sounds good but there’s one problem that comes up, Embert’s teleportation. Chances are Embert will teleport away (like a pansy) once he realizes he’s in danger of losing but Reize the leader and strategist of this raid (as well as one of Crusty’s assistants who has assumed control of the guild now that Crusty is gone) has a plan to cut off his power. She wants Lenessia to cut the power of the large magical circle beneath the city which will stop Embert’s armor but at the same time leave Akihabara defenseless and open to monster attacks and PKs throughout the city (and then we’ll be back to square one). Lenessia has a hard time deciding on what to do. As a friend she wants to help but as ambassador she’s afraid of the troubles this will bring between the players and the People of the Land (and that’s all fine and dandy but if you don’t go through with this plan and stop dodging your responsibilities than the entire city is gonna be split down the middle). She finally decides to stop running away from her responsibilities and agrees to help the others with their plan. We end the episode with the day of the operation coming and Akatsuki and Marielle running into Embert.

 

Episode 8 is dedicated to Akatsuki and the maidens of Akihabara fighting Embert. They have a pretty good strategy too, Akatsuki fights Embert while Marielle backs her up with healing spells. When the two get cornered they move to another section of the city where another group ambushes Embert giving Akatsuki a chance to rest, heal up, and attack once again. Rinse and repeat. And it works (clever girls). Akatsuki even unlocks her own Teaching which is multiple shadow clones (how fitting for a ninja) and gets a new re-forged katana courtesy of the city’s blacksmith player who sold Embert that cursed sword in the first place (so this whole mess is your fault). Lenessia and Kinjou cut off magic to the city making Embert’s armor useless and the rest of the maidens trap Embert in a block of ice with Akatsuki delivering the final blow and destroying Embert’s katana winning the fight (well ladies I am impress). They all celebrate by having a pajama party (please have a pillow fight) at Lenessia’s place where Akatsuki receives a call from Shiroe congratulating her on her victory.

 

Episodes 9-12

 

In episode 9 we see just how Shiroe and he others died in the dungeon. While fighting against a raid boss who cheats like hell by shedding his armor which creates minion soldiers (who you have to defeat otherwise your healers and support team are screwed) that once defeated revive a little bit of the boss’ HP (okay as unfair as that is this isn’t so bad). The boss also has instant kill attacks which gives the group a hard time (again this isn’t so bad as there are a few bosses in RPGs who have instant kills and if you equip with the right equipment you should be fine). All these things are normal in a boss fight and can be contended with but when you force the players to take on not one not two but three raid bosses at the same time than we have a serious problem and that’s what they did in this episode (the rules they are a changin’). Seriously, the game forced them to take on three raid bosses at the same time (that is bullshit). One raid boss in this game is hard enough already but to take on three raid bosses at the same and expect to win is impossible. That’s like the Persona games asking you to defeat Elizabeth, Margaret, Theodore, and The Reaper all at once all by yourself on the highest difficulty. Oh yeah, it be a good challenge but it be an impossible challenge because each of them is overpowered as hell and requires a unique strategy to take them down one at a time. So once Shiroe dies he returns to the real world in his human form (which I’m not gonna lie he looks weird) where he sees just how painful it is to die in the game. You realize how weak you really are, how stupid and insignificant you are, and you’re forced to face all of your failures while being told how pathetic you are (in all honesty it’s a fate worse than death). During Shiroe’s walk through the real world he returns to his hometown and meets his younger self in the park where he realizes all the mistakes he made in the past such as not trusting others, pushing them away, not being open with them, and just making up excuses to justify his actions when in truth he was just running away from others. After realizing his mistakes he decides to return and correct his mistakes. He gets taken to that ocean we saw in Akatsuki’s episode where Shiroe pieces together that this is the moon server for the game (they placed a server for the game on the moon? What are they expecting aliens to join the game or something?) where he meets Akatsuki and they talk and walk with each other (where we once again don’t get to hear their conversation) and they each sacrifice a memory to return back to the game.

 

In episode 10 we get an episode long speech from William. The members of Silver Sword are depressed about their lost and are thinking about quitting but William gets back up and gives them a heartfelt and personal speech even though he himself also thought about quitting too. It’s a very good and inspirational speech, the only problem is it takes up the whole episode when really it could of just been half the episode as William gets his point across quite early in his speech. Still as I said before it is a good speech and one that I think everyone who enjoys playing video games whether it be PC or consoles or whether you’re a casual or hardcore gamer should listen to (speech here: //youtu.be/rVN-z9C3g9Q). Moved by his speech everyone gets back up and decides to try once again and Shiroe is ready too as he’s come up with a plan that gives them a 15% chance of victory (well it’s better than 14% so I’ll give him that much credit).

 

In episode 11 the group returns to the dungeon to face the raid bosses only this time they’re ready and more organized and closer than ever. I mean it, the spirit and morale of the guild is high and Shiroe is actually communicating with them and everything (he’s grown). So the strategy that they use is a little confusing but basically they slip pass the first raid boss and go face the other two realizing that the first one is too much of a hassle to defeat but the other two aren’t. They also figure out that the area that the second and third raid bosses are stationed at will lead the group to the bottom of the dungeon (so in simple terms all they have to do is defeat the second and third raid boss and it’s smooth sailing for them). Their plan works for the most part but the first raid boss begins damaging himself (he got wise) and sending his soldiers to fight which gives the group some trouble (man this world just keeps on evolving and changing on them. Just when they think they’ve got all the answers the game goes and changes the questions). Demikas realizing that the goal is to get Shiroe to the final floor grabs Shiroe (forcefully mind you) and carries him all the way to the final door where the two admit that they don’t like each other but they do respect the skills of the other. Demikas goes back to fight and Shiroe enters the final room where gold is raining down from golden fountains (woohoo! We hit the potjack) and waiting for him in the middle of the room is Kinjou with some divine raid boss behind him (well I guess we’ll be taken the gold the hard way). On a side note in this episode Tetra joins Log Horizon to be close to Naotsugu (man, when did Naotsugu become so popular?).

 

In episode 12 Shiroe talks to Kinjou where he solves the Round Table’s money problem by transferring ownership for all the buildings to the Kunie Clan however Shiro wants to purchase the field zones in Yamato as part of his plan to get rid of purchasable zones all together so that nobody is claiming territory and start attacking each other (oh please they’ll still attack each other. Once boredom sets in). Kinjou agrees with Shiroe’s plan and gives him all the money he needs (//youtu.be/8QfSzgV1q5g). Back with the others they defeat the bosses and conquer the dungeon getting all of their names put on a big black stone for them to see letting everyone they were the first players to conquer the dungeon and plant their flag in the dungeon for everyone to see (there truly is no greater feeling than letting everyone in the world know I beat it first). They all take the treasure and return back to their homes where Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Tetra are greeted by Log Horizon and Marielle who’s quite jealous of Tetra being clinging with Naotsugu (don’t worry Marielle, Naotsugu won’t go for her. Mostly because she’s really a boy playing as a female character to troll people).

 

Well that’s the first half of Log Horizon season 2. We’re off to a pretty good start but the second half is usually where the anime starts to fall apart. Will Log Horizon make that mistake too? We’ll find out next week. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.

 

*All videos, pictures, and music are not owned by me and belong to their respected owners. All rights reserved.*

 

Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment, feedback, or request down belong or send to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com

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