Forum - View topicREVIEW: Log Horizon Episodes 1 - 6 Streaming
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Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
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Really? I thought Log Horizon was based on a series of light novels too. Regardless, that doesn't really matter for the purposes of judging the anime adaptions. |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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How's the game in this compared to SAO?
Half the reason I stopped watching SAO was that every episode a new game mechanic would be introduced that would make the actual game absolutely horrible. After awhile it felt there was no point to the setting being a video game instead of just another fantasy setting, since the rule where seemingly changing (or at least rule that should have been explain straight away were ignored until they were needed). The most annoying where people being able to use ability that no one else could. Oh and people using old gear. |
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sakuragtin
 Posts: 222 |
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I've never really liked 'trapped in a video game' type anime but I gave Log Horizon a go for the simple and shallow reason that there was a cat dude who looked sort-ish (like extremely vague) like the Baron from Baron:The Cat Returns. I am actually quite enjoying it. I like the explanations about how the game is played and how the world seems to set up overall (wouldn't mind more people freaking out over their predicament). I agree though that the character designs are all pretty bland. What I like the most is that this show made my wish come true. The swashbuckling cat dude made tea. It's a stupid wish but it made me so happy.
Last edited by sakuragtin on Sun Nov 17, 2013 12:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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sonic720
Posts: 66 |
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The ambiguity of their situation is a major frustration of mine with the show. I love the initial setup and the idea of people being unable to log out of the game which has now become real to them, but there's a huge emotional and mental disconnect with the characters and their situation. Think about it logically for a second and you will see where I'm coming from. Shiroe and his party were once human beings sitting at a computer with a mouse, keyboard, and monitor playing this game in their spare time. I assume they had loved ones and social lives outside of this game, especially when Shiroe mentions he is a graduate student in college and Akatsuki also notes she's about the same age. OK, so if that's the case, why then do they act like nothing has really changed once they are trapped in this game? I mean no one, not once, mentions how they are homesick or how they miss their family, friends, significant other, career, school, clubs, and so on. They also seem very calm and collected for people who now have virtual bodies that respawn instead of their real bodies that can die. They seem to feel pain, hunger, tiredness (they make camp and sleep or sleep in the guild house), and the elements (Shiroe falls into the water and says it feels wet, but he does not get wet). Food has no taste unless you are a cook subclass and skilled, and it will even turn to ooze if you try to cook it without that ability. So the food is both virtual and real and their bodies are both virtual and real; where does the virtual aspect end and the reality begin? Do they need to eat and sleep to refresh their new pseudo bodies or do they do it more out of habit? Reminds me a bit of Ghost in the Shell, just what is it that makes us human? What does it mean to be alive? and is it really possible to trap someone's consciousness into something other than their real body without it killing them? I don't know of any software capable of this phenomena and philosophers would have a field day with this anime trying to guess how it all makes sense. The closest thing I can even think of from a fantasy standpoint is The Matrix, where people are plugged into the world and feel like it's real even though it is just a simulation. Beyond that the characters seem to be very jovial people in the game world turned reality, as they are often laughing and joking and reminiscing about the good old days when the game was still only just a game (as if they used to live in the game before like they do now). I have a very hard time coming to terms with this disconnect with their situation. In fact if I were in their shoes, no matter how long I had been playing the game, I would find it absolutely terrifying I was now a seemingly permanent fixture of this game world turned real world and could not log out. I don't know about Shiroe, but I have family and friends who I would want to see again and would be mortified by the fact I cannot log out and see them and know they are alright. He seems oddly at peace with being essentially a game character now, as does most every other character in the show besides Minori. Again if I were the one trapped, after the initial shock wore off, I'd begin to seek answers to this Apocalypse event and seek a way out. Since no one has formally announced what's happened to trap them, I'd expect Shiroe, as a strategist, to, well, strategize about how they might find answers for what's happening. That's not his goal though, and that to me feels really at odds with the reality of the situation; you're trapped, but you don't care why or how and you immediately come to terms with this reality being your new one and only reality? No human being would act that way in my mind; they would show visible signs of distress, anger, confusion, or even excitement (if it was their dream to become a game character I guess). Instead we are presented with characters who seem scarily at peace with what's going on and really don't care much about returning to their actual reality; this is our reality as Shiroe puts it in the next episode previews. It may be your reality now, but you don't need to accept it as your reality forever; just look at Angel Beats in comparison, they were faced with a new reality, but they challenged that reality and did not blindly accept their fate. Another thing that has been bugging me is the route they took in relation to their entrapment. Rather than contact everyone they knew and ask questions to gather intel on their situation, they get caught up in guild wars. I understand some guilds might act corruptly and abuse the lack of consequences for their profit, but again isn't that really a distraction from the real problem with them not being able to log out? It's like Lord of the Flies, they play politics rather than try to come together and help each other cope with their situation. PKing is not a facet of the game normally, sure it can happen but normally it is moderated. The entire point of the game is cooperation and battling virtual monsters together, not fighting each other. The fact that the guilds would fight each other rather than help each other find clues for escape is really frustrating for me to watch. I mean who knows, maybe them working together might give them a lead to go on for escape, but they don't want to try that or listen to reason. It takes Shiroe six episodes to even come to the conclusion that cooperation may be the answer to their survival; not too quick on the solutions for a guy who's supposed to be really bright and an elite strategist.
I agree with the reviewer here in that I feel the first six episodes seem to have little purpose other than establishing the basics of the game world and the PCs for the audience; they certainly don't advance a narrative for escaping and barely advance a narrative of a political struggle in the making. I hope Log Horizon tackles the larger issues and the characters get more development than just their game personas before long, but I'm not holding my breath. I mean surely Nyanta is not a catman in real life, but all we have to go on for his character is his in game catman persona; I think it would be beneficial to know what these people are like outside the game too please. Overall, my expectations have been disappointed from the first episode and now I'm just hoping a decent narrative comes out of this story at this point. Despite all my frustrations and questions, I'm actually enjoying the show for what it is at this point; I just had higher hopes for this show going in and they have been soured with the way things have been presented to me. |
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Fencedude5609
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The show (and the books) are very consistent about the game mechanics. In fact the author of the novels, Mamare Touno, came onto /a/ last month and hosted an impromptu Q&A session about some of the details of the setting and the story. Unfortunately ANN declined to report on it for some reason, but you can read a rundown of it on Crunchyroll which includes links to the thread itself and some compilation images of the questions and answers. |
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Nayu
Posts: 676 |
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Whoever told you that is incorrect. Both are light novels published by light novel presses. Sword Art Online novel 1 actually is a longer novel than Log Horizon 1. |
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Rederoin
 Posts: 1427 Location: Europa |
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Source? I can't find any place where it is listed as a Light novel. Length irrelevant whether something is a light novel or a normal novel by the way. |
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Nayu
Posts: 676 |
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http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2013/01/24/maoyu-authors-log-horizon-slated-for-anime-adaptation
http://www.moetron.com/2013/01/24/log-horizon-ln-to-tv-anime-announced/ http://www.fandompost.com/2013/11/06/log-horizon-episode-05-anime-review/ http://lndb.info/light_novel/view/Log_Horizon Also, this is printed exactly like every other light novel in the bunkoban format and include the illustrations prevalent in the majority of light novels and missing from the vast majority of "regular" novels. (See also: http://anime.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5584) |
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unready
 Posts: 400 Location: Illinois, USA |
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I hadn't thought of that, but other movies with a similar premise would be eXistenZ, The Thirteenth Floor, and (to some extent) Inception. In eXistenZ, the characters are inside VR games playing VR games so many levels deep that they've lost track of which level is reality. In The Thirteenth Floor, some of the characters are AIs in a VR world, but they think it's real. Inside the VR world, they build another VR world with AIs, who think it's real. Complications ensue. Inception, of course, is dreams inside dreams. There are other movies that have the "I think I'm awake, but wait, I'm still dreaming" trick, but Inception thrives on it, plus the dreams are shared. I'm inclined to think the author of the Log Horizon books doesn't necessarily know himself. He just had a different take on the "lost in a game" genre, and maybe the rest will get figured out later. Or maybe not. |
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sonic720
Posts: 66 |
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Of the three movies you mention the only one I've seen is Inception. Like you said that's a bit of a different situation though dealing with dreams within dreams. After seeing Shiroe comment about how he views the NPCs, or People of the Land, as more human like than the PCs, I'm wondering if maybe the PCs, including Shiroe, are all AI made to believe they are human? It sounds similar to The Thirteenth Floor premise you mention. The PCs all being AI would actually be a really nice twist in my view because it would explain why they think they are human, but yet don't act very human in this game world. You can't think about your loved ones back in the real world if they never existed after all. 
I sure hope the author explains how they came to be in this world by series end, otherwise I'll be extremely frustrated and disappointed. |
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Banken
Posts: 1280 |
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I haven't watched the series, but maybe it's just that the characters aren't stuck in the game world or a world that's just like the game, but are actually...
...bum bum bum... just addicted to it and WON'T leave, because they are dependent on the fantasy, which has become real and entrapping to them. MINDS BLOWN. |
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DmonHiro
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No. Not even close. Not even a little close. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Yeah, most of the characters just popped in to check out the newest expansion. Like Naotsugu hadn't even logged in for 2 years before the Apocalypse.
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Fencedude5609
Posts: 5088 |
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Tip to everyone: If you are going to opine on something, such as a TV Anime, and you have to preface your statement with "I haven't watched the series..." then you may want to consider not opining at all. It might make you look a bit less foolish. |
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Banken
Posts: 1280 |
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I was totally kidding. But that would literally be the ONLY for a "trapped in a game" series to have an original twist at this point. |
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