Luck & Logic

Episode 12

My already negligible enjoyment of the Luck & Logic season finale was lessened some by an article I just saw here on Anime News Network—Luck & Logic is getting a season two. Really? Why is it that this mediocre show gets a second season when so many more deserving shows don't? While this episode of Luck & Logic neatly concluded its story arc and deftly set up a plot for its upcoming season, there was nothing particularly special about it.

There's no opening song this week (or closing animation for that matter), so get ready to buckle in for a longer than usual episode. Even if you haven't seen it yet, I'm sure you could guess what it was about as well as I could — Yoshichika and Athena overcome Olga and Lucifer with the help of their friends. A lot of Yoshichika and Olga's battle takes the form of verbal sparring, which obviously isn't as well-animated as the actual fight sequences, and the dialogue is still very confusing. One thing that helped me was to mentally replace the word “logic” with “personality” whenever a character says it, like when Chloe says, “Just sitting here watching is not my logic,” or Yoshichika says, “Olga, you have a logic I couldn't even conceive of.” This battle is almost parody. Even in Over Trance mode, the duel ends up in fisticuffs. And though I've enjoyed Olga as a villain, once we realize the extent of Lucifer's control over him, there's nothing ambiguous or interesting about his allegiances and motives.

And of course, Luck & Logic continues to be cringingly self-aware until the very end. Somebody needs to forbid the writers from using the word “clichéd” until further notice. “Are you hoping for some clichéd miracle?” Olga asks Yoshichika (and of course one happens). “It really is so clichéd,” Shiori notes of Athena and Yoshichika's picture-perfect yawn-inducing love story. And these characters really are predictable to the end. Yoshichika saves a penitent Olga—and his Logic cards, at the expense of his own, effectively saving the day. How's that for cliché?

I didn't like the battle or its predictable outcome, but I have to hand it to Luck & Logic for neatly concluding the story after that. Olga's character arc has evolved as he's grown as a person (though the self-flagellation is a bit cringeworthy). We learn conclusively what happened to Lucifer. The transition from a time of war to a time of peace is addressed. And Athena and Yoshichika's love story reaches full circle, with a well-thought parallel to the very first episode, taking their feelings and even their dialogue back to the start.

Now it's time to play 52 PICKUP with Yoshichika's Logic cards, a task that will surely unite all our characters and help them grow even further. It's an ending and a beginning at the same time, wrapping up season one and establishing the journey of season two. Perhaps it's this succinct execution that got Luck & Logic a second season. I just can't say something this cliché has very much soul.

Rating: C

Luck & Logic is currently streaming on Funimation.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.