Log Horizon 2

Episode 18

So far, the kids' story has either dragged or maintained appeal by moving the focus outside of the kids themselves. This week, Log Horizon managed to pull off a stellar episode while still keeping the kids in center frame, offering a number of surprisingly thoughtful conversations and demonstrating both how these characters have grown and where they still have to go. Log Horizon is normally a show that relies on the strength of its worldbuilding for its appeal, but this episode was virtually all careful character work and ominous direction. It was a very welcome surprise.

The most prominent and poignant conversation this week was the lengthy discussion between Rudy and Isuzu that lent the episode its title - “When the Concert Ends.” After playing another concert in the town of Safil, Isuzu opens up to Rudy about her relationship with her father in a conversation that possessed a great deal more sharpness and specificity than Log Horizon's usual fare. Isuzu sees her father as her hero, but his significance doesn't end there - though he inspired her passion for music, his presence is also a kind of cautionary figure in her life. She knows she doesn't possess his talent, and even though she loves music, the fact that even he was only able to make it as a studio musician seems like confirmation for her that she's not meant to be a star. Lines like “I don't have the talent to be a pro. You're expected to have natural talent, and even then you have to work really hard just to see the starting line. So I'm happy to do it just because I like it” work as both intimate character development and a legitimate, fairly mature reflection on the difficulty of managing career and artistic passion. It was really nice to see Isuzu's thoughts on her own value get such a thoughtful and persistent spotlight.

Rudy also shined in this scene - though he's often relegated to comic relief, he's also consistently displayed a real sensitivity beneath that, and this scene might have been his longest continuous sequence of pure sympathy and thoughtful support. Though this scene was more about progressing Isuzu's personal arc and reflecting on the building theme of finding your purpose than any romance between these two characters, this is still exactly the kind of scene good romance requires - scenes that demonstrate not that characters can pine for each other, but that they can talk to each other, and support one another. Rudy's largest narrative contribution here was the melancholy reveal that to the People of the Land, music has only ever consisted of the forty-two songs that the Elder Tale designers programmed into the game. That wonderfully strange bit of worldbuilding segued into Rudy talking about the recent changes in his own life, and how much the People of the Land appreciate what both Isuzu and Akihabara represent.

Though he's trying to cheer Isuzu up, his words end up making Isuzu feel guilty. In comparison to how the People of the Land are seizing the new opportunities presented to them, she feels like she's just doing whatever she wants, and so their conversation ends on an unhappy note. It's a very natural moment of conflict between two people who clearly care about each other, but can't quite communicate what they want to, and it's looking like this conversation will be the impetus Isuzu needs to finally pursue what she wants from life.

Jeez, that's a full post's worth of analysis for just that one conversation. Well, it was a good one! Anyway, beyond just the Isuzu and Rudy material, this episode also featured nice moments of maturation for both minori and Tohya. On minori's side, it was great to see her idolizing of Shiroe move beyond “I want to be like Shiroe” to actually engaging with what that means in practical terms. She doesn't want to be him, and she doesn't want his job, but she's ready to search for what in his behavior appeals to her, and how she can apply that to her own life. On Tohya's side, an uncomfortable conversation with Nureha revealed the surprising fact that Tohya can absolutely see through her mask. In spite of her constant smiles, he can tell she's fundamentally unhappy, which feels like a marked shift in maturation for a character who's traditionally been one of the most headstrong and unaware members of the cast. It's looking like all this character development will have to take a backseat to the mob of approaching wyverns, but all in all this was a very satisfying episode that dug into its characters with far more grace and acuity than I've come to expect from Log Horizon.

Rating: A-