Log Horizon 2

Episode 23

Log Horizon continued to ignore the fact that it's ending in only a few episodes this week, doing more work to establish the growing threat of Minami and focusing on theories for returning home that clearly won't bear fruit within the season. It was somewhat worrying to see the show focus on distant, large-scale ideas when it's already cannibalized all of its own source material, but the episode also contained a largely self-contained story about Isaac and Maihama, so the whole thing held together fairly well. The show's narrative fireworks have all been detonated, but even hanging around and cleaning up the season's loose ends has its own rewards.

The central thread of this episode was the relationship between Isaac and Iselus, Lenessia's little brother. There weren't really any surprises in this story - even though Isaac halfheartedly complains about Iselus' presence at the beginning, he's won over by the kid in only a few scenes, and spends most of the episode either teaching him fighting techniques or defending him during his birthday party. Isaac is a likeable enough guy, and Iselus is one of those precocious kids that manages to come off as grounded instead of just arrogant, and so their relationship is endearing enough even if it's all well-worn storytelling material. Not every story needs to be full of surprises.

The plot might have been pretty standard, but I did appreciate the offhand insights into Maehama's political system and culture. They clearly exist in a classically patriarchal society, but as with stuff like the William Massachusetts speech, Log Horizon is very good at depicting the human complexities of foreign perspectives with nuance and a distinct lack of judgment. And the ways the Adventurers' presence is affecting Maehama culture on a larger level were interesting to see, particularly since the show then directly contrasted that peaceful exchange of cultural currency with the more aggressive shifts going on in Minami. This is the kind of worldbuilding I fully expect to pay off in… well, whenever there's enough source material to justify another season.

Much of the rest of the episode was consumed by the classic Log Horizon trick of floating one issue and then checking in on what most of the cast thinks about it, with the issue this time being the possibility of going home. The best of these scenes was easily the one spent with minori's group, unsurprisingly - they're the only characters we know well enough to really care about how this possibility impacts their relationships, and the show didn't waste the opportunity. Tohya surprised his friends by declaring he was going to return - not because he wanted to leave, but because he wanted to actually decide his own place, and not simply be dragged along by circumstance. Rudy responded to this with characteristic grace, saying he respected Tohya's conviction and even urging Isuzu to return home if she wanted to. Count on Rudy to be an almost heartbreakingly supportive friend to the end.

Aside from that, there wasn't really much to this episode - a couple scenes of Shiroe investigating the difficulties of communicating with the moon, a few offhand jokes with Tetra and Lenessia, and that's about it. Log Horizon clearly feels no need to impress anyone in its final episodes - it's chugging slowly and steadily along as it always has, never mind the show's fast-approaching end. I'd rather Log Horizon simply admit it's unfinished than try to rush to an unsatisfying conclusion, so at this point it seems for the best that the season end with a hopeful “see you next time,” regardless of whether that next time ever comes.

Rating: B

Log Horizon 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.