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REVIEW: Log Horizon Episodes 13-25 Streaming


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:10 am Reply with quote
I actually like LH's world setting design and the artwork of the characters. It's understandable that some people might not like it though. Season 2 this Fall...this should be fun.
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NuGaiNM7



Joined: 19 Nov 2013
Posts: 81
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:20 am Reply with quote
If comparing LH to SAO (it's kinda impossible not to), I think it does the MMORPG part better, IMO. Also, dat opening~! DATABASE, DATABASE, JUST SAYING WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:32 am Reply with quote
This is the part I stopped watching because it was clear the show was uninterested in being a people trapped in MMORPG and rather just wanted to be a typical fantasy show.

The goblin war was just painful, go to any MMORPG and has a max level character go back to mid level zone and see how much threat the enemy are, even if every single enemy in the entire zone decided to attack you at once you'd be under no danger. A common strategy to farm mid/low level in some MMO is to just cast something that will damage the enemy as they attack you on yourselves and then just go AFK while the enemy die trying to attack you. So suddenly the goblin war happen and were supposed to be worried for them? Akatsuki could solo the entire army.
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leatherhead333



Joined: 15 Aug 2013
Posts: 1187
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:41 am Reply with quote
I'd actually say this is pretty fair review. As great as i thought the show was it did have hiccups every now and then that kept it from reaching it's full potential.

I pretty much agree with the critiques especially concerning the cheesy romantic parts near the end. Though they did serve to further develop the girls I just found it teeth gratingly horrible that such a thing had to pop up in this masterpiece.

One thing that kind of bugged me to was the kids getting so much focus. After a while i just started to tune out because of how many more interesting things were going on during their training. Though i'm guessing that it has something to do with the show only airing on the NHK channel that they got so much attention. While i didn't care much for them it was still nice to see them grown in experience. Minori was the major stand out of the group and she kind of grew on me as the show went on.

I agree on the character design and animation being pretty much the definition of average. They get the job done and that's about it. Nothing innovative or out of the norm for the most part. I do like the different character designs but it's a shame how much they lack in detail.

Music was pretty good. Though it got repetitive sometimes it was still enjoyable. I don't think i'll ever be able to get that main theme with the female soprano going "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAA" out of my head.

I'd say it was more of a B+ but i honestly can't complain about anything else that was covered in the review.
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:44 am Reply with quote
And meiam just showed his ignorance. No, a 90lv player could NOT solo the whole goblin army. And they explained why perfectly. Had he payed attention, you would have known that you cannot fight for an extended period of time by yourself, because you will run out of MP, and you can't recover MP during battle. In fact, recovering MP out of battle is pretty hard as well.
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Cam0



Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 4884
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:46 am Reply with quote
NuGaiNM7 wrote:
Also, dat opening~! DATABASE, DATABASE, JUST SAYING WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!


Yeah I really liked that opening too.
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Suena



Joined: 27 May 2012
Posts: 289
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:51 am Reply with quote
I can understand why it's not for everyone, but I'm very fond of this show. I mean, it's mostly adult characters who utilize strategy, rather than just throwing swords and hoping their "feelings" save the day.


And Shiroe is wickedly adorable. *cough*
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 12:06 pm Reply with quote
DmonHiro wrote:
And meiam just showed his ignorance. No, a 90lv player could NOT solo the whole goblin army. And they explained why perfectly. Had he payed attention, you would have known that you cannot fight for an extended period of time by yourself, because you will run out of MP, and you can't recover MP during battle. In fact, recovering MP out of battle is pretty hard as well.


Wait doing normal attack burn MP? That is one weird mmo.
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 12:26 pm Reply with quote
No, a regular attack does not cost MP, but it does not do much damage. Using only regular attacks (no skills) in battle is useless because it takes too long. It's especially useless if you are fighting a group. Very rarely did the characters in the show use regular attacks. Everything that involves a jumping attack, a drawing attack, or anything other then swinging your weapon, burns MP.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 1:36 pm Reply with quote
I loved the heck out of this show, and of course still do, but I have to admit it has its faults. In this half, the final five episodes are fairly weak, the harem content is a little . . . I wouldn't exactly say it was unwelcome (as I didn't mind it at all), but it was definitely unnecessary, and the training/goblin arc could have been much more tightly written. But yeah, the show had its highlights, was very enjoyable, and featured a superb ensemble cast that I really cared about. I am cautiously hopeful that the already-greenlit second season continues on the good work.

Would have rated Log Horizon as Excellent had it stopped at episode twenty, but with that anti-climatic last arc it only gets a Very Good (which in my opinion works out to be a B+). Say what you want but that's still an impressive accomplishment, given that it was originally denounced as just another crappy clone of the genre.
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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Posts: 2046
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 1:48 pm Reply with quote
LOVE Log Horizon. While I understand the complaint about the "harem" bit (and agree that it's more of a "low point") I do think it serves a clear purpose. It expands Minori's character by showing how she is trying to be like Shiroe and affect the broader scheme WHILE not be overt about it. (while she clearly notes that she's attracted to Shiroe, she ALSO clearly notes that she has a completely different purpose for going on a "date" with him) Akatsuki is there to #1. make the Minori/Shiroe dynamic LESS creepy (still... can't clear that ENTIRELY) while also #2. expanding HER character. It's pretty clear early on that Akatsuki stays with Shiroe out of more than just RP commitment. I think it's great that she notes "I'm losing to a MIDDLE SCHOOLER" but also, her "competition" with Minori forces Akatsuki to stop and think of things in the broader scope, rather than being simply a sword that strikes straight ahead.

I think if you look over the full first season, you can see various points where this is relevant to Akatsuki. PURELY in game terms, she could've just focused on her "role" and got exp, levels, gold, etc. But now that it is their "life" she cares more about how she fits into the team and exactly what her "role" IS. (This starts early on when she sees how Shiroe works with other team members and why she doesn't have as strong a connection with them yet)
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unready



Joined: 07 Jun 2009
Posts: 398
Location: Illinois, USA
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:10 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The sparkly, uber princess-y Princess Lenessia you figure will be arm candy, but instead she turns out to be a revolutionary force.... Just try keeping your heart hardened during her Akihabara speech.

The speech seemed like an attempt to re-create the "I am human" speech from Maoyū Maō Yūsha. As for the character, Lenessia seemed to me weaker than she should have been. She's bored by a life where she'll essentially be a token wife in a purely political marriage, but she seems unmotivated even to have an opinion about it. Instead, she's comic relief, pandering to loli-sis-cons. She improves slightly as time goes by, but she still is only ever someone who has to be protected or saved.

Quote:
... what first seemed like a solipsistic game-made-real conceit ... becomes something much more complex and interesting ...

Remember that they're not trapped in a game. They've been taken to a world that seems to be patterned after the game, so unless the People of the Land are robots, they're going to be, well, people.

Quote:
It occasionally contorts itself, and its characters, to deliver crowd-pleasing tripe....

This.

I still like it, but it seems there are a lot of missed opportunities.
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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Posts: 2046
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:24 pm Reply with quote
unready wrote:
Instead, she's comic relief, pandering to loli-sis-cons. She improves slightly as time goes by, but she still is only ever someone who has to be protected or saved.

Wait, what? How is she pandering to "loli-sis-cons"?!? Loli-cons are into "little girl" characters. (if you want to say Akatsuki is loli-con material, sure) I don't see how Lenessia fits EITHER motif. Also, I just find it amusing that it has an "NPC" that is just as "unmotivated" as most of the gamers probably are in real life.
Quote:
... what first seemed like a solipsistic game-made-real conceit ... becomes something much more complex and interesting ...

Remember that they're not trapped in a game. They've been taken to a world that seems to be patterned after the game[/quote]
This is so far only one theory that is entirely unproven. I personally do not believe that theory ESPECIALLY since that "world" also has the selection menus if the players choose to use them. While the magic and battle mechanics could definitely be patterned off something else, I'll be hugely disappointed if there's some "alternate world" where players have HUDs and controls in their heads
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xyz



Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Posts: 243
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:53 pm Reply with quote
I didn't care for SAO but I found Log Horizon interesting and it was really good at some point but the good stuff wasn't consistent until the end. It went down hill the moment the author decided to focus on the kiddies side characters. I have no idea what that was about. I watched the show because I liked my main characters and I want the show to focus on the main characters, not their kiddies side characters. Toward the end, I'm not sure what I was watching anymore.
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Shippoyasha



Joined: 28 Aug 2007
Posts: 459
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:09 pm Reply with quote
Stark700 wrote:
I actually like LH's world setting design and the artwork of the characters. It's understandable that some people might not like it though. Season 2 this Fall...this should be fun.


I love the design and all, but the production values were ROCK BOTTOM. Some episodes got bad where characters would look like blobs and you could see that they only had money for key animation frames and almost no inbetweener animation.

Also, the story was just a constant setup. It's fun and all, but the beef of the story is yet to come. As it stands now, it's a very incomplete show.
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