Log Horizon is, thus far, the best piece of video game fiction ever made. Seriously, no other work of non-video game fiction has ever captured the mechanics and feel of a video game better than Log Horizon, and there is a very strong story to go along with it. Normally I would write a full review for series, but now that The Walking Dead is finished, I thought I would try something different and write up some short impression posts to things that I am watching.
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| Akatsuki the awesome ninja protagonist |
Back to my thoughts of Log Horizon, it is a series about thousands of people being trapped in a MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing games) video game. It follows some fun characters as they try to create a real civilization with order and laws in the lawless land of the game.
After watching a little more than half of the series, I have to say that I am very impressed. As a fan of MMORPGs video games, watching a series that actually shows a believable interpretation of video games is refreshing.
Since everyone is going to compare Log Horizon to Sword Art Online my thought is that Log Horizon is the anti-SAO (Sword Art Online). It is everything that SAO is not, which is an utterly fantastic thing! While I enjoyed SAO more than most, it did not portray video games accurately with Kirito basically using "The Power of Will" to break every rule that the game setup, and it was completely inconsistent in almost all aspects. On the other hand, Log Horizon is all about world building and how the main characters use the rules of the world to progress the plot. Even though there is action in Log Horizon, it is more of a sci-fi/fantasy that uses political thriller elements as well as action and other things to drive the plot forward. A good comparison would be Code Geass or Death Note with a MMORPG twist. Also the tone of Log Horizon is perfect. It is often humorous and fun, but when it needs to be serious, it is serious. The best thing that I can say about the series is that it is incredibly engrossing. I feel as though I am in the world of the world of Elder Tale (name of the game that the players are trapped in).
Since this is a reaction and not my full review, which will be coming at some point, let me put this in short. Thus far, Log Horizon is fantastic! If you are a gamer or a MMORPG gamer, watch Log Horizon, just do it. If not, providing you can get past the exposition heavy dialogue sequences that explain the mechanics of the world, you might enjoy the series. However, accurately determining whether or not a non-gamer will enjoy the series is difficult because I am a gamer. Have you seen Log Horizon? Are you interested in watching it? What did you think of my first impression post, and if you liked it, please let me if you want to read more on different subjects.
Please check back tomorrow for my first impression of Kill la Kill.
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Interesting! I actually intentionally avoided Log Horizon last season, because it was very similar to SAO. It's nice to know that it actually isn't. I really didn't like Kirito as a character, because he was overpowered. (It's fine to have an overpowered main character, but in Kirito's case, it just spoils the fun). The fact that Log Horizon is about world building and the characters says a lot about it. I didn't see those aspects clearly portrayed in SAO.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Log Horizon is most certainly anything but SAO. Even though I liked Kirito's personality, I agree, he was ridiculously overpowered all the time. You never felt that he could not win in the end. He always used "The Power of WIll" to overcome everything. The main character in Log Horizon is nothing like that. In fact, he is much more like Lelouch from Code Geass, just less evil.
DeleteI am not entirely sure how familiar you are with video games, but I would say give Log Horizon a shot. Some people say that the series is slow, but that's probably because most people seem to prefer action heavy series.
Thanks for the comment!
-James
Sounds like an interesting series! :) I think I might watch it at some point :)
ReplyDelete@Shena Tokala: For some reason the reply feature isn't working. Anyway, yes, I would say give the series a try sometime. :)
ReplyDelete-James