Log Horizon 2

Episode 20

This episode was dense. Dense in action, dense in ideas, dense in characters and narrative turns and climaxes. It was a rolling train of worldviews and conflicts and conclusions, answering a few of the show's questions but raising many more. It was a satisfying continuation of a hot streak that's seen Log Horizon at a greater and more consistent level of execution, depth, and drama than ever before. Sequences like this make me sad to know there isn't enough material left for a third season - forty-some episodes in, Log Horizon is finally starting to realize all of its tremendous potential.

We started off with the confrontation between Nyanta and Londark atop Plant Hwyaden's barreling doom train. The fight itself was a reasonable if not overly impressive visual effort, with dynamic direction and a lot of quick jump cuts doing a decent job of concealing the lack of animation. The real key here was their accompanying verbal battle. When Nyanta asked Londark why he was working for the People of the Land, Londark's response was the petulant “I'm doing a job and getting paid.” When probed further, it became clear that Londark was lashing out a world he felt he'd been trapped in unfairly, and that his cooperation with Plant Hwyaden was a form of rebellion mirroring that of the Odyssey Knights. “I never received a manual for this world,” he says - meaning that in the absence of a manual, he's allowed to do whatever he wants.

Londark's contradictory feelings of anger at his powerlessness and clinging to quests as his “moral guides” were yet another elaboration on the strange politics of videogames. Londark is used to having videogames give him the illusion of control while divorcing him from real consequence, and now that his control has been taken away, he's lashing out in any direction. Nyanta rightfully counters that his complaints are like those of a child saying he didn't want to be born (itself a reflection of how much Nyanta has internalized the idea that this world is a valid place), but Londark's equally valid counter is “so what?” He has the power to be petulant - it doesn't matter if Nyanta's philosophy is more well-considered, Londark is not going away either way. A peaceful future for this world requires engaging with those who don't want to be here, and even those who actually want war.

Londark's rejection of any rule of law was turned from petulant gamer psychology to actual philosophical creed by Nyanta's next opponent, the People of the Land general Mizufa. After entering the fight by tossing Londark into the winding gears of the train (!), Mizufa immediately laid out her own beliefs - this is a world of conflict, and whether you are weak or strong, you use what power you have in the way you can to exert your dominance. Mizufa's goading was more effective against Nyanta, as her beliefs are not based in feelings of being wronged - they are her fundamental values, clear in her manic laughter as she charged him. This fight actually had some legitimately solid animation, with one particular sequence near the end featuring a good ten to fifteen seconds of fluid back-and-forth. Their fight only ended when Nyanta was forced to take his opponent seriously and go for a kill, at which point his old friend Kazuhiko joined the battle.

The entrance of Kazuhiko (who was apparently trying to change Plant Hwyaden from the inside, and at this point may have been consumed by their politics) ended Nyanta's fight, but from there the focus shifted to the many other parties involved in the larger battle. The big shift here came from Nureha, who seemed to have actually been affected by Tohya seeing through her false smiles. Though Tohya's words caused her to call off the fight (a choice that, while sudden, does at least reflect on how isolated she must be in her normal life), she framed both Tohya's actions and her subsequent choices entirely in terms of Shiroe's will, and what Shiroe will think of her. It's clear that Nureha is in a bad, bad place, and that this conflict is only the beginning of her journey. We also got more mysterious revelations from Roe 2 (the way she articulated her power as reflective of an “abandoned princess” made me wonder if she's an Izumo Knight, but that doesn't seem to fit with her other clues), and ended with Isuzu finally sharing her song.

The buildup to this last sequence was good (the piano track leading to her announcement built tension well, and her reflections on her relationship with Rudy were on point), but I felt the execution sadly undersold it a bit. Not only was her song just not very good (sorry, Isuzu), but it seemed like the show's aesthetic execution had essentially run out of steam at that point, as the slow pans accompanying her performance felt less visually impressive than the episode's earlier material. Still, the base narrative material of this episode was excellent, and the execution of the Nyanta sequences definitely above the general Log Horizon bar. Log Horizon continues to impress in its final act.

Rating: A-

Log Horizon 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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