Log Horizon 2

Episode 5

It's Christmas Eve, and the streets of Akihabara ring with the sounds of murder. This week kept the focus on last week's characters, but the tempo couldn't have been more different. The ominous stranger who's been lurking in the corners of the last couple episodes took center stage this week, as a string of murders in Akihabara put the entire cast on edge. We checked in with the round table and Lenessia, followed Souji's attempts to clean up the streets, and barreled through a climactic fight between Souji, Akatsuki, and the Christmas killer.

I couldn't run out of good things to say about this episode. It was easily, far and away the best of season two - the pacing, character development, and dramatic setpieces on display here offered Log Horizon 2's first big reminder of how fun the first season could be. The base concept of this episode is itself strange and interesting - what is the significance of a murderer in a world where everyone comes back to life? The round table seem to see this as an issue of assumed security, and decide the best solution is to evacuate Akihabara's children. Nyanta, on the other hand, sees something more significant in the very acceptance of death - he seems to believe that accepting death as temporary means losing touch with a portion of your own humanity. And ultimately, the greatest significance of this killer might be his political consequences - as a Person of the Land murdering Adventurers in the guise of their old protectors, he may very well unbalance the peace Lenessia is working to protect.

That scene where Lenessia learned of the killer's actual nature was one of the better ones this week, as it was the first that really paid off the work the show has been doing in pairing off Lenessia and Akatsuki. Though Akatsuki remains determined to prove her own value through physical strength (you could see the eagerness with which she took to hunting the serial killer early on), this scene offered a strong demonstration of her value as an emotional support. Akatsuki and Lenessia have struggled to connect in the past, and using this shared burden to bring them together was a smart and poignant choice. Neither of them are particularly good at emotional honesty, but red bean buns and a shared crisis can bring even the least likely of people together. In the wake of this scene together, I'm very much looking forward to seeing their friendship grow across this season.

This episode also was the first to really imply any complexity in Souji's character. He's generally been more of a gag friend than a narrative force himself, but his violent reactions to his guild being threatened helped lend some real urgency to the resolution of this conflict. Between his lack of emotional balance, Lenessia's desire to see Crusty again, and Akatsuki's frequent thoughts of Shirou, the show is very successfully building a feeling of constant tension, that in the absence of its core heroes, Akahibara is starting to come apart at the seams. And all the implied tension of this episode was expressed brilliantly in that final fight, which was easily one of the most visually impressive of the show to date. Log Horizon isn't generally a show I'd laud for its artful direction or flair for action scenes, but this entire episode was full of shots that used the Christmas lighting, snowfall, and darkness to evoke suspicion and danger, and that last fight was full of great single shots and dynamic exchanges. And that last shot, Akatsuki in the snow as she wonders once more what Shiroe could be doing now…

Yeah. This was a good one.

Rating: A

Log Horizon 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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