Log Horizon 2

Episode 11

It was raid time again this week, as Shiroe and the Silver Swords made another attempt against the dungeon's ridiculous three boss encounter. We caught up with the raid party's feelings in the wake of William's speech from last week, put a new encounter plan into action, and checked in with every major member of the party. This was a busy episode, one that ably demonstrated Log Horizon's dedication to truly conveying the drama of MMOs.

The first few scenes of this episode were largely dedicated to reiterating the effect of William's tremendous speech from last episode. The various members of Silver Sword essentially acted as a unified chorus, with their commitment to gaming and the bonds they've formed in their guild bouncing from one voice to the next as a combined monologue. Log Horizon's habit of turning all of its various characters into one single voice isn't exactly graceful storytelling, but it worked well enough here, and the points the show is making about gaming as identity are sharp enough that I'm not really bothered by the repetition. This sequence also allowed for a very tangible articulation of Shiroe's resolution from the last two weeks - now that he's decided to be more honest about his goals, he's already becoming a more effective leader in raid fights.

That raid fight was the binding factor of this episode, a massive battle that moved from the original arena down into the depths of the cave system. From the broad strokes to the tiniest details, all the elements of this fight demonstrated Log Horizon's understanding of actual MMO fight dynamics. Shiroe's plan, to use the first boss's de-aggro period in order to set up an arena where they could fight two bosses in slightly divided attack radii, was a classic MMO tactic - I can “fondly” remember many of my own MMO fights where even the slightest slip in maintaining enemy positioning would have resulted in an instant wipe. And as the episode continued, the show continued to sprinkle in handy tidbits of MMO knowledge - the importance of managing cooldown timers in correspondence with boss timers, the specific usefulness of the various classes and their disparate abilities, the necessity of kiting that which you can't actively manage, etc. The visual articulations of all these details were about as bare-bones and pan-heavy as ever, but the base material was engaging enough to carry the day. MMOs offer a rich background for drama if you're willing to do the exposition work to explain them, and Log Horizon definitely loves its exposition.

This episode also focused on progressing Demikas's personal narrative, which I for once actually felt somewhat invested in. His role so far has basically been to shake his fist at Shiroe while muttering to himself, but this week we finally got some nice details to add texture to his character. His belief that “this world is real because you can fail here” offers a nice perspective on Elder Tale while inherently implying a fundamental sadness in Demikas' life and worldview, and the scene where he got scolded by the Person of the Land was kind of adorable. I wish the show had offered details like this a little earlier, but I'm happy to see the show actually making use of his character regardless.

The episode ended with Demikas finally making a move to one-up Shiroe, forcing Shiroe to directly acknowledge him. It was a somewhat underwhelming conclusion considering how much this season has baited Demikas's anger, but it's at least set the stage for a dramatic confrontation next week. Overall, this episode largely stuck to Log Horizon's strengths, offering a compelling look into raid combat and a few solid character moments besides.

Rating: B+

Log Horizon 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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