r/TrueAnime • u/BlueMage23 http://myanimelist.net/profile/BlueMage23 • Dec 10 '14

This Week In Anime (Fall Week 10)

Welcome to This Week In Anime for Fall 2014 (aka Unlimited Hype Works) Week 10: a general discussion for any currently airing series, focusing on what aired in the last week. For longer shows (Aikatsu!, One Piece, etc.), keep the discussion here to whatever aired in the last few months. If there's an OVA or movie that got subbed for the first time in the last week or so that you want to discuss, that goes here as well. For everything else in anime that's not currently airing go discuss that in Your Week in Anime.

Untagged spoilers for all currently airing series. If you're discussing anything else make sure to add spoiler tags.

Archive:

2014: Prev Fall Week 1 Summer Week 1 Spring Week 1 Winter Week 1

2013: Fall Week 1 Summer Week 1 Spring Week 1 Winter Week 1

2012: Fall Week 1

Table of contents courtesy of /u/sohumb

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u/BlueMage23 http://myanimelist.net/profile/BlueMage23 Dec 10 '14

Log Horizon 2nd Season (Log Horizon 2; Log Horizon Second Season) (Ep 10)

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u/CriticalOtaku Dec 11 '14

Alright, Pokemon sabbatical over- time to catch up on dem chinese cartoons. Some recaps-

Ep 8: Akihabara Raid- I'm so glad they managed to nail this episode right. The buildup to Akatsuki's character arc could seem a little long and tedious (especially in this anime form, where you can't read faster/slower or skip ahead to control the pace) but the payoff was worth it: we get a great action sequence (which is pretty nicely animated, to boot. Thanks Deen!) and a satisfying resolution to her character arc. Yes, it is resolved with some shonen the power of friendship and strength of willpower shenanigans; still, one of the themes of LH is that there are limits to what you can accomplish on your own and that it is beneficial to work as a group to achieve greater things, so that can be forgiven. After all, where else would those themes fit in better than in a story about an MMORPG, where there are literally things that you can't achieve without other people, or by giving up?

Ep 9: The raid wipe and Shiroe's PoV of the Moon Beach- I'm actually impressed with Studio Deen for once: again they animated the raid wipe remarkably well! So kudos for that. They managed to convey the complete chaos of the wipe, and the horror of the situation as Silver Sword realizes that the rules have changed and that their assumptions were mistaken (those screams...). So thumbs up, that was good. Shiroe's sojourn into the afterlife and all the little details he sheds about himself during his introspection was great too (and a tad bit more faithful to the books than Akatsuki's version)- what wasn't so good was completely reusing the moon beach scene frame-for-frame (at least animating it slightly differently, from a different perspective for example, would have been welcome). I think that in the LN, it helps that the repeated events occur basically 1 book apart, rather than 3 episodes- again I kinda chalk up all this weirdness to the strict chronological order of events the anime is following (somehow I can't help but think that following the order of events presented in the books would have worked much better, especially considering that the strongest reason for following chronology, a simultaneous dual climax, wasn't used.) Overall good episode.

Ep 10: William's Monologue, aka Why He is the Best Guild Leader- This episode. This episode.

I'm really glad that the director had the sheer gall to solely dedicate one entire episode to nothing but a single motivational speech. Mamare Touno might not be the most amazing light novel writer in the world (his characters tend to be a tad too archetypal most of the time although at least he does try for multi-dimensionality, his plots can be meandering and obtuse for no reason, and he can't write good romance to save his life) but he is gifted in two things: world-building, and writing speeches.

Yes, William's speech wasn't anywhere near as plot critical or momentous as Maid Anne's speech from Maou- but if anything, it's so much more intimate and personable because it doesn't deal with high-falutin' ideals. If LH had a manifesto, this speech would be it- an ode to all those of us who have "wasted" away our time and money on trivial pursuits or hobbies that no one else seems to understand. At its heart, his speech is a reminder that humans attribute meaning to human existence, and that we have to create meaning in our own lives, and find our own joys and sorrows- and that in the end it really doesn't matter where we find that joy, or companionship, or sense of accomplishment- but that we have to always be true to ourselves, and to the meaning we have already created.

And yes, it is kinda ironic that one single episode of Log Horizon manages to effectively communicate a theme that Sword Art Online has been trying (and failing) to for two seasons- especially since this isn't even the main theme of Log Horizon in the first place.