Log Horizon 2

Episode 6

Things slowed down a bit this week, as we dealt with the consequences of Akatsuki's fight and pushed a few other narratives forward. We took a trip with Akatsuki to the Log Horizon afterlife, reached a personal resolution for both her and Lenessia, and finished off with a couple shocking twists. Not a highlight episode, but a fine one nonetheless.

We started off the episode with Lenessia worrying about Akatsuki, immediately paying off the work last week did in establishing a real bond between the two of them. Lenessia's only bond so far has been with Crusty, and he never really gave her an incentive to connect with others - their relationship hasn't ever been an equal one, and he's generally been a distant figure she follows more than an actual friend. With Akatsuki, Lenessia has found someone who's just as isolated and seemingly dependent as she is, and I'm really liking how the show is playing the two of them off each other to help each of them grow. Each of them inspires the other to make earnest connections with the people around them - Lenessia's early desire to “earn the right to be treated fairly” could just as easily be a response to Henrietta's later speech to Akatsuki.

From there, the episode moved into a dreamlike sequence featuring Akatsuki in the realm between worlds. We started off with visions of the world before Log Horizon, which gave the show another chance to show off the very different visual style of the real world, as Akatsuki found herself running up an endless staircase. I felt the lack of animation and repeated frames hurt the impact of this scene, but I liked the ambiguous questions it raised. Is this endless staircase to nowhere reflective of what Akatsuki's always like, of what her life in the real world was like, or merely what she associates with her life in the real world? It's clear she's fallen into similar endless cycles in Log Horizon, but it's interesting that this is the first thing she associates with her old life.

That sequence gave way to the episode's centerpiece, as Akatsuki ran into Shiroe at the quiet lake between worlds. Log Horizon did tremendous work with very few words here - Akatsuki silently dancing in the water, the slow build of the music, and even her minimal exchanges with Shiroe all built up a strong mood without having to overtell anything. It was both romantic and somewhat unnerving, a strange moment of solidarity found in a beautiful rain of stolen memories. It was easy to see this as something of a transformative experience just through the ambience alone, making Akatsuki's decision to find her own strength outside of his shadow seem like a natural extension of their meeting.

After that, Akatsuki wakes up, and finally decides to open up to those around her. It's a pretty standard kid's show message, but it's still nice to see Log Horizon expressing “strength” in such a positive way. Akatsuki and Lenessia have each been dependent on the one figure they've been following, but now they want to discover their own strength, and their expression of that is made through trusting in all the other people who surround them. Forget dudes, embrace friendship!

And then Crusty gets devoured by an evil scythe! Yeah, I'm sure Lenessia will take that well. Overall, while I'd say this episode had a bit too much repeating of known emotional resolutions, it pushed its characters forward in a smart way while also treating us to that one great scene at the lake. Log Horizon marches consistently on.

Rating: B

Log Horizon 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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