Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Vintage:
October 5, 2013
Status:
Still Airing
Summary:
Elder Tales is an online fantasy RPG that has become popular worldwide. But when its twelfth expansion package, "Cultivate the Noosphere," is installed, thirty thousand players in Japan are trapped inside. Among them is grad student Shiroe, who isn't very good at interacting with others. But to survive in a world full of monsters, he forms a guild called "Log Horizon" with an eclectic group of other players.
I wasn't a fan of SAO, and when I saw the preview for Log Horizon, I wasn't thrilled. People trapped in a game, unable to log out, blah blah. The concept was old before SAO, and just got senile after. Why did I give Horizon a try?... I don't even remember, however in all honesty, it's not that bad.
So the story isn't new, and the characters aren't entirely either (the nerd, the brash one, and the cute girl... omph). Nevertheless, the introduction has been done carefully enough if you ask me. There's far less "shock" moments than in SAO; instead, there's subtle info about charas and setup while the story's already advancing. And then there's those little soul-in-the-shell details, like one character finding it hard to pilot his avatar because that one's taller than his IRL counterpart. Sound and animation are rich, and where the art is standard, it's definitely good enough for an online setting.
It's probably still too early to actually judge Horizon, however it has some fair potential, and I rather enjoyed its first episode. I've been pretty hesitant, however I've got cautious hopes up for this one.
A well-meant 8/10 from me, still that's only a first impression and not to be taken too seriously.
