「無法者とミスリルアイズ」 (Muhoumono to Misuriruaizu)
“The Outlaw and Mithril Eyes”

Naotsugu gains a Shoulder Cleric! It’s very effective!

Note: Please do not post spoilers. LN readers, you know what I’m talking about. I’m tired of editing comments to hide them, so stop it.

William Massachusetts – Not Such a Bad Guy After All

When William Massachusetts and his guild Silver Sword left Akihabara in season one, he seemed like kind of a dick. He seemed to have no concern for the problems outside his guild, something even Isaac, who can be a bit of an ass, had. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when Shiroe marched in, said he had a request, and William replied: “Understood. I’m in.” That was fast!

What happened was I confused a certainty of purpose and a lack of desire to be actively involved in fixing the world with a rotten character. William is the kind of guy who, in a democracy, would vote and then not worry about what the politicians are getting up to. He has one thing he wants to do, raid, and he’s good at it. And there’s nothing wrong with that! Mostly … the fact that he was in a position to do more and then didn’t does make him seem callous, because he is. But that doesn’t mean he’s a bad person. He just has one thing he wants to do, and he didn’t want to let council meetings get in the way of what he loves. I can dig that.

Galactic Flying Snow Idol, Tetora-chan!

And the reward for new best character goes to Tetora-chan (Fujii Yukiyo)! I was laughing my ass off during her entire introduction, and not only because of her! Regan was also scoring multiple points, from showing that he too is an open pervert to his fart comment! (“Idols don’t fart!”) It’s sad how much people distrust poor Regan, because he’s a hilarious old guy. If Naotsugu likes him, shouldn’t you? That’s what I thought.

But Tetora, man… How hilarious! I think my favorite part was probably how Naotsugu just found himself a pocket healer. No—a shoulder cleric! That’s every tank’s dream, to have a healer all his own, and Naotsugu lucked into one … with some complications. If you can put up with her vain, self-satisfied attitude (bordering hard on arrogance) and her penchant for teasing. If she’s a good healer? Totally worth it. Those are hard to come by. Also, she managed to get inside Naotsugu’s armor somehow, so that shows some serious skill. Not sure what kind of skill, but hey!

Naotsugu x Marie. Shipping Furiously!

As opposed to the ever-present (in anime) harem, I prefer the mass-OTP (trope!), stories with a bunch of canon couples that can actually develop into relationships, something a harem rarely has. Oh, love triangles are fine—Log Horizon has indulged in those a bit—but when you get past maybe two disappointed love interests when a relationship begins, there’s too much sadness, and too much fighting among shippers. I prefer everyone to have a chance at love.

So it should come as no surprise that I’m rooting for Naotsugu and Marie. Naotsugu’s sudden outburst about how Marie is the clear winner was both accurate and fuel for the shipping fires when he began to blush. Better yet was the call they had later on, them both hoping Naotsugu would be back by christmas, and Marie’s fidgeting in the face of Henrietta’s interrogation. These kinds of hints are what happen in the run up to a relationship actually starting (in fiction). I’m calling it now—Marie x Naotsugu is going to happen! (Mark those spoilers LN readers. I swear to the gods, if you ruin this for me…) I believe in it.

Shiroe’s Real Power: Pissing People Off

Shiroe is a good strategist, but his skills there pale in comparison to how deftly he tweaked Democracy-san’s buttons. Thanks again to Tetora for spilling the beans on how whipp–I mean, settled down Demi-Demi is getting, but that grin! Honestly, I don’t blame Deluxe-san. If someone were laughing at me like that, with that sigh and that smirk, I’d want to slug em too. You really ought to grow up though, Tofu in Miso Sauce-san. Your hanayome won’t like it if you’re fighting *snicker*

Looking Ahead – Raid Time

Log Horizon doesn’t depend on MMO-stlye combat to keep us entertained, but I still enjoy it when they do. That’s the biggest part of most MMOs, and raids are what I most remember from my time playing the late 90’s / early 2000’s MMOs Log Horizon was based on. (For a little reminiscing, check out the bottom of the collaboration My Way or the Anime post from Moomba and me.) That plus more uncertain Akatsuki, and it looks like next week is going to be another good episode.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Naotsugu got a shoulder cleric while flirting w/ the pretty cleric back home. That plus Shiroe pissing off Demi-Demi, hah! #loghorizon s2e2

Random thoughts:

  • William’s talk about death being humbling was interesting. From what he said, I think of it kind of like boot camp. There’s some benefit in breaking you down to build you back up, but what if you’re constantly being broken down, over and over and over and over again, (and over, and over), and then have to soldier on without being built back up? Eventually you’ll not want to do it anymore. It must be humbling, to realize how shit you are when you once stood on top of this world. Or so William made it sound. I’m sure we’ll learn more soon.
  • I like how most of the time, a girl spending so much time tormenting a guy would be a sign that she’s tsundere for him, but in Akatsuki’s case she just appears to be annoyed with Naotsugu’s antics. The Curse of Akatsuki is real, Naotsugu! Beware!
  • Demarcation-san’s wife gained some pudge. Oh my. Don’t tell me that he… Ufufu~ *smug smile*
  • Naotsugu has been downgraded to a tsundere vehicle carrying an alternate vehicle, the sword and (surfing) board. Tetora-chan saikyou!
  • Did DEEN upgrade Henrietta’s assets, or is that outfit just more flattering to her figure? I can’t tell, but I’m fine with it either way! Related: I feel like Demi-Demi got buffer too. Fun for all the boys and girls, DEEN-style!
  • Disclaimer: Mark your spoilers. I don’t care if something is “obvious”, if it hasn’t been stated in the show yet, don’t mention it. LN readers know what I’m referring to. Some of you already spoiled me on a few upcoming things, and I’d like to spare anime-only viewers more of that. Thank you.

Check out my blog about storytelling and the novel I’m writing at stiltsoutloud.com. The last four posts: The glorious unburdening of less, Rape fiction, Five movies on a plane, and Remarkably lost

Full-length images: 09, 13, 25, 26, 28, 32, 44, 45.

 

Preview

128 Comments

    1. The changes to Marie and Lenessia are the worst for me, I barely notice a change in anyone else… maybe a little bit with Akatsuki but it bugs me less.

      Marie’s face just seems so less animated and dull and Lenessia… dear god what is wrong with her eyes? Someone give the poor girl some pupils already. I’d hoped how she looked in the OP was just due to some rush job or that she appears so briefly but she was one of the best characters in the first season and her face was so animated and led so much of her character but now… it’s like she’s some sort of zombie.

      qwert
      1. Not so much Marie’s face for me, but her hair. It looks like she didn’t comb it well enough and the strands are sticking in clumps.

        Lenessia lost her pupils somehow. Hopefully they come back when she’s interacting with Krusty the Clown.

        Dafuq
    2. about Marie again ?
      Well, is that important ? Marie is nothing, all she did, talking talking talking, it’s not even related to the plot at all,
      Marie/Lenessia/Bullshit-talking scene = FILLER ON THIS SEASON
      FILLER = No need to waste studio budget on that part

      and use it for these parts :

      -Raid scene
      -Fighting animation
      -Serious-dope face of awesome characters
      -William’s awesomeness
      -TetraxNaotsugu moment in battle
      -Shiroe
      -Rudy and his party

      so deal with it

      Jourine
      1. This isn’t a show about fighting, and it doesn’t have filler. There is no “downtime” to slack off in the budget. Every part of it is important, whether it’s action-acked or not. If you’ve actually watched the first season you should know that by now.

        Wanderer
      2. Well i dont want to blame him, he is right,
        Marielle’s design is right, It’s pretty consistent with the LN illustrations, Marie looks closer to how she did in the LNs, apparently. though
        Blame Satelight not DEEN, it was their fault, made everything looks ugly moes

        Frais
      3. You guys should stop being childish like that, stop blaming DEEN / ugly art changes / etc , learn to accept it, at least studio DEEN trying to give you their best, dont forget this is still episode 2 of 25 ,
        also about Marielle.. what did she give you for whole first season ? plot-related information ?

        NOTHING LOL, SHE DID NOTHING

        Jourine
      4. She gave us very cute romance subplot. Now please tell me, what exactly is more childish – wanting to watch and entertain a budding long distance relationship between characters, which is based on real life people interactions, or some fantasy fight with monsters right out of fairytales, which you so proudly called “action” in your first comment?

        brajt
      5. Speaking of what Marie gave us in the first season. If not Marie, there wouldn’t be the training camp for the newbies – that’s one arc down. If not Marie, there wouldn’t be the festival – that’s second. Do you still claim she’s not an important character?

        brajt
      6. Marie’s hair flows a naturally with full of body in the LN than it does with Studio Deen. Studio Deen has her hair very jagged like. Check out Chapter 4 image of the first novel for reference.

        SilentCid
      7. Anime shows that don’t spend time and budget for character development scenes often fail, you know? Log Horizon isn’t all about fighting monsters and stuff in the first place .

        The Story You Don't Know
      8. Marie has ever been a key char and will also be very important in this season too. She was the perfect example of kindness and good will. She’s just like the soul of Akihabara, and she’s just the starter of any activity in town. She’s also the first one to address the drop of life style and security in the town, prompting Shiroe for action. Nobody can dismiss her like that.

        Solaris
  1. Poor Akatsuki. Well, think of it this way: What’s a hundred-thousand gold weapon in the face of an 80 trillion budget? Come to think of it, you could buy a LOT of high-end gear with that kind of money (enough to equip all of Akihabara and then some), though that’s probably more “icing-on-the-cake” instead of the actual goal . . .

    ShootPointBlank
    1. That’s not true, high end gear = artifacts/phantasmal/crafted with phantasmal drops = need to raid.
      Raids that now need weeks of planing, training, fighting real life battles and dying more than once to be completed due to players being actually present in the world instead of behind a PC.

      Just having money won’t be enough to gain those weapons.

      The only things I dislike in log horizon adaptation is how they downplay the harshness of the Elder Tale post Catastrophe making many anime only watchers misunderstand a lot.

      noir
    1. On the good note, it seems that Demi-demi would never hit a “girl.”

      P.S, Quiz time
      To anyone to didn’t notice, as opposed to others that did study their Japanese, as Tetra has gotten out of that snow she then said “boku” which is a male mannerism of saying the “I” pronoun. So that is a dead give away to say that Tetra must be a boy; or at least a boy in real life, where she is using a female Avatar. On the side note, I will be shocked if such a person actually exist in real life, to have a very feminine voice that is in a cute boy body. Anyway, “she” is officially a trap or an Otokonoko. Don’t know if Demi-demi noticed this.

      L002
      1. p.s.s
        I could be very wrong about Tetora-chan, possibly and I am sure all of you hope I am indeed wrong, but my “spider-senses” are tingling greatly. I have the same Erie feeling as I would in this kind of situation.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAkN-_yyMJA

        You can feel free to use my like/dislike button to vote on your opinions.

        If I am right, then I will make a second wild-guess that Nagisa Shiota (ansatsu kyoushitsu) is the true identity behind Tetora-chan.

        L002
      2. Boku :: is that really true? I know about 0.01% Japanese,
        but I listen to many Japanese female artist and I hear
        “boku” quite often in the lyrics.

        I thought boku was a child’s way of referring to the first person?

        mac65
      3. @ mac65

        Boku is the informal male pronoun. It’s considered less masculine than ore, so while adolescent boys are more likely to use it, it’s not solely confined to them. It’s also used by bokukko characters (tomboys, though not exclusively), and I could fill a few paragraphs listing examples.

        Since you mention song lyrics, there’s a much more simple reason why female artists often employ boku—it’s two syllables. If you’re trying to keep a good beat going and you don’t have three syllables to say atashi or watashi, boku is a good two-syllable personal pronoun that wouldn’t sound ridiculous (as ore world from most females, unless they’re singing as a male character. Ex: Inoue Marina singing as Wataru (Hayate no Gotoku) or Kotarou (Negima)).

        tl;dr – Generally boku is an informal male pronoun, but not always. It and watashi are probably the pronouns most frequently used by both genders. As with so many things, it depends.

        Stilts
  2. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when Shiroe marched in, said he had a request, and William replied: “Understood. I’m in.” That was fast!

    I was also surprised at how affable he was. In fact, the way he went out of his way to proclaim Shiroe as his guest and threatened Delicious-san goes beyond just normal respect.

    It seems to me like he may have some regrets about not pitching in to help the Round Table, and this is his way of returning the past favor.

    I have not read the LN either, so please do not spoil anything for me, just like for Stitches-san.

    MasterDragonKnight
    1. I don’t think he regrets anything. I think he just respects Shiroe, and more to the point, understands him enough to know he wouldn’t come to Susukino with a request unless it was important and—since I’m sure he knows that Shiroe understands him as well—a challenge Shiroe thinks he actually may take up. It wasn’t that big of a leap.

      Stilts
      1. Well, all veteran Adventurers know of Shiroe and the level of his skill he posses, William knows very that when Shiroe has a request there is going to be plenty of reward and more than enough fun in the job. And by now, after the war against the Goblin King, all adventurers new and old must know that when Shiroe comes into town with that devil smile on his face fire is going decend from the heavens. XD

        haseo0408
  3. “Note: Please do not post spoilers. LN readers, you know what I’m talking about. I’m tired of editing comments to hide them, so stop it.”

    Apologies, I should have known better than responding in the way I did to that one post.

    Longhaul
    1. “Shrug” Don’t know how many people are either feigning their ignorance or if it is because they simply don’t know how to even use the functions of Randomc comments. I can’t sadly T_T, I am being honest, keep failing on the HTML/spoiler tags.

      L002
  4. There’s a difference between hardcore raider who’ve eschewed normal life and being a hardcord raider in real life. Silver Swords is finding that out when they actually feel pain and death. After a couple dozen round of this, it could get discouraging.

    BigFire
    1. Show Spoiler ▼

      p.s to Stilt. Sorry to ask this but, in Randomc, is there in instruction manual? I know you don’t want people post spoilers, and so forth, but I have tried before and failed miserably in regards to the HTML tags. Is there a small page where we can see an example of how we put the text in the HTML tags?
      thanks

      Stilts edit: If you’re reacting to a spoiler, do it in a spoiler tag

      L002
      1. There’s also a handy little “Preview Comment” button, which you should use before hitting submit if you aren’t sure you did it correctly.

        Tags aren’t too difficult: Example below, just change the {} into the proper angle brackets.
        {spoiler} Spoiler stuff goes here {/spoiler}
        (Not actually a spoiler)
        Show Spoiler ▼

        BTW I haven’t actually read the LN so I echo Stilts’ desire for proper use of spoiler tags. If you aren’t sure, probably better to throw it under the tag.

        SK
  5. Tetora is hilarious, but star of the show goes to Regan, haven’t laughed my ass off like that in a while; Regan’s face and constant slouch throughout just made it even funnier, especially his love for curves 😛

    Cannot forget Shiroe though, his incessant trolling of Demikas was only topped by the difficulty in holding in the laughter at Naotsugu being overwhelmed by our new resident idol cleric.

    Next Saturday really needs to hurry up.

    Pancakes
  6. @Stilts: THANK GOD! YOU SAID THE MAGIC WORD STILTS!

    I made a bet with a friend that you’re going to address Tetra with a -chan honorific at least once for this coming LH episode blog.

    My friend bet you wouldn’t dare for number of reasons. Show Spoiler ▼

    Oh and before you ask for share, well sorry Stilts, this is a non-monetary bet where the looser has to do some small bidding for the winner.

    One more thing, I find some of the things you wrote this time while mostly minor kind of struck me as odd.

    And the reward for new best character goes to Tetora-chan: Huh? Isn’t Tetra the only notable new character here?

    love triangles are fine—Log Horizon has indulged in those a bit: Last time I’ve checked, Shiroe’s triangle has already escalated to a pentagon and so are the shippers out there.

    And lastly, any particular reason for calling Tetra Tetora? Yeah, I’m perfectly aware that this is another valid way of saying her name, but my sub clearly used Tetra, so do you happen to got a different version or something?

    Stilts edit: Hid accidental, implied spoiler.

    viss
      1. I have very mixed feelings about “official” romanizations. There are many times where the author gets it waaaaaay wrong (like the Italian names in the Index series), and others are just awkward.

        However, the katakana for Demi(q|k)as does correspond with the letter q. デミクァス, romanized literally as demi(kua)su, with the kua as a diphthong in one syllable. In the end it is pronounced as Demikas, but in this case I do agree with the official romanization.

        CarVac
      2. Tetora’s name is in hiragana and not in katakana. So it’s spelled exactly as it is in hiragana when it you put it in romaji. Perhaps in katakana it could be tetra; however, this isn’t the case with Tetora’s name. Volume 7 page 7-5 has the official spelling of it as this as well. It’s also a common mistake with people saying her name is Tetra and who ever did the translations for the anime must have not known about it.

        SilentCid
    1. Ahem:

      Mark your spoilers. I don’t care if something is “obvious”, if it hasn’t been stated in the show yet, don’t mention it. LN readers know what I’m referring to. Some of you already spoiled me on a few upcoming things, and I’d like to spare anime-only viewers more of that. Thank you.

      That means you don’t talk about, imply, mention, or IN ANY WAY refer to the goddamned spoiler outside of spoiler tags. That was aimed specifically at people like you who obviously know what they’re talking about, yet still feel the need to poke at people to hint that they know something other people don’t know.

      Show Spoiler ▼

      Wanderer
      1. You’re right, it seem that I’ve truly gone overboard with it this time. Initially, I was actually preparing to comment on something completely different and not trying to made it off like an implied spoiler. It all boils down curiosity as to how much Stilts actually knows while not being a LN reader and all that. What triggers it is that I was genuinely surprised that Stilts used Tetora instead of Tetra. Only LN readers seems to be using it. I know it was not his fault, and I should have restrained myself.

        I apologize for what I’ve done. I really do feel ashamed of myself. If possible I wish people would continuing downvoting my post until it disappears.

        viss
      2. @Viss

        Even without the LN material for Tetora’s name. In the episode 14 mins 25 seconds in, it shows their character sheet. Her name is written in Hiragana and not Katakana. You couldn’t turn that into Tetra out of it if you wanted too.

        SilentCid
    2. @ viss

      Happy to help. I used Tetora-chan just for shits and giggles … if she wants to be called -chan, that’s fine, I’ll play ball. Also, it never once felt like she has a snowball’s chance in hell at muscling in on Naotsugu x Marie territory—she doesn’t have the volume, ufufu~—so her climbing over Naotsugu doesn’t bother me a bit. If she were a legit threat though… *gets out the pitchforks*

      Oh, and I use Tetora because someone mentioned it was the right spelling before, and because it looks better to me. I use Demikas (which I knew previously was “incorrect”) because I like it better. Same with Lenessia—just my preferred spelling. I always take “official” ones with a grain of salt, so I just pick the ones I like, lol

      Yes, Tetora was the only new character. Well, only new main character. Having a bit of fun there 😛

      And yes, Shiroe’s could be said to be a love square or something, but it falls in the realm of “love triangle” instead of “harem” because I don’t think at least one of the ladies is pursuing the idea seriously, and because it doesn’t give that conquer-all-the-girls feeling. He’s just a highly desirable guy to certain kinds of ladies. He’s a catch. A little competition is understandable.

      Oh, and I tagged the implied spoiler. Wanderer is indeed correct.

      As for what I know (this is the spoiler I’ve been talking about, so don’t click it if you don’t know what’s coming ahead):
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Stilts
      1. (Naotsugu’s more of a pants-man than volume-man, so Tetora’s hot pants have a chance!)
        Seriously though, Tetora and Naotsugu don’t give off any kind off romance vibes. As far as I can see, they are just two friends. Kind of like Toori and everyone not Horizon in Kyoukaisen, or Tatsuya and everyone not Miyuki in Mahouka.

        About the spoiler:
        Show Spoiler ▼

        Erimaki
    3. There’s no word in Japanese like てとら except for it’s katakana spelling, so I’m inclined to think about some kind of word play or something. This is either a fish (wha?) or a western prefix so I Think the romanized TETRA is fine and all.

      Solaris
  7. Deluxe-san taunt kinda reminded me of a character in gaki not tsukai year end specials

    Shiroe is pure evil laughing in the foreground while Tetra while was all over NaotsuguShow Spoiler ▼

    Naotsugu X Marie!!!!

    Stilts edit: Stop spoiling things dammit.

    Oni
  8. Shiroe trolling Demi-demi was friggin’ hilarious. Now there’s a fun way to bring an old villain back. Though I wonder if that guy is going to pull a Leeroy Jenkins later.

    And poor, poor Akatsuki. Must suck to be left out because she doesn’t have raiding gear – she’s probably in blues while the rest are in shiny purples. Works against players, not so much against giant bosses in an insanely hard raid. Though that does leave open the possibility for a power upgrade somewhere along the line.

    And Naotsugu X Marie forever! They’ve got a lot of chemistry together already, and it’s clear they’ve gotten a pretty personal relationship at this point. Hell, they’re sneaking in phone calls and getting scolded by parental substitutes (if you want to call Henrietta that) when caught already.

    Dvalinn
  9. This might be a cruel joke, and no I never read the LN so I am not spoiling anything, but I noticed the attire of Tetora-chan. Looks exactly like the AKB48 attire. So I would find it rather cruel if the author made Tetora die from some sort of blade-like weapon, if anyone had watched the news.

    L002
  10. Ok let me see if I get this, Demikas got himself a wife… A WIFE! The same guy that wanted Serara as his personal loli-maid!? The sadistic bastard that was defeated cursing Shiroe and not only but she´s People of the Earth and wears the pants in that marriage!. I´m sorry that´s way too much to handle… a wife.

    haseo0408
  11. I refused to comment on episode 1 when it came out to adopt a wait-and-see approach, but was really glad to see that LH S2 retains much of thr formula that made it an awesome show with smooth transitions from scene to scene, mood to mood.

    The ensuing hilarity with ShoulderHeals Tetra and Demimi was golden (that Shiroe smirk! XD) couple with some shipping love for MarieNao makes me a very happy viewer, probably enough for me to pick up the LNs.

    It will be interesting to see how they balance out the attention given to Akatsuki’s situation in Akiba and Shiroe’s in the Abyssal Shaft. Looking forward to the next episode.

    The fantasy fan is so spoilt for choice this season. 😀

    Owaranai
  12. Wow, Shiroe really is a master troll, I almost feel sorry for Demi-Demi. More than that I was laughing though.

    So, all you master raiders out there, how good/balanced/ideal does the raid group seem to you? Can’t tell myself because I have no experience on that.

    Erimaki
    1. In short, in a raid there’s always “that guy” who didn’t read tacts, ninja pulls the boss, screwed everything and wipes the raid. Looks like That DemocracyDeluxe guy is aiming to be “that guy”. 😀

      Jourine
    2. @Erimaki

      Without knowing the balance of Elder Tales, I can’t say for sure. It looks like Party 1 is stacked with healers, so I assume the Guardian in that group (very first character shown) is their main tank. Party 2 is a little support focused, so Naotsugu is probably their secondary tank. Party 3 and Party 4 get more DPS-focused (especially Party 4), but whether it’s balanced all depends on whether Shrine Priest(esse)s and Druids are solid off-healers, i.e. basically able to keep up a group on their own.

      Using Everquest raid logic though, since that’s the era of MMO Elder Tales is based off of—and discounting for the fact that Elder Tales raids are like 1/3 the size of many of the EQ1 raids I did—it looks balanced. Clerics are the healer stars, and they’re in the groups with the Guardians (main tanks) everyone else has a smattering of healers and off-tanks (mainly Samurai) to take care of the trash, and there’s enough DPS to take things down.

      Looks good to me.

      Stilts
      1. Clerics are also the Tank style healers. They are noted to be heavy armored, so if you see them rather than Shrine Priestesses or Druids, its because their role is raw healing AND defense. That seems to tip party one entirely into Tank form.

        Tosanu
      2. Thanks for the input Stilts!
        I think the atypical party formations were what had me confused. The only thing I have any experience in is standard tank + healer + the rest kind. Giving different parties different roles makes sense though.
        And from what I know, Druid and Kannagi basically main as healers but have a bit of extra on the side, so all seems good (both classes can easily handle healer role in a regular party. Minori’s party was actually commented to have too much healers in the novel).

        @Tosanu: interestingly enough almost all Clerics we’ve seen in LH don’t wear armor in battle.
        And now I want to see LH-style Durkon…

        Erimaki
      3. @ Tosanu

        I was running off of EQ1 logic, where Clerics were more heavily armored than Druids or Shaman (I played a Druid main, I would know), but that was functionally useless in most raid-style scenarios. If the Warrior (Guardian, here) wasn’t main tanking, you were probably all screwed, and you could toss a Shadow Knight or a Paladin in as an off-tank or an oh-shit-tank, but that was about it.

        That aside, if Clerics are the direct healing gods (and I saw some write up that said they were), I doubt they’d be using them as off-tanks, especially since they have plenty of Samurai hanging around for that. I’d have put my money on them being full-time healing bitches, even before I saw Tetora hiding behind behind Naotsugu.

        @ Erimaki

        Yeah, giving different groups different roles is common in high-end raiding. It depends on the encounter—and usually you know something about the encounter going in, so they can be even more skewed. In that sense, these groups are actually pretty balanced—but often groups will be stacked into tank/healer & support groups, and DPS groups with minimum group healers to keep them kicking … and sometimes not even that. On the raids where there’s no real AE damage and if the main tank / off-tanks go down the whole thing is a rout, you may have 1-2 raid healers (i.e. healing the rest of the raid) in a 72-man raid.

        Trust me, I’ve been that guy before. It’s a surprisingly boring job, up until the point everything goes wahoonie-shaped, in which case you can’t save everyone anyway, lol. So it’s unrewarding too!

        Stilts
      4. From what I’ve understood from the Log Horizon wiki (and to lesser extent, the novels), that EQ logic sounds like it will work most of the time. It has this far at least.
        Anyways I wouldn’t call the LH Clerics tanks, since I see tank needing taunts or enough DPS to not need taunts (in which case they should probably be handling DPS instead of tanking anyways). They’re the most defensive healer though. Something like being able to survive that one AoE special attack in frontlines without having to exit healing range.
        Tetora can just wear Naotsugu and his armor when the going gets rough though 😀

        So no, no using Clerics as off-tanks. As an aside, I would judge Samurai to work better as tanks than how I’ve understood EQ’s not-Warriors to do (Based on what Stilts says. His commentary on Log Horizon is my only touch with EverQuest).

        So from what I understand, a party in a raid group is a bit like a party member in a regular party (to make an oversimplification). Anyways, turns out raids sound more interesting I ever gave them credit for. I always thought they were just dungeon crawling at bigger scale, in other words a chaos (ok, so I admit my view on dungeon crawling might be biased too…).

        Erimaki
      5. Wait a moment, Erimaki. Raids look interesting enough in Elder Tales. Given the party interaction is the same as what we learn it to the previous season, a Raid doesn’t behave like a normal monster. One or more strategies are necessary for beating it and the cooperation of many parties. You can also have a chain of raids, like different rooms like floors in a tower on a pit, Raids with multiple monsters and so on.
        I plaued a game called Lineage 2 and there raids were very plain and boring. There was a single strategy for beating all of them and there was almost no strategy involved. Elder Tale seems to be different than that and more similar to wow zone raiding, where the Raid is the last boss of an entire dungeon area, complete with quests and maybe sub bosses fights. Really interesting to me…

        Solaris
      6. Erimaki, I think you’re right that Samurai are better off-tanks than EQ Paladins and Shadow Knights. Touno Mamare seems to have spliced in some of the balance and reduced scale from later MMORPGs (I know he played EQ2, put perhaps WoW is a better, more accessible example) because no class seems useless (many EQ classes were, or were only barely not) and the raids are much smaller (24-man max instead of 72-man max … though I think EQ dropped the average raid size since I stopped playing).

        But raids—well-run raids, at least—are definitely a different beast than a single party dungeon crawl. I’ve done pick-up raids before (raids with a bunch of pubbies), and they were indeed chaos. I even led a few of those when I was trying to get keyed for higher raids in EQ. It was like herding suicidal cats.

        Good raiding guilds, though, manage the chaos just as six-man groups manage the potential chaos of that structure (though it’s less common because players are more used to functioning in six-man groups, or whatever the number is for that game). The result of the enhanced complexity is a wonderful feeling when you make it work and do something cool, because you know all these moving parts had to function properly—moving parts controlled by squishy, frequently-unreliable mortals—to make the victory happen, and you did it. That’s what made raiding fun to me.

        Well, that and getting to yell at people. I was always the raid and/or guild leader by the end. Being in the hotseat was a lot of fun, provided that’s the kind of challenge you like. I did, back when I had time for MMOs.

        Stilts
  13. 1. Im glad my weekly dose of Vitamin A(katsuki) is back in full swing
    2. I want Tetora Show Spoiler ▼

    3. Delicious… or was it Demiglace…. god damn it Shiroe! I cant remember what’s Tofu in Miso Sauce-san’s real name!
    4. SS Naotsugu x Marie is now accepting passangers.

    Stilts edit: Watch it.

    Ginobi47
  14. I have a slight problem with the first two episodes. One thing i like about the original creator is that the world and characters seem real and not just there to fill a role or whatever.
    Akatsuki not being picked to go with Shiroe seems like just an attempt to create more romance emo and cause Shiroe to have to pick Demi Espadon as a party member. Seemed weak to me.

    Mike
  15. Glad Naotsugu x Marie is becoming a thing, we need more of this in other animes.
    Ignoring that fkn’DEEEEENNN visual quality, the comedy and the writing are still freaking good… *sigh* LH deserved more than this. …and too many spoilers in the comments! Jezzuss!

    Jhacks
  16. @Stilts I would like to apologize for my earlier posts. I’ve gotten carried away and ended up doing something very disrespectful to your work. I’m deeply sorry, and I’ll make sure there will be no second time ever again.

    viss
  17. So there’re 20+ guys whose look competents as fuck in our MC quest for glory instead of him alone and a handful of cute girls who all love him ehh?

    This sh*t won’t happpened in my favorite show that’s SAO for sure.

    Edgy Mcdarkcool
    1. I love SAO season 1 but after that the story just came unglued a bit for me. Like you, I noticed only Kirito could save the day. Writing in SAO is a bit immature in some areas. But its not bad though. It just suffers from the ‘Only Jack Bauer’ can save the day type of crap like you just said

      Rick Anime
  18. https://randomc.net/image/Log%20Horizon/Log%20Horizon%202%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2006.jpg
    nice pantsu! those 2 have very similar thought pattern… but:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    https://randomc.net/image/Log%20Horizon/Log%20Horizon%202%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
    I guess he’s not escaping the reponsibilites of the powerful, willingly or not – look how his very presence brought some kind of stability to Susukino… He is also smart enough to agree straight-out to help Shiroe, since he knew there is only one thing he would be needed for – fighting strong enemies!
    Also I loved how he jumped onto the bandwagon of teasing Demi-Demi!

    Stilts edit: Watch it.

    ewok40k
  19. Hopeless, these Alerts are showing like mushrooms, even if Stilts gave out a Warning

    But then, hunting the others that give a spoiler away bye accident or Hit the Nail with speculation, that shows how Mature here the community are

    Germanguy
  20. Thanks for the spoiler, L002. For future episodes guess i’ll only read Stilts blog posts at least 2 days later, after Stilts edited the tons of spoilers in the comments by ignorant users.

    boingman
    1. Usually it’s not a big deal. It’s just this one thing that people seem delighted to spoil. I have no idea why, but after that reveal it should be okay. For past things we didn’t have this problem, such as (all past stuff, but I’ll use a spoiler tag just in case):

      Show Spoiler ▼

      So you’re probably safe once this one thing is revealed.

      Stilts
  21. Did anyone else think they were going to make a LEROY JENKINS!!!! reference when they were talking about raids? 😛

    For the moment would it be safe to ship Tetora X Rundelhaus? The instant I saw her personality he came to mind. Those two and their outlandish behaviors would match so perfectly.

    leatherhead333
  22. https://randomc.net/image/Log%20Horizon/Log%20Horizon%202%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2006.jpg

    While Marie and Naotsugu represent the OTP trope (and I support it 100% like how I support the Lenessia x Crusty ship), Naotsugu and ReGan embodies the Bash Brothers trope for me very much. I liked it in this episode how they got along pretty well (except maybe with that bit on Akatsuki’s “curse”). Now back to Marie and Naotsugu Show Spoiler ▼

    Zhinvu
  23. Not by me, but from CriticalOtaku on reddit:

    “This week on Log Horizon:

    [/Allchat]Shiroe: LFM Abyssal Shaft raid.

    [/Allchat]William: Sure, Silver Swords are down. We still need more peepz tho my guild ain’t that big anymore.

    [/Raidchat]Naotsugu: Yo found a healer gimme Raid invite.

    Tetra has joined the Raid group.

    [/Raidchat]Tetra: Tetra~desu~!!! <3<3<3

    [/Raidchat]Naotsugu: Stop being such a weeaboo.

    [/Raidchat]William: This is taking forever I'm just going to invite whoever's on.

    Demikas has joined the Raid group.

    [/Partychat]Shiroe: FML."

    This made me my day.

    bakakubi
  24. @Regan
    Last time, I still had doubts with Regan’s intentions but I think this episode was enough to prove to me that he’s a good guy and I’m really starting to like him. I was hoping he’d come with them for the raid but I guess NPCs can only do so much. He and Naotsugu can really do a stand-up comedy duo.

    @William and Demi-Demi
    Just like Regan, I guess William isn’t really much of a d-bag himself given the impression he gave us in season 1. Demikas seems to have grown a soft spot or two because of his wife but I guess he still have some grudge with Shiroe. Based on the OP, I’m kind of guessing he’s gonna turn it around and be “friends” with Shiroe and the gang somehow.

    @Tetra, Naotsugu, and Marie
    I accidentally got spoiled too about Tetra from the comments section. Not much to say about her, she’s funny and stuff. I don’t think she has a spot in Naotsugu’s heart though. Maybe somewhere inside his armor. Looks like Naotsugu and Marie’s relationship is escalating which I support 100%

    @Shiroe and his love triangle/square
    I really dislike harems especially if the girls just magically fall in love out of nowhere. It feels really unrealistic how girls fall in love with a useless guy who has no redeeming factor, like how most harems are. Shiroe though has a lot of qualities that would justify how the girls fall for him, though they need to know him better to know those qualities which is the case in Log Horizon. I feel like Akatsuki and Henrietta will need a lot more of screen time if they want to escalate the triangle/square.

    Given all the early subtle romance stuff we got, maybe we’ll get to see Crusty and the princess in action sometime soon. I do agree that the princess looks a lot better in season 1.

    The Story You Don't Know

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