With the conclusion of the second season of “Log Horizon”, there has to be a third season to wrap it all up, considering the bread crumbs they left. Bread crumbs? More like an entire bakery, but on to the plot.

The first season contended itself with how these people, or ‘adventurers’, trapped inside this video game, can grow an entire civilization. The second season looks at personal growth and it loses a bit of steam on that account. When Shiroe has to contend himself with bureaucracy, wow, the excitement is palpable.

Look! As he signs legislation
Gasp! While he settles land ownership issues
Shiver! When he makes proclamations

OK, I am being snarky, as there are some new issues that arise, but the show feels like it was running in place. The overall concern is that there is something going wrong with the server or the AI or general gameplay, as things are going wrong. Shiroe has to go on raiding parties to try and figure out how to get more funding for the projects he has in mind. Thant means he is away and someone else is in charge. Then when a crisis arises, Enheart Nelreth comes into the city and starts killing people, those left behind seem unable to handle the situation properly. They have to wait for Shiroe’s return to finish the task.

Then, the kids (that what I call them, on the line up there, two – far left, three – far right) go on a quest to see the land for themselves and grow, both as people and as players. They run into the mysterious Roe 2, who is a vampire of some ilk, and she helps them. Then in a village, they come across the Odyssey Knights, who seem to have a respawning chamber with them, so they can fight and die without any genuine worries. This comes in helpful when they are attacked by a swarm of killer insects, but it causes confusion among them. Are people so bored with what is going on that they do not care anymore? Like Tom Cruise in “Edge of Tomorrow” (Live. Die. Repeat.), but in this instance, they don’t care how many times they loop about.

But this did not make any real sense, either to me or to the characters. Yes, in this game, if you die, you come back, but a lot of people don’t wish to do that if they don’t have to. So, why speed headlong at it? It may have been answered, but it wasn’t all that coherent for me (or I may have missed it. Hard to compute).

It isn’t until the ending arc that a proposal of gigantic magnitude is presented before them. I don’t wish to reveal it, as it is a major game changer and could (does?) constitute a dramatic mid-course correction of epic proportions.

Despite the overall sluggishness of the second season, there is enough going on to keep you coming back. The third season promise is a big one, indeed, but it might help define this show as a potential modern classic. We will just have to see.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 7 (Workman, but effective)
Plot 7 (A bit of a dip)
Pacing 7 (Moves along consistently)
Effectiveness 8 (Lots of sub-stories and plot intrigue)
Conclusion 7 (It reaches a ‘coupler’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service 2 (A similar show would be “Okamisan”)

Overall 7 (Played it safe too much)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Have some more cake.