Log Horizon: Season 2 Part 2 (Blu-ray) (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	More…-Clean Opening Animation (1:32) More…-Clean Closing Animation (1:32)
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	312:24 (Case: 300)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Shinji Ishihira
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Takume Terashima / Mike Yager Tomoaki Maeno / Andrew Love Emiri Katou / Jad Sexton Yumi Hara / Maggie Flecknoe Ayahi Takagaki / Shelley Calene-Black Misaki Kuno / Hilary Haag Jouji Nakata / Jovan Jackson
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Yasuharu Takanashi

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS HD Master Audio 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Log Horizon: Season 2, Part 2 commences with a stand-alone episode in which Kanami (Marina Inoue / Jennifer Gilbert), founder of the Tea Party and Shiroe’s mentor, is travelling to the west with some companions, facing monsters on the way. The series then reverts to Akihabara where Shiroe (Takume Terashima / Mike Yager) decides to send a group of his youngsters, Minori (Nao Tamura / Luci Christian), Tohya (Daiki Yamashita / Greg Ayres), Serara (Misaki Kuno / Hilary Haag), Isuzu (Eriko Matsui / Meg McDonald) and Rudy (Tetsuya Kakihara / Tyler Galindo) on a learning quest of their own. The five set out; they encounter low level monsters and Isuzu sings in the villages they pass through to the delight of the People of the Land. They also meet the very Shiroe like Roe2 (Ayumi Fujimura / Kelly Peters), subclass Vampire, and find that the Odyssey Knights, controlled by the Plant hwyaden leader Princess Nureha (Chiwa Saito / Tia Ballard) in Minami, are on the road. But Minami and Plant hwyaden also have other groups out and around that are bent on fermenting war between Westelande and Eastal which will involve both Adventurers and the People of the Land so Nyanta (Jouji Nakata / Jovan Jackson), who has been watching the youngsters to make sure they do not get into too much trouble, is forced to intervene.

     Back in Akihabara Shiroe and the Round Table of Guilds are trying to address unhappiness and dissent among the inhabitants due to the increasing imbalance between the haves and have nots. It is also becoming clear that, one year after the apocalypse which sent hundreds of thousands of gamers into Elder Tales, many Adventurers just want to return home, seeking death in fights with monsters because in the moments before resurrection they can see their old selves, and their old world. , Other Adventurers however have come to terms with, and relish, this alternative existence. Then a letter from Roe2 to Shiroe, delivered by Minori, opens up a whole new scenario by referring to people called Travellers who have also been catapulted into Elder Tales but who may hold the key to everyone getting out. Can Shiroe and his companions avert war long enough to follow the lead they have been given? And who, or what, is trying to stop them?

     There are some strong episodes in this Log Horizon set, not only in terms of battles with monsters but also where some of the Adventurers, including the youngsters, reflect upon their previous world and their existence in this alternative Elder Tales world. The ideas within this set of episodes are often poignant and thoughtful with themes of identity, choice, responsibility, loss and alienation. Log Horizon also continues to create an extensive and constantly evolving RP world and there remains a lot of characters; these episodes add even more and it is difficult to keep track of who is who. For example, in Part 2 some characters such as Isaac (Satoshi Hino / George Manley), who is training the people of Maihama as well as looking after Princess Lenessia’s (or Rayneshia) (Mariya Ise / Emily Neves) younger brother and heir to the throne Itherus (Mariya Ise / Kalin Coates), get to strut their stuff while major characters including Shiroe, Akatsuki (Emiri Katou / Jad Sexton), Naotsugi (Tomoaki Maeno / Andrew Love) or the scatter-brained Tetora (Yukiyo Fujii / Chelsea McCurdy) only get to show what they can do in the last couple of episodes. Then the climax adds a tantalising new quest for the members of Log Horizon.

     Log Horizon is now up to 50 episodes in two seasons. This release, Log Horizon: Season 2, Part 2, contains episodes 14 – 25 of the second season which aired on Japanese TV between December 2014 and March 2015.

Video

     Log Horizon: Season 2, Part 2 is presented in the original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 code.

     This anime looks vibrant in HD. The lines are strong and the colours are rich with some vibrant blue skies and rivers, pink cherry blossoms, lush green foliage and yellow sunsets. The blacks are solid and shadow detail fine.

     The English subtitles are a clear yellow font unless more than one person is speaking when subtitles in a white font appear simultaneously on the screen. The subtitles are burnt in when the Japanese dub is selected so they cannot be removed for Japanese speakers. We still get Shiroe / Shiro though.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Audio is a choice between the original Japanese or an English dub, both DTS-HD MA 2.0. The audio and subtitles cannot be changed on the go with the remote.

     Both tracks are surround encoded and have similar effects. Dialogue is clear and the rears are used sparingly for music and ambient effects while there are louder effects during the action scenes. The sub-woofer added bass and boom to the action.

     The English voice cast were good enough although I still prefer the Japanese.

     The music by Yasuharu Takanashi is diverse and very effective.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is approximate in either audio track.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     These are on the second disc.

Clean Opening Animation (1:32)

     The opening song without text, although there is no text with the opening and closing songs on each episode anyway, the credits happening in a separate scroll after the closing song, so it makes no difference.

Clean Closing Animation (1:32)

     As it says.

     Our Region B release of Log Horizon: Season 2, Part 2 is the same as is available in other regions. Buy local.

     Log Horizon is a series that is more thoughtful than a lot of anime with ideas about identity, responsibility, loss, alienation and “difference” plus political machinations. Log Horizon: Season 2, Part 2 adds a coming of age story and remains stunning to look at. But, for me at least, there are too many characters to keep up with and too many subsidiary plotlines which go nowhere (at least for the present). Fans of the series however, and there are many, should enjoy this set of episodes.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall