#shadowanimelover

INTRO

So where to begin? I guess the best place is why these anime get compared so often. I think the biggest reason is that Log Horizon came out not too long after SAO came out.

Now when SAO (Sword Art Online) came out, it had a HUGE fanbase right way. It got hyped up, passed around, even more hyped up. All in all, it was a great anime with a good storyline overall - If you die in the game, you die in real life. I was one of those who got totally in-depth with the series and started watching it as it was released (even going out of my way to buy the first for bento books in Japanese).

Log Horizon, I did not get into until last month, I believe. It had been on my plan to watch list since some of the reviews stated it was similar to SAO. Some even stated that it was better than SAO. I found that hard to believe at the time (though in my defense, that’s not why it kept being pushed back on my to-watch list). LH, at least from my point of view, did not have a huge hype at all but was still highly suggested.

STORY

So the story of SAO Arc 1 can go back to that one line, “If you die in the game, you die in real life.” That is the story. 10,000 players become trapped in Aincrad so they can fight their way to Level 100 in order to escape the game. Arc 2 is a continuation of Arc 1 as not all surviving players awoke from their coma and Kirito must go into a new game (ALFheim) to save Asuna. Arc 3 (in season 2) has the same characters but goes in a different direction (not all players are dying, only a few) and takes place in a different game (Gun Gale) than Arc 1 or 2. Arc 4 continues from Arc 3 with the new character Sinon but returns to the world of Arc 2. Arc 5 is a bit of a niche story where it’s in the same universe as Arcs 2 and 4, it’s from Asuna’s POV as opposed to Kirito’s.

(FYI Arc 1: Aincrad (SAO). Arc 2: Fairy Dance (ALFheim). Arc 3: Phantom Bullet (Gun Gale). Arc 4: Excaliber (ALF) Arc 5: Sleeping Knights (ALF))

So Log Horizon… Log Horizon starts out with players, about 30,000 Japanese players if I remember correctly, waking up to find themselves in the world of Elder Tales with no idea how they got there. Log Horizon does not, in my opinion, have completely obvious Arcs as SAO does. The main reason for that is because the main plot is still ongoing, even after season 2. They still don’t know how they got there, and they’re still trying to figure out a way to escape. There are, however, side plots that take over the series, and I can think of two distinct ones in the first season, three probably in the second.

This is the part where there are the most or biggest arguments emerge for these two series, and here’s the best way to summarize how the two are alike and how they are different.

SAO focuses on the story, characters, and relationships. Log Horizon focuses on the MMORPG.

Now, I’m not saying that there are no MMORPG aspects in SAO; it is a VRMMORPG anime. I’m not saying that there’s no story or character development in LH, because there is quite a bit.

Looking at both anime from an overall look, what is the screen time of each anime focusing on?

SAO focuses on Kirito (as he is the main character) 85% of the time as he is the “hero” of the story. This is true for most of SAO released so far (minus Arc 5 which focuses on Asuna and her character development).

LH focuses on surviving the world since death means nothing, and there’s no way to escape. LH focuses on guilds, bringing laws and unity to Akihabara which will hopefully bring peace across all of Yamato, and getting stronger (Yes, I’m aware there’s a line where Kirito states “I became stronger in order to survive,” but you don’t actually see him grind in the anime because that would be boring). Also of course, they’re trying to figure out why they’re there and how to escape (this knowledge was given to the SAO players).

Is this a perfect comparison? No, absolutely not. I know I’m missing some stuff, but I feel like this is the main point I want to get across to those who watch both because quite frankly they both are great in their own respective rights.

Kind of a random note as well for this category (not sure where else to add it) is the treatment of NPCs. In SAO NPCs aren’t important and will respawn (minus Yui but she doesn’t count). In LH, NPCs, called People of the Earth, act like real humans and will truly die if they hit 0 HP. For LH, this causes some story development and such, but means practically nothing in SAO.

ART

Art… not much really to say here, I believe. Both of them have a Shonen style with SAO leaning slightly into Shojo territory. They both look great and have great effects. I guess the best place to put this comment in is that they both also have very different magic systems (Arc 2, 4-5 for SAO). I think I like the Log Horizon system better, but that’s completely personal preference. There’s nothing wrong with the ALFheim methods, but I do like that Log Horizon is more diverse when it comes to the magic categories.

SOUND

Sound, sound, sound. Love the soundtracks of both anime. Completely. Also in a way, you can tell that there are two different directions going for each anime just by the opening themes. If you just listen to them, you’ll be able to tell the difference.

One thing I do find interesting for Log Horizon is that they didn’t change opening themes at all. I don’t think they changed closing themes either. They did change the scenes in the theme for season 2, but it’s the same song.

SAO Themes: Crossing Field, Innocence, Ignite, Courage

LH Theme: Database

CHARACTER

Oh, the characters. It’s easy to know the characters of SAO because in all honesty there aren’t that many main characters. LH, you have a bunch of main characters plus a lot of re-occurring characters that appear in nearly every episode.

SAO focuses primarily on Kirito and Asuna. You learn a bit more about the other characters like Klein, Silica, Sachi, Lizbeth, Agil, etc., but you don’t really get to know them in-depth.

LH focuses primarily on two different groups. Group 1 is Shiroe (Villain in Glasses), Akatsuki, Naotsugu, and Nyanta. Group 2 would be Minori, Touya, Serara, Isuzu, and Rudy. And of course they have reoccurring characters such as Krusty, Marielle, Isaac, and Soujirou.

So for character diversity, LH definitely wins hands down.

However, I do feel you learn a lot more about Kirito and Asuna than you do about say Shiroe and Akatsuki (me giving away my LH ship hahaha). However, I do think you learn enough about them to either like or dislike them.

ENJOYMENT

I loved both series overall for their respective reasons.

OVERALL

So I bet you think I’m going to state which one I like more. Well, here’s the thing.

I like them both equally for their respective reasons. I love the story of SAO. It brings me back to .hack//SIGN and .hack//ROOTS, both of which I still adore.

I love the MMORPG aspect of Log Horizon as that is my /favorite/ type of video game (for those of you who don’t know).