#shadowsaiph

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).

stealthcrispies Sometimes there are no words to describe my friendship with you. We’ve been friends for 6 whole years now. As of early May 2015, we passed into our seventh year of friendship. There have been a lot of ups and downs, though it never seemed to be through conflicts of interests. We just had moments and events that brought us down and made things harder for us to communicate our needs at times. 

No matter how differently we think and how differently our interests may vary from month to month, I will always love and support you and that goes deeper than any silly interests. But I’ll support the interest too. I will try my best to be better about letting certain ideas go too, if that helps things bring us six more years of bonding. 

You just mean a whole lot to me. You love my characters and seen them grow and change and develop. Now we stomp the character grounds with Mo and Jan mostly, and those short stories and situations really make me smile and I feel like you care about what I am trying to outline with their lives and perpetual and ever-lasting friendship. Mundane as their activities can be, capturing the spirit and essence of what our relationship means through them is important too. Even if I am just bouncing my small ideas about any of my ocs to you, you care, regardless of the frequencies of your responses

I sometimes don’t express how much anyone means to me, because the only feelings that come to mind are so camp. But thanks for being there for me for a lot of my worst moments, and all of the best. We all struggle with our own internal issues, but support is important in making it through them all. I’m always here if you ever need it. 

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shadowsaiph​ Holy cow. I think we have been the friends the longest out of anyone I know on tumblr? Partially because, well, we met before Tumblr even existed to the public. Back in September 2006 we met in our 8th grade chorus class. I was the new girl in a new state at a new middle school and I didn’t know anybody. You were in the same boat in a way, coming to public school after spending earlier life attending a much smaller private one. Through our camaraderie and passion for anime we became fast friends. Who knew that it would span for this long, but I think we knew without speaking it. 

You along with Yuri nurtured my love for anime and manga that I had always wanted to express during middle school that I never got any true chance to before. Im glad I met you in this time in my life, because of this I still have a sentimental and active appreciation of anime even today. 

I know that we both have our stubborn streaks and fair share of stories to share with each other, and though we do not speak as often as we used to (you really need to get on skype a lot more and hit me up, silly :P), I still give you support and well-wishes on your endeavors. 

You helped me and support me with my character creations, even if you didn’t understand TF2 all that much when I became obsessed with it in high school. I started to drift away from Naruto and I was so afraid that you’d stop being my friend too, because you’ve seen me first-hand experiencing the fallout I’ve had with a couple other people and another close friend of mine. I was afraid you wouldn’t want to support me if I ventured away and tried new things. But you didn’t. Sometimes you got mad when I got snappy and rude (which was within your right! I got quite rude at time!!) but you never left me. Thanks so much Shade, no matter what happens to us in the coming years (God forbid) I will never give up on supporting you either. 

 You know though.....I recently discovered our files for the story we were going to write together. The one with Athalos and Kiera??? We should try and reboot that someday and work on it. :YYYYY Kidding aside, I hope to see some writing from you soon, or hit me up on battle.net if I decide to renew my WoW subscription. 

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mrozna​  When I met you, I was actually intimidated. You knew a lot about a game and fandom I really wanted to be a part of. But after we got to talking and rp’ing with the first incarnations of my STALKER oc’s, I knew I had another friend I could count on. From a simple RP encounter in a skype group, I couldn’t tell you how I felt such a way, but I knew. 

It would take some time of communicating and acquainting and venturing through other sorts of conversations, as is logically natural for blossoming friendships, but I was relieved when our personalities were a match for lighthearted conversations as well as the more somber. 

It is a privilege to be your friend. You make me laugh and you enjoy my rambles and you really like my OCs. And  I always enjoy your company be it we talk about language learning or dank memes and sharing art sketches. We haven’t known each other as long, a little under two years, but you mean as much to me as any other. 

B)

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aquachocobo Our meeting was under some...peculiar circumstances. But after those subsided. There was a weird sense of solidarity and mutual friendships that allowed us to spark something of relationship as well. 

We think in very different ways, and I do not voice a lot of my thoughts when I read and listen to messages. But just because we have different passions and thoughts, our interests and support for each other outweigh this. I mean, who needs droll interaction anyway? BU 

Anyway. You may not know it, but having your company helped me a ton through a lot of the financial hardship and mental illness struggle I had in 2013 and through early 2014. Having you in the group and acquainting with you and becoming your friend has really helped me get back up from things and actually attempt to get myself moving again instead of dragging myself along the ground in self-pity. 

Or maybe you do know all this, because I am an emotional creature and cannot even fathom keeping my thoughts ALL to myself, after all. Keep your head up, okay? I’ll be here for you too. It’s what friends do, after all. 

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5hoebox-m3morie5 Psssssst. You are a super rad bro, and you are always going to be my super rad bro. You were there towards the end of high school. I think I met you through my sister actually! 

I think there was an odd time when we were no more than passing acquaintances. Yeah, we shared some interests but I was nervous in expressing them to you initially. But once I was able to interject a conversation with pointing out that I also liked something you liked, we were able to talk about things more and more. 

You helped me develop some of my OCs into what they are today. Devin and Enda will always be bros and there will always be a special place in my heart for the weird adventures of Jared and Abel. Most of all, I appreciate the time I’ve come to know you through them, and I still do when I am not too nervous to shoot you a message from time to time. I still do love you just as much as the times we talked a lot more often. 

I owe ya one, friend. For being there for me. Don’t sweat the small stuff alright? 

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opulentviolets GOSH GOSH GOSH <3 <3 <3 <3 You are like, one of my most favorite people, and i have tons of favorite people and wow. 

I also met you back in high school. You were in your senior year and I was in my junior year. But I was aware of you from a year before our official meeting. We shared a computer class when I was a sophomore and you were a junior, respectively. I caught some accidental glimpses of your deviantART page from the school computers, and knew you were drawing in a sketchbook when you were looking down at a notebook. But I was so nervous. I was already being so creepy. How would I introduce myself if I walked up to you back then instead of waiting a year for the opportunity to come up again. 

“Hey. I saw you browsing dA and draw in your sketchbook. I also have a dA and draw in a sketchbook. Let’s be friends.”????? For real. Part of me regrets not doing it back then, but in the grand scheme of things, I am SO GLAD I waited the year to talk to you in our Clay Construction class about TF2 and Left 4 Dead and your goofy boyfriend mockpizza and all sorts of things. I am so so so so glad I met you and Im so glad I still know you today.