is a Japanese

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

series written by Mamare Touno and illustrated by Kazuhiro Hara. It began serialization online in 2010 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō, being later on acquired by

Enterbrain , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on January 30, 1987, as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strate ...

and published as a light novel in Japan since 2011.

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

began publishing an English translation in 2015. The series follows the strategist, Shiroe, and the other players of the long-lived

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

''Elder Tale'' after they find themselves whisked away into the game world following a game update. The novel has received four

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptations, with one based on the main story and the other three revolving around characters in the series. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation animated by

Satelight is a Japanese animation studio. Aside from several stand-alone projects, the studio is well known for producing the '' Aquarion'' and '' Symphogear'' franchises, as well as later installments of the '' Macross'' franchise. The company's Represe ...

aired its first season on NHK Educational TV between October 2013 and March 2014. A second season by

Studio Deen is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1975 by former Sunrise producer Hiroshi Hasegawa, along with a team of ex-Sunrise animators. The studio owns three subsidiaries: Danny Donghua (), a Chinese sub-contracting studio; Megumi (め組), a di ...

aired between October 2014 and March 2015. A third season by Studio Deen aired between January and March 2021.

Synopsis

By its eleventh expansion pack, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) has become a global success, with a user base of millions of players. However, during the release of its twelfth expansion pack: , thirty thousand Japanese gamers who were logged on at the time of the update suddenly find themselves transported into the virtual game world and donning their in-game avatars. In the midst of the event, a socially awkward gamer named Shiroe, along with his friends Naotsugu and Akatsuki, decide to team up so that they may face this world, which unfortunately has now become their reality, along with the challenges and obstacles ahead of them.

Publication

''Log Horizon'' began as a light novel written by Mamare Touno. It initially appeared in installments on the user-generated content site '' Shōsetsuka ni Narō'' ("So You Want to be a Novelist") starting on April 13, 2010, and subsequently published in book form by

since March 2011.

obtained the rights on its light novel imprint to release the novels in English from 2015.

Media

Manga

The novel series has received four

adaptations, all written by Touno. The first adaptation is illustrated by Motoya Matsu and titled, ''Log Horizon Gaiden: Honey Moon Logs''. It began serialization on January 27, 2012, and is published by

ASCII Media Works , formerly , is a Japanese Publishing, publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing headquartered in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It originally formed on April 1, 2008, as a result of a Mergers and acquisitions, merger bet ...

in the '' Dengeki Daioh'' magazine. The second adaptation is illustrated by Kazuhiro Hara and titled ''Log Horizon''. It began serialization on May 18, 2012, and was published by

in the ''Famitsu Comic Clear'' web magazine. Yen Press obtained this manga for an English release. The third adaptation is illustrated by Koyuki and titled, ''Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade''. It began serialization on July 9, 2012, ended on March 9, 2018, and was published by

Fujimi Shobo , formerly , was a Japanese publisher that specialized in light novels, manga, Japanese role-playing games, role-playing games and collectible card games. Founded in 1972 and reorganized three times, it was at times an independent company and at ...

in the ''Age Premium'' magazine. Another manga illustrated by Sōchū and titled, ''Log Horizon Gaiden: Nyanta-honcho Shiawase no Recipe'' began serialization on December 21, 2012, ended on March 31, 2018, and was published by Enterbrain in the ''Comic B's LOG'' magazine and collected in six volumes. A manga ''Log Horizon: Kanami, Go! East!'' illustrated by Kou was serialized in ''Comic B's LOG'' from October 1, 2015, to December 1, 2016, and compiled in two volumes.

Anime

A 25-episode

adaptation produced by

aired its first season on NHK Educational TV from October 5, 2013, to March 22, 2014. The series was streamed as a simulcast by

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

in North America and other select parts of the world. A 25-episode second season produced by

aired from October 4, 2014, to March 28, 2015. Both seasons were licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America for digital and home video release.

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

acquired the streaming rights to the series after Sentai Filmworks lost the rights. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. For both seasons, the opening theme is "Database" by

Man with a Mission Man with a Mission (stylized in all caps and sometimes shortened as MWAM) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band which was formed in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, in 2010. The band currently consists of five band members, with stage names of Tokyo Tanaka ( ...

featuring Takuma. The ending theme for the first season is "Your Song*" and for the second season it is "Wonderful Wonder World*", both performed by Yunchi. A 12-episode third season titled was originally scheduled to premiere in October 2020, but was delayed to Winter 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The third season aired from January 13 to March 31, 2021. The third season is named after the title of Volume 12 of the web novel series. The staff and cast reprised their roles from the second season. Funimation licensed the third season and streamed it on its website in North America, the British Isles, Mexico, and Brazil, in Europe through

Wakanim Wakanim was a French subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service specialized in online streaming and simulcasting of Japanese anime series. It was also the first platform to offer videos for download without digita ...

, and in Australia and New Zealand through AnimeLab.

Music

Reception

Rebecca Silverman of the

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

noted that the series has "its own unique take on what has become a subgenre of fantasy" when compared to the previous ''

Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the 2020s and focuses on protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various virtual re ...

'' and the earlier '' .hack'' series. With respect to the anime adaptation, Silverman noted that one of the major drawbacks was the artistry. She held the designs of the characters with small regard, calling them "somewhat bland and generic in design, which is a bit of an accomplishment given how many character creation options there apparently are". She used the design of Akatsuki as an example, explaining that the character's beauty has to be constantly reminded to the audience despite the fact that "she's one of the less striking female characters on screen". Another issue Silverman pointed out was the apparent overuse of Naotsugu's perverted nature for comedic relief and finding that for some viewers he may be "line-crossingly obnoxious". Despite these drawbacks, Silverman remarked that the "show shouldn't be dismissed as 'just another ripoff' before giving it a chance" since "it has the potential to expand rather than rehash the basic premise of players trapped in a game".

Explanatory notes

References

External links

''Log Horizon''
at ''Shōsetsuka ni Narō''

* {{Studio Deen 2010s fantasy novels 2011 Japanese novels 2021 anime television series debuts Anime and manga based on novels ASCII Media Works manga Book series introduced in 2010 Crunchyroll anime Enterbrain manga Enterbrain Fujimi Shobo manga Funimation Isekai anime and manga Isekai novels and light novels Japanese fantasy novels Light novels first published online Light novels Massively multiplayer online role-playing games in fiction NHK original programming Novels first published in serial form Satelight Science fiction anime and manga Sentai Filmworks Shōnen manga Shōsetsuka ni Narō Studio Deen Yen Press titles Log Horizon