Log Horizon: I just don't get this show. I know a lot of people are calling it a SAO clone, but I think that's kind of BS. SAO didn't exactly invent the whole stuck-in-a-videogame thing, and that tone could not be more different. One thing I did genuinely like about SAO is how it actually tried to come up with a rational explanation for it's premise. And the core of the story (well, at least the first half...) was all about coming to grips with and overcoming their situation.
At least so far Log Horizon doesn't even seem concerned about coming up with an explanation. Of course we're only two episodes in, but since they arrived at absolutely no conclusion about how they all got there in the first episode you think they would still at least be curious about it in the second. Yet it never comes up again. Nobody even discusses their overall predicament, and instead they worry about beating up PKers and shit (even though unlike SAO you don't actually die when you're defeated in this world, you respawn just like in a game). And then you have people like Akatsuki who, despite finding herself mysteriously trapped in a videogame with no idea if she'll see the real world again, never once breaks character. That's some hardcore roleplaying there. But seriously, wouldn't people normally have bigger concerns?
I may sound kind of harsh on the show, but actually if you just take it as a somewhat campy fantasy roleplaying adventure then it is actually fairly amsuing. Actually, if I had to compare the feel of Log Horizon to anything it would be a faily popular Korean manhwa called Yureka. The thing is, they're not trapped in the game in Yureka. The author just decided to write a story about people playing a virtual reality MMORPG. A story about people just playing a game may not sound that interesting at first, but it works (well, it kind of jumps the shark in the second half but at least the first half is pretty good). Actually, if you think about it there are tons of animes and mangas about people playing games: They're called sports series. You don't have to have some world-changing catastrophe to tell a good story.
And when I look at Log Horizon I can't help but ask myself, was the whole being trapped in the game aspect really even necessary for the story the author wanted to tell? Did he just think there wouldn't be any tension if it was only people playing a game? Because at least so far it doesn't feel like it is...