anonymousone

Story: We start off from the end of season 1 and we're immediately introduced to money issues of the costs to keep running Akihabara the way it is so Shiroe jouneys off to the north to attempt a raid in Abyssal Shaft after failing to negotiate with the Kunie clan. A little later on another problem appears in Akihabara with a murderer that Akatsuki has to deal with. This is where Log Horizon begins to get more personal and is the beginning of it's downfall. The subplot between Demiqas and Shiroe isn't the least bit interesting since the conclusion came down to them not liking each other. The addition of another mechanic, overskills been more explained was welcomed and needed in order for Akatsuki to defeat the murderer. Shiroe finishing the raid in the Gold of the Kunie Arc left much to be desired since I came to the realization that the plot was getting stale when it didn't do much for the overarching world. The subject of death is brought up again around the concerns of memory loss but it's never explored deeply about how or why that came to be so we're left with no closure in that topic. The next Arc focused around the noob squad's next adventure which further dragged the already bloated scenario. This is arguably the low point of the series and to make things worse despite being canon to the original source it felt like filler that had nothing to do with the story since it wasn't related to Shiroe's end goal. Compared to the first season Log Horizon takes a large nosedive in terms of quality when it comes to the plot. The author's lack of oversight in the goal of this series becomes apparent early on and disappointedly enough it doesn't pick up until the near end of this season. 

Animation: Studio DEEN is competent enough to animate this season despite some proponents arguing that it was the main problem. The art was certainly of lower quality but I never had a problem with it so I do not think that is the reason why it failed. 

Sound: Once again nothing noteworthy here. 

Characters: This might have been an improvement over the first season had it not lowered the screen time of some important/good characters or introduced token casts. It was a slight plus that we got to knew more about Shiroe and Akatsuki's past while they were growing psychologically. I didn't like the addition of an annoying gender bender or the hardcore gamer. I couldn't care less about the noob squad since they were not important enough to be included in the main story.