/anime/17265/log-horizon
It's hard writing a review on an isekai without mentioning the whole genre.
Isekais are famous for having crazy ideas distilled into bland, boring and uninteresting narratives & characters. I never really watched that many isekais, but the overall hate surrounding the genre makes me want to avoid it. The way I see it, most of these fall into the "forgettable fun" or "cool to hate" shows. But there are some rare shows that does some cool things.
ReZero works around the overpowered trope by taking a normal/not OP human to suffer in a generic isekai, Mushoku Tensei works around the "another world, another chance" trope by taking a worst MC to go on a redemption arc,
And then there's Log Horizon, which works around the "fun" trope about gamers trapped in a game-like world, and building an absolutely fun world.
The really strong point of Log Horizon is the world building. I'm not saying everything is new here, if you have watched enough isekais or played enough MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games), you wouldn't be missing anything new. But what makes the Anime so much fun to watch, is because of its multilayered world. The story is divided into four parts.
- The first part being an introduction with our OP characters going on, what looks like a simple quest, "Save the Nakama". By the end of this arc, we get to see who are the important characters to the story, and how the basic fantasy system works in this world.
- The second part would be a "Politicking". With some of the important characters of the world exchanging words around a round table. This is basically where the mind games start that seem to doesn't end, even when this arc ends.
- The third part would be a "Fantasy-thriller", with two stories going on different routes that get interlinked by introducing a key element in the magic system that ultimately changes things forever.
- The last part would be a "Filler-ish" segment. With focus on some cliched romance tropes and a less interesting mind game that just exists.
All of these parts themselves aren't great enough to be compared to other anime, but it's the culmination of all these less-than-great segments that form into a living, breathing world that there always seem to be some new, unexplored thing in the corner, waiting to open even more possibilities.
The characters in Log Horizon, just like its world, seem to be never ending. There are so many characters that you feel like you might lose sight on them, but the story does a great job at linking all these characters so that no one gets forgotten. Just like the world, the characters can also be divided into 3 types.
The OPs: These are basically the OP gamers with highest level (Lv 90). Anytime the world seem to experience a change, it's these characters that stand at the front line. Shiroe, Crusty, Henrietta, Michitaka to name a few.
The Rookies: As the name suggests, these are the beginners that are following the footsteps the OPs paved. While basically they're just characters with regular shounen tropes, there's a very interesting twist surrounding these characters. Minori, Touya, Isuzu, Rudy to name a few.
The People of Land: These are basically NPC except now, they play a part on the story. While not as important and many as the gamers, a select few characters are going to change the trajectory of the story. Though for now, only Lannesia is the best and only example here.
While I definitely appreciate for the wide variety of characters and tropes, a downfall to the show is that these characters, as varied as they might be, are still going to be forgettable. The Anime is plot focussed, meaning anything that happens to the characters, or by the characters, or for the characters, is because it has a significant effect on the world. Anything outside this rule, is either boring or unintentional. Like everything that happens between Shiro, Akatsuki, Minori (& even Henrietta) is unneeded.
Though one thing I'll praise again, is how well they are interconnected, and how much the direction makes it engaging to sit through, even when the emotional beats and pro gamers moves seem superficial and bland.
Spoiler, click to view
To give an example, the twist surrounding Rudy. After Isuzu finds out who Rudy really is, you can observe the change in her attitude towards risk in the further episodes. How she makes reasons to avoid unnecessary danger to keep Rudy safe.
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It's really a sin to talk about this Anime without talking about it's banger of an opening song. A song that both gamers and programmers can jam to.
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I like the ending too, which I think is a little less appreciated.
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Conclusion
If Isekais are about fun, then Log Horizon is one of the best Isekais to choose. Despite all its deep-as-a-puddle characters and less-than-great segments, Log Horizon is a well balanced bundle of action, fantasy, adventure, politics, economics, and importantly, an immersive other world. 
