WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: In Log Horizon, Shiroe wakes up stuck in the fantasy MMORPG he's been playing.
...But isn't that the plot of Sword Art Online (SAO), you might ask? It is, a bit. The three main differences in premise are that Shiroe & Co. 1. don't know why they're stuck, 2. are stuck with their avatar's body and 3. are very stuck because they can't die permanently - they regenerate. What this means is that instead of having a hero with a clear goal - win the game or die in it - you get a bunch of people trying to manage their city in a socially responsible way because they don't know how long they'll be there. One of the recurring struggles of the series is trying to keep everyone from falling into boredom, depression and civil unrest.
To put it another way, while SAO is a good vs. evil hero's journey like the Star Wars sequels (without the satisfaction of Leia killing Jabba the Hutt), Log Horizon is a little more like the prequels, if they were focused on Padme growing into her responsibilities as a leader and a political figure instead of Anakin falling prey to the corruption of the Emperor. It's management instead of action heroics (although it still sees its fair share of action).
There are a lot of really interesting things to explore as far as world building - they only touch lightly on body dysphoria, but there are people who were playing as characters with different genders, races, species, etc. and are now stuck in those bodies. The non-player characters (NPCs) in the game have lives and a history and the player-NPC integration is messy and fractious. The players are essentially immortal and have varying degrees of success at accepting their current reality - there's a weird mix of game logic and real life logic governing how the world works, which probably doesn't help. There are kids coming of age, and people trapped in cities and continents they were visiting in the game or in the real world.
There are a lot of interesting characters with undeveloped backstories, and plenty of canon crushes, but not a lot of canon couples (although one guy does marry an NPC and fall madly in love with her). Wide open for ships!
FANDOM NAME: Maoyu (or Maoyuu)
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: In Maoyu, there's a prophecy that the Demon King and the Hero will war against each other, one will die and the cycle will repeat in their next iterations. This time around, the female Demon King (it's a job title!) is not having it. She convinces the Hero to join her (they Bond - it is pretty much a meet cute political marriage) to save the world through efficient agriculture practices, education, trade and a healthy understanding of the economics of war. It's short - only 11 episodes - and has a medieval European vibe with crusaders, an awesome nun-general, a three-fold witch, a slippery merchant, some pretty cool demons and an earnest hero who works hard to be a good ally.
WHERE CAN I FIND THEM?: Both of these animes can be found on Crunchyroll. Both novels are written by the same author and can be found at novelplanet, where there is a bit more content if you're interested.
Log Horizon & Maoyu
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: In Log Horizon, Shiroe wakes up stuck in the fantasy MMORPG he's been playing.
...But isn't that the plot of Sword Art Online (SAO), you might ask? It is, a bit. The three main differences in premise are that Shiroe & Co. 1. don't know why they're stuck, 2. are stuck with their avatar's body and 3. are very stuck because they can't die permanently - they regenerate. What this means is that instead of having a hero with a clear goal - win the game or die in it - you get a bunch of people trying to manage their city in a socially responsible way because they don't know how long they'll be there. One of the recurring struggles of the series is trying to keep everyone from falling into boredom, depression and civil unrest.
To put it another way, while SAO is a good vs. evil hero's journey like the Star Wars sequels (without the satisfaction of Leia killing Jabba the Hutt), Log Horizon is a little more like the prequels, if they were focused on Padme growing into her responsibilities as a leader and a political figure instead of Anakin falling prey to the corruption of the Emperor. It's management instead of action heroics (although it still sees its fair share of action).
There are a lot of really interesting things to explore as far as world building - they only touch lightly on body dysphoria, but there are people who were playing as characters with different genders, races, species, etc. and are now stuck in those bodies. The non-player characters (NPCs) in the game have lives and a history and the player-NPC integration is messy and fractious. The players are essentially immortal and have varying degrees of success at accepting their current reality - there's a weird mix of game logic and real life logic governing how the world works, which probably doesn't help. There are kids coming of age, and people trapped in cities and continents they were visiting in the game or in the real world.
There are a lot of interesting characters with undeveloped backstories, and plenty of canon crushes, but not a lot of canon couples (although one guy does marry an NPC and fall madly in love with her). Wide open for ships!
FANDOM NAME: Maoyu (or Maoyuu)
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: In Maoyu, there's a prophecy that the Demon King and the Hero will war against each other, one will die and the cycle will repeat in their next iterations. This time around, the female Demon King (it's a job title!) is not having it. She convinces the Hero to join her (they Bond - it is pretty much a meet cute political marriage) to save the world through efficient agriculture practices, education, trade and a healthy understanding of the economics of war. It's short - only 11 episodes - and has a medieval European vibe with crusaders, an awesome nun-general, a three-fold witch, a slippery merchant, some pretty cool demons and an earnest hero who works hard to be a good ally.
WHERE CAN I FIND THEM?: Both of these animes can be found on Crunchyroll. Both novels are written by the same author and can be found at novelplanet, where there is a bit more content if you're interested.