When a bunch of ragtag fighters band together to survive, who knows what are the consequences and their future. Whisked away into a foreign land, they are act primarily on an instinct to survive, relying on their primal emotion to push them on – fear. They have no recollection of their name and only have their fragmented memories as their keepsake. This bunch of fighters signed up for the only job available to them – soldiers of the Reserve Army. Between trying to understand where they are at and trying to survive in this new world – a new adventure awaits these bold individuals!

The similarity between both animes lies in their stuck in a fantasy game concept. Both showcases the main protagonists will to survive in this new world. However, both explored different concepts. Log Horizon focuses more on structure of the world and dealing with politics whereas Grimgar deals primarily in surviving day to day and coming from rock bottom. Both also discuss typical MMORPG tactics such as skills, party system and battle strategies. Grimgar is pretty much like an extension story to Log Horizon, exploring another side to the stuck in a game world concept and is a must watch if you liked Log Horizon!

Bullied and unpopular, Haruyuki Arita escapes into the virtual realm in order to forget the reality that he is in. This goes on until one day; he discovers that his high scores have all been beaten by a player known as Kuroyukihime. In reality, she is actually the vice president of the student council. Taking note of his talents, she invites him to the student council to play an augmented reality game through a headset known as Brain Burst. Through Arita, she hopes to discover the reason for the Burst’s existence. To repay her for saving him from the bullies, this duo vowed to reach the very top and eventually meet the creator of the Brain Burst and the truth behind it.

With a similar concept, the premise of Accel World is also set within a video game. Planning strategies and working towards every side goal are also common in both animes. While Log Horizon features a situation that is forced upon the characters, Accel World gives its characters the privilege of entering the virtual world as and when as they like. However, both animes features the protagonists assimilating the virtual world as their new world. Battle sequences wise, both shares common action sequence that is reminiscent of MMORPG.

Orario is the only known city in the world to possess a Dungeon. Known throughout as the ‘Dungeon’, this strange and obvious name attracts much excitement. Teeming with monsters, it takes an adventurer party 5 days to reach the 50th floor. Hopeful adventurer Bell Cranel was one such adventurer to venture into the dungeons where he finds not gold nor treasures but a tiny God called Hestia. One thing led to another and Hestia eventually tagged along with Bell. Now the story can start as Bell fulfils his ambition of being the greatest adventurer and Hestia – just your typical goddess who don’t have any followers and is trying to find one.

While DanMachi is not a player being confined to the virtual world, it shares the similarity of an adventure MMO in which dungeons and monster kills are important. However, Bell seeks to improve himself as an adventurer instead of trying to improve the world in Log Horizon. Both animes emanates the same kind of vibe, being that both are reminiscent of playing a video game. Whereas Log Horizon emphasizes on strategizing and tactical play, DanMachi emphasizes on being high levelled and powerful skills. Skills and dungeon raids are present in DanMachi as well, with loots being used to further improve Bell.

Sora and Shiro are two brilliant siblings with a penchant for video games. Their reputation is splashed all across the high score boards and top player ranks amongst the various MMORPGs in their world. A strange email that they received one day however will soon change their lives. Tet – the God of Games has invited them to participate in a world known as Disboard whereby all conflicts and actions are to be resolved by way of games. These games are all high risk games in which both players must stake something of equitable value to their opponents. This strange tale where games are the pivotal point of the story is now put in motion as genius siblings Sora and Shiro sets off to become the overall ruler of Disboard.

If intellectual gaming is your thing, you might want to give No Game No Life a chance as well. Log Horizon prides itself to be an anime of strategy and unorthodox methods that are both unique and interesting. Likewise, the methods that are employed by Sora are highly unconventional and unpredictable as well. Both animes are set in a reality that is forced upon the protagonists as well. In Log Horizon, the world status and its politics are discussed. Similarly, the plot of No Game No Life is mainly on the taking over of the world and managing the race of humanity as well its relations with the other races. As such, both animes share very common themes and concepts.

At the closing of the game servers of Yggdrasil, Momonga decides to wait until the final moment where the game shuts down as he recalls the numerous memories he has with his guild-members and the game. As he awakes, he found himself in a familiar environment – the game. Astonishingly, he did not log off automatically as the game shuts down and was instead trapped within the game itself! What’s even weirder is that the NPCs in the game are now sentient and can communicate with him freely. Quickly understanding his situation, Momonga has decided to further investigate this new world and hopefully, take control of it.

Momonga unlike Shiroe of Log Horizon is vastly overpowered. However that does not stop him from using his intellects once in awhile as he was shown to be quite perceptive as well- fitting for his overlord title. In both animes, the protagonists are stuck within a game and now live by the rules of the new world. Both protagonists seek to improve the current world that they are now bound to instead of seeking for a way to escape it. Both also feature high paced action sequence to spice up the story. So if you liked Log Horizon, do remember to give Overlord a try!

Virtual Reality Gaming has finally been made available to the general public. In the current year, NerveGear can control their avatars in an almost lifelike manner and in a total immersive manner. Kazuto Kirigaya alias Kirito is one of the few lucky beta testers of a new game called Sword Art Online. It wasn’t long however before him and all the other online gamers found out that the moderators have removed the log off button, forcing them to be in the game forever. In order to escape, they will have to defeat the game’s hundred level dungeon and death within the game equates to actual physical death. Together with Asuna Yuuki, Kirito aims to break free from this virtual prison.

Of course you would expect Sword Art Online to be in this list! The concept of being stuck in a videogame is made popular by SAO. However, Log Horizon sets the benchmark for this concept. In retrospect, Log Horizon and SAO are quite similar to each other, both having gaming characteristics such as guilds, skills, party members and alliance. Both also feature life or death situations and the protagonist’s desperation to get out of that situation. While the SAO’s popularity is quite overwhelming, Log Horizon is a little bit underrated so if you’ve missed either anime’s, you can watch them both sequentially.