Log Horizon – Glasses and It’s Ability in Masking Personalities

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Ever seen those characters with shiny glasses? Akin to those characters with long bangs, covering the eyes, these are the type of characters where one had to be cautious of, as one wouldn’t know what he or she could be planning beneath the glasses, with their eyes concealed by the glasses’ shiny lens. Eyes are indeed one of the most expressive parts of the human body, and concealing them with bangs or glasses decreased these clear expressions, and turned up the notch when it comes to creepiness, especially so when paired up with a creepy crescent smile.

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One of the ongoing anime which just recently ended, Log Horizon, plays a lot with these aesthetic trait, and I believe is one of the reason that makes Log Horizon’s characters such a fun cast. Shiroe, the show’s main lead for example, is the main brain of the cast. He contributed various activities including planning massive raids, strategizing offense tactics, politics, negotiations, manipulations and the list goes on. He always thinks several steps ahead of his foes, and is extremely good at long-term planning. His plans had been seen as controversial to some however, especially to the People of the Land, and is even nicknamed “Villian in Glasses”. Although usually polite and kind-hearted, the glasses here act as a metaphorical stoppage, dividing his evil, manipulating persona from his usual kind disposition.

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Crusty, in his usual persona, is also extremely perceptive, able to see through lies and interpret correctly the thoughts of someone else, allowing him to manipulate him or her easily. In contrast to Shiroe, he is more better with short-term planning. However, despite his mental capabilities, he hides a bloodthirsty persona beneath his glasses. Although usually calm and collected, Crusty turned into a battle-hardened warrior who finds joy in combat, befitting his “Berserker” alias. The glasses here act as a metaphorical boundary between rationality and chaos.

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Henrietta, who has a masters in business administration in real life, is a secretary to the Crescent Moon Alliance. She assisted Shiroe’s extreme large scale plans with utmost speed and precision, something which Shiroe is very appreciative of, and had even left her in charge of solving some incredibly daunting problems. She generally maintain her composure as she went about doing her tasks, but as usual, there are always more than one side of what we could normally perceive if we are taking about glasses-wearing characters. In this case, Henrietta has an odd fondness to cute things, easily destroying her cool facade in an instant if she came across one – mostly Akatsuki relevant.

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Noteworthy of mention is that a lot of these glasses wearers, like pushing up their glasses whenever they have a plan in mind, always giving them a sense of intellectual badassery – a habit which spreads even as wide as some of the non-glasses wearing characters (who plays with “air glasses”). This visual aspect, while seems meager, contribute to the characterizations, giving the characters more complexity, dimension and as a result, contribute to one of the element which makes Log Horizon such a great show in the first place, and glasses are one of the main items that achieve that very element in the show – using them to represent the juxtaposition in a character’s personality.

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