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Sword Art Online (TV).


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Riddley



Joined: 14 May 2011
Posts: 536
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 3:00 am Reply with quote
Chagen46 wrote:
Vaisaga wrote:
kpk wrote:
WTF?

This series has more than 10 (!!) Volumes?!?!

So you're telling me that after all THAT they're still gonna enter other virtual worlds? Why?


Well, in the next arc spoiler[Asuna's mind never went back to her body and was instead moved to a new game. Kirito enters the game to free her.]


So she becomes a useless damsel in distress AGAIN?

Ugh.....KAWAHARAAAAAAA!! STOP MAKING ALL YOUR FEMALE CHARACTERS USELESS


Yes and no. You'll see in the next arc. It's not quite like you think. Other sinister stuff is happening. Remember, Asuna is actually a badass and that's not from getting lucky. She has a strong will and personality. If she didn't, she .spoiler[wouldn't have been able to break the paralysis.]
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ZorgonXtreme



Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 251
Location: Anchorage, AK
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 3:06 am Reply with quote
CrowLia wrote:
The boss fight ended quite anti-climaticly considering how amazing it was looking by the end of last episode. Also, it's a shamespoiler[ the game clearing] was rushed so much, I thought spoiler[Kayaba's/Heathcliff's storyline of betrayal and becoming the last boss] was actually a pretty neat idea.

Also, if not for the episode preview, I would've thought this was the end of the show. In spite of the rush, it seemed like a pretty nice end, with the right amount of feeling and hope, especially after that beautiful scenery of the iron castle with Asuna and Kirito watching and the emotional charge of it all. I can't even conceive there's more to it, and it kind of disheartens me, because I'd bet it's not gonna be all that great.


I hope you give it a chance. It's not bad at all, it just focuses on a different goal and relationship. Whereas part one focuses on spoiler[SOA, Kirito and Asuna], part two will focus on spoiler[Another game and Kirito's relationship with his sister, which it touched on in Part one, but nothing more.]

From reading the novels, I can say that it's certainly not bad and you can really feel that the author worked harder to put out a tighter product (which I hope the anime team works to replicate)
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 3:29 am Reply with quote
After viewing episode fourteen I am slightly curious about one little thing . . .



. . . what the F . LI . C . K did I just watch?



If anyone can help me I would be very appreciative.
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Hypeathon



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 1176
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:32 am Reply with quote
Why... has no one else compared the light novel from this point on to Super Mario Bros.?

spoiler["Thank you Kirito, but your princess is in another game!"]
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:19 am Reply with quote
Well... ah... hrm. Yeah and uh... yeah.

That was sort of a letdown, only without the sort of.

Generally speaking, I think that they messed up the pacing of the whole series so far. The plot (and often character development) just moves in jerky motions, and while I appreciate that they wanted to include side-stories, they didn't incorporate them into the overall plot very smoothly, IMO. The end result was that the whole build-up/climax/denoument lacked the punch it ought to have had. Also, I expected something more from spoiler[the creator as a way of explanation] at the end.

Also, I dislike it when something gets pulled out of nowhere and there hasn't been anything previous that would suggest or give credence to it. What Kirito and Asuna each did was... well, it came out of nowhere, and it's pretty hard for me to swallow it happening within the context of SAO.

I did generally enjoy the series, and thought a lot of the scenery was really nice -- on a technical level, I have little to complain about. But from a story-telling perspective, it left me feeling... vaguely disappointed.
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Bugnin



Joined: 09 Sep 2012
Posts: 575
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:45 am Reply with quote
Ok, I'm reading a lot of premature conclusions about the rest of the series based on a few tidbits dropped about the upcoming ALO arc, that, while true, don't necessarily tell the whole story.

As someone that admittedly liked SAO and did not like ALO, this is my somewhat-spoiler-free evaluation of what to expect out of it, good and bad (read at your own risk):

spoiler[First, there's no debate: It IS essentially a damsel in distress story. What was a full-scale hostage crisis is now pretty much whittled down to a guy playing video game in order to save his girl. The life-or-death drama is simply not there anymore.

That said, Asuna's character does not change. Don't get me wrong, it IS very, very disappointing to see "vice-commander flash Asuna" essentially become Princess Peach, but at least I can say it's forced on her, rather than her character being written differently to fit the situation.

My other big problem: the main antagonist in ALO is a by-the-numbers villain. There is nothing whatsoever interesting about him. A big, big drop-off from Akihiko, who was a mystery wrapped in a riddle until the very end. Even if you hated him, at least he was interesting enough that he made the story unique. Not so for his successor.

Also, Kirito's "sister" is a very poor imitation of Asuna, and her affection for him ranges from mildly obsessive to downright creepy. The frustrating thing is her emotional attachment could have been toned down and not affected the story whatsoever.

On the plus side: Yui is back (as you saw in the promo). Her character shines in this arc. She essentially becomes what many of you wished she was in the last arc, as a support system for Kirito.

The best thing I can say about this arc is this: It does provide a very satisfying conclusion. You will get the dramatic final battle you wished you got in SAO, and how it's resolved is actually pretty cool.

Also, if they do indeed order more seasons of this, it gets a lot better from here on out. Kirito will show significant character development, and Asuna will be back in the spotlight and kicking ass.
]


Last edited by Bugnin on Sun Oct 07, 2012 6:12 am; edited 1 time in total
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Bugnin



Joined: 09 Sep 2012
Posts: 575
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:56 am Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
After viewing episode fourteen I am slightly curious about one little thing . . .



. . . what the F . LI . C . K did I just watch?



If anyone can help me I would be very appreciative.


Sounds like me after I read the end to chapter one for the first time...

They do explain some of what transpired many chapters later, so I hope the anime gets to that point.

If you'd like more food for thought...spoiler[since Kirito's essentially defeated the final boss, shouldn't there be a rare item drop in it for him? Hmm....]
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ookamigirl



Joined: 15 Jul 2012
Posts: 2274
Location: Croatia
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:19 am Reply with quote
spoiler[Looks like Commanders secret is out!
Those players sure felt extremely betrayed.
A deal with the devil is never a good option.
Kirito vs Commander! Awesome battle!
It was kinda ridicules seeing how much stronger Commander was.
Well, Kirito payed the price of his heroism.
Gained nothing and lost his precious Asuna.
At least he gave Kitiro a new strength to even overcome death.]

The game finally ended, but it's just the beginning ^^

[EDIT: Oh, come on. You know better on using spoiler tags for these summaries. - Key]
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Aoi_Sakaraba



Joined: 12 Aug 2003
Posts: 312
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 9:05 am Reply with quote
I'm the Vice-President of the Anime club at my University. We watched this episode in our club last night as our last meeting watching 3 episodes at once (were caught up now naturally) and we were pretty amazed by the episode. I must argue with the club though as they all mostly thought the CG was pretty amazing, I thought it was very good, but not excellent. We were so happy with how this arc ended though that I said that we could all go on a 5 minute break before watching our 3 "Mirai Nikki" episodes to help us cope with what we just saw.
From the beginning we all knew something seemed unusual about the spoiler[guild master] and how Kirito didn't manage spoiler[to beat him a few episodes prior]. We knew he either had to be a hacker or a cheater. We never guessed though that spoiler[he was the creator of the whole game, let alone the last boss]. Several of us called it that when Kirito finally spoiler[woke up]that he would have spoiler[long hair] but I seemed to be the only one who called it that he would be spoiler[frail]as a skeleton. I can't believe after 2 years though that they only just now thinkspoiler["How is my real body doing?"]. That felt like sloppy writing. Of course it was still enjoyable to watch, and we will enjoy the series for the rest of the semester that we can watch the series in club (we won't see the last two episodes because they will appear on tv after the semester is over. We do plan on potentially having a "Sword Art Online" make-up night next semester though for those who haven't watched the last couple episodes at their own leisure by then. As recommended by another member)

None of us have read the manga. So we are only guessing that he isspoiler[ going to try to find asuna in] real life. Hence exchanging their names in game. He will probably want to catch her before they wheel away her spoiler[dead corspe. (If she is really dead of course.)] During the last scene in the episode, the whole time we were saying out loud spoiler["Where are the doctors and nurses?"]
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23667
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:16 am Reply with quote
The thing I really loved about episode 14 was spoiler[the total unexpectedness of it.] I thought the episode spoiler[title would prove to be unreliable, not accurate. I love that I was taken offguard.]

Big thank you to all you SOA light novel readers who didn't even hint or in anyway spoil this for me (that I ever saw, anyway).
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 4377
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:31 am Reply with quote
Riddley wrote:
Chagen46 wrote:
Vaisaga wrote:
kpk wrote:
WTF?

This series has more than 10 (!!) Volumes?!?!

So you're telling me that after all THAT they're still gonna enter other virtual worlds? Why?


Well, in the next arc spoiler[Asuna's mind never went back to her body and was instead moved to a new game. Kirito enters the game to free her.]


So she becomes a useless damsel in distress AGAIN?

Ugh.....KAWAHARAAAAAAA!! STOP MAKING ALL YOUR FEMALE CHARACTERS USELESS


Yes and no. You'll see in the next arc. It's not quite like you think. Other sinister stuff is happening. Remember, Asuna is actually a badass and that's not from getting lucky. She has a strong will and personality. If she didn't, she .spoiler[wouldn't have been able to break the paralysis.]


>"Asuna is actually s badass"

BULLSHIT

The story keeps telling us that Asuna is a badass, but it never has the goddamn balls to back that up. She keeps being useless and relying on Kirito to do GODDAMN EVERYTHING. Kawahara really is a closet misogynist.

Jesus christ why do I even watch this damn show sometimes? The writing is hilariously awful at times and the whole thing feels rushed as hell.
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Riddley



Joined: 14 May 2011
Posts: 536
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:48 am Reply with quote
Chagen46 wrote:
Riddley wrote:
Chagen46 wrote:
Vaisaga wrote:
kpk wrote:
WTF?

This series has more than 10 (!!) Volumes?!?!

So you're telling me that after all THAT they're still gonna enter other virtual worlds? Why?


Well, in the next arc spoiler[Asuna's mind never went back to her body and was instead moved to a new game. Kirito enters the game to free her.]


So she becomes a useless damsel in distress AGAIN?

Ugh.....KAWAHARAAAAAAA!! STOP MAKING ALL YOUR FEMALE CHARACTERS USELESS


Yes and no. You'll see in the next arc. It's not quite like you think. Other sinister stuff is happening. Remember, Asuna is actually a badass and that's not from getting lucky. She has a strong will and personality. If she didn't, she .spoiler[wouldn't have been able to break the paralysis.]


>"Asuna is actually s badass"

BULLSHIT

The story keeps telling us that Asuna is a badass, but it never has the goddamn balls to back that up. She keeps being useless and relying on Kirito to do GODDAMN EVERYTHING. Kawahara really is a closet misogynist.

Jesus christ why do I even watch this damn show sometimes? The writing is hilariously awful at times and the whole thing feels rushed as hell.


Y u mad bro? What does Asuna have to do to meet the badass requirement for you? She's protected Kirito numerous times throughout the series, including when he got poisoned, when he was fishing, when he was fighting mobs...

If you think this is misogynistic, you must loath Ah My Goddess with a passion unbeknownst to man.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13224
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:15 pm Reply with quote
Also, this is an online video game, remember? Any 'badassness' is a result of the game's systems for all those involved.

But it's Asuna's willpower that is the most admirable.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:09 pm Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:
Also, this is an online video game, remember? Any 'badassness' is a result of the game's systems for all those involved.

But it's Asuna's willpower that is the most admirable.

You know, this quote reminds me of this guy who tried to say that Yao Ming (former NBA player for the Rockets and huge guy from China) got as tall as he did because he tried really hard and worked at it every day. Not that he became as good as he was, but that he became as tall as he was by doing that. It's absurd. You can't *will* yourself to be tall (though many have certainly tried). Even with perfect nutrition, your genetics establish a limit and that's it.

SAO has rules. Heck, we saw an episode where Kirito was immobilized by poison. He would have died if Asuna hadn't saved him. The other guild member *did* die.

So, spoiler[I am not buying Asuna just will-powering her way out of a paralysis set by the game's creator anymore than I can accept Kirito's "but I'm not dead yet!" moment. Akihiko clearly didn't know about it, and he created the game.] Pulling things out of nowhere like that is, IMO, just bad writing.
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Bugnin



Joined: 09 Sep 2012
Posts: 575
PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:52 pm Reply with quote
You have to consider that SAO is a game that interprets signals sent directly from the brain.

Yes, its very easy to regulate controls from a regulated keyboard or remote, but consider that the human brain might not be as easy to keep under wraps. Akihiko himself seemed more impressed than stunned by it, like it was something he had already wondered was possible.

SAO is not a conventional video game by modern standards, and so it gets a little extra leeway in terms of suspension of disbelief.

As for asuna, her willpower is what makes her special, for a variety of reasons. She worked her butt off to get everything she got in SAO. the story makes a point to separate her from everyone else in terms of her will to succeed despite not being an exceptional player.
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