×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Sword Art Online II (TV).


Goto page Previous    Next

Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Series Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Tony K.
Subscriber
Moderator


Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 11265
Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:15 pm Reply with quote
Discuss the show, not the fans.

I really don't wanna' have to read all the bickering in the last few pages to see what's delete-able.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:46 pm Reply with quote
And I would have said something about it myself if Tony K. hadn't beaten me to the punch.

Although I have an interest in that discussion, I have to agree at this point that we've had plenty enough "who was responsible for what" banter/accusations about the first series' thread. Unless it becomes relevant to this season in a very direct way, consider this post a hard cap on that line of discussion.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:04 pm Reply with quote
Episode 2:

The action was spoiler[decent with Sinon and her sniper skills.] I wonder what kind of other weapons there are in this season though seeing we get a spoiler[minigun] this time around.

Some of the other scenes were distracting near the end. spoiler[I'm kinda curious to see what Kirito has to say though]. ED song was kinda meh imo.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:28 pm Reply with quote
Ep: 2, that was a decent intro for out new co-protagonist.
spoiler[I am slightly saddened the Mini Gunner didn't have more of an AWNOLD design vibe because that is clearly what was being attempted.
also, I am going to have to agree with our jilted trio that over fawning between Kirito and Asuna is eye roll worthy regardless.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ookamigirl



Joined: 15 Jul 2012
Posts: 2274
Location: Croatia
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:42 pm Reply with quote
The ins and outs of GGO.
How things work there wasn't surprising.
I like the spoiler[sniper girl] though.
spoiler[Her personality fits her role.
She's definitely a better leader than that hat & moustache guy.]

The action was great.
Awesome episode for that part!
Seeing spoiler[ALO] again kinda spoiled the overall impression..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:54 pm Reply with quote
While I'll agree that the ED's song was kinda meh, I thought the visuals were pretty interesting. They definitely imply that there's some meat to explore in Sinon's backstory.

I also thought it was a pretty good intro episode for Sinon, and it was nice seeing spoiler[the other girls briefly in action even if only in a token appearance]. Should be interesting to see what the haters find to nitpick about since Kirito didn't appear until the last minute.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Shikiari



Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Posts: 462
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:08 pm Reply with quote
A pretty decent episode. I was kinda hoping Kirito and co wouldn't make an appearance but it seems that they wanted to give the others a small cameo before it kicks into gear.

I really like Sinon's character so far. It's nice to see her with a strong personality and with leadership qualities. Let's hope she stays that way and not turn to jelly the moment Kirito turns up.

I also liked the small introduction to how Sinon acquired her spoiler['Hecate II' sniper rifle]. It's a nice looking weapon, though I do prefer the Barrett M82 myself Razz

So if spoiler[Kirito and Asuna] are about to have their little chat, maybe he'll enter spoiler[GGO] next week instead of lazing about in spoiler[ALO].
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
WhiteHairGirls



Joined: 27 Apr 2011
Posts: 4713
Location: New York City
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:53 pm Reply with quote
Stark700 wrote:
ED song was kinda meh imo.


Key wrote:
While I'll agree that the ED's song was kinda meh,




Disagree!!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Yarg



Joined: 07 Jul 2014
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 6:30 pm Reply with quote
Episode 2 played out pretty well I think. The action sequence was fairly well done. spoiler[A key detail from the light novel - that in GGO the first shot in a fight is without warning (subsequent shots give bullet-line warnings to the target) is not very clearly explained. Bullet-line warnings do appear later in the action sequence, but viewers who are not aware of this fact may think it pretty random.]

I always thought spoiler[Sinon] was a compelling deuteragonist, and some could argue that the reason why she's compelling is because she is exactly is what Asuna wasn't in ALO - a strong female character who gets to show off her abilities.

I am looking forward to the next episode, although I'm still secretly hoping Phantom Bullet will take up 13 episodes, with the remaining episodes devoted to Calibur (his legend began in the 12th century!) and Mother's Rosario, so poor Asuna will be able to get back into the limelight.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
GrayArchon



Joined: 28 Feb 2011
Posts: 393
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:08 pm Reply with quote
Yarg wrote:
I am looking forward to the next episode, although I'm still secretly hoping Phantom Bullet will take up 13 episodes, with the remaining episodes devoted to Calibur (his legend began in the 12th century!) and Mother's Rosario, so poor Asuna will be able to get back into the limelight.

Actually, the SAO wikia has episode titles and summaries up for the first six episodes, apparently courtesy of the Tokyo MX episode guide. So we can make some educated guesses on series pacing at this point.

Spoilers for series pacing: spoiler[By the summaries given, they plan to cover most or all of volume 5 by the end of episode 6. SAOII is reportedly supposed to be 24 episodes long. ]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
HaruhiToy



Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 4118
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:10 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Should be interesting to see what the haters find to nitpick
about since Kirito didn't appear until the last minute.

Protip: If you are going to get into rough and tumble fighting, choose a costume that doesn't force you to use your hands to keep your panties from showing.

Not a hater though.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:59 pm Reply with quote
Wow, this episode was, by far, the best episode in the entire franchise. And I think a lot of it does have to do with the fact that Kirito was basically non-existent in it.

Forgive me, but I'm going to have to bring in Log Horizon to compare here.

One of the reasons I enjoy LH so much, is because a) Shiroe is a strategist, and looks at all the angles, and b) Shiroe cannot fight solo. His character simply isn't designed for it. In Sinon, I'm seeing a lot of parallels to Shiroe. Like Shiroe, Sinon is not meant for solo combat. A sniper's skill is in his or her ability to set up a shot, which generally doesn't allow for a lot of movement. This means that they need a party to support them. Likewise, a being sniper requires a lot of calculation and strategizing, looking at all the angles. Watching Sinon assign the other party members their roles, and figuring out things on the fly, it was like watching LH again, which always focused more on the strength of planning (even on the fly) over "look at my mad skillz" like SAO did with Kirito.

I'm really hoping that SAO2, by having Sinon as a deuteragonist, will allow her to keep up this side of her, and have her instructing Kirito on the best strategy, rather than relegating her to his side-kick.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 12:48 am Reply with quote
Episode 2

Yeah, all good. The scene of Sinon spoiler[taking on the monster that reminds me a little of something from SAO (Aincard)], had some wonderful music, it reminded me a bit of what was used in My-HiME. Yuki Kaijuri always puts in some excellent music.

Cowboy hat guy had a horrible moment, playing the PvP is all well and good, but if he spoiler[can dish it out yet not take it, made him look rather cowardly.] Sinon has started out as a decent character, I await how she will interact with our quick reflexed sword wielder.

I kind of expected a more HP system since they seem to get taken out from a few hits, but it does look like there are balancing aspects like indicators for line of sight once a fight is started so snipers are not too overpowered. It actually kind of reminds me of an aspect that is part of a recent MMO.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Ohoni



Joined: 10 Jun 2003
Posts: 3421
PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:17 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Should be interesting to see what the haters find to nitpick about since Kirito didn't appear until the last minute.


But the whole episode was about him! It was all about him taking a nap in ALO, and the stuff with sniper girl was just filler! So Gary Sue! Wink

Quote:
Episode 2 played out pretty well I think. The action sequence was fairly well done.


I think viewers would get the idea about the bullet-lines from the way people were reacting to them. I thought they did a good job transitioning from mini-gun dodging to the incoming assault team dodging the incoming fire, so that people would get some idea of how they worked.

Quote:

Protip: If you are going to get into rough and tumble fighting, choose a costume that doesn't force you to use your hands to keep your panties from showing.


He was wearing a pair of long pants, so. . .

Quote:

Cowboy hat guy had a horrible moment, playing the PvP is all well and good,


He's clearly a "ganker," he likes to ambush other players when they aren't expecting it and the situation is extremely favorable, and has no interest in a fair contest of skill. This is not a terribly unique type of PvPer.

Quote:

I kind of expected a more HP system since they seem to get taken out from a few hits, but it does look like there are balancing aspects like indicators for line of sight once a fight is started so snipers are not too overpowered. It actually kind of reminds me of an aspect that is part of a recent MMO.


This isn't exactly a plot spoiler, more of a game mechanics spoiler, but I'm not sure whether they will explain it further in the show, but the guy in the opening scene was bragging about how "STR" was the new high-end meta, when "AGI" used to be the high end meta. The reason for this is spoiler[that in the vanilla game, you could equip most weapons regardless of stats, and high agility would allow you to use those bullet-lines to dodge incoming shots, Neo-style. Now the better weapons are requiring higher stats, meaning if you went pure AGI-spec you couldn't equip them. Being able to dodge incoming fire is still an important game mechanic though.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Yarg



Joined: 07 Jul 2014
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:38 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I kind of expected a more HP system since they seem to get taken out from a few hits, but it does look like there are balancing aspects like indicators for line of sight once a fight is started so snipers are not too overpowered. It actually kind of reminds me of an aspect that is part of a recent MMO.


GGO does have a HP based system - it just wasn't shown very well in the anime. Sinon's Hecate II, for example, has huge damage output and is therefore able to kill people in one shot (unless the target has a huge amount of HP and armor). Pistols are easy to carry as a secondary weapon, but don't do a whole lot of damage per shot...etc.

GGO weapon mechanics detailed spoilers:

spoiler[Laser weapons are PvE specialized weapons that do a lot of DPS, have high number of shots per clip, longer range, but their damage can be mitigated in PvP by shields. However, shields can be depleted, and is less effective in close range. This is why the PvPers initially had an advantage at range, but when they get close to the laser weapon using PvEers, they begin taking a huge amount of damage.

Ammo based weapons are PvP weapons. Their damage cannot be mitigated by shields, but they are limited by their smaller clip size.]


Expanded GGO game mechanics spoilers:

spoiler[Players can only increase their stats upon gaining a new level, and there is no re-spec in game, so stats are set once chosen.

AGI - increases fire rate, movement speed, and dodge. Up until this point in GGO, full AGI builds seem to be the most advantageous because of the run-and-gun style. At this point in GGO, where higher level weapons start to drop, players are beginning to realize that full AGI builds cannot take advantage these new weapons and are at a disadvantage in the metagame.

In episode 1, the guy who got shot by Death Gun was basically trolling the entire GGO community who had been solely boosting their AGI by pointing how how screwed they are.

STR - required to use higher level weapons. Powerful drops (like Sinon's Hecate II and the minigun used by her opponent in episode 2) have minimal STR requirements to equip. Not having enough STR can give you movement penalties if you carry too much stuff.

VIT - adds HP. Makes the player more tanky. Players who stack enough VIT can survive the first shot from a sniper...etc.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Series Discussion All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous    Next
Page 8 of 115

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group