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EP. REVIEW: Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
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Location: Earth
PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 12:21 pm Reply with quote
This anime feels very much like playing a video game. The world setting and the concepts reminds me a lot of the Fatal Bullet game and several main characters are in it so far.

On the story, I think it's so-so at the moment but the characters does have my interest at the moment. I really hope they do develop the story more though as every episode so far involves some info dump and I'm also not sure what direction it's heading towards.
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Zhou-BR



Joined: 28 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 12:27 pm Reply with quote
Keiichi Sigsawa even voiced that novelist guy he clearly based on himself.
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Chaos Wings



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 12:45 pm Reply with quote
Always had a 'meh' attitude towards SAO or an extreme love/hate relationship if you will. There are some things I like about it and others bits I truly despise, so far GGO seems like it's going to keep up that tradition.

Also why did they feel the need to shove Sword Art Online at the start of the title? Are they that desperate to make sure everyone knows it's still part of the same universe? I mean correct me if I'm wrong but at this point it has nothing to do with what happened in Aincrad anymore right? Surely Gun Gale Online would've sufficed.
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AksaraKishou



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:03 pm Reply with quote
Chaos Wings wrote:
Always had a 'meh' attitude towards SAO or an extreme love/hate relationship if you will. There are some things I like about it and others bits I truly despise, so far GGO seems like it's going to keep up that tradition.

Also why did they feel the need to shove Sword Art Online at the start of the title? Are they that desperate to make sure everyone knows it's still part of the same universe? I mean correct me if I'm wrong but at this point it has nothing to do with what happened in Aincrad anymore right? Surely Gun Gale Online would've sufficed.


It's a spin-off in a world previously explored in the original anime, what did think it was going to be called? Also, the name SAO brings money regardless of what people in the west thing.
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meiam



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:08 pm Reply with quote
Just like SAO this feel like something that was written by someone who know of video game but who never played them. Any FPS competitive game would have standardise avatar shape, otherwise everybody would be playing as the most advantageous size (probably some weird combination of small frame/head mixed with large arm/hand for better handling of the gun). Same for costume color, everybody would have the same camo.
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Joshua Zarate



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:24 pm Reply with quote
I’ve never watched any SAO before this season, but this spin-off really intrigued me and I was glad to have been notified that I didn’t need to watch the main anime to watch this one. So far, I’ve been really liking it. I don’t know how to exactly explain it properly, but in short, Karen feels relatable to me. The overall feel of this show is just like playing a video game (no surprise there) and it’s quite fun to watch as the presentation is executed very nicely, coming from someone who plays them. Characters are all likable and their interactions are interesting to see. The OP/ED are quite good and I would say that I personally like the ED slightly more. The song is really catchy and the visuals are charming to look at. Looking forward to seeing more of this show in a stacked season. Smile
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Simplo



Joined: 11 Mar 2017
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:36 pm Reply with quote
It doesn't have a harem or too much of fanservice, but still. Plot doesn't have any real stakes (at least for now) game itself has no interesting mechanics and the characters are nothing out of the ordinary. Expected more from the writer.
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Chaos Wings



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:45 pm Reply with quote
AksaraKishou wrote:
It's a spin-off in a world previously explored in the original anime, what did think it was going to be called? Also, the name SAO brings money regardless of what people in the west thing.


Actually GGO was explored in the second anime SAO II and you've completely missed the point I was making. Yeah SAO is a cash cow and that's exactly why they put it in the title, trying to sell this series by using the name of its predecessor. They're propping the production up on a crutch before it's even started instead of letting it stand on it's own two feet and be judged solely on it's own merits. Which to me makes it look like they have no confidence in their own show.

As far as I can tell it's set exclusively in the GGO game with none of the original characters playing a major role. That being the case the events from the SAO game should have nothing to do with it. So what did I think this series would be called? Well, just Gun Gale Online obviously.
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AksaraKishou



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:00 pm Reply with quote
Chaos Wings wrote:
AksaraKishou wrote:
It's a spin-off in a world previously explored in the original anime, what did think it was going to be called? Also, the name SAO brings money regardless of what people in the west thing.


Actually GGO was explored in the second anime SAO II and you've completely missed the point I was making. Yeah SAO is a cash cow and that's exactly why they put it in the title, trying to sell this series by using the name of its predecessor. They're propping the production up on a crutch before it's even started instead of letting it stand on it's own two feet and be judged solely on it's own merits. Which to me makes it look like they have no confidence in their own show.

As far as I can tell it's set exclusively in the GGO game with none of the original characters playing a major role. That being the case the events from the SAO game should have nothing to do with it. So what did I think this series would be called? Well, just Gun Gale Online obviously.


ACTUALLY, by original anime i meant the main series, not the first season. Also, do you know for a fact that they won't appear? The fact is, by episode 3 they have already impacted the narrative, what with the new tournament mode being made cause of Kirito and Sinon and Pitohui being sniped by the formed on the last BoB.
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myskaros



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:07 pm Reply with quote
Simplo wrote:
It doesn't have a harem or too much of fanservice, but still. Plot doesn't have any real stakes (at least for now) game itself has no interesting mechanics and the characters are nothing out of the ordinary. Expected more from the writer.

This is pretty much how I feel. I'm mystified that everyone's so happy over the first few episodes, I was pretty unimpressed personally. To each their own, I suppose.
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Kokuryu Daimao



Joined: 04 Sep 2017
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:27 pm Reply with quote
Chaos Wings wrote:

Also why did they feel the need to shove Sword Art Online at the start of the title? Are they that desperate to make sure everyone knows it's still part of the same universe? I mean correct me if I'm wrong but at this point it has nothing to do with what happened in Aincrad anymore right? Surely Gun Gale Online would've sufficed.


I see it like the various NCIS or Law and Order series.
NCIS: New Orleans
NCIS: Los Angeles
Law and Order
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
Law and Order: Criminal Intent
etc, etc

All it denotes is a relation to each other while being different shows with different casts that deal with different issues. Yet it instantly informs people about what the shows will be like because they have a related base

One could view this as name dropping to try to bank off of past works, or one could view it as the first iteration of a potential fanchise multiseries.

Imagine

SAO: Gun Gale Online
SAO: Aincrad
SAO: ALfheim Online

Different series with different casts, but all related so that you don't have to spend as much time on the backstory world-building.
You can just jump to the cast and stories and go from there
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Key
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:39 pm Reply with quote
Zhou-BR wrote:
Keiichi Sigsawa even voiced that novelist guy he clearly based on himself.

Are you confirming that based on the Japanese credits, or on something said on a social media posting? I had suspected that was the case but didn't have any evidences.

As for the naming thing, what's the big deal about this case? Including the name of the original series in the name of a spin-off is quite a common practice in the anime/manga/LN/game/VN realm.

meiam wrote:
Just like SAO this feel like something that was written by someone who know of video game but who never played them. Any FPS competitive game would have standardise avatar shape, otherwise everybody would be playing as the most advantageous size (probably some weird combination of small frame/head mixed with large arm/hand for better handling of the gun). Same for costume color, everybody would have the same camo.

It was pointed out in both episode 2 and the GGO arc of SAO that avatar assignment is random, though avatar trading is apparently possible. Both have also made it clear that gear and clothing choices are highly flexible, and this was established in Aincard, too. In fact, it would be inconsistent with the overall setting if that wasn't the case here, since GGO is a by-product of the Seed.
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TUSF



Joined: 11 Oct 2013
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:10 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Zhou-BR wrote:
Keiichi Sigsawa even voiced that novelist guy he clearly based on himself.

Are you confirming that based on the Japanese credits, or on something said on a social media posting? I had suspected that was the case but didn't have any evidences.

He's listed in the credits as "Author Who Writes Nothing But Guns". (Or so that's what I'm told it says, but that's definitely his name there.)

Key wrote:
As for the naming thing, what's the big deal about this case? Including the name of the original series in the name of a spin-off is quite a common practice in the anime/manga/LN/game/VN realm.

People are just showing their personal bias against the franchise as a whole, regardless of this being a common practice in spin-offs and such.
Popular franchises get spin-offs and derivative works, with the original's title attached to show relation. But clearly the reverse must be happening here, because cash-grabs, or something!
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:16 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:

meiam wrote:
Just like SAO this feel like something that was written by someone who know of video game but who never played them. Any FPS competitive game would have standardise avatar shape, otherwise everybody would be playing as the most advantageous size (probably some weird combination of small frame/head mixed with large arm/hand for better handling of the gun). Same for costume color, everybody would have the same camo.

It was pointed out in both episode 2 and the GGO arc of SAO that avatar assignment is random, though avatar trading is apparently possible. Both have also made it clear that gear and clothing choices are highly flexible, and this was established in Aincard, too. In fact, it would be inconsistent with the overall setting if that wasn't the case here, since GGO is a by-product of the Seed.


People would just create new account until they got the avatar shape they wanted. And if that wasn't possible, the game would never become popular in the first place, as people would rage quit pretty quickly when they'd find out that they can't hit the little loli but there huge gorilla shape make them an easy target that have a hard time finding cover. For an analogy, imagine if an MMORPG randomly assigned class at launch and then never patched the one that were underpowered/overpowered.

For clothing I'm saying everybody would chose to wear cloth that function well as cameo, ie if pink is really the best camo color, the main character wouldn't stand out because everyone would be wearing pink. The meta would be established very quickly.
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Chaos Wings



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:25 pm Reply with quote
AksaraKishou wrote:
ACTUALLY, by original anime i meant the main series, not the first season. Also, do you know for a fact that they won't appear? The fact is, by episode 3 they have already impacted the narrative, what with the new tournament mode being made cause of Kirito and Sinon and Pitohui being sniped by the formed on the last BoB.


I can only infer based solely on the words you use and you weren't specific enough and of course i don't know what roles they'll play, it's only been 3 episodes. Based solely on those three plus the OP & ED "As far as I can tell" they don't play a major role. Also I don't see how an event that took place in the GGO ark ties back to SAO in anyway other than the fact that Kirito was involved. This spin-off series 'probably' only has the faintest of connections to the original SAO ark. Which brings me back to the point I was making in my original post, why couldn't it have the nice simple name Gun Gale Online. That's it, nothing more nothing less.
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