Sword Art Online

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 18 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=370019)

[darkshadow]

EDIT:

As for ep 18: I dont get it. So does his sister know she´s playing together with her brother ... or not? When she pauses the game, she knocked on Kirito´s room door, fully expecting him to answer. After leaving him dinner on the kitchen table, she returned to the game and called the Spriggan "Kirito".
So ... what am I missing here?

His name isn't fucking kirito in the real world perhaps?

[Buffalobiian]

/thumbs-up @ Sugu.

I'm laughing whenever the Fairy King talks about his atrocious plans (in all meanings of the word). The more he makes himself out to be an asshole, the more I smile at the ease with which I can hate him.. as well as his inevitable downfall.

I'm wondering which of the following bug undid the masking:

1) masking does not work via reflections
2) masking does not work if another play is not looking (an extension of 1)
3) masking does not work if seen through transparent textures such as wings
4) a combination of the above 3.

[MFauli]

His name isn't fucking kirito in the real world perhaps?

Really? I was sure it´s his real name. If so, do we know his real one?

Also, the unmasking of the code-UI was super stupid. Why can´t we have believable ways of defeating the big bad villain? It´s mindbaffeling that the programming-mastermind would overlook such thing.

[shinta|hikari]

What have you been watching all this time?

Kirito told Asuna his real name, Kirigaya Kazuto, when she asked for it.

[Buffalobiian]

Really? I was sure it´s his real name. If so, do we know his real one?

Also, the unmasking of the code-UI was super stupid. Why can´t we have believable ways of defeating the big bad villain? It´s mindbaffeling that the programming-mastermind would overlook such thing.

I would rather believe that the secret code bug is something the dumbass villian did, not the genius who programmed SAO.

[MasterOfMoogles]

So much Sugu and Yui fanservice.


Really? I was sure it´s his real name. If so, do we know his real one?

Also, the unmasking of the code-UI was super stupid. Why can´t we have believable ways of defeating the big bad villain? It´s mindbaffeling that the programming-mastermind would overlook such thing.

Kirigaya Kazuto is the main character's name. He probably never told Sugu about what happened in SAO because A) she probably didn't want to ask, and B) he probably doesn't want to go over it. "Yea, I had to kill this guy because he was about to kill me. This one time I got 5 other people killed."

I've never gotten the impression that Sugou Nobuyuki is any kind of programmer. If anything he seems more like a corporate businessman/manager type. He probably couldn't code his way out of a paper bag.

[David75]

I'm wondering if that code is some kind of trap...

[Buffalobiian]

I'm wondering if that code is some kind of trap...

I don't know... that guy doesn't seem to smart. Just horny.

[Kraco]

Yeah, it certainly didn't surprise me the masking was absent in the reflection. Maybe such censoring wasn't even present in the original code since it's a medieval setting, both SAO and Alfheim, so there's hardly any need to blur any keypads. Sugou probably asked some coder to implement such a thing just to piss off Asuna, and the coder did it in five minutes because that's really all anybody would want to spend on anything such a douche asks, and consequently never even considered special conditions like reflections. Sugou himself is clearly too stupid to think of things as complicated as that. Still, it won't do Asuna much good right now. With admin powers Sugou could likely track her down any time.

[Inazuma]

I liked you SAO - now you are just another title that makes cyberspace boring.

With the crescendo of increasingly dangerous monsters/levels/floors/traps gone, it feels like the whole second season got it's pacing from Oberinspektor Derrick. It's painful. And now the plot holes are so gaping, looking at them shuts down my liver functions.
I apologize to the Gotwoot community - ten pages back in this thread I was still pushing you guys to give this show a chance, now I just want to drink myself to sleep with lead based paint.

[Crash]

I liked you SAO - now you are just another title that makes cyberspace boring.

With the crescendo of increasingly dangerous monsters/levels/floors/traps gone, it feels like the whole second season got it's pacing from Oberinspektor Derrick. It's painful. And now the plot holes are so gaping, looking at them shuts down my liver functions.
I apologize to the Gotwoot community - ten pages back in this thread I was still pushing you guys to give this show a chance, now I just want to drink myself to sleep with lead based paint.

Just started watching this a couple days ago and caught up today.I agree it's kind of unfortunate, the show was really great with all the original tension caused by the whole SAO "die in game, die in real life" thing. Now this whole fairy land thing just seems boring in comparison. I suppose Asuna's life is still technically in danger, but it's not really the same. Also this whole "love square" thing they've got going on isn't interesting so much as it's weird (not that that isn't typical) and annoying. Hopefully it can get back to the greatness of the SAO arc, but i don't see how.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 19 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=372519)



---------------------------------











I think the fact that Alf is just a normal online game works better than the death-game SAO that was attempted earlier. The idea was good for the death-game, but they didn't end up putting enough weight/reality behind it (except for the first episode). With this game, they can leave it all behind and just do whatever.

[Kraco]

I guess I underestimated the importance of magic in comparison to physical prowess in Alfheim. Even Kirito's haxor stats are useless against certain types of magic. I suppose it makes perfect sense, with the game so magic heavy. But then again, the monster form seemed to be able to put to use his uber stats, so he didn't lose anything.

But good job, dude, making your sister fall in love with you all over again even online. They are both hopeless.

[Buffalobiian]

I guess I underestimated the importance of magic in comparison to physical prowess in Alfheim. Even Kirito's haxor stats are useless against certain types of magic. I suppose it makes perfect sense, with the game so magic heavy. But then again, the monster form seemed to be able to put to use his uber stats, so he didn't lose anything.

What seemed weird was that the monster was more of a transformation than an illusion. The damage and reach of the arms/jaws matched that of the image. It wasn't as if Kirito was projecting a hologram around his humanoid body, which is what an illusion would suggest.

That's my only real problem with this episode.

[darkshadow]

Had to post this here cause it made me cackle:



[ 01:33:47 ] <Y> since the leader of the guild inside SAO world was just giving himself powers, Kirito might literally be the only person who ever developed such a unique ability
[ 01:33:57 ] <Y> so basically he is so powerful he can fuck with the rules of video games and destroy them
[ 01:34:06 ] <Y> like a kid being so good at mario 64 he can punch bowser in half

[MFauli]

Man, all these MMORPG-player are such full-on super nerds. How serious all of them are over this GAME. Oh no, a player chose a different in-game race ... HE CANNOT BE A FRIEND!
Guess taking acting classes is a requirement before playing these games, lol.

And I just cant stop thinking about how this anime completely ignores the real world-consequences that these Matrix-like "games" should create. When you´re free to jump into such adventurous, exotic, fun worlds, your sense for the real world HAS to change. For the worse.

Oh, and Harem. Sigh. Had Ichika-flashbacks during this episode :/

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 20


------------------------------------













If it requires 2-handed skill to equip a 2-handed sword, dual wielding should logically have the same requirement. We haven't learned that it's a skill in this game, and if it was it'd make sense for Kirito to have taken advantage of it. It's highly unlikely that it was a skill in in the backward Alfeim Cardinal since it was only added as a special gift in SAO.

Kirito randomly raising money was also weird since he was dissatisfied with the cash he had when he tried to buy a sword before the trip. Raising that amount from doing a little walking is also BS.

But whatever. I wonder how much time is left until Asuna gets married off.

(edit: just to add some more to that "???" list, Yui has used the term "Papa" a lot already. It makes no sense that Leafa wouldn't have enquired about who "Mama" is)

[Ryllharu]

Someone just explain to me why this Salamander guy exploded in a huge fireball when he died, as opposed to how everyone else Kirito has killed so far just turns into a flickering flame normally.

[darkshadow]

Gundams clearly explode when they get cut in half.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Kirito randomly raising money was also weird since he was dissatisfied with the cash he had when he tried to buy a sword before the trip. Raising that amount from doing a little walking is also BS.

But whatever. I wonder how much time is left until Asuna gets married off.

(edit: just to add some more to that "???" list, Yui has used the term "Papa" a lot already. It makes no sense that Leafa wouldn't have enquired about who "Mama" is)
I don't think Kirito was dissatisfied with his amount of money, but instead confused. This episode made clear he had a ton of money.

Hasn't it only been like a day or 2 since he met the guy at the hospital? I think he still has a decent amount of time left.

If Yui was just an AI pixie that was programmed to call its master "Papa", why would there be a "Mama"? That doesn't really follow at all. Leafa is obviously confused by Yui, but she doesn't seem to consider it is some super advanced AI. She's too busy focusing on Kirito himself.


Someone just explain to me why this Salamander guy exploded in a huge fireball when he died, as opposed to how everyone else Kirito has killed so far just turns into a flickering flame normally.
He seemed to have some kind of reactive explosion type ability he used the first time he was getting owned.
But the real answer is probably just that it looked cool.

I was pretty impressed with the aerial battle this episode. Hopefully we get some more cool battles.

[Buffalobiian]

If Yui was just an AI pixie that was programmed to call its master "Papa", why would there be a "Mama"? That doesn't really follow at all. Leafa is obviously confused by Yui, but she doesn't seem to consider it is some super advanced AI.

Except Yui specifically mentioned "cheating", to which you'd ask "cheating from whom?"

[MasterOfMoogles]

True. She seems to be more preoccupied with her Kirito-lust, though.

[shinta|hikari]

Maybe Leafa already has a hint that whoever Kirito is looking for is Mama.

I like Sugu far more than Asuna, Can't we have a pairing switch?

[Shadow Skill]

I thought that was the other guy skill he used again at the last second before Kirito owned him. That explosion fire skill.

As for the Gold, I thought the Gold carried over with his stats and the AI from SAO.

As for cheating, his heart rate increased when the 2 girls pressed up against him. So she said he not suppose to be cheating, on Momma. :P

What I don't get is, he had a hard time against the Mages and yet he owned the 2nd strongest Salamander in the game with ease. Despite the levels, cause clearly his level 78 carried over. That would mean he is twice the levels of everyone else in Alfeim?

Plus everyone keeps saying Kirito has crappy gear and he's owning everything in sight. If that's the case, why doesnt he upgrade to better gear and really dominate the game? A main armor, plus some Sub gears, Boots, gauntlets, bracelets, etc etc. Depending on the game you play. Rings with regeneration stats, etc etc.

Clearly he is under equipped but still a power house. Maybe that's the final episode, he gets the best gear and saves Asuna. :P

[shinta|hikari]

There are no levels in ALO right? I thought only skills leveled up, and everyone had the same base stats excluding armor and weapons.

It was clearly mentioned in the show that ALO is a skill based game, not a grind fest. It is closer to 1st person shooters than RPGs in terms of combat.

And Kirito wasn't level 78 when he completed SAO.

[Kraco]

There are no levels in ALO right? I thought only skills leveled up, and everyone had the same base stats excluding armor and weapons.

It was clearly mentioned in the show that ALO is a skill based game, not a grind fest. It is closer to 1st person shooters than RPGs in terms of combat.

And Kirito wasn't level 78 when he completed SAO.

Disregarding the level, which is basically only a number without much inherent meaning, what you are saying is the total opposite of others, who maintain the game has no skills (that would, for example, finish sword attacks for you), but it has stats that make your faster or stronger (which would explain perfectly Kirito's haxor superiority). The magic, for example, requires the player to memorize the words to be quick enough in combat. That in itself means there's no aiding skill, but likely there's a stat derivative in the form of a growing mana pool, I'd imagine.

[Buffalobiian]

Disregarding the level, which is basically only a number without much inherent meaning, what you are saying is the total opposite of others, who maintain the game has no skills (that would, for example, finish sword attacks for you), but it has stats that make your faster or stronger (which would explain perfectly Kirito's haxor superiority). The magic, for example, requires the player to memorize the words to be quick enough in combat. That in itself means there's no aiding skill, but likely there's a stat derivative in the form of a growing mana pool, I'd imagine.

ALF has skill points. The more you use a skill, the more that skill increases. They never specified how the increased skill proficiency helps you out - whether it simply adds to your damage and speed.. or something more active (for example, in terms of magic perhaps the higher your skill the less words you have to chant to use the same spell).

While Kirito isn't lvl78 (or whatever it is), his skill points are the ones carried over. In SAO, I would imagine that whenever you gain a level you gain points to allocate into the skills of your choice. In ALF, you have to earn those through usage - Kirito got a headstart though.

Still, the fact that Kirito beat the guy with shitty weapons/armour is pretty BS. Those mages would have killed him had it not been for Leafa's healing. In SAO it was emphasised that besides having a ridiculously high level, Kirito also had a ridiculous drop to go with it. It's a lot harder to believe that Kirito should have won this fight without a good sword.



I like Sugu far more than Asuna, Can't we have a pairing switch?

If only we could..


As for the Gold, I thought the Gold carried over with his stats and the AI from SAO.

Kirito was clearly dissatisfied at the "Yuld" he had in episode 18, 5:33. But logically, if he had the money there's no way he wouldn't get better gear. He's out to save Asuna after all. Kirito doesn't sound like the guy to go under-prepared in a video game.

[Shadow Skill]

Oh ok, that makes a lot more sense like that. I didnt even think that way about how they raise stats or how they are awarded lol.

[Kraco]

Hmm... So, it has skills, but you have to practice those in earnest to... what? Do they increase a damage multiplier? The same effect would be perfectly achievable through stats. Does that mean there are no stats? Kirito clearly shows superhuman speed right off the bat, which does indicate a high speed (whatever the name) attribute, not a skill. Or did the author ever even bother to think about it all?

Pretty confusing, but whatever the case, Kirito did bring over from SAO such stats/skills that only a fool would challenge him to a sword fight. SAO was all about melee fights, whereas Alfheim obviously heavily temps to use magic, yet Alfheim was built using SAO's engine, so there's no particular reason the obvious sloppy coders would have touched too much the melee parts. That means only somebody who would have paid no attention to magic at all during his time in Alfheim would be anywhere close to Kirito. I consider that somewhat unlikely, especially among real gamer prodigys (such as Kirito is made to be by this show). So, winning the carelessly arrogant Salamander dude wasn't such a huge stretch, especially if the damage multiplier favours skill (since there apparently are such, after all) and not whatever material the sword is made of or any magical bonuses in it.

[Inazuma]

Well SAO has shown broken Game Theory logic since the beginning - it plays like a MMO Action JRPG and leveling works like Morrowindish's xp system. (which ended up in player bunny hopping around the maps for increased stats )

[Ryllharu]

Kirito was clearly dissatisfied at the "Yuld" he had in episode 18, 5:33. But logically, if he had the money there's no way he wouldn't get better gear. He's out to save Asuna after all. Kirito doesn't sound like the guy to go under-prepared in a video game.
It didn't look like a "dissatisfied" reaction. I took as more of an "Oh crap, I have the absurd amount of money I had in SAO." It was more about being worried he'd be identified as a cheater. If he gets banned by a GM, or noticed by Oberon/douchebag, he's done. At least that's the way I took it. I felt the recent episode confirmed that when he dropped the enormous bag of the stuff on the two leaders. Just beating that one guy wouldn't have given him the funds to build an army of his own. The Cait Sith leader was stunned at the quantity of what was inside.

If the stats are the same values between the two games, and custom items (Yui's soul) have the same value, money very likely has the same values. Probably all hex codes.

[MasterOfMoogles]

It is a shame they don't go into the details of how everything works in the anime, though maybe that would be pretty boring to watch if they just explained everything. There's probably a way to make it good, but the lazy approach is to just show the action and let anyone who cares about how the systems work to go read the novels.

[KrayZ33]

I don't mind them not explaining stuff, I do hate it though that his sister doesn't even bother to ask where he got all that money from even though Kirito doesn't know shit about the game and doesn't even try to hide it

no matter how you look at it, for her it must seem like she is playing with a cheater/hacker and she doesn't even care
"as long as he is in my team, he can do whatever he wants"

[Kraco]

I don't mind them not explaining stuff, I do hate it though that his sister doesn't even bother to ask where he got all that money from even though he doesn't know shit about the game

no matter how you look at it, for her it must seem like she is playing with a cheating/hacking player and she doesn't even care
"as long as he is in my team, he can do whatever he wants"

It's enough for her as long as she gets wet in his company. Hasn't that much been made obvious? Kirito is a pussy magnet and nobody ever asks any questions.

[MasterOfMoogles]

She barely knew anything about games before playing ALO, so it doesn't seem that surprising that she's just like, "Wow, this guy is amazing" vs. "He must be a haxor"

[Buffalobiian]

Hmm... So, it has skills, but you have to practice those in earnest to... what? Do they increase a damage multiplier? The same effect would be perfectly achievable through stats. Does that mean there are no stats? Kirito clearly shows superhuman speed right off the bat, which does indicate a high speed (whatever the name) attribute, not a skill. Or did the author ever even bother to think about it all?



There are certainly stats, just no overall player levels. It was commented this episode that the general had to have +950 in 2-Hand to even use the sword, so skill points also empower players in areas outside of sheer ratings (more than just dmg,hp etc)

@Ryll: I suppose that's the only reasonable explanation behind all that money. But didn't Kirito said he was poor after he bought that house with Asuna?

[MasterOfMoogles]

Kirito beat the final boss in the game, maybe he had some loots on him?

[Kraco]

Episode 21 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=377309)




- - - - -





So, unethical scientists like to use tentacle monster avatars. Nothing is better for molesting girls, so it makes perfect sense.

I bet the next time Asuna won't hesitate before pressing the button.

[MFauli]

Tentacle Rape

A truly incompetent admin (I was sure he had intentionally let her escape. Apparently, she truly escaped against this fool´s will)

WTF @ hesitating to push "log out"?! These tentacles would have never reached her, had she just pushed down on the button. Wow, did that make me angry.


And nothing really happened. Only cool scene: Kirito taking off into the sky at the end, ignoring the knowledge about not being able to reach Asuna that way.

[Kraco]

Based on Asuna's performance in this episode it looks like she didn't carry over her high stats and skills from SAO. If the fool Sugou made sure that didn't happen, it's funny he didn't set it so nobody else will either. There's no end to his idiocy.

[Ryllharu]

He did his due diligence when he ported her over, making sure she couldn't access menus, and therefore be unable to log out.

He also covered everyone who is now a disembodied brain in a steel case.

What he didn't account for when they ported the data from SAO was that any of the traumatized players who were released would come right back to similar games, and have the same username. Or at least that's what I would guess.

[Shadow Skill]

So boring. The only thing they seemed to Emphasize was the "Love" Leafa has for her brother in both the game and in reality.

5 Episoded left I think. I hope they make them worth while.

[Buffalobiian]

Pool Leafa's going to have have her heart broken twice. :'(

[shinta|hikari]

By the same guy. I can't believe how I much I want Asuna to die now.

[MFauli]

Don´t worry. No reason for broken hearts: As it turns out, Asuna cannot leave the virtual world anymore. There, Asuna becomes Kirito´s ingame-girl, whil his sister can become his real life-bride.

Everyone´s happy.

Except our own sanity.

[Kraco]

Yeah. Surely it would work much better the other way around. Romantically loving your brother leads nowhere.

Asuna might not want to play anymore after this, after all that happened, but Kirito actually has looked pretty happy a few times during Alfheim, so there's no reason he wouldn't visit virtual worlds also in the future. Since it's all virtual and they are basically different people inside the game, Sugu could go all brocon in the game no problem. Not that it would help her found a wholesome life in any way.

[Archangel]

Japan's inability to separate family love and romantic love is as creepy as ever.

[MFauli]

Japan's inability to separate family love and romantic love is as creepy as ever.

It´s more on the annoying side than the creepy side, imo. I mean, all this teasing about incest in anime is boring, got old long time ago. How many anime actually go through with incestuous relationships, especially such that don´t make it their whole focus? Myself;Yourself comes to mind, but other than that?

[Ryllharu]

I got a few other examples, but that would be spoiling.

There's a lot of cousin-screwing, just like Kirito and Sugu would be.

[shinta|hikari]

It's because cousin relationships are legal, even if frowned upon, in Japan.

[lilphatboi88]

Freakin A, were we really about to see tentacle rape??!?

[Yukimura]

The was no way they weren't going to slip a tentacle bondage scene in given how hard this story tries to pander to fantasy anime tropes. From the moment I saw her watching the keypad through the reflection I knew that she expected that she would escape just long enough to show us more of what's going on in the tower and then get recaptured. Once again Asuna demonstrates that she has exactly enough agency to come within a hairsbreadth of not needing someone to save her from whatever sticky stuation she finds herself in, nice try....not.

[MFauli]

new ep is out.

The incest, it is overflowing

[Inazuma]

Oh gawds ... Have mercy on Japan.

[lilphatboi88]

yay i'm so happy for them. their feelings having finally come out.

[Kraco]

A funny episode. Kirito first trying to bash through the barrier head first on sheer guts like a fly trying to get through a window was funny, and it got even more hilarious with the "dramatic" fight against the overpowering mass of enemies in the dome. Those scenes were so comical that I was still snickering by the time the big revelation came to the siblings. It must have sucked for Sugu to fall twice for the same guy whose favour she's destined not to gain, but on the other hand all the better it was terminated this quickly and not much later.

[Archangel]

11/10 show, great comedic value.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 22 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=379495)



------------------------------















I like Sugu and this totally sucks for her, but this episode also reminded me that there really isn't any rightful partner for Kirito other than Asuna.

[shinta|hikari]

Why? If Asuna just died, Sugu would have a chance for happiness.

[Buffalobiian]

Why? If Asuna just died, Sugu would have a chance for happiness.

Well... yeah. If she dies is removed from existence...

[NeoCybercoin]

Next stop on her breakdown...she goes full on Gasai Yuno.

[Inazuma]

End of Evangelion Renewal V3 40minutes in = SAO Ep 22 12minutes in

One does not ripoff Gendo material in such fashion without repercussions .

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 23 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=381626)

[David75]

MC thinks a new move, and it overpowers a system barrier...

Then, all of that protects a door that's not supposed to be used by anyone except admins. Why put it there in the first place...

But for some reason that IRL looking access card might work with a proper console... no wait, use that pixie as a console, much better and... it works except it's not your average door it's a teleportation device... why open the damn stones just to active a teleportation device?

Oh, and MC is telling her sister he might just get her depending on what happens next. He wants ass, regardless...

[Kraco]

If I absolutely had to come up with some explanations, it's possible it really was a door covering a teleportation device, placed there for a quest that was never activated. But there might still have been an admin console there ready and waiting, should some admin want to tinker with it in-game. Yui could have simply bypassed displaying the visible console (she's an AI, after all, not a human needing a visual UI) and activated the door using the card and the console.

But then again, this is SAO where nothing needs to make sense. Just like suddenly combining two swords to produce an uber move out of the blue...

[Ryllharu]

@David:

It's okay, just say the show is shit. Which it is. This episode was ridiculously bad.

[MasterOfMoogles]

The budget sucked for this episode apparently. Way too many stills and reused footage.

[MFauli]

All I could think about during this episode´s first half: How can Leafa/Sugu fly with these huge tits.

Lots of nonsensical deus-ex-machina, as all of you´ve already covered above. Still bummed out by the fact how much potential this story had at the beginning. sigh

[Inazuma]

I nearly expected Kirito to shout " Bankai " when he combined the two swords.

[Shadow Skill]

I think cause it is a game environment and gravity and air are not a possibility, she can fly despite her massive tit size. :P

I agree, Kirito only wants ass. Why else would he tell his sister "Depends what happens next" knowing she wants to be with him so badly. Almost like he's expecting Asuna to die, Lol.

3 Episodes left. I hope they go better than this episode.

[NeoCybercoin]

Asuna will become mind controlled and becomes the Ultimate Boss that Kirito needs to cut down in order to free her from her terrible fate which would in turn kill her. Would that make the show a bit better?

[Shadow Skill]

Would be better if he kills the guy trying to mind control Asuna and when he dies, he dies IRL like SAO players. That would be better. :D

[David75]

Asuna will become mind controlled and becomes the Ultimate Boss that Kirito needs to cut down in order to free her from her terrible fate which would in turn kill her. Would that make the show a bit better?

Asuna becomes a SexDoll and Sugu his legitimate wife?

[Shadow Skill]

That would probably work for most the fans of this show, Lol.

No, I'd rather Asune stay how she is now and able to return to the real world. That's just my wishful thinking for a decent ending.

[MFauli]

Sugou attempted to rape Asuna and is punished with real death.
Kabaya is at fault for the death of hundreds of innocent players. And Kirito respects him.
Nice morals going on here <3

:/

As for the rest ... most boring, anti-climatic "finale" ever. It wasn´t even an awsome deus ex machina. It was just bullshit. No logic, no sense, no struggle. Kirito is given a cheat command and that´s it. Wow.

[Ryllharu]

It's pretty spectacular that fans of the novels deluded themselves into thinking this series was good.

Laughable villains that barely even reach carbon paper copy of a photocopy of a cardboard cutout of an actual villain.

What a joke. I don't know wtf makes them think this series is good. There is barely even a glimmer of a quality series here. They can't even say that, "the series is just rushed, trust me, it is better." The writing is puerile. No, it never got better. It only got worse and worse.

That said, what bothered me the most: Your girlfriend/internet wife just got released from a mental prison. You head to the hospital...on a bicycle. Pay for a cab you retard! Kind of a big deal, might want to get there a little faster.

[David75]

I guess Asuna was moved out of that hospital to another place... feels like it.

Vilains are resilient, it's not uncommon for them to be alive just the time necessary for plot devices...

Oh by the way, what happens if someone tries to tickle your real body from liled to hard while you're in game?
Tries to inject something with a needle?
Does other feasts not killing you? like playing, or even torture?
t'is the only thing interresting (to me) I came up with.

I really don't care for zasheaddo and the yet another VR they hinted.
But I'm M enough to follow that shit if it goes on...

[MasterOfMoogles]

Depending on the distance, it might take longer to get there if you had to call and wait for the cab to show up.

[Kraco]

Rather than using a bike to get there, my problem with that scene was the obviously sub-zero temperature since it was snowing, yet Kirito was biking with an open collar and no scarf. Unless it's truly so that the Japanese only catch a cold when a rain surprises them, the first thing Asuna needs to do upon waking up is to nurse feverish Kirito...

[NeoCybercoin]

Next week's episode. The globbing World Seed.

[Buffalobiian]

If I was Kirito with Heathcliff privlidges, the first thing I would have done was lock out Sugou's log-out function, THEN dice him up.

Excalibur does jack shit.

It's hard for me to imagine what the story after this would be since it's pretty much a happy ending now.

Not to hard to imagine what upcoming doujinshis would be like though!

[Kraco]

Excalibur does jack shit.


Which made it exactly the right kind of weapon for somebody like Sugou who could do jack shit by himself, except torture a girl and brag.

[Shadow Skill]

Hmm... HE'S Going to get laid by Asuna now. Aside from that... maybe he was a hacker this whole time with a hacked nerve gear. :P

[DDBen]

Its hard to say the quality of Excalibur as Kirito set his level to 1 before handing him it anyway.

[shinta|hikari]

Wait, I thought ALO did not have player levels? And don't weapons require a certain skill level to wield?

[Shadow Skill]

Like I said "HACKED" :P

Not unless it refers to the level of skills or stats.

[Ryllharu]

It's just a GM console command for beta testing or debugging, likely shorthand for reset everything: skills, stats, unlocked magic spells, health bonuses, etc.

It was one of the few only things in this episode that wasn't flat-out retarded. Alfheim was a direct copy of the SAO engine and all associated data, but with new assets, from an earlier model. Yui pointed out that it was using a earlier version of the overseer sub-routine.

Suguo the dumbass made himself god, but forgot to correctly purge or even curate the data. When he grabbed 300+ players for experimenting and Asuna, he dragged in a lot of other stuff he wouldn't want, but simply ignored it (like Kirito's broken stats, Kayaba's admin access account).

Thanks to figuring it out who Kayaba was pretending to be during the final hours of SAO, Kirito could correctly guess the access commands.

[shinta|hikari]

But why was Sugou able to hold Excalibur then? Does that mean that sword has no requirements?

[MasterOfMoogles]

Rather than using a bike to get there, my problem with that scene was the obviously sub-zero temperature since it was snowing, yet Kirito was biking with an open collar and no scarf. Unless it's truly so that the Japanese only catch a cold when a rain surprises them, the first thing Asuna needs to do upon waking up is to nurse feverish Kirito...

Yea, it is almost like he rushed out in a hurry or something.

Regarding Sugou, I doubt there are requirements to swing around a sword like a wet noodle. He probably wouldn't have even done any damage if he did hit him.

[David75]

But why was Sugou able to hold Excalibur then? Does that mean that sword has no requirements?

Excalibur grants the chosen one its incredible powers, regardless of stats, is how we can interpret its story and adapt it here?

[Buffalobiian]

Some weapons require a certain skill level to be equipped. We can only assume that Excalibur is one such weapon.

As for the level 1 thing, I intuitively thought it was a level of privilege - effectively purging Oberion of his rights as an admin.

[Kraco]

Some weapons require a certain skill level to be equipped. We can only assume that Excalibur is one such weapon.

Dunno. If I was a building a total virtual reality game, I would be very careful about unexplained invisible walls, such as an object you can't "equip" for some mysterious reason. It would have been a different thing if the sword had given a shock to too weak players or it had a wielder health drain effect that would need to be countered by the health regeneration of a higher level player. But simply unable to be equipped... That fits some usual third person rpg game played on a computer screen / TV, but hardly a game this immersive.

[Buffalobiian]

That was a typo. I meant that "we can only assume that Excalibur is NOT one such weapon"

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 25 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=385702)


---------------------------------























aaaaaaaaaaand we're done.

[MFauli]

Kirito wants his sister´s ass so much, - is all I have to say about this last episode.

Glad we´re done here.

[Inazuma]

Thats a hot timeslot going free.
Anyone knows what's coming up to replace SAO ?

[Ryllharu]

Thats a hot timeslot going free.
Anyone knows what's coming up to replace SAO ?
If I'm reading the moonphase schedule (http://m-p.sakura.ne.jp/Html/anime.html) correctly, Tokyo MX's 土 / 24:00 slot will be filled by OneShura (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=9305) (Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru)

A moe harem novel adaptation, also by A-1 Pictures (studio who did SAO).

[Kraco]

He says he got his stats reset, but surely not all the way to level 1... He would be far too weak to be in the company of Alfheim veterans if that was the case. Plus he would need to begin fighting Aincrad from the beginning.

All in all I'm glad this is over. I wouldn't call this a good show, but for some bizarre reason I still needed to keep watching.

[Shadow Skill]

It was caused of Asuna's ass and Sugu's ass (Sister). :P

[Yukimura]

Glad this is over, like Kraco I wouldn't call it a good show but I just couldn't leave it alone and actually wanted to see what they'd pull out of their asses next which is a point for it that I can't give to many other shows. I find some interesting conclusions when I compare it to how I felt about Accel World.

I think SAO had a much higher potential for quality than Accel World due to its setting and underlying framework but that SAO failed miserably at living up to that potential in a way I could respect. Accel World on the other hand, handled itself quite fairly decently despite the 'handicap' of its setting and framework. My final verdict would be that Accel World was a better show than SAO due to the better execution and storytelling but that SAO might actually give it a run for its money on the entertainment scale with how spectacularly it failed to live up to the potential (and hype) it had. I would much rather see another season of Accel World than any more of Kirito's incestuous, two-timing adventures.

[DarthEnderX]

So, I just finally got around to watching this series.

The premise of this series would have made an awesome, like, 500 episode shonen series.

This, was kinda awesome in the first season, but progressed way to fast, and skipping most of what would have been considered the interesting parts.

I could seriously just watch Kirito slumming with lower level players and surprising people with how powerful he is over and over and over again.

Second season, I dunno wtf... Just...bleh.

I know this is some kind of manga novel series or something. Is the ending to this different from that, or, what's the deal there?

[Buffalobiian]

The story is adapted from a light novel series, and that series doesn't stop here.

[DarthEnderX]

The story is adapted from a light novel series, and that series doesn't stop here.Is it accurate to the novels series up to the point that it reaches anyway?

[shinta|hikari]

Pretty much.

[MasterOfMoogles]

One of the biggest differences between the novels and the anime is that you get Kirito's thought process in the books, which obviously explains a lot more as to his motivations and actions. Some of the game systems are covered in more depth in the novels as well.

Event-wise, the differences worth pointing out in the first half:
* Episode 2 comes from a side-story (Aria in the Starless Night) and they cut out a ton of stuff - scenes with Kirito meeting Asuna for the first time, scenes with Argo the Rat, a bit of mystery with someone wanting to buy Kirito's weapon, more scenes with Asuna and Argo
* The blacksmith girl's side story is from her perspective and has some extra wrap-up from when the game is cleared that was cut.
* The murder mystery episode (based on volume 8 - A murder case in the area) plays out a bit differently. They go more in depth into the various systems of the game, Kirito and Asuna do more detective work, there are scenes with Kirito and Asuna discussing the murder with Heathcliff and asking him questions. The scenes were completely cut from the anime because they give away who he is to the reader even though Kirito and Asuna don't know what's up at the time.
* The final battle in Aincrad makes more sense overall, since it is clear what is happening, unlike in the anime where they visualize Kirito imagining himself dying.

For the second half, there are only a few differences I remember:
* A big side event where Kirito and Lyfa explore an underground dungeon is skipped entirely. It is important for some of the side stories, like Caliber.
* In the battle against the angels to enter the tree, when Kirito gets Lyfa's sword, he actually dual wields and chops them up, instead of some absurd charging attack that doesn't make any sense.
*After Kirito fights the guy in the real world, he doesn't just leave him there without doing anything.

That said, if you wanted to continue reading straight from Volume 5, you wouldn't be missing much.

[DarthEnderX]

Nah. I was just curious if they series messed it up so bad that they couldn't continue on doing the rest later if they wanted.

Sounds like it didn't.

So I guess the question becomes if the rest of the series is actually any good?

[Ryllharu]

If you ask those two above, they'll say yes unconditionally.

If you ask people less enamored with the series, they'll say it is just more of the same: Kirito being the ultimate Gary Sue with an endless stream of girls fawning over him. All of the criticisms discussed in this thread are valid ones.

There are some interesting connections to Accel World, as you see the technology used there be developed.

I would say wait for the inevitable sequel anime.

I would also add that the bigger problem is the novels themselves are terribly written. Both Sword Art Online and Accel World. Even translated (and extensively edited), they don't make a lot of sense. There are large portions of it that are only dialogue and sound effects. When you're lucky, you'll get vague descriptions. Anime is really the only way to enjoy the two series.
edit3: Sword Art isn't quite as badly written as AW, upon re-review.

edit 2:
Also, most translation sites (and the official published versions) cut out the terrible sex scene chapter.

[DarthEnderX]

Kirito being the ultimate Gary Sue with an endless stream of girls fawning over him.I don't actually have a problem with that.

That part of the series where he's basically the indestructible drifter was my favorite part of the series.

[MasterOfMoogles]

If you at all enjoyed the SAO part of SAO, you will almost certainly like volumes 5-6. I will warn you though, you will get more of Kirito being awesome.

Volume 7 is more Asuna-focused and has some interesting bits about using NervGear for medical purposes.

Volume 8 has flashback side stories set early and late in the series - Kirito's first day in SAO after he runs away from Kline, The murder mystery, and the the quest for the greatest sword in ALO - a good excuse to have all of the characters meet up and do something together.

Volume 9+ kind of take the series in a different direction starting a multi-volume arc spanning up to the currently released volume. While it has some interesting parts and interesting philosophical questions, it is a lot slower-paced. I don't like it as much as the original premise or Phantom Bullet. It kind of throws away a lot of the things that have been built up in the series so far.

Not to turn this into a LN discussion, but:
Ryll, I'm curious if there are some LN you think are very well written. I thought SAO was pretty on-par with the rest of the LNs I've seen translated. LNs as a whole seem to be very dialogue heavy and tend to leave it up to the reader to imagine the scenery or actions. I feel like none of them are spectacularly written, but I've been able to enjoy reading them despite that, though.
For reference, I've read: Haruhi, Zero no Maria, Gekkou, SAO, some of Index and Heavy Object (same author, and I really hate how this guy writes sometimes), Fate Zero (Urobuchi is probably the best), Tsukumodo Antique Shop.

[shinta|hikari]

Light novels are generally not well written, and use very simple language. The name pretty much describes that.

SAO was written much like a poor fanfic at the start. It starts getting better as it goes along, and has pretty much settled to a relatively simple but decent narrative style.

I think the Phantom Bullet arc, which comes after the end of the anime, is the best part of the series. It has the best female in the Kirito harem, after all. It also has more Kirito the superman moments, while also providing a darker and weaker side to him as well.

[Buffalobiian]

Further discussion about LN vs anime discussion should be continued in the dedicated LN/anime comparison thread (http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php/20966-Sword-Art-Online-Comparisons-between-the-Light-Novel-and-the-Anime).

I'll leave the current the posts as they are since DE's question was a general one on what else is to come. The resultant answers were just a bit too detailed to be left unaltered here so I've blanked out the spoilers that caught my eye.

[shinta|hikari]

Didn't think general impressions and some vague information of the future novels counted as spoilers. Sorry about that. I consider myself warned.

[DarthEnderX]

Well, thanks for all the information anyway everyone that answered!

[Buffalobiian]

[HorribleSubs] Sword Art Online EXTRA EDITION - 01 [720p].mkv (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=507486)

-----------------------------------------------












Not a bad eyecandy/recap ep with some newer stuff to show us what's coming. It summed up SAO in a pretty enjoyable manner. It highlighted the bits that I mostly care about anyway, even if I have a pretty clear memory of it all anyway.

Sugu's cute and I liked her in ALO-arc, but I must give the final award (Kirito) to Asuna. She's simply the most fitting, given their past experiences and current mature nature. If nothing else, she's Yui's mother.

[Kraco]

The best part of the extra was Klein getting excited about the prospect of meeting mermaids. Klein's VA also voices Sanji in One Piece. That was totally on purpose and bloody funny.

But yeah, the extra reminded me of the fact SAO had some good scenes and ideas even if the bigger picture was so lousy.

[MFauli]

reading some sao-doujin featuring sugu is more satisfying and effecient than warching an hour long special with swimsuit shots :>

[David75]

Regarding SAO's relatively bad execution... well since then you have to admitt we've not had that many shows a lot better than that. It was at least enjoyable, even if I do understand it could have been way better.

[KrayZ33]

has this been posted yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Ghr_rbJmQ

tbh, i'm not really hyped about this

[Buffalobiian]

I personally feel that SAO turned out badly because it set itself up to be all serious and shit, but then those parts weren't executed well enough. When you start off really promising, the disappointment hurts. It's a lot more enjoyable when something starts off bland but becomes interesting/deep. That way you're left wondering how far it could go. When the opposite happens, you're left wondering about how bad it could get.

[lelouch]

I personally feel that SAO turned out badly

I personally feel that it didn't, especially relative to most new series released in the past couple years.

[Buffalobiian]

I personally feel that it didn't, especially relative to most new series released in the past couple years.

For me it mostly applied to the 2nd arc with all the flying. I suppose by "bad" I meant more like "average" in normal vocabulary. It wasn't terrible nor unenjoyable.

[lelouch]

For me it mostly applied to the 2nd arc with all the flying. I suppose by "bad" I meant more like "average" in normal vocabulary. It wasn't terrible nor unenjoyable.

Yeah I agree it should have ended with the first arc.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah I agree it should have ended with the first arc.But the first arc should have been, like, 4 times longer.

[shinta|hikari]

Gun Gale Online!

Time for some loli sniping!

[Ryllharu]

I personally feel that SAO turned out badly because it set itself up to be all serious and shit, but then those parts weren't executed well enough.
It's kind of amazing how shallow and juvenile SAO is compared to Log Horizon. Never utilized its full potential really.

[Kraco]

It's kind of amazing how shallow and juvenile SAO is compared to Log Horizon. Never utilized its full potential really.

A 13 years old author can come up with jolly good ideas the same as anybody, assuming a gifted imagination, but writing a wholesome, well thought-out story with three-dimensional characters, in an appropriate manner (since this is still manga/anime), takes a bit of maturity and perspective. So, let's not judge SAO too harshly. Besides, SAO was well-received among its intended audience of other 13 years olds.

[Ryllharu]

He was 13 in 2002. He isn't now. The later novels appear to have an even lower reception, even among its fans here, and the first novel(s) got re-edited in 2008-2009.

edit:
Actually, he's 39 (b. 1974), so I have no idea where the myth perpetuates from that he was young when volume 1 (Aincrad Arc) was officially published.

[DarthEnderX]

So, let's not judge SAO too harshly. Besides, SAO was well-received among its intended audience of other 13 years olds.Wait...this was written by a 13yo?

I feel dumb now...

[Kraco]

Wait...this was written by a 13yo?

I feel dumb now...

Looking at Ryll's post, it apparently wasn't. For some reason I was living under an impression the author was really young when he wrote this, though to be honest, I wasn't sure of the exact number, so 13 was a guess, more or less. But apparently he's fricking older than I am, which leaves me speechless. I used to write fiction as a hobby back in my earlier days (all the way up to high school), and although a publisher wanted to see the rest when I sent in the first part, it didn't get published and that was the end of it. But I assure you it was much more mature and better than SAO despite being written by a brat (not trying to claim it was objectively nearly good enough to be published, now judging it in hindsight)... But then again, we are talking about Japan, where this unique thing called a light novel exists and flourishes. I reckon one of its requirements is not to be too high literature.

[MFauli]

Well, even Kirino could become an author in Japan, so that says it all .... :>

[KrayZ33]

It's kind of amazing how shallow and juvenile SAO is compared to Log Horizon. Never utilized its full potential really.

are you comparing the novel (I didn't read them) or the anime, because I can't say the anime of Log Horizon is doing a good job either.... I'd even go as far and say that SAOs first half is better than Log Horizons

[MFauli]

And I find it silly to compare the two.

Log Horizon isnt really one of those MMORPG-Matrix-esque stories. That´s maybe how it started, but the way it´s handled, it´s a generic fantasy-story with a unique origin.
Whereas SAO plays fully to the strengths of the popular "this is how videogames could become one day"-theme.

If I had to compare general enjoyment, though, I´d say that SAO had a fantastic first few episodes and then started sucking hard. Full of moe-crap, harem-crap and illogical unexplained actions. And the whole second story was ruined, as there was never a chance for a Kirito-Sugu couple, since Asuna had already been introduced as some sort of hotness-goddess before, who occupies Kirito like a succubus.
Meanwhile, Log Horizon starts out slowly, is still kinda slow, but it gives me the feeling that something is coming together the more it proceeds.

If only Log Horizon had the quality animation of SAO, it´d be so much better.

[Kraco]

And the whole second story was ruined, as there was never a chance for a Kirito-Sugu couple, since Asuna had already been introduced as some sort of hotness-goddess before, who occupies Kirito like a succubus.

Anime of late has been plagued by an endless supply of little sisters falling in love with the big brothers, or vice versa, creating the whole imouto craze (or curse) that's going on, so I'm thankful Sugu never had a chance. Siblings falling in love with each other, unknowingly, is an ancient element in drama and it's used for tragedy. Leave it to the Japanese to make serious romance and romantic comedy out of it. As much as I blame SAO's author for being immature and inexperienced, at the very least I give him props for making Kirito clearly reject his sister as well as Sugu not actively chasing after him.

[MFauli]

I wasnt complaining about the lack of incest. Rather that all the romance-teasing in part 2, and likely 3 as well, is wasted time since Kirito already chose Asuna to be his eternal girl. Having scenes where a girl ponders about her love for Kirito, then further showing how she goes about it, is extremely annoying for me as the audience, since I know that itll never lead to anything of substance. At least, Im rather sure that Kirito would never cheat on Asuna, it´s not that kind of show.

[Buffalobiian]

Kirito's official answer to Sugu was "I don't know yet, I'll have to wait for Asuna to wake up" but I don't think we got any follow-up after that. The answer's obvious, but he still got away without properly concluding his answer with Sugu.

[Ryllharu]

I concur with MFauli. It was revolting how saintly and untouchable the other girls treated Asuna in the OVA. "Oh my, I could never compete with Asuna over Kirito. ╥﹏╥ She's simply too perfect."

Asuna doesn't really seem to have much of a personality on her own anymore either. She's just this overly mature, motherly, graceful, holy virgin (though she most definitely isn't that last one, at least virtually). All the personality she used to have when they first met, during the 1st floor boss, and when she was a commander before they got romantically involved disappeared. She became this demure, dull, motherly saint.

Hinting that the other girls even had a chance to begin with was kind of pointless. At least Sugu didn't know before she fell for him, unlike the other two.

[shinta|hikari]

I absolutely agree about Asuna. I find her "perfection" way too bland. The sudden jump from her dark initial persona to the perfect team leader with amazing household skills was also too abrupt because not a lot of time was used to show the transition.

I also find the entire Yui daughter thing extremely annoying. SAO would have been much better without her. She kind of represents everything that is making suspension of disbelief harder to achieve.

That said, I am still looking forward to the next arc. I believe people who hate SAO will still hate that because it has more of the same stuff (it is a light novel after all, which is almost trademark formulaic for each novel, with very few exceptions), but the people who liked the good parts of SAO will probably like it. For those who might get interested because of this fact, it has guns.

[Ryllharu]

Yui would be fine if she wasn't treated as a daughter by both of them instantly. That whole arc in Aincrad is retarded. There's no lead-up, no development, nothing. It's just, "Nice to meet you. We'll treat you as a daughter, done." It wouldn't be as bad if they built up to it across 3-5 episodes, instead of 1.5 episodes.

Her parts in Alfhiem Online are some of the better parts. She's a digital fairy after all. There, she acts like it, and is and treated as such. Correspondingly, her scenes and dialog are good. It would legitimately be better if she was not treated as a child, but more like an "overly clingy friend" or "sister". Basically what Suguha sees her as before she learns the truth from Kirito off-screen in the real world.

[shinta|hikari]

The whole AI thing is just a bit too unbelievable for me. That, and the fact that she was downloaded into the nerv gear headgear. I also simply dislike cutesy shallow characters like her. I know she is AI and that cannot allow for much development, but weren't they selling her character as something more, almost human perhaps? Her role in the fairy arc was even more of a stretch. All of a sudden, she is recognized by the system as tinkerbell, and can get all sorts of information despite being a foreign object. All we get are one liner explanations, and really, she does nothing for the plot.

It's like they wanted to add a constant loli that won't attract Asuna's wrath, so Yui suddenly got inserted into the story.

Almost insignificant spoiler for the coming Gun Gale Online arc:





Almost no Asuna or Yui.

[Ryllharu]

The whole AI thing is just a bit too unbelievable for me. That, and the fact that she was downloaded into the nerv gear headgear.
...
I know she is AI and that cannot allow for much development, but weren't they selling her character as something more, almost human perhaps? Her role in the fairy arc was even more of a stretch. All of a sudden, she is recognized by the system as tinkerbell, and can get all sorts of information despite being a foreign object. All we get are one liner explanations, and really, she does nothing for the plot.


If a Tachikoma can develop a ghost, a system like the basis of SAO/Alfhiem can too. I'll believe Kayaba was smart enough to develop a psychological analysis subroutine that developed a consciousness as it progressed, since it's purpose was to mimic and understand human psyche.

As for her fairy arc, RECT copied the SAO data directly from an older build, and reskinned it. Both because they were too lazy to code their own game, and the douchebag wanted to capture test subject and Asuna (being the company head's coincidentally trapped daughter). We find out later SAO fans ported the skill system into Alfhiem (and all of SAO anyway), so we know they're compatible.

Yui was afforded all the same access levels her program used to have, and the game just changed her accordingly, the same way Kirito's stats were corrupted during the import (same Username in the database) and interpreted. All the console command IDs were identical on his stats and gold because the game was the same engine. Only the items were a problem.

That part made perfect logical sense to me, and it was properly set up to do so. The only miracle was her item wasn't corrupted. Eventually, Kirito probably would have modded her in.

As for her being stored locally in Kirito's nervgear, that's a conceit I'll just have to let them have. Just assume their hard drives and processors are a lot better than our own.

[shinta|hikari]

They had to make up such explanations that stretch reality a little bit too much. Even in today's games, you can't log into a different game using the same account just because they use the same engine.

Moreover, even if it makes logical sense, it is far too convenient and unbelievable. It is like having coincidence after coincidence just to excuse Yui's presence in the plot.

Destroying suspension of disbelief does not require a completely illogical or impossible (story world wise) thing from happening. Just small parts here and there of hard to believe or way too convenient explanations will stack and are more than enough to cause it. The reason why I hate Yui so much is because she is a convenient tool to advance the story and make excuses for random events. She can do this or that, and it will "make sense" because her existence itself is already such a large leap of faith from the viewers.

[Ryllharu]

They had to make up such explanations that stretch reality a little bit too much. Even in today's games, you can't log into a different game using the same account just because they use the same engine.
You're missing what I mean, and the details of what happened. I know you've read the novels, but that part actually makes sense.

Hex codes for games built on the same engine are often the same. Fallout 3, Fallout NV, and Skyrim all have the same hex code for caps/gold, and bobbypins/lockpicks, or other analogous items. However, Skyrim is allegedly a different engine, yet the items codes are mostly the same.

- Alfheim was created as a reskinned SAO with slightly modified skill system (but one we've later seen is very compatible, to the point that SAO can be in the game as an expansion). This was done to recoup costs of the SAO Debacle, when RECT bought the SAO Company assets and liabilities.
[This older build of SAO has all the Yui code and subroutines, but isn't activated.]

- To get Asuna and the test subjects, the douchebag copied SAO's current data into Alfhiem. He imported the entire player database. He did all the work necessary to make the two games compatible and "capture" the players being logged out. That means that Asuna, the test subjects, and all the other data for every SAO player, including the ones who got logged out. Including Kirito. This may even have occurred after Yui was turned into an item.
[This is how Kirito's data got in there.]

Combine Kirito bullshit Gary Stu hack during the SAO arc to forge Yui's stored data (personality and memories) into a unique item using the GM console (also copied to his NervGear as a backup) with douchebag stealing and importing all the data, and the set up is all there.

Kirito logged in using is old username and ALO bounced him off the same lines of the database, importing all his stats (which must use the same hex code ID between SAO and ALO ) and his GM-console created item Yui with its unique hex code ID. SAO didn't have races, so that was corrected in character creation. The rest of his items and skills (except for his gold) don't have a compatible hex code and are corrupted.

Import and activate Yui's stored data. Doing so accesses and starts her processes on the server, and she's revived.

[Kraco]

Yui would be fine if she wasn't treated as a daughter by both of them instantly. That whole arc in Aincrad is retarded. There's no lead-up, no development, nothing. It's just, "Nice to meet you. We'll treat you as a daughter, done." It wouldn't be as bad if they built up to it across 3-5 episodes, instead of 1.5 episodes.

Why not? They were all fluffy and high after their virtual marriage and devirginization. Throw in a kid they can adopt and their virtual family will be more complete than they dreamed of.

I think Yui was necessary to even the odds against a developer/admin. Beating such people is unlikely, so an exploit accidentally left in is sorely needed.

[shinta|hikari]

I know the explanations because I read the novels. What I am saying is that I don't like them. They are all too convenient. Did you even see how long your explanation was? And how many assumptions there are? All that to include a fairy who did even more random stuff in the succeeding events. I am not saying it is impossible (because if it was we wouldn't be arguing). I might even be fine with it if Yui actually had some value to add to the plot.

Instead of thinking about the reasons why the events that led to Yui's revival are possible, I would rather ask about why things that would have made it impossible did not happen, even if logically it should have.

Why was Yui suddenly converted to a fairy character (and thus avoiding detection) but still retains all her memories?
Why did Kirito's account even properly work? There should have been tons of errors there. But all he lost was gold and items, but conveniently, not the Yui item.

I know the excuses, but in reality, it isn't so convenient. Code integration is not such an easy process. When things error out, they don't conveniently have errors on just specific parts and retain the ones the character needs for his new adventure.

[Ryllharu]

I give up.

One of the very few plot points in the entire series that was actually well composed, properly set up by a cascade of events (most of which didn't involve Kirito's Protagonist Power), correspondingly progressed in a logical way, and it is "ridiculous."

The only truly ridiculous thing is SAO's fans.

[shinta|hikari]

I am actually surprised you think that part was well composed. The very fact that Kirito making Yui into an item is an integral part of this cascade of events already makes it hard to believe.

Also, I never said it was ridiculous. I just said it was too convenient. Please do not put words in my mouth. I am sure you understood from my posts that I might have been fine with it if Yui actually benefited the plot more.

I would also appreciate if you would avoid the ad hominem. I would say I am a fan of SAO, but not a big one. I try to look at it as objectively as I can, so I can see the bad and the good. A difference in opinion does not necessitate personal attacks.

[Ryllharu]

Kirito doing amazing, gamebreaking things through "willpower" and "a love for MMOs" and "inheriting Kayaba's will" are fine, but Kirito doing something with a GM Console (where such things would actually be possible) is hard to believe?

The only hard to believe part was that he did it so fast, through "willpower."

If you think that one line is an ad hominem attack, you should have seen what I deleted. That was an ad hominem attack!

[shinta|hikari]

When did I ever say that Kirito wasn't doing unbelievable things all the time? I mean, that is the whole point of SAO.

I dislike Yui and I think she is unnecessary to the entire story, which is why doing unbelievable things to keep her in it irks me. That's about it. This does not mean that the rest of SAO makes sense, or is more believable (parts differ).

I have no idea why you are so proud of attacking me but okay lol. No harm done.

[MFauli]

When I read SAO-hentai doujins, it´s Kirito I´m fapping at. That´s how amazing he is.

Wait, what ...

:/

[DarthEnderX]

How did this turn into a re-discussion of why SOA sucked?

You guys must have done that earlier in the thread already.

[KrayZ33]

but Kirito doing something with a GM Console

ya... thats the problem, not just with kirito - but I don't see why Yui could access that one either

well, whatever
I'll watch the new show anyway because it'll might feature spoilers from what I've read about GGO - so some splinter cell assassin action is nice to look at
oh and it has guns

[MFauli]

How did this turn into a re-discussion of why SOA sucked?

You guys must have done that earlier in the thread already.

some people actually started praising SAO, so something had to be done :>

[DarthEnderX]

ya... thats the problem, not just with kirito - but I don't see why Yui could access that one eitherFor the same reason R2-D2 can hack any computer system in Star Wars.

Things made out of code can automatically hack anything else made of code. That's the rule.

[darkshadow]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/4883819cb41742cdf9b09aee8cf2973c/tumblr_mh7luy1YSB1r93xiko1_500.gif

[DarthEnderX]

That's because that's a power socket, not a system access port.

[Shadow Skill]

Assuming SAO is like any other MMO out there. There are certain things saved on your hard drive (Nerve gear in this case) and other things saved server side. So Yui being an immortal object (Admin access priviledges and what not), would stand to reason that Yui can infact be saved inside Kirito's nerv gear and be imported in to ALO.

Being that ALO is the same as SAO, no changes to the game code (I think ALO was an inferior version mention on an earlier build), stand to reason it would be easily hackable or that Yui can exist in ALO. Being the power hungry pervert he was when he copied SAO, everything was copied and thus saved and made compatible with Kirito and Yui. They pretty much went through a skin update. I wouldn't call it convenient, just lazy on his part for not making his own game.

That what I think anyway. Can't wait for Gun Gale.

[MFauli]

Pushing this thread to the front page. Only hours remain. :>

Why is this called "Sword Art Online 2" btw? It´s just season 3, isnt it.

And oh god, I´ve some short summary about the beginning of this new season, about WHY Kirito gets involved again. It´s already stupid, lol.

Anyway, looking forward to a lot of great animation as well as lots of complaining and hating :D

[Buffalobiian]

It's SAO2 because the first 2-cour series was SAO(1).

There's been a long enough hiatus that it's a new series now.

This is in contrast to shows that already had 26 episodes planned for production, but decided to split it into 2x13 episode blocks for the sake of not burning out the staff.

SAO2 would be a separate, serial project that was green-lighted after SAO1.

[Penner]

Hmm, i still haven't seen this... should i? :P

How good/bad is it?

[MFauli]

Hmm, i still haven't seen this... should i? :P

How good/bad is it?

It´s worth watching for animation and music alone. First couple of episodes are fantastic. Then you get a feeling of "this is somewhat rushed". And the the show goes full-Asuna, meaning the story becomes utter crap. Still, it´s an audio-visually pleasing anime, top-notch production values. And if you´re somewhat interested in the setting (virtual world) then definitely go for it.

[DarthEnderX]

The first half of the first arc is great. Before the relationship and the unsatisfying arc climax ruins it.

[MFauli]

Sword Art Online 2 - Episode 01:
-------------------------------------------



Why would anybody NOT choose to be a sniper in that game? lol

Nothing too surprising, it´s SAO. But I already hate that, judging from the ending, Kirito will enter the game as a female avatar. That´s just dumb.

[Kraco]

Gun Gale Online Episode 1 - HS (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=571514)








- - - - -- - - --




The episode could have used a bit... no, make that a lot less Asuna. I know I don't really have the right attitude to start to watch this show since I expect it to turn disappointing like SAO, but whatever. I guess the usual SAO stupidness will start with Kirito using a sword in a game about guns. Or perhaps it all started to go wrong already with making Sinon's introduction so bad by having her shoot some newbies instead of participating in a real fight. I have a feeling her intro was supposed to make her look deadly. But who knows.

It's pretty funny the ministry turns to some high schooler to investigate the case, but on the other hand why not? He's expendable, right? Kikuoka would just lose his job if Kirito was found dead shortly after.

I hope the next ep will already have action to make this worth watching. Nothing else will.

[Shadow Skill]

Could have used more Asuna and less of Kikouka hiring kirito. :P

Boring start to what I hope is an excellent season.

[lelouch]

I guess the usual SAO stupidness will start with Kirito using a sword in a game about guns.


How is that stupid? The Jedi bitch in the ED seemed to be doing it just fine, and Kirito is already an expert swordfighter. Given the limited time-span, if it was feasible to realistically compete with a sword, he should take that route.

[DarthEnderX]

But I already hate that, judging from the ending, Kirito will enter the game as a female avatar. That´s just dumb.Awww, is your boner all confused?


The Jedi bitch in the ED seemed to be doing it just fineYou mean the character that's obviously Kirito's GGO avatar?


Given the limited time-span, if it was feasible to realistically compete with a sword, he should take that route.Given previous arcs, it's also possible, since Gun Gale is also based on The Seed, that just like in Alfheim, Yui will be able to hack the system and transfer a bunch of his stuff from the previous games over to him.

And since his skills were all sword-based, it would make sense if that's what he had.

[David75]

Slow start, almost felt like a non plot based OVA...

[Buffalobiian]

Asuna's more or less the timeless wife type now. Boring? Arguably.. Still prolly the best one for a long term relationship though.

As for asking a "highschooler", well they're asking the guy who broke through the biggest death game in their industry. I don't see any discrepancy there. He's good enough to become their mole and is also skilled enough to detect a cheat/exploit when he sees one (remember Kayaba's impossibly fast moves?). Anybody who's watched this show till now shouldn't be surprised nor be perplexed as to why Kirito was called upon, especially anybody who's ever called him a Mary Sue.

I hope SAO really ends up being the prequel to Accel World and not just some related universe with a similar idea. Kuroyuki needs to be Kirito's daughter.

[MFauli]

I hope SAO really ends up being the prequel to Accel World and not just some related universe with a similar idea. Kuroyuki needs to be Kirito's daughter.

Are both anime from the same author, or is it just non-sensical wishing? :>

[SamuraiOdin]

Are both anime from the same author, or is it just non-sensical wishing? :>

Yes, the light novels were written by the same person. SAO was written starting in 2002 under the pen name Kunori Fumio. Accel World started publishing in 2009, under the author's real name Reki Kawahara. He also has a 3rd series that just started (though it appears to be more about extraterrestrials) last month. (Hooray for wikipedia!)

[David75]

It's true that Kirito is the best option when you remember he was able to beat a game admin/wizard with only a player's access...

[MFauli]

Although that death gun is ridiculus op. I read before that the villain would have a gun that can kill people for real. But as we´ve seen in ep 1, he doesn´t even need to shoot people with it ... he can just watch them over the ingame-tv. wtf. That´s basically a Death Note. Unless Kirito gains some ridiculous shielding ability, I don´t see how he´ll be able to defend against this.

[Kraco]

How is that stupid? The Jedi bitch in the ED seemed to be doing it just fine, and Kirito is already an expert swordfighter. Given the limited time-span, if it was feasible to realistically compete with a sword, he should take that route.

If it's a game about guns, there should be no reason to make it so unrealistic a swordsman would have a chance there. There's a reason why you see soldiers carrying swords only in parades and official ceremonies these days, you know. But since this is SAO stupid, obviously Kirito will find some loophole and become a successful swordsman (or maybe a woman based on the looks) in the game.

Go watch the Indiana Jones movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_Ds2ytz4o&feature=kp) if you want to see a realistic demonstration about a swordmaster fighting against a decent guy with a pistol. A decent guy with an assault rifle would be an even worse opponent.

[David75]

Kirito is already at Neo's level. We'll get bullet time again.

[NeoCybercoin]

You sure he isn't just using a male character with long hair? That seems more plausible then him suddenly switching to female.

[MFauli]

You sure he isn't just using a male character with long hair? That seems more plausible then him suddenly switching to female.

Well, choosing a female avatar is the only way to ensure not being raped by all his fan girls. And since male anime characters are all gay, there´s no danger this way.

:/

[KrayZ33]

If it's a game about guns, there should be no reason to make it so unrealistic a swordsman would have a chance there.

please...
its a game, you have stats, skills and superhuman-abilities. its not ARMA and most of all - It's an MMORPG

that aside, it was perfectly fine to run with melee perks and a knife+pistol in cock of doodies (FPShooter) too
and guess what Kirito is doing in the ED.

so how about you minimize that bullshitting unless something acutally worth shitting on happens, which will most likely happen sooner or later, so hold on until then


Why would anybody NOT choose to be a sniper in that game? lol

because of the problems she encounters in the ED.. that movement speed rivals a bullet train

Its a very decent start for a second series, I've seen much worse. We havn't seen much of the game and its PvE and PvP elements so far, the setting is cool though. Let's just hope that the action and pacing is done right in this show

[Buffalobiian]

Appearing as a girl allows him to be undercover while still being recognisable to the audience as Kirito.

[Ryllharu]

Honestly? I think it is pretty funny that he's batting away bullets with a sword and playing Knife CS.

Games aside, once you close on a rifle or pistol wielding opponent, it becomes dramatically more difficult for them to hit you (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tueller_Drill), and easier and easier for them to get killed with a knife. It's 21 feet (6.5 meters). It's something everyone in the military gets taught. CQC is a very valuable skill.


I hope SAO really ends up being the prequel to Accel World and not just some related universe with a similar idea. Kuroyuki needs to be Kirito's daughter.
Considering Kuroyuki's family relationship hinted at in the series...there's pretty much no way. The author would never take his Gary Sue and especially his Saintly Maternal Yamato Nadesico and have it work out that way. It makes sense, but it also very much doesn't.

All the exposition in this episode made it a very strong possibility that Kirito is the developer of the Neuro Linkers and maybe Brain Burst itself.

[Buffalobiian]

Honestly? I think it is pretty funny that he's batting away bullets with a sword and playing Knife CS.

Games aside, once you close on a rifle or pistol wielding opponent, it becomes dramatically more difficult for them to hit you (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tueller_Drill), and easier and easier for them to get killed with a knife. It's 21 feet (6.5 meters). It's something everyone in the military gets taught. CQC is a very valuable skill.


Considering Kuroyuki's family relationship hinted at in the series...there's pretty much no way. The author would never take his Gary Sue and especially his Saintly Maternal Yamato Nadesico and have it work out that way. It makes sense, but it also very much doesn't.

All the exposition in this episode made it a very strong possibility that Kirito is the developer of the Neuro Linkers and maybe Brain Burst itself.

That is true. Perhaps she could be his granddaughter in that case. Now that I remember the tech development, before they had Neurolinkers they also had brain-chips. If that was "retro", I'd gather that many years of development had gone one since then.. so the timelines for the two series (if connected) may actually be more than one generation apart.

[Kraco]

please...
its a game, you have stats, skills and superhuman-abilities. its not ARMA and most of all - It's an MMORPG

that aside, it was perfectly fine to run with melee perks and a knife+pistol in cock of doodies (FPShooter) too
and guess what Kirito is doing in the ED.

I wouldn't know since I've only seen this first episode, and the only "fight" we saw was a sniper sniping some careless dude. On the other hand I'm not in the habit of playing games that try to emphasize gun fights but actually allow somebody to ace them with a blade. That would sound like a game that doesn't know what it wants to be and wouldn't make any serious people happy - oh, right, this was the only game that had professional players in Japan! Well, it's Japan, which should be enough said (I mean, it's the country that produces games where characters carry swords twice as tall as the characters themselves and probably twice as heavy as well).


Games aside, once you close on a rifle or pistol wielding opponent, it becomes dramatically more difficult for them to hit you (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tueller_Drill), and easier and easier for them to get killed with a knife. It's 21 feet (6.5 meters). It's something everyone in the military gets taught. CQC is a very valuable skill.

Sure. It's also why many assault rifles allow attaching a bayonet. Rifles also contain lots of heavy steel, so they are quite nice as clubs, I'm sure. However, you could also say that a soldier has failed if the enemy ever gets so close. Modern warfare is meant to defeat the enemy from a distance, the farther the better.

[Ryllharu]

I wouldn't know since I've only seen this first episode, and the only "fight" we saw was a sniper sniping some careless dude. On the other hand I'm not in the habit of playing games that try to emphasize gun fights but actually allow somebody to ace them with a blade. That would sound like a game that doesn't know what it wants to be and wouldn't make any serious people happy - oh, right, this was the only game that had professional players in Japan! Well, it's Japan, which should be enough said (I mean, it's the country that produces games where characters carry swords twice as tall as the characters themselves and probably twice as heavy as well).Lots of games allow you to kill someone with a knife. Pretty much since Goldeneye. It's quiet, requires a lot of skill, and has a sort of prestige to it. Hell, Battlefield 3 gave you dogtags for knifing a guy instead of shooting them. It was hard as hell and required a lot of skill.


Modern warfare is meant to defeat the enemy from a distance, the farther the better.
Not always. Quiet is good too. There are plenty of opportunities where a knife is preferable. Special Ops in particular. A glowing one, on the other hand...probably not.

Real "modern warfare" is blowing them up from a distance, preferably with a drone. Asymmetric war at its finest.

[lelouch]

You mean the character that's obviously Kirito's GGO avatar?


LOL I'm an idiot, I didn't catch that. I wish they didn't do that...


On the other hand I'm not in the habit of playing games that try to emphasize gun fights but actually allow somebody to ace them with a blade.

You're not a fan of the Halo series? You're certainly in the minority there.

[KrayZ33]

I wouldn't know since I've only seen this first episode, and the only "fight" we saw was a sniper sniping some careless dude.

Either I'm missing something or you are being dense, you talk about Kirito using blades and the only time we see him doing that is during the ED and there were several fighting scenes showing why melee combat is relevant and that this game is not about realism. Its a GAME, the show is about a GAME, they could add shields, people have HP, weapons do DAMAGE and are not 100% lethal, they spec into AGI which increases your Evasion-rating



On the other hand I'm not in the habit of playing games that try to emphasize gun fights but actually allow somebody to ace them with a blade. That would sound like a game that doesn't know what it wants to be and wouldn't make any serious people happy

its an MMORPG with *BUILDS*, there was a dude dual-wielding pistols.. its not counter-strike and its not battlefield, if perks and skills allow it, even a baseball bat is viable.. and during the ED, we've already seen why a blade can be useful too.


you are totally off-track. And that part about it "being a game that doesn't know what it wants to be" is utter bollocks too.

[Kraco]

Lots of games allow you to kill someone with a knife. Pretty much since Goldeneye. It's quiet, requires a lot of skill, and has a sort of prestige to it. Hell, Battlefield 3 gave you dogtags for knifing a guy instead of shooting them. It was hard as hell and required a lot of skill.

Yeah, and I wish Arma allowed that too. But you sure as hell won't be acing a game with that unless you choose your missions, enemies, and encounters so exceptionally carefully that nobody probably will even hear of you. There's a huge difference between using a knife when appropriate, otherwise the gun, and only using a knife when everybody else serious is using guns with likely proper tactics. War doesn't miss one man these days. Any grunt with an assault rifle is far more dangerous than the most fit, trained, and well equipped knight of the times long gone.

The jedi in Star Wars managed well enough with lightsabers because they had the magical force powers. Is Kirito supposed to have such? Why would the game allow such? Even if he hacked the game, it should be a proper game with proper admins this time and when somebody runs around deflecting bullets or dodging them, it should gather the server staff's attention.

[KrayZ33]

The jedi in Star Wars managed well enough with lightsabers because they had the magical force powers. Is Kirito supposed to have such? Why would the game allow such?

because its a freaking MMORPG, holy crap. *screams internally*

[MasterOfMoogles]

They haven't even had a chance to explain anything about the game yet, why are people already angry at it?
Maybe if they had even explained anything about the game at all and people didn't like it, that would be reasonable. So far the only thing they've told us is that it is basically an MMORPG with guns.

If I wanted to hate on this episode, I would be talking about the nonsense discussion Kirito and Asuna have in the Imperial Garden.
"Aincrad is like a space-time plane" wtf? lol... I don't even know what they were going for here.

I was kind of shocked they got Kamiya Hiroshi to voice Zexsceed (sp?) and then offed him in the first few minutes!

[lelouch]

because its a freaking MMORPG, holy crap. *screams internally*


╱╱┏╮
╱╱┃┃
▉━╯┗━╮
▉┈┈┈┈┃
▉╮┈┈┈┃
╱╰━━━╯


Speaking of MMORPGs and Accel World, are they ever planning to do a S2 of Accel World? It's been like 2+ years now. Also Valvrave - did they just drop that or is the next season still in production?

[Ryllharu]

Off topic, but Valvrave is done. Two cours and that's all there is.

I desperately wish there was an Accel World 2. That series proves the author know how to present some interesting ideas. The LNs aren't exactly well written, but I still like it more than SAO.

[lelouch]

Off topic, but Valvrave is done. Two cours and that's all there is.


Wait what? There was never any conclusion? I know it's off-topic, sorry about that. I don't know how to move this conversation mid-conversation.

EDIT: ---------------------

Nevermind, apparantly I am an idiot. I forgot to watch the last episode LOL



I desperately wish there was an Accel World 2. That series proves the author know how to present some interesting ideas. The LNs aren't exactly well written, but I still like it more than SAO.

I certainly liked accel world but I have no idea how you can like it more than SAO. The protagonist is a fat chumpy kid who probably qualifies as one of my least favorite characters of any show. There's also lack of any real storyline, and there were almost no scenes where I went "wow that was awesome". I think the only one was where fatty activated "Gale Thruster", and still that scene doesn't match up (at least for me personally) to the Kirito v. Heathcliff stadium dual or the Kirito v. Fire Lord sky battle

[DarthEnderX]

If it's a game about guns, there should be no reason to make it so unrealistic a swordsman would have a chance there. There's a reason why you see soldiers carrying swords only in parades and official ceremonies these days, you know.Tell that to every Call of Duty player that runs around knifing people. Or every Halo player that uses a power sword.

Not only is it an anime, it's a fucking video game inside an anime. Trying to impose realism is nonsense.

EDIT: Oh wait, there was a whole 'nother page of people saying how stupid this was. Nevermind.


It's 21 feet (6.5 meters).The 21 foot rule really doesn't apply to people with their guns out in a combat situation. It's the distance it takes to first identify an incoming threat, draw your weapon, and fire.

[Penner]

So I'm up to episode 11 now where they just decided to get married and get a house together on floor 22 or some such.

I'm going to assume that this is where the show starts going downhill? lol

[Buffalobiian]

So I'm up to episode 11 now where they just decided to get married and get a house together on floor 22 or some such.

I'm going to assume that this is where the show starts going downhill? lol

It's hard to say. The definite point is where the 2nd VR game starts.

[shinta|hikari]

Spoiler:

You just spoiled him with that comment.

[Ryllharu]

a) It's been two years.
b) He's in a thread where we're talking about the second season.

No sympathy from me. "Spoilers" about the episodes don't count after the episodes have aired and are even out on bluray. Gotwoot's rules have always been clear that once it is subbed it's fair game.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm not saying it's against the rules. I'm saying, please be nice and don't spoil. I know I would not like it.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm going to assume that this is where the show starts going downhill? lolThat's where it did for me.

[Penner]

Hmm... just finished the last ep of SAO "season 1", and I'm not gonna lie, this did not turn out anywhere near as bad as i thought it would.

From what i had heard/read i was expecting this series to, at some point, take a nosedive down into complete crap, but to my surprise i actually enjoyed it all the way through.

A big part of that might be because i watched all of it over a relatively short timespan instead of just one episode per week, so that way the pacing and stuff was probably alot better in my experience.

Anyway, i was pleasantly surprised.

[shinta|hikari]

A lot of people exaggerated when rating this because of the hype.

[DarthEnderX]

A big part of that might be because i watched all of it over a relatively short timespan instead of just one episode per week, so that way the pacing and stuff was probably alot better in my experience.*shrug* I watched it all at once too and I liked it way more in the beginning.

Badass wanderer Kirito is way more interesting than papa Kirito.

[KrayZ33]

Half of the suspense went away when "people didn't die if they are killed".

on top of that: the first half ended abruptly, pretty much at the point where things got interesting ( ~lvl 80 of 100?)...

[Kraco]

SAO 2 Episode 2 - HS (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=574172)





- - - - -




I feel like I argued with LN readers when the first episode made me think the gun game was a proper game with tactics and a trace of realism, what with the interview show and only human players shown, plus the sniping scene, but then it turned out the game was an exceptionally simple shooter that doesn't even include fall damage.

This was fricking pitiful. The random monster obviously wasn't even meant to be fought with guns from a distance, it was probably some reskinned SAO thing. I guess that's realism in a sense; a lazy studio was cutting costs by not adapting the monster algorithms to a game with modern guns.

Things got so miserable when the PvP battle began that I wouldn't even want to comment on it. Anybody who thought the conclusion of Sinon jumping from the building and avoiding all the minigun bullets, then shooting the dude from midair was cool should jump themselves from a high place. Oh, well, I'm watching this show to bash it, so I guess it fulfilled the purpose splendidly.

[Ryllharu]

You didn't like the minigun guy having an orgasm trying to elevate his gun (which he somehow could not manage)?

I'm shocked, truly shocked.

[MasterOfMoogles]

I don't really want to get in an argument since it is pointless, but I just can't resist saying something.

There's a reason miniguns are almost always mounted in real life, you know?
I don't even think Master Chief can aim the minigun straight up.

And of course... it is a video game.

[Ryllharu]

They're mounted because it is faster to move while sweeping to the left or right mounted, because they're usually on a helicopter or other vehicle which is in motion. Not because they're heavy.

Realism is out the window the moment one can jump out of a building with a 20+ lbs rifle and even pretend it can be shot accurately while falling.

And yes, they make tiny miniguns that still fire full 7.62. They're pretty adorable (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc1D-l6vVeI). The reason you never see people shooting miniguns upward while handheld (or mounted) is because it is really unsafe and stupid, not because they can't do it. That's 50 rounds downrange in a second, flying through the air, hitting god knows where. That's why you never see people do it.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Interesting info. That mini-mini gun is pretty cool.
I still don't see why it is such a big problem when there are actual video games that don't let you do this though.

[Ryllharu]

Because if Sinon is allowed to do stupid shit like that using "because it is a game" logic, minigun dude should have also been allowed to do stupid shit like that, and shot her easily.

[MasterOfMoogles]

I don't see why it is so hard to believe there could be a video game that lets you jump off a building and shoot someone but also has a maximum vertical range on a minigun.
Maybe its just because I've played games (like Halo) where this isn't that unreasonable.

EDIT:
This made me want to look up some videos, and I found this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bg2LA3k29k
Pretty amazing snipe.
While I'm we're talking about crazy video game moments, this is one of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrOIgxQ--Tc

[lelouch]

Yeah I really don't get it. In Halo 3 - Valhalla Map I would fly off the base ramp and snipe people while in mid-air all the time. Do none of you play Halo? Also in games like Day of Defeat, if you don't mount your machine gun it makes it very difficult to aim, so it's reasonable the big guy had some difficulty. None of this is unrealistic for a game, get over it.

The only part that really turned me off was when the crew leader started bitching about dying, like it's his first day playing and he's 5 years old and doesn't understand that you die all the time in video games. IMO that was the most unrealistic part - they really had no business putting something like that in there. Also the fact that Sinon was surprised to see someone smiling when playing a video game. Has she really never seen someone smiling while playing a game? Is this her first day playing PvP as well?

[DarthEnderX]

Anybody who thought the conclusion of Sinon jumping from the building and avoiding all the minigun bullets, then shooting the dude from midair was cool should jump themselves from a high place.Well fuck you too, friendo.


The only part that really turned me off was when the crew leader started bitching about dying, like it's his first day playing and he's 5 years old and doesn't understand that you die all the time in video games.Maybe the XP penalty for dying is REALLY high.

I know I was scared shitless of dying back in Everquest once you got high level, because every death cost you, like, 4-6 hours of leveling to get back the XP you lost.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Generally in a MMO, if you log out in a combat area you are still there for X amount of seconds.
So really, he would be dying either way. Sinon was chewing him out for being a pussy about it.
Granted, getting shot in a VR game is probably still pretty scary.

[Ryllharu]

I hate to break it to you both, but Halo isn't even a remotely realistic shooter in terms of mechanics, and GGO clearly is trying to be, laser guns and swords aside. Halo is also one of the "slowest" shooters when compared to most PC shooters. That makes it much easier to aim and shoot a sniper rifle from the air. Not to mention the game has auto-aim because it is on consoles.

You'd never be able to do that in Unreal Tournament without an aimbot. Hell, you can barely do it in Fallout (can't use VATS in midair).

[David75]

Homing .50 bullets are coming to real life. Soon, video games that will ask for precise shooting will be a thing of the past.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/13/darpa-smart-bullet-demo/

[Ryllharu]

On to my next problem with this episode: Silica getting molested by tentacles...again.

Also the fact that we'll be on the 3rd or 4th episode before Kirito actually starts the game.

[KrayZ33]

You'd never be able to do that in Unreal Tournament without an aimbot.

what...?


the fact aside that it was pretty much point blank range in this episode, what makes you think that?
and why are you ignoring the BF video and how is GGO trying to be "realistic" (by today's standards) from what we've seen so far

ep2 was great, the only thing that bothered me is that Kirito keeps playing Alfheim (or whatever it was called), I want him to start the new game... it takes way to long


Anybody who thought the conclusion of Sinon jumping from the building and avoiding all the minigun bullets, then shooting the dude from midair was cool should jump themselves from a high place

maybe you should just leave?


ITT: people that obviously never played games or were at least not even remotely good in them complain about a show - about a game being a game

[Buffalobiian]

Am I the only one who found it interesting that this game seemingly lets you SEE bullet trajectories? That plus agility gives you doable dodging right there.

[Ryllharu]

maybe you should just leave?


ITT: people that obviously never played games or were at least not even remotely good in them complain about a show - about a game being a game
Holy shit.

I know this wasn't aimed at me, but chill the fuck out.

I'm taken aback by how two or three of the SAO LN legion flock to defend even the most minor of criticism directed at it. Given that there are maybe...25 active forum posters here these days, that's alarming. It's not just on our forum either. Any criticism on an anime forum of SAO gets immediately jumped on by LN fans. It's as pathetic as it is creepy.

Lots of shows get criticized. Shinta went on an anti-shoujo trope rampage in the Soredemo thread, most of his points valid. Mahouka deservedly gets criticized because it is incredibly dull and lacking any tension. Attack on Titan had its critics. But for some reason, SAO has the cult-like defense squad.

Among a horrifically bad season, SAO is one of the better series airing. But it's not perfect. The show has problems. We're pointing them out. It's not something to flip out over.

[KrayZ33]

its not about defending SAO its about your bullshitting for the sake of bullshitting, thats not criticism...(especially since all gaming relevant criticism so far was horribly wrong)
and I'm not even aware who read the LN here, I didn't (the only LN I ever read was SNAFU) and I doubt Darthender did.

it isn't exclusive to SAO either...
Did you guys ever watch a movie with other people? I really doubt that and if anyone ever did, they probably won't do it again...

"Oh look, Expendables is horrible, see how they flew right into the bad guys hideout with their plane? pathetic... what a horrible movie"

WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED THAT IT ISN'T REALISTIC, RIGHT?! THX FOR POINTING IT OUT!

I'm all for pointing out mistakes and plotholes and inconsistency, but please don't make them up like you guys did in the last few posts. *that's* pathetic..
reminds me of the first episode of Mekakucity Actors where Ene(?) pointed out that the dude is making shit up on internet forums like "I used to work for the anime industry"

[lelouch]

Halo isn't even a remotely realistic shooter in terms of mechanics, and GGO clearly is trying to be

...said no one, ever. Where in the high-HP, jumping-off-building capabilities, laser guns and swords, seeing trajectory paths and sniping mid air do you think GGO is trying to be realistic and not more like Halo? It's exactly like Halo. Just because you say GGO is trying to be a realistic shooter doesn't make it so. I expect to see you on Halo threads talking about how it's failing at being a realistic FPS, or on World of Warcraft threads saying it's unrealistic because people can't do magic and giant horse-people can't speak english...or exist.



Maybe the XP penalty for dying is REALLY high.

I know I was scared shitless of dying back in Everquest once you got high level, because every death cost you, like, 4-6 hours of leveling to get back the XP you lost.

Ohh yeah okay that makes a lot more sense now. I never played EQ so I didn't think about that kind of functionality. That makes me feel better about that scene then. Still don't get the "he's smiling" shit though.

[MFauli]

thx @Kraco, saves me some work. WOW was that bad. :D

First of all, I don´t get what makes Sinon such a famous, great sniper. That monster she killed just stood there. Anybody with a sniper rifle could have done that. Also, real (lol) videogames never allow such play. Sniping a boss to death? No, even if you can use long-range weapons at all, you´re bound to running around all over the place to evade the boss´ attacks. This one stood there and was out after a few shots ... which is realistic, but not impressive.

One of my biggest gripes with this episode, though: Sinon kills the first guy, tries to hit the cloak guy, misses ... and stops. And gives up. And, to top all this stupidity off, APPROACHES the opponents. Yes, decreasing the distance between yourself and the enemy makes total sense for a FUCKING SNIPER! argh. And before anyone writes "well, cloak guy was clearly able to dodge her attacks and knew about her position": He dodges ONE bullet. And even if he had continued to doge, Sinon would have at least kept him from attacking the other guys, averting his attention to her, thus opening chances for an attack of their own. The way she acted was ANTI-support.

Then the "leader" being all scared when he lost hope. WHY was he scared? Moreover, he himself saif "it´s just a game". Fucking L O L. Yes, its just a game, so please scream and cry like some spineless douche. Even if there is some heavy punishment for dying in-game, his behavior was too out-of-place. And then there´s the fact that IF there was a high penalty for dying, any game like that would NOT let you log out just when it´s getting dangerous for yourself. If that were possible, everyone would always just log out before dying, thus creating a shitty quitter-game. Reminds me of the times in Mario Kart DS, where quitting a game would have no negative impact on your score.

And what was it about "winning" anyway? The leader sacrificed himself to throw a grenade into the enemy group. Why? He made the conscious effort to hire Sinon, yet by being offed, he won´t get any loot. Since it is "just a game", none of this made any sense.

The resonable complaints about the end scene between Sinon and cloak guy were already explained by Kraco.

And Silica and the girls need to get a life asap. Wasting your time in a game that has been made open to hacking and adding stuff at random, thus taking away any sort of relevance for looting and leveling, is idiotic.

Closing comment: I´m 100% sure the author/production team made up the "He´s strong enough to smile on the battlefield"-line only to troll everybody. Wow, that line is so dumb, it makes my brains hurt. Fuck, I cannot get over just HOW dumb it is. Arfghg

[Kraco]

Holy shit.

I know this wasn't aimed at me, but chill the fuck out.


I know it was aimed at me, but I've already explained that in my wishful thinking I interpreted the scenes of the first episode in a way that made me think it's a relatively serious gun fighting simulator, not a simple-minded shooter. I believe it's not unreasonable to be disappointed when the second episode proved it was, after all, just a cheap SAO derivative with guns and laser rifles thrown in. Believe me of not, but I'd have badmouthed this far less if it was more like a VR version of Arma, perhaps with some RPG elements included to make character development more concrete.

Whilst I dislike many (too many) things about SAO, I will still watch this till the end for the high production values alone. Unlike Ryll, I also enjoy the fact there are genuine fans here who will oppose my unfairly hard criticism. I have probably been in that role myself with some other shows.

[deathnightwc3]

That was a rather lackluster episode. Maybe if they explained WHY they didn't want to die, it might have given me more excitement but since they didn't. All I can think of is that it's only a game and they were PKing. Of course there is going to be a risk of being killed. I guess I just didn't feel the tension they were trying to build.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm taken aback by how two or three of the SAO LN legion flock to defend even the most minor of criticism directed at it.To be fair, any attempt to argue realism is a REALLY dumb criticism.

Last I checked, Arma doesn't have giant fire beam shooting monsters in it...


Yes, decreasing the distance between yourself and the enemy makes total sense for a FUCKING SNIPER!Obviously, since it's a game where you can detect incoming fire and dodge, it makes total sense.

Less range for the bullet to travel=less time to dodge.

Hence, why the shot at close range took his visor off instead of easily being side-stepped.


And even if he had continued to doge, Sinon would have at least kept him from attacking the other guys, averting his attention to her, thus opening chances for an attack of their own. The way she acted was ANTI-support.Very true. But she also obviously has some kind of psychological issue. Once she saw him smiling(which, yeah, don't know why that's weird, guy is playing a video game and kicking ass, you SHOULD be smiling, or else why play?), she was insistent that she kill him. I don't know if she hates smiling guys, or she thinks defeating smiling guys will unlock the secrets of happiness, but she obviously wasn't willing to play support after that happened.


Even if there is some heavy punishment for dying in-game, his behavior was too out-of-place. And then there´s the fact that IF there was a high penalty for dying, any game like that would NOT let you log out just when it´s getting dangerous for yourself.You say that, but have you never seen one of those fat sacks of shit on a livestream break down into tears on a raid wipe before? It happens. There are people who are just that lame.


And Silica and the girls need to get a life asap. Wasting your time in a game that has been made open to hacking and adding stuff at random, thus taking away any sort of relevance for looting and leveling, is idiotic. Yeah, because they couldn't possibly just be playing for fun or anything. That's why everyone plays Minecraft right? For progression?


I swear, you people must be the most miserable fucks to play video games with.

[Buffalobiian]

Ohh yeah okay that makes a lot more sense now. I never played EQ so I didn't think about that kind of functionality. That makes me feel better about that scene then. Still don't get the "he's smiling" shit though

If you look back to all the scenes where Sinon fights monsters, she's never smiling. Everyone says she's strong, but she never "enjoys" her fights per se. You could argue that she let out her breath after fighting the monster boss because of sniping technique... or because she was tense. Given what happened this episode (comments about smiling, less realism than expected), I'd give the latter more weight. That's the significance of the smiling bodyguard. He's strong enough that he can smile on the battlefield. Sinon thought that if she could defeat someone like that, perhaps she'll be able to feel confident and enjoy her fights as well.

In regards to "Why did Sinon run after she missed", the guy commented before about providing Sinon 60 seconds to re-ID the opponent or something if she missed. That means missing a shot has penalties. I'm going to hypothesise that it has to do with bullet trajectories. I think it could be one of two mechanics:

1) If someone is looking in the general direction of you, they can see your shot trajectory. However, if you scope them long enough to "ID" them, then the game turns that off, as if to say that you have the jump on that guy. This goes away if you miss or if you re-locate, which takes an extra 60 seconds.

2) In general, people can't spot bullets unless they're "engaged" in a firefight. That means being shot at and surviving it. To sear off your "engaged" status, you'll have to hide out of sight for 60 seconds.

That would be what makes Sinon a great sniper: close to 100% accuracy. Because if you're sniping and you miss/give your position away, your efficacy goes way down.

As for her combating the boss monster and it just standing there, maybe she's taking it on outside of its engagement range. She's able to get shots off at it due to her gun/skill, while the monster isn't able to engage since it can't see/detect her due to either stealth, or engagement distance/mechanics.

Given that this is VR, dying might be a more daunting experience than having GAME OVER printed over your screen. Pain was reproduced in SAO, it might happen here. Imagine that the gun sounds, the earth and the atmosphere all feel real, with the only difference being that when you die, you actually don't. If you're only worried about the consequence of dying then it's no big deal. However, I'd say that the experience of dying for the most part is scarier than the consequence (after all, who knows what the consequence is besides you stop moving..).

[DarthEnderX]

As for her combating the boss monster and it just standing there, maybe she's taking it on outside of its engagement range. She's able to get shots off at it due to her gun/skill, while the monster isn't able to engage since it can't see/detect her due to either stealth, or engagement distance/mechanics.It was definitely just that the monsters ranged attack couldn't reach her(which would make sense against a sniper), because it shot RIGHT at her. It simply dissipated before hitting her.

[Kraco]

I imagine Sinon couldn't stand a smiling guy in a battle because she could have been an original SAO player and met some smiling PKing scumbag. Otherwise, like has been said, it ought to be natural to smile when your game is going well or you expect it will go well. Especially in MP, which is social gaming.

[Ryllharu]

I assume it is some real-world trauma, judging from the OP scene with the swing set and a even younger Sinon in phantom. Plus the way she's shaking when she wakes up in the real world. Combined with the mopey music and the arm over her face, it's not just post-gameplay adrenaline withdrawal. Then you have the entirety of the ED.

This series is not exactly subtle.

Aren't Kirito and Asuna always claiming that VR has the power to heal? That's why it is so bad that corrupt people keep fucking with the games. Sugu was using it for much of the same reason, to bridge the gap of understanding between her and her beloved comatose onii-chan.

(VR being used to heal is actually true in real life as it turns out.)

[Buffalobiian]

I imagine Sinon couldn't stand a smiling guy in a battle because she could have been an original SAO player and met some smiling PKing scumbag. Otherwise, like has been said, it ought to be natural to smile when your game is going well or you expect it will go well. Especially in MP, which is social gaming.

It didn't sound to me like she couldn't stand him, but more like she wanted to be him. Those were not words of annoyance, but more akin to admiration/desire (if you could call it such).


It was definitely just that the monsters ranged attack couldn't reach her(which would make sense against a sniper), because it shot RIGHT at her. It simply dissipated before hitting her.

Ah, I'd forgotten that it actually tried shooting back. I assumed she was within range, but that she killed the monster before the monster's attack could hit her.

[Kraco]

Ah, I'd forgotten that it actually tried shooting back. I assumed she was within range, but that she killed the monster before the monster's attack could hit her.

No. It tried to shoot back like some monster without a path finding algorithm from a 90's game trying to walk through a wall to reach the player. Which is why I said the monster is simply a thing ported over from SAO but never reprogrammed to understand that in a game with modern (or even future) weapons nobody (except Kirito) will engage the thing in a melee fight. So, it just stupidly stood in one place and then tried to randomly shoot around before dying. If all the monsters are like that, any serious players would only fight humanoid NPCs (assuming they at least can use guns) or other players. Unless one can only get new, better weapons by harvesting monsters, harvesting being the key word since the monsters don't fight back any more than a stalk of wheat.

[DarthEnderX]

If all the monsters are like that, any serious players would only fight humanoid NPCs (assuming they at least can use guns) or other players.I don't know why you think humanoid NPCs would fare any better.

The thing HAD a ranged attack, and while it couldn't reach her, it came close enough to blast her in the face with heat from it's dissipating attack. Which means anyone that WASN'T at sniper range could probably have easily been shot.

Any Humanoid NPC without a sniper rifle, or some kind of artillery would have been equally unable to return fire at her.

[Kraco]

I don't know why you think humanoid NPCs would fare any better.

Any Humanoid NPC without a sniper rifle, or some kind of artillery would have been equally unable to return fire at her.

Yeah, I don't know either, but I imagine humanoid NPCs could have a bit better AI than this monster thing as they would depend on guns the same as players. Besides, a decent sniper usually gets the first shot in (unless it's a small moving target), but what happens next is a different thing. The squad or company the NPC belonged to should proceed to hunt down the sniper with some kind of rudimentary but still potentially dangerous tactics. That's how it goes in games (excluding games where NPCs don't react when the man next to them is killed, but I'm sure GGO is not that bad).

[DarthEnderX]

The squad or company the NPC belonged to should proceed to hunt down the sniper with some kind of rudimentary but still potentially dangerous tactics. That's how it goes in gamesUh, no. There's not a single game out there that has AI that's that advanced, so I don't know wtf you're talking about. Games now either have NPCs know where you are automatically located once you've opened fire the first time(90% of them do this), or they'll start a search, completely at random, wandering around looking for the player, in the area where they are, rather than in the area where the shot probably came from.

Granted SWO's games are obviously vastly more advanced than current games, and thusly should have much more advanced AI.

[KrayZ33]

That PvE scene was indeed very odd.

The only thing I can come up with which could explain what happened is if Sinon exploited that Boss encounter... its not really rare in MMOs per se and since she was camping on an elevated position (with all these empty magazines next to her) I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ6J_94mN9I

as reference.. kinda difficult to explain, but it happens in pretty much every single MMO and its horribly foul play of course.

[Kraco]

Yeah, well, that's what I called rudimentary tactics. There are games that can send a group of enemies circle to your side or rear, as well. Rudimentarily that's exactly what humans players would do as well. No games so far try to guess what you would do next or would really adapt to your following actions, but that's not really necessary in cases like this, where there ought to be a whole bunch of AI controlled NPCs vs few humans, which is typically the situation (as opposed to some mega monster last boss battle).

Let's not forget, however, that this game engine already supports a highly advanced AI like Yui, so theoretically there could be NPCs that would use sophisticated tactics. I just won't believe in that before I see it after these couple of eps. GGO looks like a simple shooter, so it would have no use for intelligent enemies and likely the players would dislike them.

[MFauli]

episode 3 is out!
-------------------


It´s almost impressive how dumb this anime is. Having no action for a whole episode is terrible.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Yea, can't believe they would actually focus on the backstory of the new character.

[Kraco]

Yea, can't believe they would actually focus on the backstory of the new character.

Did they listen to the audience feedback criticism about how overly fast the beginning of SAO was with the constant time jumps and now they made a 180? This is getting fricking nowhere, except for building a character nobody really can have any interest in yet. After a full season of SAO 1 you can't just simply throw in some wacko girl with a sob backstory and expect everybody will enjoy every second of her on screen. I'm far more interested in the frickin Death Gun than this girl that gets more and more boring with every episode.

The only remotely intriguing thing about her is the trauma, which is 100% faux: She saw the absolute disgust and terror in her mom's eyes, and created instantly the trauma in order not to look like a cold-blooded killer (even if in self-defense) in her sole parent's eyes. So, she's not actually afraid of guns at all; the fact she excels at GGO makes that obvious. Instead, she's deadly afraid of being seen as somebody not afraid of guns, as opposed to a good girl. In the game, however, that doesn't matter because she's not herself in it. Thus getting better and better at gun handling will actually hurt her psyche in RL. Actually this might be the single best written character detail I've seen in SAO. Ironically enough at a first glance it seems ridiculous, which is hardly something SAO should be able to afford.

3 eps in and Kirito still hasn't been seen in GGO is beyond incomprehensible.

[oyabun]

Damn.. Shino kawaisou. I bet she didn't get counseling or post traumatic therapy. She made herself believed being strong in the game would make herself stronger in real life because she was so desperate to be saved.

[Ryllharu]

The only remotely intriguing thing about her is the trauma, which is 100% faux: She saw the absolute disgust and terror in her mom's eyes, and created instantly the trauma in order not to look like a cold-blooded killer (even if in self-defense) in her sole parent's eyes. So, she's not actually afraid of guns at all; the fact she excels at GGO makes that obvious. Instead, she's deadly afraid of being seen as somebody not afraid of guns, as opposed to a good girl. In the game, however, that doesn't matter because she's not herself in it. Thus getting better and better at gun handling will actually hurt her psyche in RL. Actually this might be the single best written character detail I've seen in SAO. Ironically enough at a first glance it seems ridiculous, which is hardly something SAO should be able to afford.

3 eps in and Kirito still hasn't been seen in GGO is beyond incomprehensible.

Unfortunately, any good writing toward her character is overshadowed by the fact that her trauma extends to someone making a finger-gun gesture. That's idiotic.

I'm not opposed to the idea that her trauma comes from her mother being afraid of her or hating her for committing homicide (defensive or otherwise with a gun. It's a very good character development, but unfortunately it is one that I think Kotoura-san (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=9394) did a lot better. The focus shouldn't be on the gun and the outcome, it should be on her mother's reaction. Perhaps the series will get back to that in time. It was a nice touch that she was on the phone with her uncle (or close family friend) rather than with her mother.

This series is really hurting by the fact that Kirito hasn't started the game at all and we're through the third episode. They are dragging it out. Even the ALO arc ended an episode with him at least starting the game and landing physically in it after character creation. They're apparently drawing this episodes out quite a bit.

[DarthEnderX]

Holy shit that was boring.

[lelouch]

yeah that was a terrible episode.

[deathnightwc3]

Hopefully next episode, we'll see him in GGO...

[KrayZ33]

Yea, can't believe they would actually focus on the backstory of the new character.

this

ep was decent, "trigger finger"-scene was over the top though and the scene where she was holding the gun in her room was not so well done in terms of voice acting

Kirito did log in, finally

[lelouch]

Kirito did log in, finally

You mean Kirita

[Kraco]

Kirito did log in, finally

Ooh, how exciting. First we get a long scene of a sekuhara nurse hitting on Kirito, then he logged in, and the focus shifted back to Sinon, as expected. Since Kirito appearing in GGO will be such a momentous moment that they can't carelessly show it to the audience. Haha, actually I wouldn't be surprised if in the next episode we saw Kirito in RL again, reporting back to the official, then spending time with Asuna and whatnot. That would be a good way to push farther his visible GGO entrance a couple of eps more.

[KrayZ33]

O-okay...




then he logged in, and the focus shifted back to Sinon

Well...its pretty obvious that Sinon will serve as a deuteragonist, so calm your tits, the show might focus on her more than on Kirito this time around and tbh I'd like that very much because I'm certainly not watching this because of him.

[DarthEnderX]

the show might focus on her more than on Kirito this time around and tbh I'd like that very much because I'm certainly not watching this because of him.Well I'm sure as shit not watching it for hyperemo sniper girl.

[KrayZ33]

Do you "like" Kirito's character? I don't mind him being around but his character development is pretty much done and he is, and was, not the very likeable type in my opinion

Reading your description of Sinon reminds me of how much Kirito would've liked to be "Batman"

[DarthEnderX]

Do you "like" Kirito's character?I did in the beginning. And the hope is, with a new game, and without his girlfriend hanging around, he'll go back to being that kind of character.