Sword Art Online

[lelouch]

Or maybe you're having a completely different discussion than me Jose.

[shinta|hikari]

Wow, this degraded so quickly.

[KrayZ33]

Arguable. Regardless of the premise, scenes in the past season like Kirito going rage-mode and turning into that Berserker with illusion magic and raping his pursuers, or stealing his sisters sword to dual-wield against the fire lord in the sky, or blasting off into the sky when Yui notifies him she senses Asuna is up above are scenes you could go back to and rewatch. We're 10 episodes in and there isn't a single scene I would rewatch in this season.

would rewatch the Pale-Rider part anytime, I still feel very bad for him, he did nothing wrong. In fact his death was pretty dramatic if you ask me. He even went up ready to kill Death Gun in an instant just to find his heart "explode" and die in RL. One of the coolest "No-Name Character" I've seen so far, maximum badassery.
Would rewatch most of Death Gun's scenes too.

The only part worth rewatching in ALO was the fight against the Salamander Lord.

So its pretty even, however GGO has a more likeable setting imho

[shinta|hikari]

Sinon's Ass beats both Mary Sue and Pseudo Incest.

[Kraco]

Sinon's Ass beats both Mary Sue and Pseudo Incest.

Too bad the ass is attached to an emo bitch.

GGO could use more Yui. She's a funny a character.

[Ryllharu]

GGO could use more Yui. She's a funny a character.
She was obnoxious in the SAO arc...but she grew on me in the Alfheim arc.

She would be a vast improvement to the forced melodrama here. If anyone needed a psychoanalysis AI right now, it is Sinon.

[shinta|hikari]

One word. Emodere.

[MFauli]

This episode was so bad, I´m a bit speechless. Did she reeeeally propose to Kirito? Wow. Just ... wow. Dat harem-power, eh?

No log-out option is utterly unbelievable. It´s not even bad, it´s simply unbelievable and makes no sense. In a post-SAO world, it wouldn´t be allowed to grey out that function. And even without the whole "die in-game, die irl", it makes no sense for reasons already mentioned (your house burning or whatever). This is such a huge oversight that the author really must have thought "fuck it, I need this to be like this, because otherwise the rest of that scene wouldn´t make sense". No effort in story-telling at all.

In general, this anime is so full of itself. Arrogance and pretense reeking everywhere. You can just feel how the immense popularity of the first two seasons have gotten to the producers of the show. They think they´re all that, when they´re not.


Yes, but I think it's less retarded than the premise of the second season.

No.
While there was no fear of real death in the second arc, they made it a point how "death" would come with different forms of punishment. Like when Kirito and Leafa tried to reach another place and dying would have meant that they´d be teleported back to the last town where they started. That´s a tangible danger. Much more so than a so-called death gun that, as we´ve been shown in episode 1, could kill anybody just by pointing it at a tv-image of that victim. The whole thing of Death Gun going through the trouble of participating the tournament is forced, contrieved bullshit. He could simply watch the tournament from the outside, point at one of the many screens showing the various participants and kill them without them even realizing what´s going on. Since Death Gun therefore nothing but "plays" around, fools around, this isn´t exciting.
There´s exactly two exactly two explanations for his behavior: Either he´s god-like and knows that he cannot lose, OR he´s a super-dumb idiot. From what we´ve seen, the latter is more likely, but even if it´s the first one: NEITHER option makes this exciting to follow. Knowing that whatever happens can only happen because the enemy chose for it to be possible to happen. Boring.

EDIT:

Also wtf @the above postings!

Pseudo Incest > Emo bitch > edgy piece of rock > Asuna

[lelouch]

If it turns out that Kirito somehow gets rid of Death Gun just by simply beating him in game, this is definitely going to be a Gundam Seed situation where you stop watching after the first series and avoid the sequel like the plague.

[Buffalobiian]

No log-out option is utterly unbelievable. It´s not even bad, it´s simply unbelievable and makes no sense. In a post-SAO world, it wouldn´t be allowed to grey out that function

This can be explained by the company being shady, overseas etc.

[MasterOfMoogles]

This episode was so bad, I´m a bit speechless. Did she reeeeally propose to Kirito? Wow. Just ... wow. Dat harem-power, eh?
That's not what she was doing at all. Kirito is trying to tell her not to go fight and die while she is saying that she needs to do that to move past herself or else she'll be worthless as a human being. If he isn't going to let her go, he would need to protect her for the rest of her life because she wouldn't be able to do anything herself.
I don't think there are any romantic feelings in this conversation at all. Shino is trying to deal with her trauma and Kirito is butting in with how she wants to deal with it. She can't accept that someone wants to be friends with her and help her through it.



While there was no fear of real death in the second arc, they made it a point how "death" would come with different forms of punishment. Like when Kirito and Leafa tried to reach another place and dying would have meant that they´d be teleported back to the last town where they started. That´s a tangible danger. Much more so than a so-called death gun that, as we´ve been shown in episode 1, could kill anybody just by pointing it at a tv-image of that victim. The whole thing of Death Gun going through the trouble of participating the tournament is forced, contrieved bullshit. He could simply watch the tournament from the outside, point at one of the many screens showing the various participants and kill them without them even realizing what´s going on. Since Death Gun therefore nothing but "plays" around, fools around, this isn´t exciting.
There´s exactly two exactly two explanations for his behavior: Either he´s god-like and knows that he cannot lose, OR he´s a super-dumb idiot. From what we´ve seen, the latter is more likely, but even if it´s the first one: NEITHER option makes this exciting to follow. Knowing that whatever happens can only happen because the enemy chose for it to be possible to happen. Boring.

Death Gun is playing in the tournament for 2 apparent reasons:
1) He wants to kill the best players
2) He wants to show how he is better than everybody else and strike fear into their hearts - he basically said as much in ep 1

He's already lived through a death game and probably murdered people directly with his sword as part of Laughing Coffin.

He tried sitting back and killing someone through a TV. Then, he stepped it up and killed the next guy in-game (I think Kikuoka explained the rumor was that DG came and killed some squad and executed some guy). Neither of these got him very much attention other than some forum posts and it probably wasn't very exciting for him either.
Since that wasn't good enough for him, what is the next level? Doing it in a live tournament and killing multiple people.

If people just start dying in the game, people are going to attribute it to the game or the VR gear or over-gaming. That's doesn't seem like what Death Gun wants at all. Maybe he would do that if he was Kira from Death Note or something and thought all gamers were evil, but that isn't the case.

EDIT:
Regarding no logging out, the only thing I can think of would be to prevent users from logging out and collaborating with people who are in the tournament. I don't know how you would do that, though... It is pretty contrived.
Though honestly, neither Kirito nor Sinon really wants to log out.
Kirito wants to stop Death Gun (and is fairly sure he is safe in a hospital) and Sinon wants to overcome her trauma and doesn't care if she dies.

[Munsu]

Horriblesubs Episode 11 (http://nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=597025)


Well... this was a terrible episode, worst of the season by far. Boring as fuck.

[lelouch]

Nah last episode was the worst of the season because literally nothing useful happened, the series could have gone on fine without it. At least this episode we found out how the killings happen. Although still very boring.

[DarthEnderX]

Fuuuuuuuuck! What even is this?!


Nah last episode was the worst of the season because literally nothing useful happened, the series could have gone on fine without it.You're crazy. At least the last episode had an action scene at the beginning.

This one had absolutely nothing.


If Kirito's actually right, the explanation ended up being super banal and boring.

[shinta|hikari]

Sinon Ass Online.

[MFauli]

I just hope this arc will be over soon. Absolutely hate GGO :/

The "twist" was so stupid, and the author probably doesnt even realize how he suddenly changed the whole genre of this show. Some creepy guy standing next to sleeping Sinon while she´s awake in-game and knows about it? That´s a horror-anime now. lol. Totally introduces the Bedroom Visitor-myth.

Of course, all of it is bs. So they´re finding out user information by, lol, standing behind them invisibly, and then some other guy drives around all over Japan to use his superior pick locking-skills and enters players´ house to inject them stuff? While wearing a death gun-costume. Awww lord ...

[MasterOfMoogles]

Favorite parts of the episode:
1) "Now, don't freak out, but there's this guy standing at your bedside right now with a syringe."
2) The numerous cuts to Sinon's butt to try to spice up the explanations. I particularly liked the one where Kirito looks at it and then Sinon looks up at him and he smoothly redirects his gaze back to her face while continuing his explanation.

Mfauli, the murderer wouldn't actually be wearing a Death Gun costume, lol. That was just a visual representation based on Kirito's explanation.

[MFauli]

Mfauli, the murderer wouldn't actually be wearing a Death Gun costume, lol. That was just a visual representation based on Kirito's explanation.

i thought that, too, but then ... this is SAO :/

[Ryllharu]

I think the bigger problem would be Kirito miraculously resolving the mystery with nearly 100% speculation and almost no real evidence to back it up.

"He's actually doing the cross to secretly check on his watch that I don't know that he even wears about the improbably convenient pre-arranged time!"

instead of

"He's using the cross as a signal to his partner who is watching the streamed feed from a cellphone in the real world to start the injection."

The only one that I can actually accept is the inspiration that there are two people involved in "Deathgun" because Kirito thought from the beginning that it was impossible to kill someone from within the game with amusphere tech.

Kirito is also able to give Deathgun a full psych profile because he's not only the best gamer in the world, he's the best detective and a qualified psychoanalyst. It's such a shame the author doesn't ever pull back on the Gary Stu bullshit when we know he can write significantly better than this (Accel World).

And why the hell is Kikuoka playing other games instead of keeping an eye on the tournament?

The fanservice was indeed a pathetic attempt to spice up a horribly boring episode.

[Buffalobiian]

Props to Sinon's character design. I'm convinced Kirito gets inspiration from looking at her ass. Too bad her nendoroid has weird arms.

[Kraco]

and then some other guy drives around all over Japan to use his superior pick locking-skills and enters players´ house to inject them stuff? While wearing a death gun-costume.

This was the best part of Kirito's theory. No doubt.

I have to admit I skipped the beginning of the episode. The emoness level of Kirito and Sinon feeling competitively sorry for themselves was so far over 9000 that I couldn't take it. Especially with the latter half of the previous episode already being full of the same shit. I wonder when exactly Kirito is going to tell Sinon that he hasn't been dwelling on his past (self-defense) deeds because he has been too busy flirting with his rich and beautiful girlfriend, entertaining a harem of other girls while building his own virtual world, and generally being hailed a hero and an all-around good fellow by all the people who know him, to the point of the government itself relying on his help. As opposed to Sinon who has the past of being bullied in school and shunned by her parents, living in loneliness, in addition to her own severe psychological trauma that's almost stopping her progress in life.

It's like a millionaire and a poor man meeting at a gas station, both lamenting the rising price of fuel, while for the millionaire it's actually nothing but a theoretical problem of principles, for the poor man it's a matter of being able to buy all the necessities to feed and house his family.

[shinta|hikari]

Props to Sinon's character design. I'm convinced Kirito gets inspiration from looking at her ass. Too bad her nendoroid has weird arms.

Props to you for understanding the whole point of GGO.

@Ryll and Kraco - Perfectly valid criticisms.

@Mfauli - I don't even understand what you're complaining about. Horror..? LOL.

[DarthEnderX]

While wearing a death gun-costume. Awww lord ...I don't think that scene was supposed to be what was actually happening, I think it's supposed to be what Sinon was picturing was happening from Kirito's description.

I doubt the real guy is actually dressed like Death Gun in the real world. Not only wouldn't that make sense, it would be counterproductive. Death Gun doesn't WANT people to think there's a real world Death Gun. He wants people to think he has a magic gun that kills people in the real world.

Edit: I guess MasterOfMooglers already pretty much said this.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm actually amazed someone thought that was what actually happened...

[Munsu]

I'm actually amazed someone thought that was what actually happened...

I'm amazed that in an anime like this one would discard the possibility of something this ridiculous actually occurring... Not that I think it did, but I wouldn't be so quick to discard it either.

[shinta|hikari]

No, you are exaggerating now. It was really obvious it wasn't reality.

[MasterOfMoogles]

This was the best part of Kirito's theory. No doubt.
Are you saying that because you guessed it earlier? haha

If he's indeed doing it over the net and not by finding out who the players are in RL and having a buddy break in to drop some cardiac arrest poison in the players mouth, then it could be either extremely difficult or not difficult at all.


If Kirito's actually right, the explanation ended up being super banal and boring.
I don't really get this line of thinking. For pages people were complaining about how stupid it would be if he was some uber hacker. And now that it is explained in a feasible way, it is boring? What exactly did you want it to be?

[Kraco]

Are you saying that because you guessed it earlier? haha

No, it's not that. It's that the second person would stroll the night in a Death Gun cosplay to break into players' houses.


I don't really get this line of thinking. For pages people were complaining about how stupid it would be if he was some uber hacker. And now that it is explained in a feasible way, it is boring? What exactly did you want it to be?

I guess the problem is that the first two arcs were based on the idea that people could be trapped in the VR and bad things could happen to them there, things that would affect their RL as well. This one is kind of a reverse. Kirito's theory would mean there would be nothing peculiar about this game at all. It would be just a perfectly ordinary murderer going around in RL, killing people in their houses, in their sleep for all practical purposes. Selection of the victim would merely rely on the game, which means it wouldn't need to be a VR game at all. It could be sports, chess, academic excellence, beauty, romantic jealousy, whatever has appeared as motives in the millions of crime literature, TV series and movie pieces. And reality.

[MasterOfMoogles]

If we're going to talk about crazy visualizations, I was super happy they brought back Death Gun shooting someone through the ethernet cable. That one is my favorite.

inb4, "That was exactly how Kirito thought he was killing people."

[DarthEnderX]

No, you are exaggerating now. It was really obvious it wasn't reality.Yeah, because the video game killing you would have been a ridiculous conclusion to jump to.

If, you know, that hadn't been what the entire first arc had been about.


For pages people were complaining about how stupid it would be if he was some uber hacker. And now that it is explained in a feasible way, it is boring?Two different groups of people?

I don't think I ever though the hacking explanation was stupid. And I do think the current explanation is so mundane. To the point where the police shouldn't have required some kind of online specialist to solve it.


I guess the problem is that the first two arcs were based on the idea that people could be trapped in the VR and bad things could happen to them there, things that would affect their RL as well. This one is kind of a reverse. Kirito's theory would mean there would be nothing peculiar about this game at all. It would be just a perfectly ordinary murderer going around in RL, killing people in their houses, in their sleep for all practical purposes. Selection of the victim would merely rely on the game, which means it wouldn't need to be a VR game at all. It could be sports, chess, academic excellence, beauty, romantic jealousy, whatever has appeared as motives in the millions of crime literature, TV series and movie pieces. And reality.This.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Yeah, because the video game killing you would have been a ridiculous conclusion to jump to.

If, you know, that hadn't been what the entire first arc had been about. Derp.
No, the ridiculous conclusion is that someone is cosplaying as Death Gun in the real world, not that there actually is someone in the real world.



Two different groups of people?

I don't think I ever though the hacking explanation was stupid. And I do think the current explanation is so mundane. To the point where the police shouldn't have required some kind of online specialist to solve it.
Over time, sure, I would believe the police would figure it out. The problem is currently nobody was even really looking into it.
I thought this was a very interesting way to take the story and a good way to switch it up from the previous arcs.
Is there a different method you think would have been more interesting or would have liked better?

[shinta|hikari]

@Darth - Wearing a fancy costume in RL when you are about to stealth kill someone is leagues beyond any ridiculous thing SAO has ever shown. It also serves no purpose story-wise, unlike most of the bullshit that SAO throws out.

The scene was also presented in a way that showed Sinon was imagining it. Her freak out face was shown immediately after the bedroom scene.

EDIT:
@Moogles - Wait, you mean Darth misunderstood my post? I'm pretty sure that a partner killing the people via drugs is firm now.

[MasterOfMoogles]

@Moogles - Wait, you mean Darth misunderstood my post?
Yes, exactly.

[Ryllharu]

Wearing a fancy costume in RL when you are about to stealth kill someone is leagues beyond any ridiculous thing SAO has ever shown. It also serves no purpose story-wise, unlike most of the bullshit that SAO throws out.

It's someone wearing a costume as a disguise (like from a horror movie) while they murder someone. That's actually pretty normal when the perpetrator doesn't want to get caught. If they weren't so focused on it being a game, it wouldn't be a leap to assume they would get just as many jollies finding people in the games and then murdering them and posting videos to the net. While I certainly agree that the scene was imagined...it isn't leagues beyond any ridiculous thing SAO has shown.

Hell, everything in the climax of the ALO arc was more ridiculous and implausible than some kook dressing up in a matching costume to murder online game players. Also, what are the odds of finding your own sister in a video game in the first place? At least the GGO arc gets one thing right, Kirito and Sinon have never met IRL.

[shinta|hikari]

A disguise is different from a fancy costume, which is why I worded it that way. If someone sees you walking around and fiddling with people's locks wearing the Death Gun outfit, you will not only attract attention, but get arrested.

Yes, leagues beyond. And like I said, it serves no purpose to the story if it was actually like that.

[DarthEnderX]

@Moogles - Wait, you mean Darth misunderstood my post?I guess I thought you were arguing something else.


A disguise is different from a fancy costume, which is why I worded it that way. If someone sees you walking around and fiddling with people's locks wearing the Death Gun outfit, you will not only attract attention, but get arrested.This.

One assumes this person doesn't possess the horror movie trope of just appearing and disappearing at will. So wearing a scary costume only drastically increases your chances of being notice/caught, not reduces it.

[Kraco]

One assumes this person doesn't possess the horror movie trope of just appearing and disappearing at will. So wearing a scary costume only drastically increases your chances of being notice/caught, not reduces it.

While I actually do agree it was imagination for the sake of visualising the crime method, I wouldn't put it past this show. These guys are obviously crazy from the society's point of view. There are understandable reasons for murder, such as hatred, revenge, jealousy, and such, but these guys are serial killers, who are always labeled as insane. Why wouldn't an insane person wear a costume? Especially since their point is, for the greater audience, to make it seem like Death Gun in GGO caused the death. I imagine the other guy in RL, who's basically a tool, would feel left out if he didn't look like the part as well. Naturally they could be switching places all the time, assuming both are master lockpickers, but that still wouldn't change the fact that only the person in GGO is Death Gun, the one breaking into a player's house is nothing but an ordinary human murdering somebody using an ordinary method. However, with the costume, he could imagine they are the same person, one manifested in the game, one in reality.

[DarthEnderX]

True enough I guess. No accounting for crazy.

[kmkze04]

I'm getting the feeling that the Death Gun duo theory will end up being at least a trio, if not a whole guild remnant of LC operating in both GGO and reality. We already knew from that blip of the reality Death Gun that he was targeting Sinon, so Pale Rider must've been a secondary target and would have to have someone else stalking him at the same time.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm getting the feeling that the Death Gun duo theory will end up being at least a trio, if not a whole guild remnant of LC operating in both GGO and reality. We already knew from that blip of the reality Death Gun that he was targeting Sinon, so Pale Rider must've been a secondary target and would have to have someone else stalking him at the same time.That actually makes sense, since his partner would have had to have been in Pale Rider's house, then somehow traveled all the way to Sinon's house before Death Gun decided to kill her.

Which, I guess means that unless these people all live in the same town, doesn't seem very likely without more than one person outside.

[Ryllharu]

Which, I guess means that unless these people all live in the same town, doesn't seem very likely without more than one person outside.
They very likely do because the writing is bad...but I actually think it makes sense when you put all the puzzle pieces together, the ridiculous way Kirito divined them anyway. I think we can give this one to the series, whether it was intentionally written that way or if the gaps can be filled purely by accident.

1) They are looking up the competitor's addresses directly.
2) Most of the targets, if not all are prominent players that were in the previous tournament (Sinon says she only doesn't recognize a few players plus Kirito).
3) We were shown the file folder with DeathGun's list of targets, with Sinon remaining.
4) DeathGun is very selective of who he/they kill spectacularly to prove their "power."

The duo has probably looked up which prominent GGO players are in Tokyo, possibly narrowing it down to a few districts at most. They're only picking targets the partner can reasonably get to in time for the execution.

In fact, within the tournament, they would only execute two (Pale Rider and Sinon). They'd both love to get Kirito, but he's paranoid and didn't put in his address.

[shinta|hikari]

Even if he did, he's in a hospital.

[MasterOfMoogles]

They hate him enough that they would probably go kill him later, though. It would be super dangerous.

[shinta|hikari]

Not if he knew they were coming.

[kmkze04]

Even if they lived all in the same town, there would be no way for GGO Death Gun to communicate which target he was hunting next to an outsider, especially with him staying off the scanners. Otherwise it would be simple for Kirito or Sinon to send someone to her house and ambush the real world Death Gun while he's waiting to inject her.

[shinta|hikari]

Kirito should just raise his heart rate, automatically log out, then go to Shino's apartment to stop the killer.

All he needs to do is stare at that ass long enough.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Haha, I don't know that he could get up to 180ish bpm just by doing that. Not to diss Sinon's behind or anything.

I know you're kind of just joking with your post, but I think it is interesting to consider this.
Any scenario involving confronting the murderer is pretty dangerous. Let's say he did log out, options then are:
1) Call police on Shino's apartment
2) Go there alone
Both involve the murderer being trapped in her apartment unless he can escape out a window or something. It would potentially turn into a hostage situation.

Given the scenario, the absolute safest option seems to be to defeat Death Gun in game and hope the murderer follows the code they have set. If DG gets knocked out of the tournament, hopefully the killer leaves quietly. If, by fighting Death Gun, Kirito remembers the guy's SAO name or gets him to tell him, then they can look up his address and catch him. Then you would hope to catch any co-conspirators via interrogation/plea bargain or by raiding the guy's phone/computer logs.

[Ryllharu]

Only in Japan would a pair of homicidal murderers be polite enough to lose in a video game and not be enraged enough to take revenge anyway.

I only believe it because I know they line up in game to each take their turn doing "Kill 10 Vicious Wombats" quests.

[Kraco]

Only in Japan would a pair of homicidal murderers be polite enough to lose in a video game and not be enraged enough to take revenge anyway.

I'm no expert, and in fact I shouldn't in this case argue with an American (since you certainly make the most iconic serial killer movies, ever since Hitchcock), but I think it's precisely because they are serial killers that they stick to their own methods and rules. They aren't like terrorists trying to produce as many indiscriminate victims as possible. They are carefully selecting the victims and the way the victims apparently died is carefully produced.

I'd say they would only kill outside of their plans if it was to preserve the secrecy of their methods in order to keep going. Otherwise they would need to drop the Death Gun act.

[shinta|hikari]

That makes sense.

[DarthEnderX]

So what you're saying is...Death Gun has a dark passenger.

[kmkze04]

I will die laughing if one of the eps is titled Dark Passenger.

[fireheart]

I only believe it because I know they line up in game to each take their turn doing "Kill 10 Vicious Wombats" quests.

For the record I saw people do this in Archeage on the EU server just yesterday so it's not really limited to Japan.

[lelouch]

For the record I saw people do this in Archeage on the EU server just yesterday so it's not really limited to Japan.

I dont get it, what is this?

[fireheart]

I dont get it, what is this?

What don't you get, the lining up to get a mob or what Archeage is? Or was that just sarcasm?

[lelouch]

What don't you get, the lining up to get a mob or what Archeage is? Or was that just sarcasm?

Lining up for wombats? I've heard of archage but never played it.

[MasterOfMoogles]

In MMOs, since you have to wait for monsters to respawn, it can be a real pain to do quests. The example here is kill 10 wombats. If everybody is killing all of the wombats, you basically have tons of players scouring the area and nobody gets their quest done in a reasonable amount of time. It is also very frustrating.
Most often I've seen this with very rare spawns, where a specific rare monster spawns in a specific location and people wait in line to kill it.
If you don't wait in line, it basically becomes a mess where everyone is just trying to grab the monster first and kill it.

This isn't really an issue in most recent MMOs thanks to having multiple instances of zones.

[Munsu]

Sword Art Online II Episode 12 Horriblesubs (http://nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=599894)

[Kraco]

What goes around, comes around. I guess Kirito shouldn't have ignored the dude back in SAO. Still, considering Kirito has been playing a sword fighting game all the time, whereas Death Gun has been playing a modern shooting game, one has to wonder why exactly Kiroto would be rusty with swords, not Death Gun. Could it be that Kirito has been doing no PvP sword fights, not even to train? Fighting AI controlled monsters and NPCs wouldn't really do the trick.

Death Gun remains the most interesting character in this show, that's for sure.

Btw, when two marksmen shoot at each other from considerable distance, one from a really high position, the other from the ground level, one with a large calibre gun and one with a smaller, would the trajectories of the bullets meet at the halfway point? They aren't beam weapons, after all.

[MFauli]

This anime is such shit, lol. We are always shown how Kirito is THE best sword fighter. And out of nowhere, this guy pwns Kirito? Makes no sense. Of all the possible developments, this one makes the least sense. Seriously, Kirito has been blocking bullets for 10 episodes, and now this? As Kraco says, there´s no reason to believe he´d be rusty in terms of sword skills.

Most interesting piece of information, though, was Death Gun replying to Kirito´s explanation for Death Gun´s crimes, "you have a fascinating imagination". Maybe I´m being optimistic here, but imo this wording implies that Death Gun finds Kirito´s reasoning funny, further implying that it´s 100% wrong. To be honest, at this point in the story I´d prefer if it turns out that Death Gun truly CAN kill people with his gun alone after all. Putting this ridiculous "partner who´s driving around whole of Japan, using superior lock-picking skills to inject poison into victims´ bodies" bs. No idea how it´d be explained then, but idc.

As for the sniper duel, dear god, for a moment I feared they´d go full-retard and have the bullets hit each other in mid-air. Would have been soooo corny.

[David75]

I was wondering if they were showing DG's warping movements to take us back to the last boss fight in SAO...
My guess is that DG is an admin or whatever haxor profile. Since the company running GGO is in the US and nobody knows shit about it, it might be DG is in fact one of the founders/developers or whatever position that granted him access to the source code or whatever hack needed for his deeds.
That gives him access to any player's identity etc...

[Kraco]

I was wondering if they were showing DG's warping movements to take us back to the last boss fight in SAO...
My guess is that DG is an admin or whatever haxor profile. Since the company running GGO is in the US and nobody knows shit about it, it might be DG is in fact one of the founders/developers or whatever position that granted him access to the source code or whatever hack needed for his deeds.
That gives him access to any player's identity etc...

That would make all three arcs so far exactly the same: A fight against the admin, or somebody with admin rights and possibilities, which isn't any different.

[lelouch]

That would make all three arcs so far exactly the same

Welcome to almost every shounen anime out there.


Yui being able to control hospital TV's in real life ruined everything.

[Ryllharu]

Yui being able to control hospital TV's in real life ruined everything.
Why?

Yui is probably the most advanced AI ever written in this setting, and even if Kayaba abandoned her, she's been continuing to develop since Kirito and Asuna "adopted" her. Kirito has even been toying with man-machine interfaces, and Asuna is of course incredibly wealthy and probably owns all of Kayaba's old technology and programming assets.

That was one of the most plausible things that happened this episode.

Put Yui in a cellphone, link the cellphone up to the connected networks, and there you go. It's the Internet of Things, controlled by an AI solely developed to interpret natural human speech and emotions.

Compare that to, "I can use metal swords if they are precisely no greater than my preferred weapon type (LOL, it wouldn't work for what you like to use Kirito!), can slide them into my unique drop sniper rifle, and it is conveniently made of the strongest metal in the game that can't be burned through with you laser sword, and even though my partner is creeping on Sinon in her apartment that she can just tell you the address of, I can't be stopped because you don't know the handle I used in another game!"

I think it is pretty clear which developments break suspension of disbelief.

[DarthEnderX]

I was wondering if they were showing DG's warping movements to take us back to the last boss fight in SAO...I thought those were just sword Special Moves. We know those still exist in GGO because Kirito did that four-slash thing when he first picked up the light saber.


This anime is such shit, lol.We know. You say it every time you point out a plot-hole(or something you just didn't understand). One wonders why you think it's still poignant commentary at this stage.


Maybe I´m being optimistic here, but imo this wording implies that Death Gun finds Kirito´s reasoning funny, further implying that it´s 100% wrong.Or he's just denying the accusation because it completely undermines what he's trying to do here to admit it. It does him no favors to confess in the event that Kirito has accurately guessed his plan.

But yes, it would be nice if Kirito's prediction was completely wrong.


I think it is pretty clear which developments break suspension of disbelief.Neither?

The only reason the stuff you mentioned wouldn't seem plausible is because we didn't know weapon crafting existed in the game. But then, the reason we didn't know is because Kirito didn't know, which, like Death Gun said, is because Kirito didn't do any fucking research.

But, given that this is an MMO, and pretty much every MMO ever has had crafting, we probably should have assumed it was available.

[Ryllharu]

Neither?

The only reason the stuff you mentioned wouldn't seem plausible is because we didn't know weapon crafting existed in the game. But then, the reason we didn't know is because Kirito didn't know, which, like Death Gun said, is because Kirito didn't do any fucking research.

But, given that this is an MMO, and pretty much every MMO ever has had crafting, we probably should have assumed it was available.
I'll break it down for you, because as usual you don't understand fairly basic concepts.


The fact that there is crafting isn't really a problem. You're missing the forest for the trees. It's when that system was introduced, and how the blade functions.

Improbable is always worse than impossible in story telling.

There is crafting, and like you point out, Kirito didn't do his research, he learned everything from Sinon in order because he rushed into this investigation. What makes it improbable is that there is an arbitrary limit to what size can be crafted...and it perfectly matches DeathGun's preferred blade type, the estoc.

Then they compound that by going out of their way to have Kirito say that you can't craft the type of swords he likes.

That DeathGun can craft a blade is no big deal, the system was probably made for making knives and stuff. The issue is that the system conveniently tops out on the exact type of weapon DeathGun used in SAO. That's awfully convenient, very bad writing, and completely improbable. If the crafting system stopped on machetes instead it would make sense, but it stops on long stabbing sword profiles? Please.

But they're not even done! They next state that he crafted it from the ultra-rare space battleship metal that is the strongest in the game. This space battleship metal's amazing property is that it not only can block the exceptionally strong laser sword (which cuts through type of body armor we've seen, evaporates bullets, and cuts through weapons - all in eps 6), it too can easily pierce body armor. So we've given the enemy an equally powerful weapon for no other reason but to make it a sword fight.

The basis of its existence was entirely within the scene it was introduced.


And the other half is just as ridiculous. DeathGun can't get caught solely because Kirito never knew his name?! They know his partner is in Sinon's apartment! Find one, find the other.

[KrayZ33]

Still, considering Kirito has been playing a sword fighting game all the time, whereas Death Gun has been playing a modern shooting game, one has to wonder why exactly Kiroto would be rusty with swords, not Death Gun. Could it be that Kirito has been doing no PvP sword fights, not even to train? Fighting AI controlled monsters and NPCs wouldn't really do the trick.



Of all the possible developments, this one makes the least sense. Seriously, Kirito has been blocking bullets for 10 episodes, and now this? As Kraco says, there´s no reason to believe he´d be rusty in terms of sword skills.

First hit: Suprise attack, Kirito didn't expect him to have a sword - his head on attack was stupid though, why did he even leap in the first place, its not like he had to close the gap between extremely fast now that his weapon is broken... What happened to his Five-Seven btw?

Second hit: You can see the laser sword being useless against that blade... it can't melt it -> thus he can't defend against it.



That was one of the most plausible things that happened this episode.

Put Yui in a cellphone, link the cellphone up to the connected networks, and there you go. It's the Internet of Things, controlled by an AI solely developed to interpret natural human speech and emotions.

don't know about that - shit works with codes and stuff, I can't remember what happened to Yui anyway, wasn't she supposed to be saved in the headgear or something?
I don't expect a virus made for Windows to work on Linux either.
If she can do it, why doesn't she use her superpowers to find out where DG is playing from. It's BS... doesn't matter though because its so common in movies and TV-shows. I didn't even care.

Such scenes remind me of LotR, when Gandalf summoned the hawks to fly to Mt. Doom, why didn't they do that from the get go

[Kraco]

don't know about that - shit works with codes and stuff, I can't remember what happened to Yui anyway, wasn't she supposed to be saved in the headgear or something?
I don't expect a virus made for Windows to work on Linux either.
If she can do it, why doesn't she use her superpowers to find out where DG is playing from. It's BS... doesn't matter though because its so common in movies and TV-shows. I didn't even care.

Such scenes remind me of LotR, when Gandalf summoned the hawks to fly to Mt. Doom, why didn't they do that from the get go

What? She could have used Asuna's phone's IR transmitter to make the TV show the match. For all we know, there could be a TV channel for it, and the TV must have been a smart TV with a net connection anyway since this is in the future. What's so special about that little thing?

Also, Gandalf couldn't take the eagles and fly to Mordor because Sauron was watchful and all the ringwraiths, including the witch king Gandalf was no match for, would have been there waiting.

[KrayZ33]

The fact that you can "run her" on the phone is bullshit itself. It's a typical omnipotent movie A.I don't bother arguing about this. As I said, I don't even care, I just accept it.... like we are meant to do. The only way to explain it/we will get is "It's the future".

[Kraco]

The fact that you can "run her" on the phone is bullshit itself. It's a typical omnipotent movie A.I don't bother arguing about this. As I said, I don't even care, I just accept it.... like we are meant to do. The only way to explain it/we will get is "It's the future".

You mean her future phone even can't have a net connection and she would merely be using the phone as an interface to communicate with Asuna? Just like a phone is used also by people when you make a phone call to somebody. You don't actually upload your consciousness to the recipient's phone, you merely send your voice over there and receive the other person's voice in return. Yui's involvement with Asuna phone would be a bit deeper but nothing fancy, really. I'm sure even today you can download some shady app from the Internet onto your phone that lets some foreign bastard do whatever he wants with your phone, as long as the net connection is on. Monitor the surroundings with the cameras and microphone, use the IR to change your TV channels if he recognizes your TV brand, whatever.

[DarthEnderX]

But they're not even done! They next state that he crafted it from the ultra-rare space battleship metal that is the strongest in the game. This space battleship metal's amazing property is that it not only can block the exceptionally strong laser sword (which cuts through type of body armor we've seen, evaporates bullets, and cuts through weapons - all in eps 6), it too can easily pierce body armor.Those other complaints are valid and all, but this part is completely reasonable.

Obviously if the game has crafting, there's going to be different tiers of materials to craft with. And OF COURSE the main villain is going to have a weapon made from the best materials. And a weapon hand crafted from the best material in the game should damn well be a match for Kirito's store-bought sword, even if it is a light saber(P.S. even Star Wars has materials you can make a sword out of so that a light saber can't cut through it, it's called Cortosis).


The fact that you can "run her" on the phone is bullshit itself. It's a typical omnipotent movie A.IExactly. It's an accepted trope.

Self-aware A.I. can transfer themselves to anything. That's just, like, the rule, man.

[MFauli]

You guys are really arguing about the AI-part? Of all the things, it´s the least ridiculous. And even on its own, it´s rather easy to accept. An AI lives in a world of 0s and 1s. It doesn´t matter if one software is completely different from another, it´s the same on a basic level.

[MasterOfMoogles]

I'll chime in as a software developer.
While I wouldn't go so far as to say "All software is just 0s and 1s, so easy-peasy", this scene is actually very reasonable and I would expect to be able to do stuff like this in 2025. The only somewhat ridiculous part from a software standpoint is the fact that Yui exists at all.
You can already do a lot of what we've seen here with DLNA. The TV would be a Digital Media Renderer (DMR) and the phone would be a Digital Media Controller (DMC). If your DMC has access to a Digital Media Server (DMS), it can push that media to the DMR, control playback, volume, etc. A DMS can push live TV, web streams, or whatever you want, as long as it provides the details about it to the DMC and DMR according to the standards.

If I were to speculate about Yui, I would guess Asuna installed some app on her phone that lets Yui do cool stuff with it. A remote desktop type app would probably be the easiest, giving the remote connection full control of the device.

[Inazuma]

Actually you can run grid supercomputing from a Galaxy S5.

The only thing that felt impossible in that scene was just Yui, the AI, because it's shit we can code yet. I'm talking self learning, self aware, able to communicate verbally and visually without a single fucking glitch.

[kmkze04]

Branching off from the crossfire in here... it sounds like Asuna will probably become the key to figuring out who this guy is and the tension will likely be if they can get to him and the others on time... I also wonder if the camera managed to catch what Kirito was saying, it seemed like he was saying it for the benefit of those watching so they could act on his discoveries from the outside.

Personally, I say they should just hack Kirito's SAO avatar into GGO and let him dual-wield rampage on estoc boy.

[DarthEnderX]

The only thing that felt impossible in that scene was just Yui, the AI, because it's shit we can code yet.So is VR that interfaces directly with your brain.

The series has more advanced computer tech than we do. It's the foundation of the series. No point in arguing against it.


I also wonder if the camera managed to catch what Kirito was saying, it seemed like he was saying it for the benefit of those watching so they could act on his discoveries from the outside.He said earlier the cameras only play sound if you're shouting. Which is another plot contrivance basically.

[kmkze04]

Well, Sinon said that in the cave, but the distance between him and DG was much greater, so I suppose it could be considered a "shout"

[kmkze04]

After all, we did see DG play up his speech in front of a camera when doing in Pale Rider. There's no reason Kirito couldn't have noticed the camera and be doing the same. The way he explained the process to DG makes me think he wasn't trying to unsettle DG but instead was really doing it so the world would know, especially considering the start of the episode was that he thought he may have missed something. Taking all that into account, he probably has good reason to think he might lose and others need to know what he does.

[MFauli]

Episode 13 is out
---------------------

How fucking absurdly comically psychotic can you even portray someone? This was so unbelievable incompetently presented. I guess the guy wouldn´t have been able to be painted evil, if he was reacting in a realistic manner, because then it´d be clear that Sinon´s permanent rejection to his very real romantic advances simply hurt and damaged him, ultimately breaking him. Meanwhile, he gets to watch how she´s all lovey-dovey with a strange guy she just recently met in GGO. Classy. But no worries, by presenting him as a complete wacko, repeatingly and non-sensically shouting "Asada! Asada!", all blame goes to him, none to her. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

My other major complaint for this episode: Last week I thought that Kirito´s laser sword is entirely ineffective against Death Gun´s metal "sword", simply because the laser sword isn´t hot enough to melt the metal, therefore letting it slip through as if there´s nothing but air, thus resulting in all the hits Kirito received. Wrong. This episode showed that Death Gun was simply a better sword fighter. W T F?! So at this point in the series, we´re led to believe that there was and is a better sword fighter than Kirito? Super bullshit.

[MasterOfMoogles]

I don't think Kirito is supposed to be the best sword fighter in the world. Suguha can beat him in kendo.
He was the best in a small pool in SAO.
In ALO and GGO, he has the advantage of having played VR games more than basically anyone in the world and completely being used to VR combat.

Also, Kirito is a dual wielder. He never beats anyone good with one sword through pure skill.

Regarding the villain... Dude, he was executing a plan to sneak into people's rooms and murder them in their "sleep". Of course is freaking psychotic.

I wish they had made the scene with Sinon waking up a little more tense. Instead they're playing soothing music. That situation would be utterly terrifying.

[Kraco]

Fuck. Death Gun was the only cool character in this season. And now he was reduced into a pitiful, slavering, love-sick psycho. That leaves zero cool characters.

Where's Asuna? Did Kirito tell his girlfriend to go home so that he can go visit another girl at the girl's apartment? Quite a Romeo. Or rather, where's the cop Kirito was supposed to have the goverment guy arrange to visit Sinon's place? I guess that foolish official isn't good enough even for that. Really, what do they pay the dude for? I guess he just plays VR games at work from 8AM till 6PM with zilch productivity, yet collects a good salary. What a dream job!

[MasterOfMoogles]

Well, technically, the cool Death Gun and the guy in the real world aren't the same person.

Is Kirito's motorcycle 2-person? He wouldn't want Asuna to come anyways because of the danger.
Depending on how close he is, he would beat the police there, too.

[Kraco]

Well, technically, the cool Death Gun and the guy in the real world aren't the same person.

Haha. There's not a single person among the audience who could take him seriously after this. I guess there's a chance his brother is the real deal, though, so maybe there's some hope left. But then again, now that they know his identity, it's not like he could very well keep playing the game and pulling off the Death Gun stunts.

[MFauli]

I dont know how many arcs there are after the GGO-arc, but this anime really needs an element of true danger again. SAO S1 was great with the whole "die in-game, die irl" concept. Right now, however, Kirito and all his waifus have "immortal main cast" status, perceivedly so anyway. Would it have been so difficult to have Sinon raped here instead of the Disney-esque Happy End with Kirito appearing out of nowhere? Asuna, Leafa, Silica, etc - they all send out the feeling that they´ll never be at risk of danger ever again.

All of this basically reduces all possible occurences to "watching Kirito doing cool sword moves", without anything else of substance.

If there is an arc after this one, I hope it begins with Asuna´s death, so we can have some darker revenge plot, instead of this ... easy mode stuff.

[Ryllharu]

I actually appreciated the fact that DeathGun is attracted to in the first place Shino because she's a killer.

Shino is gonna have to have some long talks with Yui (or a real world therapist), because she's gonna be pretty screwed in the mental department for a while.


I wish they had made the scene with Sinon waking up a little more tense. Instead they're playing soothing music. That situation would be utterly terrifying.I thought it was pretty well done, I didn't think the music killed it at all. Her quick actions searching in fairly illogical spots did the trick.

Now the attempted rape defense struggle scene...that was terrifying. I'd have to put that up in the "Perfect Blue" Category of traumatic anime sequences (and that one is fake!). Before he gets all foamy in the mouth that is. That makes it a bit more comedic than it should be.

I'm also much happier with the way Kirito busted in there and started just wailing on the guy. It's much better than the showdown in the snowy hospital parking lot last season.

My only major complaint was that the bisection scene was almost cool and then somehow Deathgun's pistol magazine exploded like it was a grenade. The Happiness Joy Gift Grenade made up for it a little bit.

[Buffalobiian]

It's hard to say, unless it's Death Gun. He's only 99% certain that people really die in real life due to this particular individual.

On the other hand, the the "friend" of Shino smells the most like Death Gun right now. Being led to take the agility route and then being shafted could easily put him into revenge mode. I suppose saving Shino from the bullies IRL doesn't fit into the whole "jealousy" idea though.

I feel so smug right now.

The suicide grenade was pretty damn funny. If I was the crowd I wouldn't be excited to see the top two players cop out of a duel though.

[shinta|hikari]

They must be happy seeing two hot chicks all hot for each other.

Only one has a dick they do not know of.

Best part of this episode was the grenade ending. I really like GGO. I actually wish Asuna was never born (or never got official with Kirito). If Kirito was not committed, this could have been a better romance story.

@Ryll - I assumed it was a grenade that exploded, but I thought that was retarded as well because Kirito should have died.

@Mfauli - If you want rape, anime is not the right medium for you. Anime is usually aimed at younger people, and rape isn't exactly the best thing to show them. For some reason, death is easier to accept than rape in fiction, though I do understand that somewhat considering my pride.

[Ryllharu]

@Ryll - I assumed it was a grenade that exploded, but I thought that was retarded as well because Kirito should have died.
Unfortunately, you can just barely see the star from the grip on the top half just before it explodes.

So it really is that bad.

[Kraco]

Unfortunately, you can just barely see the star from the grip on the top half just before it explodes.

So it really is that bad.

He must have switched to explosive bullets. Death Gun needs not follow treaties.

[MFauli]

So I´m really the only one to have a problem with the fact that there´s suddenly a better sword fighter than Kirito? :/

[shinta|hikari]

The Kirito who has been lazing about with his harem and with only one sword that does not match his usual heavy blades? I have no issue with it.

[Kraco]

So I´m really the only one to have a problem with the fact that there´s suddenly a better sword fighter than Kirito? :/

I was bothered by it, and I think I indicated as much earlier, but then MOM reminded me of the essential fact that Kirito indeed is a dual-wielder. Which makes me wonder why he doesn't have a second sword now. Did he spend all of his money getting the single one and the pistol and couldn't afford another, or what was it? Not that the situation would really surprise me as he has shown nothing but ill preparation for the mission during the whole arc.

[shinta|hikari]

He had no more money, and he needs his other hand for the pistol.

[Kraco]

he needs his other hand for the pistol.

Drop the second sword and grab the pistol; time lost: 1 ms.

[Ryllharu]

Once Kirito stopped being dumb, he realized the pistol could be used as a second "sword" (which he had done previously in the knockout rounds prior to the main tournament).

It wasn't a bad visual effect here. As deathgun started to go invisible, kirito "stabbed" him with the his "second sword."

That said, I wonder how well the lightsaber functions in the way Kirito is used to, very heavy blades. Since it didn't look like he was batting aside the estoc very well, I would wager that Kirito was at a severe disadvantage that whole fight.

So no, there is not suddenly a better swordsman. Deathgun had been playing GGO for two years while Kirito was off farting around in ALO with his harem. He had all the good gear, and Kirito bought whatever he could last minute and barely knew how to play.

[DarthEnderX]

I guess the guy wouldn´t have been able to be painted evil, if he was reacting in a realistic manner, because then it´d be clear that Sinon´s permanent rejection to his very real romantic advances simply hurt and damaged him, ultimately breaking him. Meanwhile, he gets to watch how she´s all lovey-dovey with a strange guy she just recently met in GGO. Classy. But no worries, by presenting him as a complete wacko, repeatingly and non-sensically shouting "Asada! Asada!", all blame goes to him, none to her. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighUh...even if he wasn't being presented as completely crazy, how would the blame not still be all his?

Do you think she owes him something? That she's in some way obligated to return his feelings? And if not, that he's somehow justified in his action, as long as his not raving while doing it?

[kmkze04]

I actually had no problem with this episode. Kirito being at a disadvantage against a weapon wielded by a person who more or less was designed to kill him is more than believable, and while he could have bought two swords (price was 150k, if I remember right, and he won 300k from the game), that would have neglected armor and a range weapon in a gun-based game. Did no one else pick up on the "hospital" and "medicine" mention from the previous eps? I found that suspicious, and then as soon as I saw the guy's obsessive nature in GGO after the playground scene, he was on my list of suspects. I don't think he snapped from rejection, I'm pretty sure he was well broken before, so his insanity was not unexpected or out of character for me. The rape/murder was stopped actually I think a little past what you'd expect of a series geared for younger crowds, and yes while a full rape may have been a super turn-on for hentai fans, that's something for fan fiction rather than public TV.
As for Kirito coming to the rescue, it would not surprise me at all if he reconsidered momentarily Death Gun's parting words and straight up charged over to Sinon's house while keeping Asuna in the dark probably for her own safety. Or he may have left her instructions to call. Based on that, and him saying Sinon's house was near the hospital, he could definitely reach there before police, and it is just like him to do so.

[Kraco]

Did no one else pick up on the "hospital" and "medicine" mention from the previous eps? I found that suspicious, and then as soon as I saw the guy's obsessive nature in GGO after the playground scene, he was on my list of suspects.

Sure, but like I said before, Death Gun was the only cool character in this arc. Why would I want the only cool one to be that sniveling fool in RL (and as a matter of fact his secondary cover character in GGO was a similar dunce as well)? The other characters (Kirito+harem) aren't that different, on a basic level, between RL and the total immersion VR. Why does Death Gun need to be so vastly different? He should have been a coldly psychotic and murderous personality of some manner in RL as well, not a weepy, creepy stalker dude sticking to a girl who only stands his presence because she has absolutely nobody else to talk to, despite not even being able to bear his slightest touch, let alone return his feelings.

[kmkze04]

Yeah but he's not the only Death Gun. Actually, I'm not even convinced he was the main Death Gun. He said he was one of the hands and did control Sterben for awhile, but the real Death Gun concept I think came from someone else, probably the brother who was Red Eyed Zaza. I'm pretty sure you'll get to see the dark psycho still.

[Ryllharu]

He said he controlled Sterben up to this point, but decided he wanted to do the actual killing this time. He's the one who leveled the Sterben and was playing DeathGun in-game when the blue-haired guy was killed in the beginning.

Arguably, you could even say that Kirito could have lost if the actual guy was playing instead of wanting to creep on Shino IRL, since it was his actual equipment.

I guess the next question is if the Amusphere tech allows someone else to play as someone else's character.

[lelouch]

Honestly they should just make Season 4 be flashback mini-stories to the original SAO. The flashback to the raid reminded me how much different (and how much better) of a show Season 1 was compared to this. It's like night and day. It's evolved into something that has nothing to do with the original awesome premise.

[DarthEnderX]

as soon as I saw the guy's obsessive nature in GGO after the playground scene, he was on my list of suspects.I think he was on most people's lists after that.

But then when they showed him and Death Gun in the same place at the start of the tournament, most of us crossed him off.


He said he controlled Sterben up to this point, but decided he wanted to do the actual killing this time. He's the one who leveled the Sterben and was playing DeathGun in-game when the blue-haired guy was killed in the beginning.

Arguably, you could even say that Kirito could have lost if the actual guy was playing instead of wanting to creep on Shino IRL, since it was his actual equipment.The opposite could just as easily be true.

All of the scenes of Death Gun being a badass in this arc have been the other guy, the older brother that played SAO. He's the one who defeated Pale Rider, beat Sinon once, and almost defeated Kirito.

Conversely, all we've ever seen Sinon's stalker do as Death Gun was shoot a television. Just because he's played the character longer doesn't automatically make him a better player.

I especially wouldn't be surprised if the older brother is the better sword fighter(and thus, better person to go up against Kirito), given that he's the one with all the SAO experience.

[Buffalobiian]

as soon as I saw the guy's obsessive nature in GGO after the playground scene, he was on my list of suspects.

As soon as I saw the guy say he specced into (the now less useful) Agility he was my prime suspect, as commented previously. ;)

I really didn't like Asada's character design, but she was less irritating to the eye here. Maybe it's because she's not in that dreadful school uniform. Being all chicken shit didn't help I suppose. I'm totally expecting her to migrate to ALO to join Kirito with "I'm trying something else after getting over guns" as a reason.

[Kraco]

I'm totally expecting her to migrate to ALO to join Kirito with "I'm trying something else after getting over guns" as a reason.

That would be a scene to witness:

Kirito: "Uh... This is my girlfriend. This is my brocon sister. These are girls who would like to be my girlfriend."
Sinon: "I think I'll go back to GGO, after all. Good bye and thanks for everyhing."

[MasterOfMoogles]

If Asuna were to randomly die in a freak accident, who would number 2 be?
What is the order of succession for his harem?
Asuna > Shino > Liz > Sugu > Klein > Scilica
That would be my guess.

[MFauli]

Sugu is #2!

[shinta|hikari]

As much as I would hate to admit it, Sugu is probably #2.

If it were up to me, Shino is #1.

[MFauli]

new ep is out
-------------------



stfu, sinon, youre the worst bitch in all of anime. He tried to murder-rape you, because you kept declining his love for years, and NOW you feel empathy for him, worrying about him? She´s so dumb, egotistical and cruel, makes me angry.

and lol @kirito being ever cool and sophisticated. Waiting with a motorcycle in front of the girls school. Making these "deep" comments during the meeting inside the restaurant. ugh

edit:

oh lord! now kirito also has the qualities of a professional psychologist! He´s so perfect. I think im about to become gay for him.

[Kraco]

He tried to murder-rape you, because you kept declining his love for years, and NOW you feel empathy for him, worrying about him? She´s so dumb, egotistical and cruel, makes me angry.


...

I hope you aren't serious. I have got nothing else to say about that.

The only good scene in this episode was the government dude telling he had to do something for Kirito & Sinon (buying them some cake and tea?) and those two apologizing for taking so much of his time (they did all of his work for him, and then had the gall to make him waste some valuable time at the cafe).

The worst part was Kirito getting his ass kicked by the psycho fool, despite getting a free kick in. I thought Kirito had some background in martial arts, like kendo. I must be remembering wrong.

[MFauli]

...

I hope you aren't serious. I have got nothing else to say about that.

She could have done one of two reasonable things:

1.) Answer his advances positively, giving him a chance
2.) Wish for his death after what he just did to her

Worrying about and feeling for him NOW is just too ironic, it got be cynical.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Kirito had done some kendo but quit to play video games, I think. I don't think kendo would really help in this situation anyways...


She could have done one of two reasonable things:

1.) Answer his advances positively, giving him a chance
2.) Wish for his death after what he just did to her

Worrying about and feeling for him NOW is just too ironic, it got be cynical.

She had known this guy for quite a while. She didn't like him like that, but it would be shocking if she didn't feel some kind of regret over what happened.

[Kraco]

Kirito had done some kendo but quit to play video games, I think. I don't think kendo would really help in this situation anyways...

Dunno. I have/had a couple of friends who practiced kendo. They were in quite a good shape. Probably in a better shape than somebody who divides all of his time between studying and playing a VR game. Kirito might have dropped the shinai now, but instead he's practicing the best exercise of them all, together with Asuna. He should be in a great shape!


She had known this guy for quite a while. She didn't like him like that, but it would be shocking if she didn't feel some kind of regret over what happened.

This was my point as well, if it has to be said. She had no obligation whatsoever to accept his feelings. You either love somebody or don't. Sometimes love also grows gradually over time, but it's fully apparent in this case it didn't. That doesn't mean she had to hate his guts and wish for him to disappear. For a number of years the dude was her one and only friends, with her other "friends" being the bullies. At that point, before Kirito & harem's miraculous healing stunt by an office lady and a kid, she still probably was so weighed by her own guilt that she didn't consider herself, a murderer in her own opinion, to be so much better than the psycho fool. Who knows, maybe she thought that if she's able to forgive another murderer, then she might be forgiven herself.

[Buffalobiian]

Kirito had done some kendo but quit to play video games, I think. I don't think kendo would really help in this situation anyways...

Kirito did kendo when he was younger, but managed to ditch it because Sugu was picking up the slack (Their grandfather wanted them both to do kendo). He later finished SAO and decided to practice kendo again because he realised what he did to his sister.

Based on the above history, I'd say he's a current, though not necessarily proficient, practitioner.


Dunno. I have/had a couple of friends who practiced kendo. They were in quite a good shape. Probably in a better shape than somebody who divides all of his time between studying and playing a VR game. Kirito might have dropped the shinai now, but instead he's practicing the best exercise of them all, together with Asuna. He should be in a great shape!




The average sex lasts 6 minutes Kraco. Sex being an effective form of exercise is pretty overblown. You'll burn a few peanuts perhaps but I wouldn't expect much more. Foreplay on the other hand lasts anywhere to half an hour.

I noted that during this entire episode, Asuna was never introduced as Kirito's girlfriend.

[MFauli]

The average sex lasts 6 minutes Kraco. Sex being an effective form of exercise is pretty overblown. You'll burn a few peanuts perhaps but I wouldn't expect much more. Foreplay on the other hand lasts anywhere to half an hour..

sorry, but this is kirito. sex lasts exactly as long as Asuna wishes for, which could be hours on end for all we know.

[DarthEnderX]

And of course, one of them got away. So we have our villain for the next arc.

Is this series over now, or is it going right into the next arc? Cause there's another episode next week and I really would have thought this arc was over.


She could have done one of two reasonable things:

1.) Answer his advances positively, giving him a chanceJeeze, you really are, like, one of THOSE guys on the internet huh.

"That guy was nice to her, so she's obligated to love him, regardless of how she actually feels. And if she rejects him, well, she's a bitch and deserves to be killed."

Seriously guy, fuck you.


I noted that during this entire episode, Asuna was never introduced as Kirito's girlfriend.I noticed that too. It's like he intentionally tries to give out false hope.

[MFauli]

Jeeze, you really are, like, one of THOSE guys on the internet huh.

"That guy was nice to her, so she's obligated to love him, regardless of how she actually feels. And if she rejects him, well, she's a bitch and deserves to be killed."

Seriously guy, fuck you.

How about fuck you?

She´s got no obligation whatsoever at all, that´s not what I was getting at. However, she should have been in the clear with him about their relationship. As we´ve seen she never told him that there was no chance at them becoming a couple, instead he openly told her "I can wait, Sinon. I will help you overcome your problems, and then ... *smiles*". That´s what he did and where she left it as.

In the above context, she had the two options I mentioned: Give him a chance OR not sympathizing with him after his attempted rape-murder of her. Of course, she also had the third option of clearly telling him off. But she decided not to do this, either.

[KrayZ33]

Either choice would've ended with her being without any friend whatsoever.

[MFauli]

Either choice would've ended with her being without any friend whatsoever.

so she led him on to not be alone? what a nice girl ...

[KrayZ33]

not nice, but she tried not to hurt his feelings .. its at least understandable and not rage inducing.

Who knows what how it would've ended if the whole death-gun incident never happened

[Kraco]

so she led him on to not be alone? what a nice girl ...

She was living with a crippling trauma, her own mother was disgusted by her making her live alone, and she got bullied at school probably every day. She was supposed to shoulder being nice to a rich kid who had no such troubles whatsoever but instead a supposedly good and assured life ahead of him due to inheriting the hospital? I think the dude was the one who should have been nice to her, if he took it upon himself to try to support a wreck like Sinon. But instead he only wanted to get in her pants and had no intention of helping her to heal, since he was actually looking up to her trauma!

[MFauli]

She was living with a crippling trauma, her own mother was disgusted by her making her live alone, and she got bullied at school probably every day. She was supposed to shoulder being nice to a rich kid who had no such troubles whatsoever but instead a supposedly good and assured life ahead of him due to inheriting the hospital? I think the dude was the one who should have been nice to her, if he took it upon himself to try to support a wreck like Sinon. But instead he only wanted to get in her pants and had no intention of helping her to heal, since he was actually looking up to her trauma!

That he turned out being a badly written clichee-psycho doesn´t matter for that point in time, though. Claiming he just wanted to get in her pants is just stupid. From what we had seen at this point in time, he liked her and wanted to do normal boys-girls-stuff. He never made the impression of being some shallow macho, trying to score with another bitch, so to say. From what we saw, he wanted to be her bf, love her, be there for her. And instead of telling this friendly guy "sorry, I am not romantically interested in you", she led him on. Did she deserve to be raped? Of course, not. But she was a true bitch for playing with him, and having a trauma does not excuse hurting other people´s feeling.

[DarthEnderX]

In the above context, she had the two options I mentioned: Give him a chance OR not sympathizing with him after his attempted rape-murder of her. Of course, she also had the third option of clearly telling him off. But she decided not to do this, either.No, the option she chose is a perfectly acceptable option for a person who is capable of having empathy for what is clearly a mentally unstable person.


She´s got no obligation whatsoever at all, that´s not what I was getting at.Bullshit it wasn't. She's an extremely meek, polite person, and yet you labeled her "the biggest bitch in anime" just because she didn't want to go out with a guy. It's EXACTLY what you were getting at.

I think you MIGHT be the worst human being on this forum. And I'm pretty sure there are pedophiles here.

[Ryllharu]

From what we had seen at this point in time, he liked her and wanted to do normal boys-girls-stuff. He never made the impression of being some shallow macho, trying to score with another bitch, so to say. From what we saw, he wanted to be her bf, love her, be there for her. And instead of telling this friendly guy "sorry, I am not romantically interested in you", she led him on. Did she deserve to be raped? Of course, not. But she was a true bitch for playing with him, and having a trauma does not excuse hurting other people´s feeling.
Uhh....

He admitted he only approached her because he found out that she was a killer. The entire reason he even approached her in the first place was because she has the reputation of being a murderer. That's not "normal boy-girl stuff".

He was determined that she was the perfect type of person to go on to the fantasy digital world with him and become a PKing couple. They were both murderers after all, she's fine with it, he wants to do it too. Take after his cool brother, not hang out in this stressful shitty real world where he has to be a responsible adult and take over a business that he doesn't want to. Nah, they can be murderers together in the "next" world. She killed once before, she's got to enjoy it just like he does, right?

And not once did she ever lead him on. No idea where you even got that impression. He makes advances toward her, she meekly and politely refused on the swingset.

[MFauli]

No, the option she chose is a perfectly acceptable option for a person who is capable of having empathy for what is clearly a mentally unstable person.

i will continue to disagree with you here. it´s just not realistic. are you saying rape-victims that aren´t worrying about their perpetrator are lacking empathy? "I can understand why he raped me", really?



I think you MIGHT be the worst human being on this forum. And I'm pretty sure there are pedophiles here.

It´s not what I was getting at and I thoroughly explained it to you. But your ad homines are real classy. And not only do I not know who´s the worst human being on this forum (although I can honestly claim I am better than you, who cannot discuss a topic in a calm matter, resorting to personal attacks), your assumption that pedophiles are per se bad human beings is sickeningly ignorant. And no, I am not pedophile. Just empathetic.

Edit: @Ryll: Please see how I explicitely and repeatedly wrote "at this point in time". It´s easy to say what you wrote after finding out about the real circumstances.

[Kraco]

and having a trauma does not excuse hurting other people´s feeling.

Perhaps not objectively speaking, but it means she might not have had a choice in the matter. Psychological trauma that doesn't affect a person's behavior, personality, and choices in life isn't trauma at all. The dude knew her situation better than most. It's not like he would have been an ordinary classmate who first observed her from afar and then approached to confess.

[KrayZ33]

And I'm pretty sure there are pedophiles here.

*everyone looks at buff*

[Ryllharu]

Edit: @Ryll: Please see how I explicitely and repeatedly wrote "at this point in time". It´s easy to say what you wrote after finding out about the real circumstances.
So he's the lying two-faced psychopathic asshole, smiling and all friendly while secretly thinking about how he is going to either murder Shino or they're going to become a lovely homicidal duo because in his own head, she definitely wants his dick...and she's the bitch?

DarthEnderX and I agree on essentially nothing...except this whole discussion.

[MFauli]

So he's the lying two-faced psychopathic asshole, smiling and all friendly while secretly thinking about how he is going to either murder Shino or they're going to become a lovely homicidal duo because in his own head, she definitely wants his dick...and she's the bitch?


What Sinon knows prior to the revelation:
- guy likes her
- guy cares for her, is her only friend
- instead of clearly telling him off, she gives him a reaction causing him to say "okay, i will wait", to which she doesn´t object
- she is fine with going on like that

So yes, she IS the bitch in this scenario. Why? Because she´s instilling hope in this guy, who SHE knows that he wants more. As Kraco mentioned, sure, she has this trauma. But that doesnt make her less a bitch. It simply might explain why she is a bitch. And just for fun , Ill write the word bitch some more. lol.

[shinta|hikari]

*everyone looks at buff*

This made me LOL.

Also, being a pedophile does not make you a bad person. Look at Buff.

@Mfauli - The thing is, she did not lead him on intentionally. It just so happened that Kirito made her wet. She didn't promise she would say yes. She just asked for him to wait until after the tournament for an answer. When that happened, she simply made a decision and said no. If Kirito had not been there, she might have even accepted death gun (without knowing he is a psycho).

[KrayZ33]

No wait, I confused buff with you didn't I?
Who was the Loli-fan again?

*Everyone looks at Shinta except for KrayZee who looks at Buff*
*Buff coughs and points at Shinta*
*Now everyone looks at Shinta*

[DarthEnderX]

So he's the lying two-faced psychopathic asshole, smiling and all friendly while secretly thinking about how he is going to either murder Shino or they're going to become a lovely homicidal duo because in his own head, she definitely wants his dick...and she's the bitch?His argument seems to be that because she didn't KNOW any of that, she should have had no reason to reject him. And rejecting a seemingly nice guy somehow makes you a bitch. Even if you don't actually have feelings for that person, you should just accept their advances anyway because they're nice to you.

It's some kinda Men's Rights Activist logic that I don't fully understand.

[shinta|hikari]

This is nothing new.

[DarthEnderX]

This is nothing new.Well, I'm sure some of you guys frequent threads for more relationship-based based forums than I do.

I generally don't venture outside of Shounen crap, so I'm not really familiar with you guys attitudes on such things.

[MFauli]

His argument seems to be that because she didn't KNOW any of that, she should have had no reason to reject him. And rejecting a seemingly nice guy somehow makes you a bitch. Even if you don't actually have feelings for that person, you should just accept their advances anyway because they're nice to you.

It's some kinda Men's Rights Activist logic that I don't fully understand.

You really ought to read. She should have accepted his feelings or rejected them. She did neither. That´s the problem.

[MasterOfMoogles]

She basically told him she couldn't deal with thinking about that right now and to wait until after the tournament.
Seems fair to me.

And while I don't agree with MFauli, let's try to keep the discussion civil guys. Some of the comments earlier were uncalled for. Even if you don't like someone, focus on the arguments and not the poster.

[exglitch67]

She basically told him she couldn't deal with thinking about that right now and to wait until after the tournament.
Seems fair to me.

And while I don't agree with MFauli, let's try to keep the discussion civil guys. Some of the comments earlier were uncalled for. Even if you don't like someone, focus on the arguments and not the poster.


I don't believe Sinnon was wrong, but in my opinion she made that statement as a cop out. If she was really undecided and just ended up not being into him that's one thing, but to me she clearly does not think of him in a romantic fashion (see note below) and was using the tournament to put off a conversation that she would of rather avoided because she may lose a friend. Now its not right that her friend would put her in a position like that, but it doesn't absolve her of the fact it seems she knew the answer was no and let him believe otherwise. In my observation it is very obvious she is not into him, are there differences of opinion on this?



Edit: Another thought just occurred to me while reading the discussion; When has a girl ever given a "maybe" as an answer only to come back later and say "I thought about it and yes, let's date." In my experience, especially when I have been in the place of death gun kid, if it wasn't "yes" then any other answer meant "no" you just have to wait longer to get it. For example, even though Sinnon was not "ready" to date, she still got wet for Kirito. So to be honest, timing is usually a cop out.

[DarthEnderX]

Now its not right that her friend would put her in a position like that, but it doesn't absolve her of the fact it seems she knew the answer was no and let him believe otherwise. In my observation it is very obvious she is not into him, are there differences of opinion on this?I don't believe so. The difference of opinion is to whether this makes the character a bitch, and if it did, does that somehow mean she deserves to be murdered.

[MFauli]

recap :/

[DarthEnderX]

So does that mean they're doing the next arc as well? Because it would seem weird to end the run on a clip show.

[MasterOfMoogles]

They're doing a side story next, followed by the next volume of the LN.

[DarthEnderX]

Doesn't SAO only have 4 real arcs anyway?

[MasterOfMoogles]

They've animated Aincrad, Fairy Dance, and Phantom Bullet, volumes 1, 3/4, and 5/6 respectively.
They also animated most of the side stories from volumes 2 and 8, in line with when they actually occurred in the timeline chronologically. Episode 2 of the anime (1st floor boss battle) was a side story not included in the numbered volumes.
Up next is a side story from volume 8.
After that, they're animating volume 7, Mother's Rosario. It is arguable if you want to call this an arc or just a side story in the grand scheme of things.

Volume 9 starts the huge ongoing arc, Alicization, that is the rest of the novels (on like 14 or 15 now).

[DarthEnderX]

Oh, I thought the books were done already.

[Munsu]

So, when will recap shows finally become obsolete in Japan? They're annoying as fuck. The worst are the ones that try to feed you a new scene here, some new information there and forces you to watch the damn whole thing. Thankfully this one didn't seem like it added anything new and could get away with an easy 30 second fast forward. But it delays a new episode by a week, completely pointless.

[MFauli]

episode 15 is out
--------------------

this was worse than bad. it was simply boring. wow, so boring. we´re really supposed to be excited about watching kirito and co. go on a mere mmorpg quest now? there is zero sense of danger. it´d be equally interesting to watch Light go to school, learn some english, some math, then return home. and the episode would end before he´d start writing in his death note. no wait, that would be more interesting than this sao episode. :/

also, why the fuck would Sinon choose a cat girl avatar?! Girl who was portrayed as cold, independent and wary of all men suddenly dresses up like every guy´s wet dream. I guess ... the power of Kirito? :/

[MasterOfMoogles]

It would be kind of stupid if they were always fighting with their lives on the line.

Shino tries to use these MMOs to change herself.
She tried to be a cold, cool person in GGO to overcome her fears, so I guess now she's trying something different now that she isn't so traumatized anymore.
But really, what is wrong with you? Only mfauli would complain about more catgirls in anime :)

Also, lol at Scilica looking at her tail like "Why doesn't Kirito ever pull mine?"

[DarthEnderX]

I already like this arc more than the last one.

Although, I think there are way too many characters in this group.


suddenly dresses up like every guy´s wet dream.I guess I missed the memo.

[MasterOfMoogles]

This is actually a pretty small group considering they're going to fight some endgame type boss content.
7 is also a really weird number.
Most MMOs have parties of 4-6 and raid groups of 8, 16, 20, or larger.

I am excited for some actual group combat, though. Fighting the floor bosses in Aincrad was always pretty awesome, but we only really got to see 3 bosses (1, 74, and 75) and Kirito solo'd one of them.

[Kraco]

Also, lol at Scilica looking at her tail like "Why doesn't Kirito ever pull mine?"

Yeah, that was a pretty funny detail.

[NeoCybercoin]

Ahh well, I'm just gonna watch this for fun. If I want a good MMORPG anime, I'd just watch Log Horizon instead.

[shinta|hikari]

Too many girls.

I just want Sinon. That tail pull was probably the best part of this episode.

[DarthEnderX]

This is actually a pretty small group considering they're going to fight some endgame type boss content.
7 is also a really weird number.
Most MMOs have parties of 4-6 and raid groups of 8, 16, 20, or larger.No, I'm saying it's too many people for me to give a shit about in this show at once.

[kmkze04]

I just want to see Kirito and Asuna's SAO avatars return. And I do agree the Harem is growing a little too large to pay attention to the individual characters enough to hold interest. Even the entire GGO arc I kept hoping for the others to have at least a bit more role than wayside discussion on LC and Asuna sitting bedside.

On the note of Asuna, I don't understand her change to healer either, same with what mfauli said about the catgirl avatar. They just don't seem suited to the characters we knew before. Kirito has been fairly consistent, same with Lizbeth, Klein, and Sugu. But both secondary main characters undergo that kind of change after their respective arcs? Meh.

[Buffalobiian]

Kirito just totally loves touching Sinon. She's also the most bro-material out of the lot.

[MFauli]

episode 16 is out
-----------------------------


let me guess: Freya is gonna die, marry some random npc, turns out to be lesbian or falls for kirito. heavens forbid that Klein would get some pussy. :/

on a related note, I wonder how the sexual harrasment protocol works in this post-Aincrad world. I mean, Freya´s boobs rubbing against Klein, that sorta stuff shouldnt be possible with npcs, right? If it was possible to fuck npcs, we´d have heard of rape stories before, that´d be bound to happen with all these crazies locked up in the game. Still, it´d be nice if Freya became Klein´s gf, similar to how Yui and loli girl´s blue dragonbird are sentient mainstays.

As for the action ... I found that fight against the yellow bull-monster totally boring. First of all, dying isnt a problem anymore. Secondly, it was ridiculous how everybody kept slashing away at it, with cool poses and all, but it kept standing. This truly felt like a real mmorpg fight: boring, devoid of active skills and drawn out. That´s why I have no interest in mmorpgs. It´s all about hp points and stats, not about skill. Oh, and of course Kirito got to show off again :/

Now Im kinda left wondering what Thrym intends to do after marrying Freya. Stomp her to death with the tip of his dick when attempting to bang her?

[Kraco]

on a related note, I wonder how the sexual harrasment protocol works in this post-Aincrad world. I mean, Freya´s boobs rubbing against Klein, that sorta stuff shouldnt be possible with npcs, right? If it was possible to fuck npcs, we´d have heard of rape stories before, that´d be bound to happen with all these crazies locked up in the game. Still, it´d be nice if Freya became Klein´s gf, similar to how Yui and loli girl´s blue dragonbird are sentient mainstays.

If she's semi-sentient, then she could consent. Thus, no harassment. Dunno, maybe 18+ years old can have some action of that sort as well. It sure as hell would help sell the game! Business is business.


As for the action ... I found that fight against the yellow bull-monster totally boring. First of all, dying isnt a problem anymore.

Dying would have been a problem this time since they had ridiculously little time to clear the dungeon. Respawning who knows where would have wasted too much time. I guess they don't have town portals you can use to instantly teleport to another party member's location.

[MFauli]

Dying would have been a problem this time since they had ridiculously little time to clear the dungeon. Respawning who knows where would have wasted too much time. I guess they don't have town portals you can use to instantly teleport to another party member's location.

sigh, Kraco, I knew this would be brought up, hence why I included more than one complaint! :P

[MasterOfMoogles]

'cause you gotta make sure there are enough complaints in a post about SAO! :p

You kind of answered your other complaint, though. It is a fairly standard MMORPG, so MMORPG combat isn't surprising.
Kirito did kind of cheese the boss with Skill Connect, too (which was super awesome), since there is some delay on monsters when they're hit by sword skills. This gives his allies enough time to recover all of their abilities and launch them again.

I feel sad that you can't even enjoy an episode where all of the characters use their cool moves.

Sinon trying to pull some Legolas-type stuff, haha.

[MFauli]

I feel sad that you can't even enjoy an episode where all of the characters use their cool moves.


A move is cool when it does something cool. I thought Klein´s move where he ended up standing behind the enemy was really badass ... but it didn´t do anything but contribute a little to damage to the enemy. Without any reaction, the scene proceeded with the next party member unleashing a special attack .. that, again, didn´t do anything besides inflicting more damage.

It´d be cool if, for example, Klein had cut off one of the bull´s arms. Or blinded him by destroying its eyes. Or anything like that.

[Buffalobiian]

A move is cool when it does something cool. I thought Klein´s move where he ended up standing behind the enemy was really badass ... but it didn´t do anything but contribute a little to damage to the enemy. Without any reaction, the scene proceeded with the next party member unleashing a special attack .. that, again, didn´t do anything besides inflicting more damage.

It´d be cool if, for example, Klein had cut off one of the bull´s arms. Or blinded him by destroying its eyes. Or anything like that.

I thought it was way cooler that the bull was momentarily "cut".

[lelouch]

Yeah...i kind of wish they stopped after SAO & ALO arks... This is really just diluting the series. I couldn't get excited about this at all... "Oh no, the landscape of the game will change!" Who the fuck cares, that might make the game even more exciting. I might have even sided with the other guys. There's not really a lot at stake here, it's literally like just watching a group of kids play a video game.

[kmkze04]

Kirito said it himself - There's nothing more boring than watching someone else play an RPG.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm having fun.

Kirito using Fire with one sword and Ice with the other is cool looking.

And it's fun how even when it's time for elemental attacks, Klein still manages to be completely redundant when Kirito is around, also using Fire attacks. Whereas the girls all seem to use different elements.


If it was possible to fuck npcs, we´d have heard of rape stories before, that´d be bound to happen with all these crazies locked up in the game.What on earth would make you think that's a thing you would have heard about if it happened in the game?

With everything else that's possible in the game, why would that be the one thing that would somehow be impossible? But more importantly, why do you assume it's something that would definitely get mentioned, even though it has no relevance to the story?

"Alright, today we're gonna try and complete this quest and claim that legendary weapon! Also, did you guys hear about how NPC be gettin' raped all the time? Crazy right?"

[Kraco]

let me guess: Freya is gonna die, marry some random npc, turns out to be lesbian or falls for kirito. heavens forbid that Klein would get some pussy.

Now that I think about it, Freya turning down Klein and joining the Kirito harem might be a good thing. That could drive Klein to become hostile and the villain of the next arc or the one after. Of course in the beginning he would act all jolly and understanding, continuing to hang around the same as ever, but in the background he would be seething with wrath and working against Kirito (and his harem).

Too bad such writing would be beyond the author of this story.

[MasterOfMoogles]

That would be a pretty good plot for a joke episode.

[Ryllharu]

I have no idea if this arc was ever in the novels, but this seriously felt like SAO switched narratives entirely...and had to start with a 5 minute explanation from Yui about how it was possible. NPCs and bosses having some level of AI and self-determination is just too outside the box here. Even Yui was a system level AI.

It's as if they saw a certain other MMO series and decided to copy it.

You couldn't have the game's equivalent Yui-Level AI wasting time on having Frejya being Klein's in-game girlfriend.

At least the One-Time Only, world changing quests were a part of SAO from very early on, so that part at least makes sense, as does the quest auto-generation to support that.

edit:
...and I just convinced myself that not only was all this bullshit possible, it was actually probable based on what we saw in the original SAO game. Yui's level of intelligence makes a lot of things possible. I guess she can't be the only learning-AI program Kayaba developed.

[NeoCybercoin]

I have to say I prefer this over the BoB festival. Back into the fantasy RPG's. Just turn off your brain and enjoy.

[DarthEnderX]

Now that I think about it, Freya turning down Klein and joining the Kirito harem might be a good thing. That could drive Klein to become hostile and the villain of the next arc or the one after. Of course in the beginning he would act all jolly and understanding, continuing to hang around the same as ever, but in the background he would be seething with wrath and working against Kirito (and his harem).

Too bad such writing would be beyond the author of this story.Yeah, cause nothing would make for a more exciting climactic final battle of a story arc than Kirito sword-raping Klein in 10 seconds...


...and I just convinced myself that not only was all this bullshit possible, it was actually probable based on what we saw in the original SAO game. Yui's level of intelligence makes a lot of things possible. I guess she can't be the only learning-AI program Kayaba developed.Yeah, I was just gonna say, Yui's mere existence makes everything we've seen here completely within the scope of the series.

SOA already has crazy advanced AI that is capable of becoming self-aware. Everything happening here is pretty much just a less severe version of that. There's nothing that says that what happened with Yui can never happen with another AI in the system.

[Kraco]

Yeah, cause nothing would make for a more exciting climactic final battle of a story arc than Kirito sword-raping Klein in 10 seconds...

Why not? I don't know about exciting, as very little about this show has ever been exciting, but it would be dramatic enough for this story to make Kirito need to fight somebody he considers his friend, and make him aware of the reason why the person stopped being his friend. A friend instead of some murderous psycho bastard caring nothing for human life like the villains have mainly been so far. If it came down to it and Kirito needed to sword-rape him, then it being very easy technically for him would only make Klein's bitterness all the easier to understand, even for Kirito himself. It wouldn't certainly make him feel any better. Probably.

[MFauli]

sometimes i wonder why those japanese authors think that watching such a perfect hero is interesting to do. Same with Ichika from Infinite Stratos. I´d much rather watch someone like Klein, who has his flaws, follow him as he grows stronger, tries to get a girl and whatever. With Kirito, everything´s just gravitating towards him without any effort. Sigh, now im reminded of Sasuke ...

[MasterOfMoogles]

You better not watch The Irregular at Magic High School. The main character in that show makes Kirito look like a bumbling idiot. He makes Gary Stus everywhere feel inadequate.

[DarthEnderX]

sometimes i wonder why those japanese authors think that watching such a perfect hero is interesting to do.Because some people think it is.

[Buffalobiian]

Hellsing does it right.

[Kraco]

sometimes i wonder why those japanese authors think that watching such a perfect hero is interesting to do.


Because some people think it is.

There are MCs in shows that are utterly miserable and shouldn't be the heroes in the first place. In other series the hero starts relatively weak and gradually grows stronger, which might be the main type in shounen shows. Then there are those who are good to begin with. You just need to pick the stories you watch, which is great because that way everybody will have something to watch. Needless to say, if the original author is worth his ink, a story can be interesting and exciting in all the three cases. Like MOG said, compared to Mahouka, Kirito has been continuously struggling from one challenge to the next. In any case in my personal opinion a competent MC possessing a harem, if a harem he must have, is much better than a loser having one. At least in SAO's case it's not impossible to see why the girls would flock to Kirito. Compare that to IS, where the dude gets a harem simply because he happens to be the only guy in the school full of girls, despite his brain making depleted uranium look fluffy in comparison.

[shinta|hikari]

@MFauli - I like genius types more than hardworking types. It is a matter of preference. I know it is tempting to view something you do not understand or prefer as "wrong" or "bad," but it is something that you can easily avoid by understanding how vastly people's views differ. My personal reason for this preference is, rather than feeling excited, I prefer to feel awed by the characters. I am also able to empathize more with prodigies compared to the average joe.

[MFauli]

Well, guess it really is about preferences then. But the more I think about it, the more I´d love Klein to be the "hero" of SAO. Someone who´s sometimes clumsy, awkward and strong, but not unrealistically strong. Somebody who decides to help others despite knowing that he´s far from invincible and has to put his life at risk every single time. That´s why I also always liked Kuririn more than Son-Goku. When Goku fights, you know he´s gonna win somehow. But when Kuririn faces Nappa, or when he stands in front of Freezer, you wonder "wtf is this poor brave guy gonna do?!". And when he manages to achieve something, its all the more awesome.

Then there´s also the somewhat separate issue of romances. Part of it is me being jealous, surely. Kirito has it all, the skills, the looks, and the girls. He´s just too lucky. But then there´s also the part that simply makes it silly for someone to have a "harem". Yes, it´s an anime trope, but when an anime attempts to tell an engaging story, I would expect more than such silliness. Seriously, where is this leading? If you turn on your brain for a moment, whats next? Kirito and Asuna are a couple ad infinitum, theyre not gonna break up. So what is Silica´s, Liz´s, Shinon´s and Leifa´s plan for the future? Stay bitter singles forever? At some point marry a different guy, telling him "honey, Im sorry, but if there´s ever a chance, Ill let myself get fucked by this other guy. Hope you understand."? That´s why it´s just too silly, there´s no endgame.
To summarize, the legitimacy of a harem depends on the type of anime. Is it one of those cheap romance shows? Sure, whatever. But is it an anime that goes on about this epic Aincrad, players being trapped inside and dying? Then I expect more.

[Buffalobiian]

So basically it's down to either cheering for the underdog vs admiring the talented. And polygamy is still a thing, even if it's not legally sanctioned. I suppose the girls will just stick around until they get pregnant over him.

[DarthEnderX]

I think there's also an important distinction between being a perfect heo, and simply being the best at something.

Kirito isn't perfect, he's just the best one there is.


So basically it's down to either cheering for the underdog vs admiring the talented.And I think it's perfectly acceptable to be able to enjoy both of those things. I'm just as capable of enjoying a Naruto(early series) as I am a Goku.


But then there´s also the part that simply makes it silly for someone to have a "harem". Yes, it´s an anime trope, but when an anime attempts to tell an engaging story, I would expect more than such silliness. Seriously, where is this leading? If you turn on your brain for a moment, whats next? Kirito and Asuna are a couple ad infinitum, theyre not gonna break up. So what is Silica´s, Liz´s, Shinon´s and Leifa´s plan for the future? Stay bitter singles forever? At some point marry a different guy, telling him "honey, Im sorry, but if there´s ever a chance, Ill let myself get fucked by this other guy. Hope you understand."? That´s why it´s just too silly, there´s no endgame.

To summarize, the legitimacy of a harem depends on the type of anime. Is it one of those cheap romance shows? Sure, whatever. But is it an anime that goes on about this epic Aincrad, players being trapped inside and dying? Then I expect more.Well, there IS an endgame for a harem. It's when the guy picks one of the girls.

Which is why it doesn't work in SAO. Normally in a harem situation, once the guy picks someone, that's the end of the series.

Kirito has picked someone, but the series is still going on. So what we're seeing here is the weird awkwardness of what goes on with the Harem after it's supposed to be over.

[shinta|hikari]

That's a good analysis of the situation.

Asuna should learn to share a little. I have read harem doujins of SAO with more believable settings than the current one in the anime.

[MFauli]

A proper endgame would be:

- Kirito and Asuna marry
- Shinon leaves for GGO
- Silica finds a boy her age
- Klein marries Leafa
- Liz stays single because nobody likes her

[MasterOfMoogles]

Let's imagine a scenario with a real life MMO. To make it more realistic, let's say there are all guys and 1 girl.
The people in this MMO play together in the same guild because they're friends and have fun. Then the girl hooks up with one of the guys. Are all of the other guys just going to quit the guild even though they're having a good time? Most likely not. They'll still hang out, and probably continue to talk to and flirt with the girl a little even.
Heck, when I played WoW, our 40 man raiding group had a couple women. One was even married with her husband also in the guild, yet she still talked to everyone a lot and made jokes and stuff with everybody.

I don't think this situation is really that far from what is presented in SAO. The unnatural part, of course, is that the male to female ratio is reversed.

As for your endgame thoughts, some of them are questionable.
The only reason Shino played GGO specifically was to get over her gun issue. If she can have just as much fun with any other game while also playing with friends, why wouldn't she do that? Although she got over her gun trauma, she probably has new male/relationship trauma that she needs to get over.

Suguha is way too young for Klein. Like, seriously. Maybe if they hung out and 4-5 years passed and they were still interested, maybe...
If anyone, I think Liz gets along best with Klein. Still pretty young, though. Klein's like 8 years older than them (and Sugu is younger than Kirito).

Which brings us to your last point. Poor Liz... What's wrong with Liz? I don't think she deserves to be forever alone. She needs to get over Kirito, though.

Sugu actually already has a potential pairing in that random kid from her school who she doesn't really hate or anything. She just has major oniichan problems.

I think the most awkward part of the whole SAO harem situation is that Kirito and Asuna got married in-game, but not in real life. Kirito also has no idea how to handle all of these women coming onto him when he really has already decided.

[lelouch]

Suguha is way too young for Klein. Like, seriously.

Dude, this is a show where Suguha tried to bang her brother and where Kirisuna are raising a virtual baby. I don't think an age gap can be seen as a significant obstacle for something like this.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Sugu was actually doing a pretty good job keeping it to herself until Kirito totally messed it up by popping up in ALO. Even then, you're exaggerating.

I don't really see how Yui is relevant to this discussion.

[Buffalobiian]

The only problem with all of the girls is that they won't see much in Klein after being used to Kirito. That NPC is perfect for Klein.

[DarthEnderX]

Not to mention, the NPC is probably programmed to be predisposed to the player that rescued her.

[shinta|hikari]

People fall in and out of love all the time. These harem girls will find another dude or Asuna will learn to share.

[MFauli]

8 years is a huge age gap? Coe on, thats mean. There are currently two girls irl Im fawning over that are 10 years younger than me :Y

As for the reversed gender ratio: I dont think thats the only difference to your example. These girls arent just having fun and flirting a bit, they really WANT Kirito. That´s what makes it awkward.

[Buffalobiian]

As for the reversed gender ratio: I dont think thats the only difference to your example. These girls arent just having fun and flirting a bit, they really WANT Kirito. That´s what makes it awkward.

"I wish she'd touch my tail too... "

[Kraco]

Aren't those girls still high school students? They are merely having fun at the moment. Things will change once they graduate and move forward in life. I'd imagine Kirito & Asuna would get married pretty soon after graduation. Dunno about Klein, since he doesn't have any particular forced reason to move forward, but on the other hand when all the others do, he's forced to seek new company.

[DarthEnderX]

8 years is a huge age gap?Depends on the ages involved.

48 and 40 isn't a big deal. 20 and 12 is cause for concern.

[shinta|hikari]

@Kraco - Aren't Kirito and Asuna high school students as well? Even if they do get married, it doesn't mean that they will stay together forever. Kuroyukihime has divorced parents, after all.

[Buffalobiian]

Kuroyukihime has divorced parents, after all.

You're ruining my fantasy here.

[Kraco]

@Kraco - Aren't Kirito and Asuna high school students as well? Even if they do get married, it doesn't mean that they will stay together forever. Kuroyukihime has divorced parents, after all.

I don't know about Kuroyukihime's parents, but Kirito and Asuna have survived battles of life and death together. I'd say with a background like that they are more likely to stay together than average modern Johns and Janes who only care about their personal comfort.

[Buffalobiian]

Some couples can live through hard times together but not the good times. I'd like to think they'd stay together though, especially since they've already been virtually married and have a kid. You can say the online version's been a "good time" too, since they never had to toilet train Yui.

[Kraco]

Episode 17 - Horrible (http://nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=618063)




- - - - -- - - -





Why exactly did Kirito so dramatically throw the sword away and then moments later accept it all gleefully from Sinon? I can't help but think something was vastly different between the VN and this anime adaption, and the director couldn't make it work.

Too bad for Klein her lady turned into a bearded Norse god. But good for him he got a valkyrie's phone number. He can call her when he's about to die in battle the next time.

[MFauli]

god forbid klein could get a girl. and im not sure how he´ll be able to contact her, kraco.

also super weird that sword throwing scene. "it´s too heavy, away!", sinon gives it to him, "Thx!". okay.

[Kraco]

god forbid klein could get a girl. and im not sure how he´ll be able to contact her, kraco.


Skuld is a valkyrie, so he only needs to get himself killed in battle, bravely enough to be judged worthy. Though he would soon respawn, so it would be a very short reunion.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Why exactly did Kirito so dramatically throw the sword away and then moments later accept it all gleefully from Sinon? I can't help but think something was vastly different between the VN and this anime adaption, and the director couldn't make it work.
For whatever reason, they didn't mention that it was so heavy Kirito couldn't make the jump to get off the crumbling fortress.
Seems like a weird thing to leave out of the adaptation.

I'm not sure why everybody wants Klein to hook up with some AI...

[Kraco]

For whatever reason, they didn't mention that it was so heavy Kirito couldn't make the jump to get off the crumbling fortress.
Seems like a weird thing to leave out of the adaptation.

It was implicated it was too heavy... for him to use like a sword? However, if he could throw it like that, he could have jumped with it as well. It's not like his arms would have more strength than his legs. He could have also tossed it to the folks already waiting on the back of the flying tentacle monster. Not to mention if it was so super heavy, there's no way Sinon could have hauled it back up so easily.

Which is why I thought, when he threw it away, that he got rid of it because he wouldn't be able to use it like a sword in a fight. So, he wanted to level up considerably before claiming it again. But then Sinon retrieved it, and everything stopped making any sense whatsoever.

[Ryllharu]

For whatever reason, they didn't mention that it was so heavy Kirito couldn't make the jump to get off the crumbling fortress.
Seems like a weird thing to leave out of the adaptation.
They didn't need to mention it. It was straightforward. His hands were shaking from fatigue stating it was heavy, and he tosses it away with a sigh of regret immediately before making the jump. Not everything needs to be explicitly stated.

The surprise is that Sinon appears to have higher Strength than Kirito. I suppose it makes sense, he also puts stats heavily in Agility, while Sinon needed higher Strength stats to lug around her enormous rifle in GGO. Her skills in ALO convert over, and she likely needs very high Strength to draw her specific bow.

I honestly expected Liz to just take it and then make the jump. Blacksmith probably need very high Strength as well. Same with Mjölnir, Klein should have just given it to her. Poor Liz, always 3rd choice...

It's really dumb that Asuna doesn't fight anymore. Definitely a, "Let's make her even more of the perfect wife archetype by making her a pure healing type." Blegh. Take the second or third strongest fighter in all of SAO and make her nearly a pure caster in ALO. Ridiculous. Asuna doesn't strike me as the type who would just stand by, she never had before. If anything Silica should be the support/healer.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Sinon could only retrieve it because of the skill/magic she used.

They really needed somebody to be a healer. I don't think she specializes in healing, but she's probably just the best on their team at it. Also, just because swordfighting was the only way to play SAO doesn't mean someone wouldn't try out other types of classes in a new game.
And she's proven she'll run up and fight when she needs to.

[MFauli]

Shinon wouldnt have HAD to retrieve Excaliber, if Kirito hadnt tossed it away like a retard 5 seconds before! lol It just doesnt make sense. Even if you say that Shinon or Liz or whoever had higher strength stats than Kirito (which is nonsense regarding Shinon, who is a SAO noob, and no, her GGO stats did not convert over, that was never mentioned), why would Kirito toss the sword instead of ASKING his dear friends to carry it for him?! Is he too proud for that or wtf?!? But the nonsense doesnt stop there. So Kirito was too weak to use the sword, alright. But when Shinon gives it to him, he´s all happy suddenly, no problems whatsoever.

It´s a clusterfuck of not making sense.

And yes, it´d be awesome for Klein to hook up with an A.I. goddess. Hot virtual sex, while becoming the de-facto ruler over a whole virtual world.

Reminds me of my least favorite scene: Kirito kicking Klein in the face when he was about to mention Kirito´s popularity with girls. What was the, please? Like, does Kirito intentionally try to keep the girls from realizing about their own ridiculous fangirl behavior, cause he likes it? Was super weird.

Im in cam "Klein is justified to become the final villain".

[Kraco]

Kirito is dual wielding those bigass swords. He must have plenty of points in strength or he would tire exceedingly fast and not deliver any damage at all using only a single hand per blade. So, I won't buy the claim saying he was lacking there compared to the others. There's also the thing called inertia which would have allowed him to jump easily carrying the sword if he had run some steps before jumping.

[Ryllharu]

and no, her GGO stats did not convert over, that was never mentioned
They don't have to mention it. Kirito's stats converted to GGO. All the games created from The Seed are compatible. Stated explicitly in the beginning of the GGO arc. A character loses all their money (not sure about items or equipment, Kirito must have put them in a bank or whatever) when they switch games. They retain all their stats cross-platform.

Seriously, like I said in my last post, this show doesn't have to spell out every thing every single time. It's not hard to follow.

It does have some level of continuity, even if the plot and characters are ridiculous.

edit:
SAO and ALO are the only exception and can be safely merged because ALO was a reskinned copy of SAO with the activated weapon skills temporarily disabled and with a spell system added. They are compatible to the point of interoperability.

That's why the AI system Yui mentioned is still active. They copied it from an early build of SAO and it has been learning the same way Yui has been. Now it makes its own quests up and apparently modifies the world for new content.

[MasterOfMoogles]

The sword was so heavy he basically couldn't jump at all. He threw it away because he knew of no way for anyone to take it with them as he didn't know about the bow magic skills. Maybe he was hoping if it cleared the rubble they could go pick it up later. Obviously he is happy to have it now, since by leveling up some more he can actually use it later.
He is most certainly the strongest one there, nobody else could carry it and make the jump.

I don't think this was very well represented/explained by the show, though.

Klein being a serious villain is dumb. He doesn't even want any of these underage teenagers. He just likes to make fun of Kirito and hang out as friends.

[MFauli]

He could hold the sword fine in his hands, when Shinon gave it to him. And even if he totally couldnt jump with it, he could have simply gotten on top of the flying tentacle elephant first, before it had flown away some bit. The thing could have just flown directly underneath him, too. So many options, all of which would have made actual sense.



Klein being a serious villain is dumb. He doesn't even want any of these underage teenagers. He just likes to make fun of Kirito and hang out as friends.

Lol, Klein would love to bang Leafa or Shinon. I doubt he´s interested in Silica. But to ridicule him even more, this episode made a slight hint at Liz falling for him ... so the only girl Klein can get is the ugly one. :/

[MasterOfMoogles]

He could hold the sword fine in his hands, when Shinon gave it to him. And even if he totally couldnt jump with it, he could have simply gotten on top of the flying tentacle elephant first, before it had flown away some bit. The thing could have just flown directly underneath him, too. So many options, all of which would have made actual sense.
It's a video game. If you can't run or jump holding the sword with your stats, you can't make the jump. That's just how it is, even if the game lets you hold it.
Tonkii is AI controlled. It is basically part of a scripted event. They can't maneuver and they don't have time.
It actually all makes perfect sense.


Lol, Klein would love to bang Leafa or Shinon./
Lol, what? What in the world gives you this impression? You're just making stuff up now.

[shinta|hikari]

I have to agree with Mfauli (I know, I cannot believe it myself).

I have not read this in the LNs, and so much of it felt illogical. The delivery was horrible. I understand what it was supposed to actually be like after reading MoM's comments, but it looked nothing like that.

1) Kirito's throw of the sword was misleading. He could have just left it on the dropping piece of rock if he could not jump with it. A spinning throw felt like he wanted to throw it somewhere.

2) Sinon held the sword as if it was the lightest thing in the virtual world.

3) Klein getting kicked was utter nonsense. It was like that scene was just there to establish the harem, which isn't really a harem because one of the girls is his actual girlfriend. I understand that Klein is being used as a foil for Kirito, but this really isn't necessary for a character who is being accused as a Gary Stu for years now.

I understand that everything could have made logical sense, but the way it was presented was utterly illogical. The director for this could learn a thing or a million from whoever is doing UBW.

[MFauli]

It's a video game. If you can't run or jump holding the sword with your stats, you can't make the jump. That's just how it is, even if the game lets you hold it.
Tonkii is AI controlled. It is basically part of a scripted event. They can't maneuver and they don't have time.
It actually all makes perfect sense.


except this show LOVES to dismiss stats when it´s handy. When Shinon jumped up to the ice king´s face and kicked him in the face, that wasn´t a special move, she just did it. No stat based action. So when are players limited by stats and when arent they? And you´re ignoring the rest of my posting. There were many ways to handle obtaining the sword.


Lol, what? What in the world gives you this impression? You're just making stuff up now.

He´s a guy, he´s single, and he´s constantly eyeing other girls (mostly outside of Kirito´s harem, because nobody gets to take one of them away!!1). He went as far as to openly express his interest in an AI girl in front of the whole group. Yeah, Klein would love it to grab Shinon´s ass or get some calcium from Leafa. lol

[Buffalobiian]

What I don't get is why asking an AI out that you've never talked to earns respect. That was just weird, even more so than the sword thing. At least that explains itself after some thought.

[Kraco]

What I don't get is why asking an AI out that you've never talked to earns respect. That was just weird, even more so than the sword thing. At least that explains itself after some thought.

He didn't ask her out. He only asked for her contact info. While you could see it as desperate instead of brave, why not? Not many would have necessarily thought to do such a thing in the middle of the finishing part of the mission. He was polite about it and honest to his feelings, not letting the gallery embarrass him out of it. I think it was quite respectful. Kind of like having the guts to confess to someone whilst for example school mates are watching.

[shinta|hikari]

I think they were insulting him when they said he had earned their respect. He set the new standard for desperate and they recognized that.

[Kraco]

I think they were insulting him when they said he had earned their respect. He set the new standard for desperate and they recognized that.

Don't be so pessimistic. I don't think Kirito's group is supposed to be made of wicked bullies.

[shinta|hikari]

Kirito's kick makes me think so.

[Buffalobiian]

Liz sounded way too earnest there for that to be sarcasm.

[shinta|hikari]

It wasn't sarcasm. I think they were honestly awed at how low Klein can stoop. It is impressive in a way, as if he has mastered an art of some sort.

[Kraco]

As if Liz herself had ever achieved anything at all in her virtual life. She's like the number 5 or 6 girl queuing for Kirito's favour. She has absolutely no business thinking somebody else has sunk low. With Yui there, anybody thinking asking for an AI girl's contact info is crazy would be insulting Kirito and Asuna (and Yui herself, of course).

[DarthEnderX]

Why exactly did Kirito so dramatically throw the sword away and then moments later accept it all gleefully from Sinon?I didn't get it either.


Too bad for Klein her lady turned into a bearded Norse god.And a legendary weapon that he can't use.

I mean, why wouldn't they just give the hammer to the chick that already uses a mace that shoots lightning? Wouldn't she be fairly proficient with it?


I though there was going to be a swerve once Frejya turned out to be Thor in disguise. I'm like, "That doesn't sound like something Thor would do, that sounds like Loki", and it was going to turn out they were helping the badguy all along, especially when Thurm was all "Don't trust the Asguardians".

But, none of that happened I guess.


For whatever reason, they didn't mention that it was so heavy Kirito couldn't make the jump to get off the crumbling fortress.
Seems like a weird thing to leave out of the adaptation.Ah, thanks for the explanation. That makes sense, even if it's dumb.


Klein getting kicked was utter nonsense.I don't see how it's any different from when any other character whacks someone on the head when they're giving them the business. It's just slapstick.


What I don't get is why asking an AI out that you've never talked to earns respect. That was just weird, even more so than the sword thing. At least that explains itself after some thought.Haha, I thought the same thing. "He just asked a computer on a date, and that makes you respect him? Pretty sure that's the opposite of what a real girls reaction would be."

[shinta|hikari]

@Darth - It's not the action but the motivation behind the kick that was nonsense. So, Kirito WANTS to preserve his harem because he likes the current state? If so, then it isn't nonsense. Kirito is merely a player and an ass since he already has a proper girlfriend.

[Buffalobiian]

I don't see that much of a problem behind the kick's motivation. Kirito has a harem but is embarrassed when Klein calls him out on it. If a friend said instead "It must be sooo nice to be popular smart" in a teasing manner, I can see some sort of nudge/punch coming. In real life it wouldn't be a jumping boot to the face, but this is a video game so I make slightly more allowances.

It's still violence, but I can't see it playing out any other way. It's synonymous with those kicks or pinches under the table.

Kirito doesn't actually cheat on Asuna in any way. He maintains his friendliness with the others, and I do believe that Asuna would accept the current status quo. They're all her friends and she can't help that her boyfriend is popular. Shit would be going down if this was White Album or something, but alas this is SAO.

[DarthEnderX]

Kirito has a harem but is embarrassed when Klein calls him out on it.This.

The situation was that all the girls were glaring at him, making him uncomfortable, and then Klein was being snarky.

He was making fun of the emotional minefield that Kirito is forced to constantly navigate, WHILE he's in the middle of trying navigating it. A comedy kick to the face is appropriate.

[MFauli]

"forced to navigate" LOL

More than anything, the kick came across as Kirito enjoying being so popular with all the girls. So to keep it that way, he didn´t want Klein to openly point it out, thus potentially ruining it for him.

[DarthEnderX]

I think it should be fairly obvious that his concern is not for maintaining his harem, it's for avoiding hurting any of the girl's feelings.

[shinta|hikari]

Which consequently maintains his harem.

I wonder what all these girls are thinking? Aren't they suffering seeing the guy they like with his lover all the time?

[Buffalobiian]

I don't know. Most of them are friends who've gone through a death-game and just really like each other a little too much. They're a pride of lions where Kirito is ironically not the beta.

[shinta|hikari]

Which means none of them actually like Kirito that much. At most, they have a crush on him, much like how people like celebrities or 2d anime characters. This makes sense because none of them have actually spent a lot of time with him, excluding Asuna, the legal wife, and Suguha, the legal sister.

[Buffalobiian]

I agree. He's like the hot highschool guy archetype. They all like him because he's cool, but only two of the girls would instinctively die for him because they love him.

[MFauli]

I agree. He's like the hot highschool guy archetype. They all like him because he's cool, but only two of the girls would instinctively die for him because they love him.

I think you ... "under"estimate those other girls :>

[Buffalobiian]

I think you ... "under"estimate those other girls :>

I think they'll block a fire-breath in a video game, but they wouldn't block a bullet without thinking IRL.

[MFauli]

They would "think" for sure:

Criminal pointing gun at Kirito, he´s done for if nobody intervenes.
Silica: K-Kirito ... I-if I dont do something ... he saved Pina ... he never looked at me as more than a friend, but ... now I can prove to him what I really felt ... Kirito!
Shinon: N-no! I won´t let anybody hurt the person that saved me from despair. Screw you, scumbag. Kirito!
Liz: Nobody cares about me. But he was the only one to at least spend some time with me. Well, at least that way my suicide will be disguised as saving his life. Win-win situation. Ahem, Kirito!

[Buffalobiian]

They would "think" for sure:

Criminal pointing gun at Kirito, he´s done for if nobody intervenes.
Silica: K-Kirito ... I-if I dont do something ... he saved Pina ... he never looked at me as more than a friend, but ... now I can prove to him what I really felt ... Kirito!
Shinon: N-no! I won´t let anybody hurt the person that saved me from despair. Screw you, scumbag. Kirito!
Liz: Nobody cares about me. But he was the only one to at least spend some time with me. Well, at least that way my suicide will be disguised as saving his life. Win-win situation. Ahem, Kirito!

Exactly. They'd think.

The other two:

/sees gun
"Kazuto-kun/Onii-chan, watch out!!"
BAM
/scream <girl's name>!!!!!!!!!


By the way, Asuna's head-tilt at the end of the OP looks super weird. I had to get that off my chest. I'm also now super-conscious about where the axis of my head lies.

[MFauli]

The "Kirito!" at the end of each girl´s reaction was supposed to imply a jump in front of Kirito :P

[Buffalobiian]

I know, what I'm saying is that they wouldn't do it instantly nor on instinct like the other two would.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah, you left out the part where, 2 seconds into their internal thought processes, Kirito has already been shot.

Silica: K-Kirito ... I-if I dont do something-*BLAM*
Shinon: N-no! I won´t let anybody hurt the person that-*BLAM*
Liz: Nobody cares about me. But he was the only one to-*BLAM*

[shinta|hikari]

What the hell are you guys even discussing? LOL.

The characters died more times in your exchange than in the actual story.

[lelouch]

What the hell are you guys even discussing? LOL.


My thoughts exactly.

[DarthEnderX]

What the hell are you guys even discussing?Which characters would reflexively take a bullet for Kirito.

[Buffalobiian]

What the hell are you guys even discussing? LOL.



I wonder what all these girls are thinking?

Hey, you started this.

Recap:
Kirito kicking Klein -> Kirito's harem -> What are they thinking? -> How much do they love him? -> How readily would they die for him?

[shinta|hikari]

That last one is a pretty big jump. All I wanted to say is that this entire harem made no sense.

[Buffalobiian]

MFauli was talking about me underestimating the other girls, so I had to escalate it.

Out of the harem, only Sugu and Asuna have actually confessed to Kirito properly I think. Sinon kind of did while she was messed up, but I'm not sure if that counts.

[shinta|hikari]

Sinon didn't confess. It was more of a challenge+breakdown.

[MFauli]

Yeah, Shinon didn´t confess. She proposed. :|

[MasterOfMoogles]

No, she didn't.

[Kraco]

Even if she did, it wouldn't matter since Kirito the playboy hadn't bothered to tell Sinon he has a wife waiting back home. Married people usually don't get as many proposals as free ones, for a reason.

[MasterOfMoogles]

Yea, I can't believe he doesn't go around every video game he plays letting everyone he meets know he has a girlfriend.

[shinta|hikari]

He should have done that when Sinon was obviously coming onto him, though.

[MasterOfMoogles]

"Hey, I know you're having an emotional breakdown right now and trying to show me a point about how you need to overcome your issues yourself, but I just wanted to let you know I have a girlfriend, so don't do it in such a suggestive way. But I will still be your friend no matter what. Just don't want you to get the wrong idea."

[MFauli]

I mean, you´re making fun of the situation, but matter of fact is that Kirito started a whole bunch of shit when pretended to be a girl in the very beginning. But deceiving Shinon was okay, because he´s the hero ... right?

[MasterOfMoogles]

He only really used his girl persona to easily gain information (and accidentally at first).
He even revealed himself when it crossed the line.
I'm not sure what your point is about this.

[Buffalobiian]

I thought the fact he owned up to it right when she started stripping was pretty morally upright.