When Kirito almost died in episode 9, it really looks like Sachi to me. Matching hair color, short hair, mole, and voice. She doesn't look anything like Yui to me.
When Kirito almost died in episode 9, it really looks like Sachi to me. Matching hair color, short hair, mole, and voice. She doesn't look anything like Yui to me.
I looked at it again, I stand corrected.
[HorribleSubs] Sword Art Online 12 [720p]
---------------
Words cannot quite describe how horrible this series is, but I'm going to try. "Overhyped" doesn't quite excuse SAO anymore. It's not a matter of expectation versus "a sub-par adaptation". I can sincerely no longer fathom what led the novel readers to believe Sword Art Online is good. Don't get me wrong, I believe the author can write, Accel World proves that.
The problem is this: I can no longer sustain suspension of disbelief. I'm not sure that has ever happened to me before with anime, since I give it even more leeway than movies. Maybe at the often-terrible abrupt endings to series, but never in the middle. That is how terrible Sword Art Online is.
Let's take some highlights from this episode:
- Yui announces that she is a psychological sub-routine of the primary balancing system, intended to keep players sane while they enjoy SAO. How that is accomplished in the body of an 8 year old is beyond me.
- Oh, but the system that the creator has complete control over went rogue, and didn't allow it to run. While it is far more believable that he just blocked it from running for his own sadistic experiment, why the hell write a complicated psychoanalysis program if you ban it from running? Just make it equally sadistic for that end. You know, like Left4Dead's Director.
But it gets better:
- This psychological sub-routine is drawn to the blatantly disillusional, hero-complex exhibiting Kirito and his (now) hollow shell of a ultimate stereotypical heroine girlfriend/wife...and cites them as the two players in the game with..."normal parameters."
I had to pause the episode at that point and cackle maniacally. Kirito especially, but Asuna as well, are pretty obviously the single two most insane characters in the game. Kirito is happier here than in real life, and Asuna has announced the same. That alone isn't sane, and we've got plenty of other evidence that the two have substantial mental issues.
Then they try this:
- As Yui is being deleted, Asuna says, "I can't smile without you."
To the program she became a mother figure to literally 24 hours ago. What a lame-ass attempt at an emotional pull. It is utterly impossible to believe that she could have gotten that attached to Yui in less than a day, particularly if she is as "sane" as Yui claims the two of them are.
Then we round it all out with Kirito suddenly becoming an elite hacker on the game that he can barely even know how it functions (else they wouldn't actually be trapped here, would they?), much less be able to fire off such quick and bug-free code in milliseconds to not only convert Yui's program to an in-game item, also store her AI sub-routines within the data of his own NerveGear...the device that the creator continues to have complete access over.
But I could be wrong, Kirito clearly reverse engineered the NerveGear during beta testing and has complete access to its functions....right.
Without suspension of disbelief, it will be close to impossible to continue to enjoy this series. But I'm going to keep watching it so I can continue to point out how terrible it is.
Last edited by Ryllharu; Sat, 09-22-2012 at 04:59 PM. Reason: spelling
What Ryll said.
And yeah, Kirito´s sudden super-hacking skills were my personal worst moments in this episode. I kept asking myself "what the hell is he typing?! He knows shit about the games program code! And when did he learn to hack anyway?!"
Not to mention the ridiculousness that Yui was. I mean ... I ... no. No words. Well, one thing: NEVER in this anime was advanced AI a topic. And guess what - Yui´s story didn´t contribute anything to SAO´s plot. It was complete and utter filler. Unless, of course, we´re about to encounter more AI-characters. Which would suck. A lot. This is a story about real human beings being suck inside a virtual world. That is plot enough. If you want to touch the subject of AIs ... please create another manga/anime for that.
Another dumb moment: When the grim reaper-monster appeared ... why didn´t Kirito and Asuna just run to the rest of the group and use teleport crystals? Made no sense to engage in this fight.
I think she was made to actually appear and talk to players. The child appearance is probably to make it easier for people to trust and connect with her. People likeOriginally Posted by Ryllharu
loliscute things, after all.
The game was supposed to be a proper MMORPG so Yui was there by design. Kayaba just turned it off. Cardinal should still be under Kayaba's control anyway. It was probably easier than modifying it.
I think "normal" in the AI's perspective is how people should have been in the game without the death game modifications. People should be enjoying SAO after all. I agree that Kirito and Asuna are not normal considering the situation.
I absolutely agree with you. Forced drama sucks.
This is probably one of the worst things in the story. It is utterly stupid and could have been done in a more believable way, like Yui managing to save herself after being convinced by the couple to stay with them or something. An AI doing it is more believable than Kirito who was never shown to have programming capability. Why the hell would the admin access still be there anyway if the AI itself visually disappeared?
This has always been my most hated side story retcon in the novels. The entire Yui thing should have been scrapped.
Peace.
Grim reaper was lame, why the hell did its eyes rotate like in a comedy anime when it first hit Yui?
Why the long fire sword, when Yui then states she erased grim reaper? We now have an AI little girl with big fat ass fire sword that puts to shame any phallic sword in the game. How's that for your average geek mental stability?
I also reacted to the statement that only Kirito and Yui are "stable" or "sane".
Well, they mean to say they're the only ones not caring about the real world AND/OR being in love?
Because Klein seemed to be quite sane last time we've seen him.
The hacking:
Why the hell does he need a keyboard and screen in game when everything is connected to his real brain already?
Yui's arc overall:
How's that Kirito and Asuna can't even think for a second this was all some kind of manipulation?
Everything can be faked, from the first second they meet Yui to the item they got.
They even got a great help in having an unidentified over 90 monster wiped for them. Nothing comes for free!
I'm still wondering if there's some kind of relation between Kayaba and Kirito.
After all he was a beta player. He's even the only beta player we know, kinda strange he never had to fight/meet at least another one.
As other said, SAO world is pretty decent with a nice setting and all. There's great potential for nice stories/plot (Accel world I do not watch yet seems to be proof of that).
But clearly, having multiple side stories/arc with no real connection sucks a lot. Even if in the end there's a closing arc that will somehow try to connect everything, seems like it will suck a lot.
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
It serves as another reason to get the duo to fight again. (If you argued that Kirito/Asuna only needed each other in SAO and felt comfortable staying here forever, then Yui becomes a reason for them to exit SAO and live out their lives IRL instead. I guess it also gave an opportunity to explain some more game mechanics..).
Because the definition of "normal" is what the "norm" or "the majority" is, Kirito and Asuna do not qualify. However, I would say that they're psychologically functional in that they're not suicidal and shit like that. But as mentioned by previous posters, there seems to be plenty of other characters enjoying themselves who also fit this "abnormal" mentality.
Unless the pair are the first to have sex in this world or something..
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Hacking scenes, as always, are ridiculously silly. He couldn't be writing code, so he was probably just figuring out and using whatever GM tools were installed in the console. GMs can usually spawn items and do stuff to people's accounts. If Yui is some kind of property that can be applied to an item (previously applied to her body) and then he gave the item to himself.... Still pretty ridiculous. The binary matrix stuff they showed and super fast typing, lol.
Yui was drawn to their happiness and joy, something nobody else in the game really has. After 2 years of fighting for their lives, are they really that insane to want to take a break and just enjoy each others' company and live life without being under stress for every second? Especially with their recent near-death experiences. I think it would be a lot more unbelievable if they just went back to clearing the game. Just because they're in a game doesn't mean they don't want to spend time with the person they love.
At least this series doesn't require as much suspension of disbelief as Accel World. The internet doesn't work that way. It has a lot less whining, too.
I don't think anyone would disagree that Yui's arc is the weakest by far.
Also, a defective unstable and discarded subroutine judged the pair normal and sane. There's a lot of LOL in that statement
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
I can't speak for anyone else, but i started reading SAO after the first episode, which i thought was pretty good. I read through volume 1, which consist of episodes 1,8,9,10 and probably 2-3 more episodes worth of content. I thought it was ok and continue onto volume 3 (skipped 2 when i found out it was all side stories). I got about half way through 3 and went back to read 2. I didn't mind it too much, but i did get annoy with Kirito's magical hack power too. I then went through 3 and 4, which i thought were better than volume 1. I didn't really start to like the series until i went through volume 5 and 6.
As far as adaptation goes, i still really don't like the way that they went with this series. You can blame the source material for being bad and what not, but that just means that they took materials that was already not good to begin with and made it worst.
I actually went through volume 1,3 and 4 again to see if i simply excused too many things my first time through.
I honestly feels that it's not terrible. It's definitely passable enough to where people could like it because of the additional mmo element.
I'm curious as to why you want want to do that. It's one thing to hate certain elements of a show and continue to watch it for the things that you like. I don't see why you would want to waste half an hour every week and then more time posting just to watch something that you clearly hate.Without suspension of disbelief, it will be close to impossible to continue to enjoy this series. But I'm going to keep watching it so I can continue to point out how terrible it is.
Last edited by Dark Dragon; Sun, 09-23-2012 at 06:14 AM.
Nobody else has? What about Klein? He's pretty content with his guild buddies on the near-front lines. Or the other shopkeeper dude? Silica now that she's got her dragon back? What about Lisbeth, even if she's a bit down that she can't ride Kirito's bologna pony? I got one...the assassin guild. I bet they're super happy, they get to live out their fantasies of murdering people. Happiness and joy is really not the correct thing to be drawn to here.
The case for Kirito's lack of sanity is well documented in this thread. Refuting what has already been discussed requires spoiling with Kirito's thoughts, so it remains a valid interpretation. Furthermore, he's gotten worse. The two of them prefer this world to the real one. Kirito has always preferred it, as he told to Silica, confessing about his sister/cousin. He has a serious hero-complex, sympathizes with a madman (Kayaba), and the longer they spend here, the less he remains connected to reality. We've already seen him claim that NPCs are the same as people, when he refused to play along with Asuna's plan.
Asuna has started to admit much of the same, because rather than continue to develop the personality she had, they've decided to warp her into the perfect girlfriend for a sociopath like Kirito.
I never said it requires more suspension of disbelief, just that it decides to shatter its own. For Accel World, that is probably true, but there, you have the advantage of it being another 20 years down the road. A lot can change in two decades, and a story set that far in the future lowers the bar accordingly. The other advantage Accel World has is that they never tell you how the Neuro-Linkers work. That leaves the only thing that needs to be accepted is that brains can be accelerated to that rate. Augmented reality is nothing, we can do that (albeit badly) today, and full dives aren't any larger a leap since you already accepted that the Neuro-Linkers augment/stimulate brain activity somehow. I'm curious to see what else you think is needed with that series.At least this series doesn't require as much suspension of disbelief as Accel World. The internet doesn't work that way. It has a lot less whining, too.
So does SAO really have a lower bar than Accel World? At first, all that was required was accepting that a device like NerveGear exists, that the brain could actually be controlled by microwaves, and a device as small as NerveGear could produce enough output to fry a brain with those same microwaves in a matter of seconds. It's not too bad.
The problem is they completely squandered it with downright terrible plot points, largely due to terrible forced drama, horrible inconsistencies, outright contradictions, and a complete and total lack of foreshadowing. Things the author got a great deal better at.
The inherent value of a dissenting voice. There can never be any valuable discussion when everyone agrees. Nor was it the first time I finished a show I grew to hate. Guilty Crown anyone?
edit: What I do find intriguing is how defensive Sword Art novel readers are of this series. Not just here, everywhere.
Last edited by Ryllharu; Sun, 09-23-2012 at 06:34 AM.
I wasn't defensive. I loathe this arc. I only gave possible explanations to some of your questions.
If I had to give an explanation for those who are, it's because they are privy to some information that makes some of the worst parts of the anime acceptable. Like you said before, we are already coloured by information, and cannot really give perfectly objective appraisal like if we had not read the novel.
Peace.
...the comment wasn't targeted at anyone specifically (I deliberately referred to places besides gotwoot), but you're certainly being defensive now.
Way to prove the point, I guess.
I was defensive at being called defensive because it is untrue. I replied because I am a novel reader, and as such included in your accusation. If you had said "most Sword Art novel readers" I wouldn't have even bothered.
I am not defensive of the anime at all. I try my best to be fair in my assessment, and for some reason people keep attacking my opinions just because I read the novel. I say something sucks when I think it sucks, and say it seems fine when I think it is.
Peace.
We've never been shown that any of those people you've mentioned are happy.
Klein is shouldering the lives of his guildmates every day, working to clear the game. We've never seen him take a moment to relax or enjoy himself. In fact, most of the time we see him is in the middle of some big fight.
Scilica wasn't very happy at all when we first see her. While her attitude may have changed after meeting Kirito, that isn't going to make her daily life much better.
We don't really see much of Agil except when he's running his shop or fighting. There isn't any evidence he's enjoying himself at all.
Lisbeth is kind of crazy, falling for Kirito in one day. We do see a picture she has of some people, but again, not really enough information here.
I don't think crazy psychopaths murdering people count as joy and good feelings that someone would be attracted to. Maybe that is just me, though.
Regarding the technology/sci-fi aspects:
SAO, given NervGear, at least works.
Accel World needs more than just giving it the NeuroLinker. I can believe there is some way they can accelerate their brains, but that doesn't accelerate the Internet, unfortunately. I could even pass it off if you had to be wired up to use it, but we just saw one of the characters using it across the country in real time. That's a little much. The network speeds you would need to sustain accelerated gameplay are just ridiculous. The amount of forced drama, nonsense characters, and whining doesn't help, either.
I'm sorry you've been tricked into thinking the main characters are insane. I don't think there's any point in arguing this point further, since most of it has been discussed and the refutations were ignored. The biggest reason you see people defending SAO here is because the arguments against it are just so opposite to what people who've enjoyed the series think, it is impossible not to jump in and say something.
What I find intriguing is how pretty much everywhere else I look, people generally like SAO. You could argue it is one of the best shows this season, yet on this forum there is so much absolute hate for it. I've seen another blog or two that also don't like it, so it obviously isn't just here, but the reviews I've seen are generally positive.
I actually really enjoy reading your dissenting opinions, even if I disagree completely. Well, Guilty Crown was terrible. I'm just talking SAO here.The inherent value of a dissenting voice. There can never be any valuable discussion when everyone agrees. Nor was it the first time I finished a show I grew to hate. Guilty Crown anyone?
Last edited by MasterOfMoogles; Sun, 09-23-2012 at 02:23 PM.
It's not I like it, I just feel good parts are not shown and we get only everyday mmo life drama rather than a well written show. It"s even more frustrating when you feel the SAO universe feels pretty nice and has good material to create strong stories.
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
This was really terrible. Up until now I've been able to simply enjoy the story... show for what it is, mainly because of Kirito's amusing insanity and the nearly unfathomable fact that in a shounen show the male protagonist actually managed to get a girlfriend, get laid, and marry. However, so little in this arc made any sense and seemed to serve any purpose whatsoever that I simply watched this conclusion half the time laughing and half the time wondering what the heck I'm watching at all. I feel pitiful for hoping this would actually turn into a second, more solid, more long-lasting plot element running parallel to the main theme of beating the game and getting out.
The distortion in the previous episode wasn't really explained further, so I suppose there's a little chance something will come out of it... Oh, well, who am I kidding?
Not really meant to argue against you since I agree with most of it but thought he respects/respected Kayaba, if anything this episode showed that Kirito at least have some levels of anger aimed at Kayaba. Though I could have missed it but wouldn't sympathizes mean that he agrees with what Kayaba is doing? As for the second one it feels kinda normal, most would probably get less connected to reality after spending 2 years completely immersed in something.
At first judging by the intro I figured Yui was something similar to Aura in .hack but apparently not which leads me to wonder again, what exactly is Kayabas reason/point in doing all this? If the only reason is to force people to play/clear the game then this is utterly stupid.
You are here alone again
In your sweet insanity
All too calm, you hide yourself from reality
Do you call it solitude? Do you call it liberty?
When all the world turns away to leave you lonely
I giggled.
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