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Old 08-12-2012, 11:24 PM   #26
big bad birtha
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I doubt he really said that. Horriblesubs actually subbed this week's episode rather than ripping off CR like they usually do, and they tend to put a bunch of lines like that in their subs (you should watch their take on the first episode of AKB0048.)

As for my thoughts on the episode....eeeeeh. After episode 3, my enthusiasm for this show has gotten pretty low. I didn't really dislike the episode, but I wasn't crazy for it either. The best thing from this episode would probably be the Asuna end picture. Though as a character, like the show itself, I don't really care for her.
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Old 08-13-2012, 06:16 PM   #27
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Watched Episode 5 today. Still haven't read any of your posts and will probably hold off until I've watched Episode 6 some time later today. However, for now I'll offer my own thoughts.

I felt it was a pretty good episode as far as Sword Art Online goes. That isn't saying too much as the series has been hugely disappointing thus far, an inferior .hack//SIGN in just about every sense other than Eyecandy Asuna. The character animation is disappointingly similar to The Idolmaster's low-budget faces interspersed with higher-budget (but still not ufotable-level or P.A. Works-level) faces. The music's practically nonexistent being as forgettable as it has been. And the plot is pretty ho-hum too. However, pessimism aside, this was one of the series' better episodes so far. So I felt, anyway. So it'll be interesting to see what they do next week what they did this past weekend ^^; with Episode 06.

Episode 05 spoiler discussion:
Spoiler: show
I liked the opening scene since it showed that the Asuna we met in Episode 02 seems to have vanished and now there's this kinda bitchy hardass Asuna in her place. Sets her up nicely to be a tsundere (which I know is more minus than plus for some of you ^^; ) but it kinda goes against her attitude towards Kirito displayed in Episode 02.

I liked the post-OP scene where they showed Asuna and Kirito sleeping on the grass. Cute scene. Kirito's point to her was pretty legit but it was also pretty eerie: how can he be so calm enjoying this digital world that was created by a madman who has confined them to this deathtrap? ^^; But I still liked the scene.

When the guy got killed, my #1 suspect was the girl herself. It started to seem suspicious though once she met them at the restaurant and told them so much information that, were she really the culprit, she could've easily withheld without seeming the least bit suspicious. Obviously went out the window (lol) when we got to the scene with the open window.

Speaking of the open window, I think the moment you see that open window any seasoned veteran just knows that she is going to die and that her death is going to be because of that open window. And sure enough it was. However, I initially thought she was going to get sniped. Then I thought she was going to be driven to hysterics (once she started getting hysterical) and that this was going to result in her toppling backwards out the open window. Her getting a dagger to the back returned me to my initial theory. Not exactly sniping but close enough, same general idea.

What are Kirito and Asuna doing on the relatively low level of 57? Didn't bother to check the calendar dates against those from previous episodes yet. Maybe I'll do that later. For now I'm going to assume that we've been seeing things in chronological order and that this is weird from them to be back down on such a low level when they're both front-liners.

No solid idea on the culprit. I doubt it's the "husband" though I guess it could be. My theory about it being the blue haired girl is out the window. Could be anybody. If I had to guess somebody and the answer has to be someone whose existence we have already been made aware of, then I would guess the original murder victim herself, the one who was said to have gone to sell the ring but then never returned. It's possible that she and her "husband" are working in cahoots, he supplying the weapons and she using the ring to kill off their old guildmates one by one. Why she would do this, who knows, but I guess that would be my #1 suspect out of the available entries.

No solid idea on the method either. Not going to waste time trying to brainstorm ideas since the next episode's already out. (Sorry guys. ^^; ) I will say one thing though: I think it's pretty obvious that the +20 AGI ring plays into this. The culprit is probably using their boosted agility either in helping them with the killing or else with the getting away quickly so that no one can spot the duel victory announcement above their head. If it ends up having nothing to do with the mystery, then I bit the red herring hook, line, and sinker.

On to Episode 06!

P.S. LOL @ the gratuitous butt shots! The Asuna one was okay but the one with the blue-haired girl was what were they THINKING!?

P.P.S. Or should I call her Assuna?

Last edited by Talon87; 08-13-2012 at 06:19 PM.
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Old 08-13-2012, 08:04 PM   #28
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Well, Episode 06 sure was disappointing. ^^; Don't want to beat dead horses so I'll actually try to restrict my complaint-points for this to one sentence a piece @ 20 words or fewer. Here we go! In order!

Episode 06:
Spoiler: show
Either inappropriate direction with the voice acting or incompetent writing results in an emotionally schizoid Asuna. (example: 2m33s)

Asuna comes on way too heavy w/ homemade sandwiches, talk of marriage, etc.

Kirito responds way too awkwardly, unrealistically so, to Asuna's advances.

Kirito figuring out the full truth behind everything was just ridiculous, even for Sherlock Holmes. (first 5m12s, then 11m53s, and finally 15m43s)

Obsessed guildmates? Really?

Grimlock's motive for murder was fucking stupid.

Seeing Griselda's ghost at the end was the "are you kidding me" icing on the cake for this farce.

See? I promised you I'd keep it real short. But the fact that I managed to list off, *counts*, seven different things which were bad about this episode without even really trying ... yeah, this episode was chock full of disappointments and moments of disgusted disbelief. ^^; SAO keeps cruelly reminding us that the author ain't no Akiba Shakespeare. And no, you can't use the double negative against me. I'll spell it out more clearly: this guy can't write very well. ^^; Sure, he had an interesting (if borrowed! ) initial premise, but what he's done with it has been so disappointing that even if the show isn't bad I'm this close to just dropping it all together. I won't, obviously, because (1) the fans keep promising it gets so much better and (2) Asuna , but seriously, these two reasons may not be enough to keep me checking in. Were it any other season, SAO would probably be something I'd drop right around now. But Summer 2012 is such a weak season and I so very much want Sword Art Online to be the incredible lovechild of Battle Royale and .hack//SIGN that it was meant to be. That's perhaps the greatest single disappointment I've had with the show so far: it's just "Kirito helps random strangers out with life's problems" week in and week out, not Battle Royale like fans of the series billed this as. Maybe that means it will become more Battle Royaley later? But for now, it's just Kirito and occasionally Asuna, neither of which seems to have particularly special or fun-to-watch powers. A good Battle Royale is all about the various contestants having demonstrated powers, key advantages and disadvantages, and so far SAO has none of that. Kirito is merely "an able swordsman" and Asuna is merely "an able swordswoman." That's it. Even Kirito's Level 1 item drop black jacket has all been forgotten by this point. But oh well.

Negativity in the above paragraph pushed to the side, I actually enjoyed this episode a lot more (LOL!) than I thought I would. I glimpsed a few of your guys' comments (outside of the spoiler boxes only) and you guys didn't have very nice things to say about this week's episode. So I went in with some pretty low expectations, and to be honest the episode stayed above them until around that 15m43 mark I mentioned earlier. It was around then (and with the person who talks a lot soon after, if you know what I mean) that the episode plummeted towards the abyss of low expectations I had coming in. But before then it was cute. Even if Kirito is unamusingly awkward and even if Asuna is unamusingly schizoid, I do still like them, or at least I want to like them, and I like that this episode represented another stepping stone in what I can only imagine will become both their romantic and their professional relationships.

If I had to update my episode rankings, 4 > 5 > 1 > 3 > 6 > 2
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Old 08-13-2012, 08:56 PM   #29
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Reply to Doppel's thoughts on Episode 05:
Spoiler: show
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Asuna offers Kirito a hand-shake, he shakes her hand, then she suddenly remembers men have cooties and wallops him. I'm sorry if I don't find that moe, it seems a tad retarded for my taste. I'm not a fan of stupid girls and that was certainly really stupid.
Hahaha. Quite true, quite true. I just think this show isn't for us, Doppel. We're too old and we've seen too many animes, especially ones which can handle this sort of thing better. But for someone younger who's only just starting to watch anime? I suspect this must be moe comedy gold.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Kirito's brain is as mysterious to me as a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. How did Mr. Kellogg make a snow-flake from corn. Likewise, I don't understand how Kirito goes from "COME AT ME BRO" style loner to sleeping with a girl and hanging out with her guild friends.
You're 2 for 2, hotman! Don't stop now!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Come the mystery of Part II, I couldn't help but suspect Yoruko. Explaining how Sleep PKs work and why someone would have an interest in killing Yoruko's man and herself was good setup (and the only good of this episode), but Kirito and Asuna arranging a meeting with one of the front liner commanders from a huge and powerful guild smelled like she was using them to bait out the guy from protection, so she could murder him.
One of the various things I considered too. I'm sure we all probably considered the same four to seven (arbitrary numbers ) things when watching this all unfold.

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Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
I didn't expect her to die until she stood by the window. That lowered my expectations a lot...I had felt the author was building tension for a twist, but instead he's having this little mystery play out very predictably (either the weapon-smith is behind it, or his lover is alive and killed him).
See above.


Reply to Yuki's thoughts on Episode 05:
Spoiler: show
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Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola View Post
I felt the same way about dragonthing in episode 04, but at least the little girl has an excuse by virtue of being innocent and having formed a personal attachment. And Kirito was just being nice because she was a fellow human being who even reminded him of his sister. At the same time, he was manipulating her for his own gain, so we know he can (and perhaps should rightly) be selfish (if he wants to live).

Kirito's creed from the beginning was "I will survive". You'd think he'd be mature enough to recognize where his priorities should lie in order to help himself - not to mention other real people - survive. Like you said, maybe if Kirito had given a stronger speech as to why the villagers shouldn't be sacrificed, his reasoning might've been easier to buy.
Forgot to reply to this when Doppel brought it up. Honestly, I put it out of my mind fairly quickly. I do agree that it was kind of silly considering they're fake people, but I think it was intended to illustrate that Kirito is substituting Aincrad for the real world. This was then further illustrated after the opening credits (hence why the two scenes were juxtaposed) when he explains to Asuna why he can enjoy the nice weather here and why she should give it a try as well. Obviously it's a bit alarming to us that Kirito is starting to blur the lines between actual people and NPCs, but if you consider that Kirito is beginning to treat Aincrad like the real world, then it makes some modicum of sense that, in his mind, the line is becoming blurred. I think you're meant to be alarmed by this. I think the author wants you to freak out and be like, "Uh oh! What're you thinking, Kirito? Answer me! "

Quote:
Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola View Post
I'm not sure whether you're just being sarcastic and I'm stupidly taking the bait, but female intuition tells me the reason she let go and punched him wasn't because she suddenly realized "EW BOY GERMS" but because he inadvertently brought up the fact that he saw her in a unattractive compromising position. Girls are weird about being seen when they're not "looking their best" weak defenseless exposed like that especially around guys they like. Don't ask me why.

Just thought I'd offer my view if it helps clear up the craziness of the female mind. XP Unless I'm wrong and you didn't need specification, in which case I'll feel pretty stupid sheepish. ^_^;

It was still a pretty dumb move though, especially given the situation. >_>;
(copying and pasting from Skype) Well, yeah, obviously she did it because she felt he had been watching her sleeping. But it's still silly moeservice that isn't very reasonable. Pull a sword on a guy and then offer to buy him dinner?

Quote:
Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola View Post
On that note ... WTH buttservice shot when Kirito's asking a girl about her possible boyfriend's death. =| And again when Asuna was reaching over the table to prevent Kirito from stabbing(?) himself with the same sword that killed the guy. -.- Not cool, man. Save the random fanservice for a less serious scene, please.
Yeah. ^^; This isn't just a gender thing either. Though then again, I'm not really an ass man, so maybe someone who is way more into butts would disagree and say they loved this fetish fuel. But I thought the one with Asuna was lol and the one with Yoruko was borderline offensive (though I fell to the chuckling unoffended side of the fence in the end rather than the direction you seem to have fallen ^^; ).


Reply to Doppel's thoughts on Episode 06:
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Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
And if Asuna could tell Yoruko was still alive through her Friend's list...why didn't she bother to check it earlier??
Yeah, this was something I thought was dumb too ... at first. Then I realized, "Y'know, it's actually not dumb. She would've checked eventually anyway, that much is true, but why would she have been checking her friends list over the past two to three hours? Her mind has been focused squarely on the emergency mystery at hand. The only reason to look at the friends list would either be to call people (possible) or to check to see if Yoruko is dead (HIGHLY UNLIKELY)." In fact, Doppel, I decided that had Asuna thought to check her friend's list to confirm Yoruko was dead and had she done so prior to Kirito introducing the possibility to her that Yoruko might still be alive, I'd have levied the same criticisms for impossible Holmesian insight against Asuna that I levied against Kirito.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Did I mention that Asuna's passive-aggressive attitude toward Kirito is starting to get obnoxious? I accepted what LBC said earlier as a possibility for her behaviour (Kirito caught her at a period of vulnerability, and she was conscious of that) but since then she's done the same thing without a hint of what happened the day before. It's really childish, and not even tsundere. She's literally reaching out to him just to pull him close so she can slap him or something. It's not even at the point of "denying feelings violently", it's like a little girl giving a boy in her class a valentine, then going KYAA, COOTIES!
Similarly agitated. I think some of it may have to with how they directed the voice actress for Asuna. Or at least I want to believe that's the case. Because the alternative is that the author of SAO is just that bad and I really don't want that to be what's actually going on here. -.-; ^^; But yeah.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Grimlock's also a moron for standing right there to get caught, then collapsing from a one word accusation by Asuna. Real people aren't so mentally flimsy they'd crumple from something so little, unless Grimlock was incapable of introspection.
The poor character writing in this scene made me want to vomit. The episode was chock full of moments like this one, and this was absolutely one of the worst. "You'll understand some day yourself, boy, when someone you love is about to be taken from you""no, he won't, because you never really loved her""OH IT'S TRUE ;_;". It felt juvenile. Like drama for teenagers written by a teenager.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
The amount of paternalism in this show was blatantly offensive, and the articulated philosophy of love stunted at the elementary school level. Not just what Grimlock said - he's not meant to be the author's voice in this - but Asuna's musings on the role. There's a lot to complain about.

Asuna is basically advocating 100% transparency between married couples, so there aren't any secrets. The two people forfeit all privacy and personalization to be completely consummate with one another. I don't agree with this and I don't think non-amateur writers tend to, either. Strong relationships are built on trust and this kind of "pragmatic solution" obviates the role of trust.

While Grimlock's attitude was definitely meant to be disgusting - he killed (I hope that 'ghost' wasn't a ghost, but was Griselda still living) his wife because she got a little outgoing in SAO (not because she was flirting or anything, no siree bob!) despite having all the "virtuous qualities" he had in a wife. Obedient, loyal, beautiful. You could tell that, even though the author was trying to prop up Grimlock as a monster, that he probably felt that those are the ideal wife qualities in the end.
I'm willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt for now with Asuna. It's entirely conceivable that Volume 1 Asuna is not his mouthpiece for his views on marriage but that instead he created a naive little girl whose views on marriage are ones she borrowed from playing with her dolls and plastic teacups ... and that he intends to challenge her views as we press on and that, by (say) Volume 10 or what have you, Asuna's views on marriage will have changed from the ones she holds now to the ones you wish her to hold.

That stated, I do think there's something to be said for it being romantic that you would want someone else to inherit your loot rather than allow that loot to just disappear into the Aether when you die. Maybe "romance" isn't quite the right word to use for the feeling this thought evokes in me, but it's ... sweet. *shrug*


Reply to Char's thoughts on Episode 6:
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I read some of the manga before watching the anime. Watched the anime, moved onto the light novels, and I think (and hope) there are future episodes that'll be of higher quality.

I don't have much to say about Episode 6. I thought it was the worst episode so far. Especially in terms of feel. The buildup in the previous episode was good enough, but the follow-up was lacking.

Spoiler: show
The explanation for the actual "murders," with the teleportation crystals and armor expiring was okay, the solving of the mystery was too unbelievable for me, and whole thing seemed to progress weirdly.

I hated how Grimlock was characterized and how he was caught/how the whole thing ended. Some character development, but I thought it was a messy episode, especially since I want to remain optimistic for this Anime.

3/10. I hope this was just a weak episode (or that I was just imagining things).
Not much new to add, I'm afraid, 'cause I've already addressed most everything either in my own post or else in my response to Doppel just now. ^^; But I'll agree with you that this was a disappointing episode. I dunno about 3/10, but then again, I did rank it second from the last of the six episodes we've seen so far, so obviously I didn't care for it that much compared with the others. And yeah, the part with Grimlock was definitely the worst part of the episode. Guy's motive was weak. Was hard to take such a person as seriously being married IRL. And the way he crumbled when Asuna challenged his beliefs was just loltastically weak writing. If you're saying it was better in the book, then maybe we should all just quit hating on this weak anime and should go read the books. But for now, I will not! For now, I'll stay put and keep watching the show, unspoilered by knowledge from the novels. If you decide to press ahead without us though and if you can verify that the books are amazing and we should drop the show like a bad habit, then please do let us know.


Reply to bbb's thoughts on Episode 6:
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Originally Posted by big bad birtha View Post
I doubt he really said that. Horriblesubs actually subbed this week's episode rather than ripping off CR like they usually do, and they tend to put a bunch of lines like that in their subs (you should watch their take on the first episode of AKB0048.)
I've been watching it with UTW rather than CrunchyRoll. Then again, UTW admits that they're just lightly touching up the CR script for this one so ... =\ ^^; ... probably doesn't make too much difference who you choose to watch it with.

Quote:
Originally Posted by big bad birtha View Post
As for my thoughts on the episode....eeeeeh. After episode 3, my enthusiasm for this show has gotten pretty low. I didn't really dislike the episode, but I wasn't crazy for it either. The best thing from this episode would probably be the Asuna end picture. Though as a character, like the show itself, I don't really care for her.
I still think she's probably the cutest character design high school girl of 2012. But yeah, looks'll only get you so far. As a character, she's been a letdown thus far.

Phew! @_@ I think that's everyone.

Last edited by Talon87; 08-13-2012 at 09:01 PM.
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Old 08-13-2012, 11:03 PM   #30
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Originally Posted by Talon87 View Post
Reply to Char's thoughts on Episode 6:
Spoiler: show

Not much new to add, I'm afraid, 'cause I've already addressed most everything either in my own post or else in my response to Doppel just now. ^^; But I'll agree with you that this was a disappointing episode. I dunno about 3/10, but then again, I did rank it second from the last of the six episodes we've seen so far, so obviously I didn't care for it that much compared with the others. And yeah, the part with Grimlock was definitely the worst part of the episode. Guy's motive was weak. Was hard to take such a person as seriously being married IRL. And the way he crumbled when Asuna challenged his beliefs was just loltastically weak writing. If you're saying it was better in the book, then maybe we should all just quit hating on this weak anime and should go read the books. But for now, I will not! For now, I'll stay put and keep watching the show, unspoilered by knowledge from the novels. If you decide to press ahead without us though and if you can verify that the books are amazing and we should drop the show like a bad habit, then please do let us know.
Spoiler: show
I gave it a 3/10 mostly because I thought it was a bad follow-up to the previous episode. The wasted potential factor hit me a lot, and well yeah the episode was messy. If 5/10 is average, then I stand by my 3/10 rating for this episode :P.

The books aren't necessarily amazing (I'm reading English translations so who knows), but I truly believe that the anime has the potential to make the books come to life in a better manner. I even feel like the SAO anime had/has the potential to be even better than the books in terms of entertainment. There are certain episodes I'm looking forward to, and I really hope the anime doesn't butcher them. I'd say keep watching and be hopeful like me .
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Old 08-16-2012, 09:14 PM   #31
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Re: Asuna

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Spoiler: show
Did I mention that Asuna's passive-aggressive attitude toward Kirito is starting to get obnoxious? I accepted what LBC said earlier as a possibility for her behaviour (Kirito caught her at a period of vulnerability, and she was conscious of that) but since then she's done the same thing without a hint of what happened the day before. It's really childish, and not even tsundere. She's literally reaching out to him just to pull him close so she can slap him or something. It's not even at the point of "denying feelings violently", it's like a little girl giving a boy in her class a valentine, then going KYAA, COOTIES!
Yeah, Asuna was annoying this episode. =|

Spoiler: show
The foot-stomp was just silly. What a waste of a perfectly good sandwich. >_> It's a compliment, girl, just take it. And the fork was overkill. ...Although maybe she thought he was implying she was old(er than she looks) or something. *shrug*


I still think you're kinda confusing "cooties" for... Whatever it is she's doing, but meh. ^^;

Aside from that, you guys pretty much made all the complaints already. Decent mystery with weak motive and characterization. Next!
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Old 08-19-2012, 01:30 AM   #32
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Episode 7, this is one of the episodes I've been waiting for based on what I've read in the light novels. It was a part of the side-stories in the novel, so it's a side-episode (mostly at least), but it was one of my favorites in the light novels.

Haven't watched it yet besides the intro, please don't suck.

EDIT: Nothing really spoiler worthy but I might edit it again so:
Spoiler: show
Eh...it was okay. I think the Silica episode might've been better. They're different styles of episodes though, so it's a bit hard. This one had more potential, but it felt kinda rushed. I don't think it needed a 2-parter, but the development didn't seem realistic enough to me as a 1 episode side story :p. All in all I liked the episode though.
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Old 08-19-2012, 04:44 AM   #33
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I hate to go all ape-anal every week, but this episode was pretty weak and was saved from an "F" by its last 15-20 seconds. It wasn't nearly as bad and insulting as last week's partial birth abortion, but I think SAO is definitely found its equilibrium of mediocrity.

Spoiler: show
I was really critical of Lizabeth until her admission at the end - she strongly desired something material in an immaterial world and felt closer to Kirito because she felt his warmth (concern?) was real. I think that was connected to her otherwise implausible, two day tsun to dai-dere metamorphosis.

Because of that, I give Liz a pass, although both Kirito and Asuna still have that rough, awkward and detached interactions with self and others. The paternalism remained strong with the implications early on that Liz needed a man in her life, then trying to elicit sympathy by the audience by making this obviously intentional moe girl being crushed by Asuna having dibs on Kirito. I could almost imagine the "there there Liz, I'd marry you ;_;" attitude from disappointed viewers.

Kirito counseling Liz was too cliche, I saw it coming a million kilograms away, but it pissed me off because to accomplish it the author had make Kirito a dumb fudge. Girl is crying because the object of her affection is un-attainable, last thing she needs is said object GETTING IN HER FACE. -_-

The episode combat was poor in this episode, and I think by now we've established that if SAO is an action title, it is piss poor as one and really serves to showcase Kirito as a love nucleus orbited by several Tohno Glans.


6/10
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Old 08-19-2012, 11:35 AM   #34
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Oh wow, I look away for a while and the thread bursts into life.

What I personally am getting annoyed by in this show is the fact that after episode 1 pretty much every bit of story follows the pattern of "Girl X gets the hots for Kirito, Kirito doesn't get it, Asuna comes play alpha female". Sometimes the Asuna-part is left out, but...seriously, writing team?

I almost get the image that 95% of SAO are teenage-girls. What happened to Klein and all the, you know, males? They only seem to show up to be laughed at or to die for dramatic effect. I'm almost tempted to count Kirito as a chick since his art is the exact same way as the girls' to top off the whole thing.

As for Asuna...my lord. I find it very, very hard to like her for some reason.
Spoiler: show
Could it be the constant clinging to Kirito's side? The behaviour and dialogue that's asking for a blinking neon-sign saying "KIRITO MARRY ME RIGHT NOW I LOVE YOU"? The alpha-female-ism? The fact that, of course, an awesome female player must look like a supermodel, instead of sticking in a touch of realism?

I haven't got the slightest idea why the show seems hell-bent on stuffing the viewer's nose into the fact that Kirito and Asuna are The Main Couple of the whole program. It's gotten boring really fast - and we're only seven episodes along! Writers, we get it, now give me more Klein!

Every time I see the opening I'm reminded that SAO has so much potential, so many things it could go for...and the writing team chose a single, very boring relationship on the expense of everything else.
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Old 08-19-2012, 01:32 PM   #35
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I found this side-story to be slightly more entertaining than most of the others, but other than that I agree that this is still pretty flawed. This is supposedly the last side-story episode, and the real plot will be starting in the next episode, so I'm still holding my hopes that this will get better.
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Old 08-19-2012, 04:53 PM   #36
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Watched Episode 07. Am I the first person here to have really enjoyed it? ^^; Cliché but well-executed, I felt. I don't really feel like defending the episode's merits right now and I don't feel like repeating what's already been said about its weaknesses so I guess I'll just update my episode list for this week:

4 > 5 > 1 > 7 > 3 > 6 > 2 (with 1 and 7's spots and subsequently 5 and 7's spots possibly switched)

And I guess I'll say a few very brief things:
- liked Lizbeth
- don't bear Asuna any ill will
- disappointed with just how haremy this series has turned out to be
- going to laugh if/when every single one of these girls (even the Episode 03 girl!? XD) comes back and teams up with Kirito
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Old 08-19-2012, 09:42 PM   #37
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I thought 7 was one of the better episodes. It wasn't great, but it didn't leave me going "HAAAAH?!" during multiple occasions. I did once though.

Lizbeth's interactions with Kirito were actually kinda nice. It wasn't the same bad tsundere attempts we get with Asuna. It would have been better if it wasn't for the other girls he had similar moments with.

Kirito....I can't help but feel he's talking out of his ass. I don't buy a damn bit of his speech to Lizbeth.

Also like last week, the end picture was nice.
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Old 08-20-2012, 06:13 AM   #38
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Originally Posted by Talon87 View Post
- disappointed with just how haremy this series has turned out to be
- going to laugh if/when every single one of these girls (even the Episode 03 girl!? XD) comes back and teams up with Kirito
I wouldn't put that beyond the writing team. But in that case I want at least an OAV detailing the absolute slaughtering of Kirito when all the single otakus in the SAO-universe find out.
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Old 08-25-2012, 12:33 AM   #39
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Just watched episode one...

Holy Hell, I actually care about the characters. Most anime that people convince me to watch are bad. I forget exactly what I've seen, but it's been mostly garbage. This is actually interesting to me, probably because of the whole, "trapped inside a video game" thing. But it's not only that, though. When Klein left, I actually felt emotions. Very well written so far... haven't looked at what any of you have said about it because spoilers, though. But from what I hear, just about everyone thinks it's great.
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Old 08-25-2012, 07:45 PM   #40
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Hm Episode 8.

Weren't they still up to the 70s Floors before the 2 year skip? If so, that's some fail progression. Kirito still being able to kick everyone's ass is kinda lame. I want to see more strong players aside from Kirito and Asuna. Maybe that guy in the cloak with that symbol on his hand will be there to give Kirito a hard time. Either way, this episode was somewhat funny and a nice set up for the boss fight next episode. I will rage if they skip over that too.
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Old 08-26-2012, 11:43 AM   #41
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Episode 8 was a pretty good episode for SAO and possibly my favorite one yet. There were a few problems here and there but I'll save those for after I discuss the things I liked or found interesting.

Spoiler: show
The fact that two years have already passed is not only interesting but helps to set SAO apart from several other "trapped in a video game" tales. Most such stories have the heroes escaping before their bodies would succumb to hunger. A few, like .hack//SIGN, deal with someone who is being kept alive through artificial means but even those don't allow for years to pass before the mystery is solved. I'm pretty sure the events of .hack//SIGN wrap up in under a year, quite possibly in under three months. So it's interesting to see here in SAO that two years have gone by and they're still trapped inside. It raises some questions. Have two years really gone by on the outside or have the trapped players' brains been tricked into thinking they've experienced two years' worth of time when really they've only been plugged in for less than a month, a day, or even an hour? Say two years really have gone by. Why haven't the authorities found the madman who crafted this game? Even Saddam Hussein was found less than two years after the American invasion of Iraq and he was a powerful leader with connections and money. Where could this nerdy guy possibly hope to hide that he wouldn't be caught? Why wouldn't scientists have found a way to safely disconnect players? (For instance, why wouldn't they have found a way to emit some sort of electromagnetic pulse which while sparing the player's body fries the very mechanism intended to fry their brain before it can fire?) How many more players have died due to freak power outages? (Ask yourself: has where you lived seriously gone without a power loss due to rolling blackouts or lightning storms or construction work or any cause at all for the past two years!?) In fact, the preponderance of questions all the more leads me to believe that two years haven't really passed in the real world: while they've experienced two years' worth of memories inside the video game, on the outside time hasn't passed all that much. If the deaths are real, then perhaps a month has passed. If even the deaths were never real, then perhaps as little as one hour.

Asuna getting fed up with her guild and deciding to duo with Kirito is something which has been foreshadowed by the promotional artwork and the opening credits (so since the very beginning), but it's cool to see that plot line finally moving forward by feet rather than by inches. Kuradeel is a textbook case of the creepy man in his 40s who has an obsessive thing for a girl in her upper teens. To be honest, he feels plagiarized quite reminiscent of the captain of the Silver Knights in .hack//SIGN, the one who was Subaru's number one officer. But whereas the Silver Knight was actually a child who was playing as an older male, Kuradeel is authentically an older male. His obsession with being Asuna's protector is pretty creepy and this episode, with Kirito humiliating him in front of both Asuna and the general public, perfectly sets him up to become a twisted villain. I enjoyed the duel though there was little tension involved -- you know Kirito's going to win -- because it was great for them to (re-)establish that Kirito is so very powerful and that so is the sword Lizbeth made for him.

I know Doppel will probably have some negative things to say about the author's chauvinism regarding Asuna -- and I will too in just a second! -- but first I want to say that I actually enjoyed the dinner date. The way the author (Kawahara Reki) got us there was a bit clunkily forced -- when Kirito points out to Asuna that she must have known he was still alive just by checking her friend list it almost feels like the TV writers are poking fun at the author of the books saying "Dude, you honestly couldn't come up with a better reason for her to come and check on Kirito? ^^;" -- but once Creepy Kuradeel is dimissed and it's just the two young lovebirds hanging out as Asuna's, it was fun.

While I did enjoy the episode, I have some concerns of my own. First is Kawahara's contradictions regarding Asuna. As the vice-commander of the most powerful guild on the server, you know Asuna is strong. But as a front-liner, you also know that she's willing to risk her life to get her and the others home. People can change over time, but Kawahara has her declaring two years later that her resolve to get home is still strong, that she still has things she wants to do that either can only be done on the outside or else she will only be satisfied by doing on the outside. So he tells us, as the author. So he declares that Asuna very much so wants to get home and not dilly-dally in Aincraid. Why, then, does Kawahara have her maxing out her cooking skill, a skill you'd associate with someone who is planning on staying in Aincraid for the long haul, not one you'd associate with someone who is trying to maximize their battle prowess so they can get out as soon as possible? In real MMOs, cooking is usually one of the most worthless talents you can pour your talent points into. People usually only do it for character flavor or else (in games where this is a doable thing) because they've already maxed out all the other talents. Most cooking skill-prepared foods in an MMO don't afford that much better HP or MP than the stuff you can get from treasure chests or buy from shops; and the likelihood of coming across rare cooking ingredients is, as was demonstrated in this episode, not very high. But in SAO the case is all the more damning! Because here we're plainly told that they plan to eat the food just for the sake of eating it and not to gain any special HP or MP regeneration from it. And here in SAO we know that food actually tastes to the players like real food. So she's maxing out a skill which not only doesn't benefit her in the slightest in getting out of here soon but whose primary purpose is to make the long stay here more tolerable. I mean, I can understand trying to make the best of a bad situation -- prisoners in POW camps do that too -- but like, it just seems so contradictory of Kawahara to present Asuna as this girl who wants to get home more than most and yet is one of the few people on the entire server who has maxed out the Cooking talent. And I know the reason why he's done it. He's done it because he wants Asuna to be someone who wants to get home but at the same time he wants to make her the perfect waifu and that's where the cooking comes in.

And is also where that chauvinism I mentioned earlier comes in. That's my other complaint with this episode (and with SAO in general): for all that Kawahara tries to present himself as a feminist by making Asuna, a girl, this really kickass front-liner, he keeps doing things which betray a deeply chauvinist view. I'm not saying girls can't or shouldn't be good cooks, but OH COME ON when the ONE PERSON in the ENTIRE GAME who we've seen so far who can cook is Little Miss Beautiful, it's like, really!? Or like, when he has Kirito and Kuradeel dueling for the rights to escort Miss Asuna, why is this even happening? Why doesn't she step forward and say "Cut the crap, Kuradeel. I've told you I don't want nor need you to be my escort. And Kirito isn't my escort either. He and I are just going on a small adventure together in one of the dungeons. Go home"? I mean, there are loads of ways you can make a female character moe to a male audience and make them want her to be their waifu. Just look at Irisviel von Einzbern or Chitanda Eru for two robust examples from 2012 alone. But Urobuchi Gen is leagues apart from Kawahara Reki when it comes to the question of chauvinism. Never once did people look at Irisviel and say "Man, Gen is such a chauvinist bastard." But with Reki I feel like we're going through it every single week. Now granted, he's not a misogynist! ^^; He clearly idolizes women and does his best to write great female characters. But like, the things he keeps having them say or do ... I dunno. Maybe I'm looking into it too much. I mean, I do like Asuna, so Mission Accomplished there, Reki. But like ... she feels very fake. And it's the fact that I can tell which I guess bothers me most of all.

It's going to be hard to keep the episode ranking system going week after week so I'm going to retire it, but I will say that Episode 8 has been one of my favorites so far. You can tell we're finally onto a real story (though whether it lasts for only one more episode or for the remainder of the series who can tell); the episode finally gives us more than the tired "Girl of the Week™ meets the legendary solo beater Kirito" formula.
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Old 08-26-2012, 01:39 PM   #42
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Why did they censor the meal???

Spoiler: show
The cooking scene was the centre-piece of this episode, because the setup for it was pretty ridiculous. I liked the idea of using a rare rabbit ingredient to spark the whole affair, but-

Why does a high ranking swordsman have a useless skill like cooking? And it had to be the lead girl?

The author also freakishly manages to appeal to two normally mutually exclusive moe camps at once - that of the independent, strong, capable girl, and that of the clumsy fragile "worthless at everything" type. He says Asuna can cook, but her "cooking" leads to conjuring a hot meal after pushing a few buttons. And that pushed my buttons, too - I could easily see this as foreshadowing her struggling with a real meal if an OVA of this show comes out showing what happens post-SAO, a la .hack//sign.

That said, this episode was more substantive than most of the rest, but if we were comparing it against average anime, SAO is still vastly under-performing. The thematic nucleus of the show is the psychology of the characters living in a virtual world, and when the game is so long (2+ years) one would have to focus the kinds of individuals who could maintain drive to escape. The temptation to just kick back and enjoy the fantasy universe would seem especially strong for all ages, even if the consequences of them are rather grisly. I certainly wouldn't have peace at night in a dream knowing that in the real world I'm a Terri Schiavo, burdening my family to the point of collapse.

SAO at least touched on this, but it wasn't convincing. It was as shallow as a Little Tike's Swimming Pool - Asuna gives vague reasons behind her drive despite other guild members apparently losing it, and Kirito says he's doing it because of the merchants behind him. Neither reason is really concrete or believable enough for characters to take on two years of mental grinding in a ridiculously hard, long game without guarantee of a good payoff (the real world > Aincrad?).

I think back to Muv-Luv in this regard, when Takeru goes to Unlimited and practically doesn't care about Extra anymore. It's like a worry free vacation for him, until everything goes to heck, and he finally realizes the value of what he had during Alternative and is highly motivated to find his way back home. You see his internal conflicts and experience how hard and far he scratches and claws to overcome the impossible, and even in success he had to sacrifice everything and suffer immensely for it.

On top of that, Kirito was implied to not live a picturesque life outside of SAO, so while his early behaviour was explainable (he was terrified of dying, and did everything so he could survive) now that he's godly one has to question why he wants to leave a world he dominates for a world where he is dominated.

Before I touch on too many tangents, Kirito's personality morphed noticeably between this episode and the last. I can't say if this was good/bad objectively but I didn't like it. He was way more conscious of Asuna, freaking out over anything that borderline suggested marriage or relationships. He reaffirms he's a solo player, but as the detachment I've mentioned before has illustrated, we can't tell with certainty how much he's interacted with others. So he gives off contradictions that are tough to reconciliate - in a musical analogy, the author establishes the fundamental chords for his music but otherwise contributes nothing else to the structure (harmony, melody, etc.).

Oh yeah the music sucks too. I started to pick up on it in this episode (it rose above 'background noise') and I realized I hated it.


It was a good episode relative to the series standards (worth an 8/10) but I wouldn't classify it as a solid episode compared to other shows because, again, persistent problems are persistent.
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Old 08-26-2012, 01:53 PM   #43
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Originally Posted by Talon87 View Post

Spoiler: show
The fact that two years have already passed is not only interesting but helps to set SAO apart from several other "trapped in a video game" tales. Most such stories have the heroes escaping before their bodies would succumb to hunger. A few, like .hack//SIGN, deal with someone who is being kept alive through artificial means but even those don't allow for years to pass before the mystery is solved. I'm pretty sure the events of .hack//SIGN wrap up in under a year, quite possibly in under three months. So it's interesting to see here in SAO that two years have gone by and they're still trapped inside. It raises some questions. Have two years really gone by on the outside or have the trapped players' brains been tricked into thinking they've experienced two years' worth of time when really they've only been plugged in for less than a month, a day, or even an hour? Say two years really have gone by. Why haven't the authorities found the madman who crafted this game? Even Saddam Hussein was found less than two years after the American invasion of Iraq and he was a powerful leader with connections and money. Where could this nerdy guy possibly hope to hide that he wouldn't be caught? Why wouldn't scientists have found a way to safely disconnect players? (For instance, why wouldn't they have found a way to emit some sort of electromagnetic pulse which while sparing the player's body fries the very mechanism intended to fry their brain before it can fire?) How many more players have died due to freak power outages? (Ask yourself: has where you lived seriously gone without a power loss due to rolling blackouts or lightning storms or construction work or any cause at all for the past two years!?) In fact, the preponderance of questions all the more leads me to believe that two years haven't really passed in the real world: while they've experienced two years' worth of memories inside the video game, on the outside time hasn't passed all that much. If the deaths are real, then perhaps a month has passed. If even the deaths were never real, then perhaps as little as one hour.

Asuna getting fed up with her guild and deciding to duo with Kirito is something which has been foreshadowed by the promotional artwork and the opening credits (so since the very beginning), but it's cool to see that plot line finally moving forward by feet rather than by inches. Kuradeel is a textbook case of the creepy man in his 40s who has an obsessive thing for a girl in her upper teens. To be honest, he feels plagiarized quite reminiscent of the captain of the Silver Knights in .hack//SIGN, the one who was Subaru's number one officer. But whereas the Silver Knight was actually a child who was playing as an older male, Kuradeel is authentically an older male. His obsession with being Asuna's protector is pretty creepy and this episode, with Kirito humiliating him in front of both Asuna and the general public, perfectly sets him up to become a twisted villain. I enjoyed the duel though there was little tension involved -- you know Kirito's going to win -- because it was great for them to (re-)establish that Kirito is so very powerful and that so is the sword Lizbeth made for him.

I know Doppel will probably have some negative things to say about the author's chauvinism regarding Asuna -- and I will too in just a second! -- but first I want to say that I actually enjoyed the dinner date. The way the author (Kawahara Reki) got us there was a bit clunkily forced -- when Kirito points out to Asuna that she must have known he was still alive just by checking her friend list it almost feels like the TV writers are poking fun at the author of the books saying "Dude, you honestly couldn't come up with a better reason for her to come and check on Kirito? ^^;" -- but once Creepy Kuradeel is dimissed and it's just the two young lovebirds hanging out as Asuna's, it was fun.

While I did enjoy the episode, I have some concerns of my own. First is Kawahara's contradictions regarding Asuna. As the vice-commander of the most powerful guild on the server, you know Asuna is strong. But as a front-liner, you also know that she's willing to risk her life to get her and the others home. People can change over time, but Kawahara has her declaring two years later that her resolve to get home is still strong, that she still has things she wants to do that either can only be done on the outside or else she will only be satisfied by doing on the outside. So he tells us, as the author. So he declares that Asuna very much so wants to get home and not dilly-dally in Aincraid. Why, then, does Kawahara have her maxing out her cooking skill, a skill you'd associate with someone who is planning on staying in Aincraid for the long haul, not one you'd associate with someone who is trying to maximize their battle prowess so they can get out as soon as possible? In real MMOs, cooking is usually one of the most worthless talents you can pour your talent points into. People usually only do it for character flavor or else (in games where this is a doable thing) because they've already maxed out all the other talents. Most cooking skill-prepared foods in an MMO don't afford that much better HP or MP than the stuff you can get from treasure chests or buy from shops; and the likelihood of coming across rare cooking ingredients is, as was demonstrated in this episode, not very high. But in SAO the case is all the more damning! Because here we're plainly told that they plan to eat the food just for the sake of eating it and not to gain any special HP or MP regeneration from it. And here in SAO we know that food actually tastes to the players like real food. So she's maxing out a skill which not only doesn't benefit her in the slightest in getting out of here soon but whose primary purpose is to make the long stay here more tolerable. I mean, I can understand trying to make the best of a bad situation -- prisoners in POW camps do that too -- but like, it just seems so contradictory of Kawahara to present Asuna as this girl who wants to get home more than most and yet is one of the few people on the entire server who has maxed out the Cooking talent. And I know the reason why he's done it. He's done it because he wants Asuna to be someone who wants to get home but at the same time he wants to make her the perfect waifu and that's where the cooking comes in.

And is also where that chauvinism I mentioned earlier comes in. That's my other complaint with this episode (and with SAO in general): for all that Kawahara tries to present himself as a feminist by making Asuna, a girl, this really kickass front-liner, he keeps doing things which betray a deeply chauvinist view. I'm not saying girls can't or shouldn't be good cooks, but OH COME ON when the ONE PERSON in the ENTIRE GAME who we've seen so far who can cook is Little Miss Beautiful, it's like, really!? Or like, when he has Kirito and Kuradeel dueling for the rights to escort Miss Asuna, why is this even happening? Why doesn't she step forward and say "Cut the crap, Kuradeel. I've told you I don't want nor need you to be my escort. And Kirito isn't my escort either. He and I are just going on a small adventure together in one of the dungeons. Go home"? I mean, there are loads of ways you can make a female character moe to a male audience and make them want her to be their waifu. Just look at Irisviel von Einzbern or Chitanda Eru for two robust examples from 2012 alone. But Urobuchi Gen is leagues apart from Kawahara Reki when it comes to the question of chauvinism. Never once did people look at Irisviel and say "Man, Gen is such a chauvinist bastard." But with Reki I feel like we're going through it every single week. Now granted, he's not a misogynist! ^^; He clearly idolizes women and does his best to write great female characters. But like, the things he keeps having them say or do ... I dunno. Maybe I'm looking into it too much. I mean, I do like Asuna, so Mission Accomplished there, Reki. But like ... she feels very fake. And it's the fact that I can tell which I guess bothers me most of all.
Spoiler: show
I could give all the answers and more as I have actually read the novels. The time spent in the vitural world is equal to that of that of the real world. Nerve gear was built with an internal battery, it is explained in episode one, the soul possible of that was for, as you mentioned for any freak power outrage wouldn't disturb the game, and so the victim's could be transfered to a hospital bed to be montiered.

As for why the authorites havent done anything, it will be answered later WAY later season 2 most likely, but in terms of how i thought about it when i first started reading was, how can you go after a man that has the control of 10,000 lives in the palm of his hands.

The great thing about SAO is they dont spend the whole anime going up in levels and what I mean by this is, if this were some other anime we would still be in level 3 instead of 74.

You got Kuradeel pegaded. and no thats not the sword Lizbeth made him.

Quote:
The way the author (Kawahara Reki) got us there was a bit clunkily forced -- when Kirito points out to Asuna that she must have known he was still alive just by checking her friend list it almost feels like the TV writers are poking fun at the author of the books saying "Dude, you honestly couldn't come up with a better reason for her to come and check on Kirito? ^^;"
THAT^^^^ was in the novel actually.
and the scene was written much better tbh.

Asuna's cooking lol thats her hobby, you get tired of fighting. Also it was explained in episode 2 but most food basically has no taste, its just to trick the mind and get rid of that hunger, y do you think there are no bathroom's??

so she mastered her cook skill to give flavor to food, make new things.

It goes without saying but there aren't many female individuals on the internet, this obviously includes RPG/MMO. So think of it this way, there even less in SAO and this is what I hate about the anime, not enough detail. Bascially there's only a handful of beautiful girl players that can be counted on one hand, Asuna being one of them, its not hard to believe she would get stalked.



Dont judge the anime just yet. The anime WAS just beating around the bush with side stories but as of this episode 8, I can say it officially moved into the main plot line.The Anime is only good for a visualization of the setting and the battles. The manga sucks and the novel are the best thing I have ever read in my life.
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Old 08-26-2012, 03:42 PM   #44
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Spoiler: show
And is also where that chauvinism I mentioned earlier comes in. That's my other complaint with this episode (and with SAO in general): for all that Kawahara tries to present himself as a feminist by making Asuna, a girl, this really kickass front-liner, he keeps doing things which betray a deeply chauvinist view. I'm not saying girls can't or shouldn't be good cooks, but OH COME ON when the ONE PERSON in the ENTIRE GAME who we've seen so far who can cook is Little Miss Beautiful, it's like, really!? Or like, when he has Kirito and Kuradeel dueling for the rights to escort Miss Asuna, why is this even happening? Why doesn't she step forward and say "Cut the crap, Kuradeel. I've told you I don't want nor need you to be my escort. And Kirito isn't my escort either. He and I are just going on a small adventure together in one of the dungeons. Go home"? I mean, there are loads of ways you can make a female character moe to a male audience and make them want her to be their waifu. Just look at Irisviel von Einzbern or Chitanda Eru for two robust examples from 2012 alone. But Urobuchi Gen is leagues apart from Kawahara Reki when it comes to the question of chauvinism. Never once did people look at Irisviel and say "Man, Gen is such a chauvinist bastard." But with Reki I feel like we're going through it every single week. Now granted, he's not a misogynist! ^^; He clearly idolizes women and does his best to write great female characters. But like, the things he keeps having them say or do ... I dunno. Maybe I'm looking into it too much. I mean, I do like Asuna, so Mission Accomplished there, Reki. But like ... she feels very fake. And it's the fact that I can tell which I guess bothers me most of all.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I've understood about moe so far has been that the little imperfections are what make a moe-character so loveable. Asuna is too perfect to be properly moe in my book. I legitimately want to see her die because she reminds me a whole lot of the girls who bullied me since I was 5 years old. If I want to see "perfect" girls and women, I watch American television.

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Why did they censor the meal???
That's what I was thinking the entire meal. "TO HELL WITH RELATIONSHIP-DEVELOPMENT, SHOW ME THE FOOD!" I seriously mean this, I wanted to see the stew more than Kirito and Asuna going at it. It's actually...very sad.
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Old 08-27-2012, 07:08 PM   #45
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I have a treat for those of you who 1) have a niconico douga account and 2) are dissatisfied with SAO. I bring you an improved SAO! There's three episodes of this, and while it shortens SAO even more than the anime already shortens it, it tells SAO in the nonsensical manner it was meant to be told!
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Old 08-27-2012, 08:17 PM   #46
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There's three episodes of this, and while it shortens SAO even more than the anime already shortens it, it tells SAO in the nonsensical manner it was meant to be told!
What's especially funny is that it makes perfect sense, even if the show proper doesn't.
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Old 08-31-2012, 04:43 PM   #47
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Snuck a peek at the first two books recently (didn't read anything, just looked at their covers and the artwork at the start of each volume from the distance of my bed) and I gotta say that it's all kinds of confusing and laughable that the fans keep referring to all the episodes we've watched so far as "side stories" when, from what I can tell, ...

Spoiler: show
... they largely constitute the bulk of Volume 2. I've no idea why he'd even bother to have written Volume 2 assuming Volume 1 is going to cleanly wrap up the Aincraid adventure with Asuna but from what I can tell Silica, Lizbeth, and all the other Girl of the Week girls show up in Volume 2. It's like, whaaaaaat!? XD Seems like the animation studio agrees with me and said "Aw HELL nah! " to the prospect of telling the exciting story in Episodes 1-14 and then telling all the side story flashbacks in Episodes 15-26 so they instead decided "Okay we'll scramble things up and try and get a lot of the side story stuff out of the way earlier on, saving the best drama from Volume 1 for last." The strategy seems lifted straight off the pages of Kyoto Animation's battleplans for Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu and it should serve the SAO team well. Haruhi was amazing but would've admittedly been a lop-sided trainwreck had they shown what they showed but done so in book order instead of KyoAni order.

As for whether I'll actually read the books or not, doubtful. A, I want to be surprised by the show first. B, the story just doesn't seem very good anyway. And C, from what I did see of the translation (got up off of the bed to take a closer look at some things we've already seen in the anime) I didn't get a good impression. Whoever translated it from Japanese to English in a lot of places translated things very poorly / amateurishly as compared with the CrunchyRoll+UTW translation of the very same words being spoken in the anime. Seems like it'd be as painful as trying to enjoy Fate/Zero by first reading the books. (DON'T DO IT! >_<) The only difference here being that Fate/Zero's anime was amazing whereas SAO's anime is decidedly not. ^^;
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Old 08-31-2012, 06:34 PM   #48
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The history of SAO was that it started out as a doujin that was picked up by a major publisher. I'd imagine that the main story, that of Asuna-Kirito was written for a single volume (Volume 1) and the material after that an attempt to cash in on the one-shot's success.

To take a recent example for comparison, Another was a one volume story written as a stand-alone work. Stuff later was released to cash in on the brand and anime, but the author wrote it for the one volume format.

The detachment between the attitudes, and perhaps amateurish attempt at trying to tell how Episode 1 Kirito became Episode 8 Kirito probably explains the load of inconsistency. But I was expecting the anime to smooth that stuff out, not present it as is and try to get viewers to accept it.
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Old 08-31-2012, 06:49 PM   #49
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I think, understandably, the company's #1 focus was preserving the novel in the book-to-TV transition precisely because of how often fans like myself bitch and nag when the original source material is tampered with (usually because when they change things for television they end up making things worse than what they were originally in the novel!). They saw how pleased fans were with ufotable's adaptation of Fate/Zero last fall (which is surely when talks and development for Accel World's and SAO's animes began) and they set out to do the same. But that only works when the source material, like Urobuchi Gen's writing, is solid. When it's weak, well, ... ^^;

Regarding SAO starting off as a doujin novel, Wikipedia has this to say:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wikipedia
Reki Kawahara wrote the first volume in 2002 as contribution for the ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki Game Novel Prize (電撃ゲーム小説大賞 Dengeki Game Shōsetsu Taishō?, now Dengeki Novel Prize), but refrained from sending it in due to exceeding the page limit. Thus he published it as a web novel using the pseudonym Fumio Kunori. Over time he added three further volumes and several short stories. In 2008 he tried again for the prize by writing Accel World and this time won the Grand Prize. Aside from Accel World he was also asked to get his prior work Sword Art Online published by ASCII Media Works. Kawahara agreed and withdrew his web novel versions. The republication as a paper novel began on April 10, 2009.
Sources for the claims in that paragraph are the afterword of Volume 1 of SAO, the afterword of Volume 6, and what is either the original portal for his pseudonym or else is a fan mirror of it. So yeah: I guess you could technically call it a doujin novel if you wanted to ... but then again, isn't every single novel not written for contract a doujin novel? ^^; (For example, Great Expectations would fail to qualify as a doujin novel but Moby Dick would pass. ^^; ) Regardless, I think it's clear now why Volume 1 is the proper Aincraid story while Volume 2, despite seemingly being published after the main story is concluded in the first volume, is nothing but a collection of tales which take us back to Aincraid. Basically, he wrote the first book, people liked it, and then he wrote omake short stories that further padded in Kirito's time spent in Aincraid. Rather than reorganize the contents of what Reki deemed to be Volumes 1 and 2 into one omnibus book, it sounds like he told the publishers "This is Book 1, this is Book 2, do as I say " and they obeyed. I know for a fact that as a reader I'd be pissed to read Volume 2 if it took me back to a world to explore a character's growth when that character's adventure in the world was already concluded in the previous volume. So this explains why the animation team said "Aw HELL no!" and opted to tell the story in chronological order ... even at the risk of, as you've pointed out, exposing how disjointed the stories feel, in particular how Kirito's personality and habits seem to do flip-flops from tale to tale.
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Old 08-31-2012, 07:42 PM   #50
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Hey Talon, if you're reading stuff online about SAO, surely you've stumbled upon two years of glop glop, yes?
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