Sword Art Online Discussion Thread [Archive]

Buckeye

07-01-2012, 01:41 PM

A show about players trapped in a virtual reality MMORPG where there truly is no reset button in real life once you die.

Airs Friday, July 6

Animation studio: A-1 Pictures

ANN Entry (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=13858)
Official Site (http://www.swordart-online.net/)
Crunchyroll (http://www.crunchyroll.com/sword-art-online)

Trapped and fighting for their very lives in a Virtual Reality MMORPG, Aincrad Online, the story explores the mishaps and adventures of the greatest one handed swordsman of the VR world, Kirito. Together with his friends, the solo swordsman strives to finish the game, which in turn will release all the minds trapped into Aincrad.

Note
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Buckeye

07-07-2012, 10:56 AM

That was a nice first episode, beginning with a highly-anticipated game like never before where you feel like you are in the game. Only to find out later that you are the game. That was pretty evil for Kayaba to disable the logout function and make it so that any forced removal results in the player becoming brain dead. Kirito and Klein have sure formed a nice friendship off the bat, and several players are already dying as shown in the preview.

I'll be looking to watch more of this as this show is definitely off to a flying start. Of course, it started off looking like .hack//SIGN, but it gets much more serious now that it's a matter of life and death in both the game and the real world for everybody whereas in .hack, they only fall into a coma.

HitokiriShadow

07-07-2012, 11:01 AM

At first I thought "Only 10,000 copies? WTF? Did each one cost 50,000 yen?" but then the big plot set-up happened and it made more sense. Well, kind of.

Anyway, that was a damn good first episode. And it didn't even have a named female character in it at all, and it had like five lines from "female" unnamed and incidental characters.

It did a great job of introducing the game world in a natural way and setting things up. I can see why SAO is considered to be better than Accel World.

Kirito seems like he'll be a good lead. Can't wait to meet the girl.

Definitely one of the best premiers of the season.

FUNiOP

07-07-2012, 11:50 AM

Opening theme by LiSA, music by Yuki Kajiura, animation production by A-1 Pictures (which obviously means it's Aniplex)... even with its similarities to Accel World, it's no wonder I'd like it more. But as it turns out... the source material is clearly far stronger for this one. Accel World always has me rolling my eyes at how melodramatic they get over a game that doesn't really matter, and while I feel like I should be having a similar reaction to how over-the-top the stakes are in this game, it totally works for me, because I really felt the pressure that the characters felt when they realized that they had to be the best around if they want any chance of survival in any world. Plus, I love RPGs, a lot more than fighting games. I don't play MMOs (mostly because real ones don't have nice endings like this one, thus my life would be destroyed by them in a different way), but this is a really well-realized RPG world that manages to feel like a game I'd like to play and also a world I'm happy to watch this story unfold in. Kirito is a very likeable lead so far, and for being in a game, I feel his emotion very strongly.

Easily my favorite show of the season based on first episodes.

ookamigirl

07-07-2012, 02:12 PM

In the first few seconds as I started watching it, my thoughts were: this reminds me of .hack// and lets hope it'll be even better!
Kirito and Klein were fun to watch.
Being stuck in the game was not a good feeling for them & they weren't alone either.
OMG! That admin guy is a total psycho!!
So basically if you want to get out alive you have to beat the game!
This SAO game looks very cool, I'd play it if it was real (just without the crazy admin)^^
I'll be watching this!

superdry

07-07-2012, 07:52 PM

That was a pretty dick move on the creator's part with how the game works.

But, that was a nice first-episode. The world-building was a lot more natural and evenly paced. Kirito seems like a good, level-headed guy. Interesting that there is no magic, but that doesn't mean the GM can't introduce it at some point, right?

Looking forward to the next episode to see what Kirito does since now it's the start of the real game.

five lines from "female" unnamed

"She" reminded of Haruka from iM@S. I suppose it could have been unintentional since it's animated by the same studio and what looks to be the same character designer.

Can't wait to meet the girl.

Agreed. She was the one that introduced and got me interested in the series after buying some Dengeki magazine (I want to say Bunko, but I don't remember) a few months ago and one of the bonus items was a poster (I think) of SAO.

nakimushi

07-07-2012, 10:13 PM

Pretty interesting first episode. However, I kept wondering about one very important aspect of this setup: how were the player's bodies being maintained for the month they spent in the game?

There was no indication that game time runs any faster than real world time (unlike AccelWorld), which would mean a month spent in the game is a month in real time.

Did the surviving players all get feeding tubes, catheters and nursing care in the real world? :)

I imagine they will have to explain it next episode.

Seeing more female characters in the ED was something else to look forward to. :)

something

07-08-2012, 01:46 AM

Episode 1:

- Fucking ouch. I usually have to max out volume on Crunchyroll to get something reasonable, but this one is about 2x as loud as anything else.

- Oh jeeze, all I'm going to be able to hear when Kline speaks is Uchuu Kyoudai's Mutta.
- Most shots are all girls. Who are probably all guys.

- Alright how the fuck did NerveGear get approved by various regulatory agencies? >_>
- 213 dead players already. >_>
- Clear the entire game? But their bodies will die long before that. Can't go too long without water.
- lol, yeah, most of the girls are guys. Hopefully there are still a bunch of cute girls left though. The heroine is pretty danm cute at least.

Well this is a shit-ton more morbid and dark than Accel World, for sure.

Post-ED:
- "In the game's first month." Uhhhhhh, so is there some kind of Burst Linker time compression going on? Wasn't happening earlier in the episode. Short of hospitalizing all the players on an IV drip, nobody is going to survive a month lying in bed without eating or drinking.

something

07-08-2012, 01:52 AM

That was a pretty dick move on the creator's part with how the game works.
"Dick move" is putting it pretty charitably. :sd: He's now already a mass murderer on a mind-boggling scale, with the blood of 2,000 people on his hands and another 8,000 in grave peril.

Fencedude

07-08-2012, 11:07 PM

That was pretty much precisely what I expected it to be. Still, pretty damn good. Kirito's a bit irritatingly competent.

Next week, Asuna!

Fencedude

07-08-2012, 11:13 PM

Post-ED:
- "In the game's first month." Uhhhhhh, so is there some kind of Burst Linker time compression going on? Wasn't happening earlier in the episode. Short of hospitalizing all the players on an IV drip, nobody is going to survive a month lying in bed without eating or drinking.

INFORMATION REVEALED IN SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS!

After the creator got them all online and locked out, he warned the government about what was about to happen, and the results from unhooking NerveGear. He also said they had two hours to move the victims, if they wished, to a hospital or somesuch.

Basically, everyone is hooked up to IV drips now.

strangefour

07-09-2012, 01:45 AM

-Oh. This is .hack all over again. WIll it actually feel like a real MMO this time? Will people act like MMO players? or will this be another illogical crazy fest.
-Klein has bet put on Ignore List.
-No magic in an RPG? How peculiar.
-Hmm. All the beta test talk is making this feel more like real gamers playing a real game.
-There is no Logout. Huh. That's a new level of bad programming.

-Okay Lord British, show up and explain wtf is wrong.
-WHY IS THE SKY BLEEDING!?
-When a programmer tells you that a bug is a "feature" it's time to start panicking.
-Aaaaand everyone in the stadium just wet themselves. Thanks alot Mumm-ra.
-AHAHAHAHA! Cute girls have now reverted back to old dudes. Okay anime, you got me.
-Klein just hit on Kirito...
-The Ending hints at way too many real girls for a real MMO.

That was a thousand times better than the first episode of .hack. This crazy premise has promise. If only it had some fat guys in the cast, it'd be really real.

something

07-09-2012, 07:08 AM

If only it had some fat guys in the cast, it'd be really real.
I figure Accel World already has that covered.

Hououin91

07-11-2012, 08:30 PM

Best first episode of the season. Looking foward to the next one.

FUNiOP

07-14-2012, 04:00 PM

Well at this point I can be sure that this is far beyond any other new series this season. In fact, it's already my favorite anime currently airing. I hope it continues to improve at this rate, because if it does, it could end up on my top 50 anime by the end of it. And with it going into the fall season, that's just another great series to have airing at the same time as some of my most highly anticipated new series in years.

Was that Kalafina I heard in the background? I guess with Yuki Kajiura, that shouldn't surprise me at this point. And that was some really spectacular animation, A-1.

Buckeye

07-14-2012, 04:01 PM

It took a month, but the first floor is finally cleared. Too bad Diabel ended up dying due to intel that was different from the beta version. And then Asuna appears as a hooded player and apparently there is something about her being able to attack at that speed. Kirito knows about attack patterns and uses that knowledge to help the group of players move on to the next floor. It turns out that not all beaters are created equal as Kirito performed the best out of the beta testers while most of them were pretty inept according to Kirito. Now, Kirito has his black swordsman outfit and is ready to finally move on.

This episode was great to see how the players are finally figuring things out after a month. And then there is that first encounter between Kirito and Asuna. It will be interesting to see how fast the story progresses and what challenges lie ahead as now, they are on floor 2 after beating a tough boss. And of course, not many players bothered to read the guidebook. That must really say something.

Fencedude

07-14-2012, 05:33 PM

Asuna!

Really good episode, though Kirito was kinda a dick at the end.

bear

07-14-2012, 06:09 PM

something

07-14-2012, 09:09 PM

Episode 2:

- Yay time for the cute girl. Harukas!
- He's not going to be surprisd when she takes off her hood, right? He can tell she's a girl, right? Because if he's surprised, eyes are gonna roll.
- Whelp. It's a little hard to buy into the "dramatic emotional death scene" for some dude we met 5 minutes earlier.
- Okay, he's surprised, but it just looks like he's surprised she's so hot.
- Holy shit that last stretch against the Kobold boss was fucking awesome. Both Kirito and Asuna were amazing.

- Sudden anti-beta tester lynch mob is annoying though. Talk about a sudden change in attitude, sheesh.
- Oh. That's what "beater" is about. Beta + cheater. >______> god that's lame.
- And Kirito is playing the villain so they'll all stay united even if it means leaving him out. Silly Kirito.
- "Oh, it was there all along." Fucking love Asuna. <3 <3

Gah that episode felt like it was 10 minutes long. But it was just that good.

HitokiriShadow

07-14-2012, 09:45 PM

Tomatsu Haruka is Asuna! Yay!

We don't get to know Asuna very well here, but we do know she's a pretty capable ass-kicker and I love her already. She and Kirito were both pretty awesome in that boss fight. Definitely one of the best fights I've seen in a while. Can't wait for more of her.

strangefour

07-15-2012, 01:33 AM

-Master control program?
-*cool stuff happens*

-*cool fight happens*
-Wait what? Why would you say no to an elixer when YOU DIE FOR REAL in this game!? WTF! Diabel you were a moron.
-Double Technique! CROSS SLASH!
-"You want someone to blame for Diabel's death? You want to think someone is here is wicked? You think there's a mustache twirling villain in our midst? Fine. Get a taste of my bad ass coat bitch." Oh hell yeah.

Oh hell yeah! Best show of the season. I can not wait for the PK subplot.

strangefour

07-15-2012, 01:41 AM

something

07-15-2012, 01:57 AM

Really good episode, though Kirito was kinda a dick at the end.He had to become a dick. The little alliance was tearing itself apart thoughts to the loudmouth asshole. They needed someone to hate before they started hating and mistrusting everyone but themselves. He because the badass "better than all yall" scapegoat they needed and wanted. Now there are a few dozen guys who have a tale to tell about beating The First Boss, the badass mother fucker that took him out, and someone to aspire to be better than. That tale will spread and grow. He well become like a myth and legend. Kirito just turned himself into the goddamn Batman.
I at least half agree, in the sense that, yes, he "had" to do it that way... but only because it's the only way he knew how. His personality and his past trauma limited his potential actions and led to "I'll be the fall guy and go suffer alone" being the only solution he personally could see.

It'll bite him in the ass soon enough though, I'm sure. The sooner the better because I'd like to see him forced to shake off the self-sacrificing martyr personality before the first cour is up.

ookamigirl

07-15-2012, 03:49 AM

The player numbers have seriously dwindled in the past month..
Clearing the first floor and beating the boss is not a one person thing.
The fight was very interesting to watch.
Things went bad pretty fast..
Asuna & Kirito sure make a really good team ^^

bear

07-15-2012, 08:13 AM

Really good episode, though Kirito was kinda a dick at the end.

He had to become a dick. The little alliance was tearing itself apart thoughts to the loudmouth asshole. They needed someone to hate before they started hating and mistrusting everyone but themselves. He because the badass "better than all yall" scapegoat they needed and wanted. Now there are a few dozen guys who have a tale to tell about beating The First Boss, the badass mother fucker that took him out, and someone to aspire to be better than. That tale will spread and grow. He well become like a myth and legend. Kirito just turned himself into the goddamn Batman.
That one I missed. I thought that he was just trying to protect his ass by scaring everyone off by making himself seem too powerful to try to mess with. You're explanation seems better and, since I want to like the character, I'm going with that one. I hope he re-hooks up with Asuna and Klein at some point.

pathos

07-15-2012, 08:44 AM

-Wait what? Why would you say no to an elixer when YOU DIE FOR REAL in this game!? WTF! Diabel you were a moron.

Probably just a case of server lag.

Or, to put it another way, the second blow killed him. It just took a bit for his hit point bar to catch up with it. Drinking a health potion wouldnt have saved him.

Why does a certain fists of the north star line pop into my head when I type this: :D

HitokiriShadow

07-21-2012, 06:09 PM

Oh, hey, we get to meet the cute blue-haired Hayami Saori girl..... and then she dies. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough time to establish any connection with her, though it seems she and Kirito became fairly close and it clearly had a huge affect on him. But for me.... I was just annoyed they killed her off.

It looks like the anime is going to be time skipping around that the novels apparently do, as this episode jumped a rather huge amount of time and it seems like a lot had to happen in the meantime. Or maybe most of the novel content happens a year or two into the game, at the top levels.

In any case, I was not impressed with this episode. Please bring back Asuna.

Fencedude

07-21-2012, 06:20 PM

Well, that sucks.

Uhh...yeah. Damn. Not much else to say. Can we have Asuna back?

FUNiOP

07-21-2012, 07:06 PM

I continue to be amazed at how engaging a show with such a silly premise can be. Kirito really should have known that the item couldn't possibly bring someone back unless it was within a few seconds, since the time between their in-game death and their real death couldn't have been any longer than that, but I guess he was just too broken and desperate to think logically about it. Nice to see Klein come back and still have the same camaraderie with Kirito. So what, did his group kill that whole guild to let Kirito try to get the item on his own? The song-in-a-box bit was really beautiful.

superdry

07-21-2012, 09:57 PM

That was a really somber episode. But, good to see Klein still around in the future.

Two things to comment on since I do like to play RPGs:

-The guild members don't seem to be experienced rpgers since they just rushed into to open the treasure chest in the secret room. They should have went in with caution.

-Curious about how Kirito fights. For the most part, if one is going to wield a single-handed sword you generally would carry a shield for defensive purposes. It doesn't look like he uses two-handed swords. Either he is super-skilled and confident with a one-handed sword to use it for defense and offense or he can dual-wield swords, but doesn't for some reason.

I don't remember if either episode 1 or 2 explained if the game has classes or skill sets. I wonder if he can dual-wield, it's something he just picked up or it was a skill you can choose.

It looks like the anime is going to be time skipping around that the novels apparently do, as this episode jumped a rather huge amount of time and it seems like a lot had to happen in the meantime. Or maybe most of the novel content happens a year or two into the game, at the top levels.

This was a side-story and it definitely jumped time a lot (or maybe the anime did it to condense the story into 20 minutes?). I find it weird that after the first two episodes, this one just throws us into the future. I guess it's good to know that Kirito is doing well for himself though.

HitokiriShadow

07-21-2012, 10:21 PM

-The guild members don't seem to be experienced rpgers since they just rushed into to open the treasure chest in the secret room. They should have went in with caution.

Yeah, it sounds like all of them were new to this stuff. They were part of a computer club and had never played one before, and all of them thought it would be a fun thing to do as a club activity.

Alternatively, that kind of trap is really retro game design by that point and wasn't something they would be familiar with even if they did play other MMORPGs. I'm betting on the former though.

strangefour

07-21-2012, 10:29 PM

-To the cats who fly to the moon. Here! Here!
-Go go Sword Art Rangers.
-Level 48. *whistle* Kirito's been busy.
-Dungeon floor 28 has been breached? Dang guess everyone has been busy.
-Klein is still alive. Huh.
-Going dungeoning without your guild leader. Why are you guys asking for death?
-Never ever open the hidden secret door! >_<
-Oh shit it's a cow level.
-Beam us up President Taft!
-Murder for rare items? Mwahaha. The corruption has taken hold.
-SANTA SMASH! Wasn't this a Carnevil level?
-Well duh. You expect the dead to hang around for months after being disconnected?
-Merry Christmas Sachi. :cry:
-Next week Gatts the Black Swordsman makes a cameo.

This show is so good. By beings so evil. Poor cat rangers had dead player characters written all over them. Kirito, forever alone. The game world itself is forcing him to become the toughest damn son of a bitch in it.

Wonder what the level cap is.

pathos

07-21-2012, 10:32 PM

I don't remember if either episode 1 or 2 explained if the game has classes or skill sets. I wonder if he can dual-wield, it's something he just picked up or it was a skill you can choose.

What I recall it saying, was something to the affect of having levels, which we are reminded of again this episode, but no classes. They haven't really explained anything else.

You also see people like Kirito using light armor, and others wearing heavy armor. Plus, all sorts of weapons, whether 1 handed or 2 handed.

They did say there was a skill system in place, but I don't remember if they said how it worked. Whether you could just buy any skill, or if they had prerequisites. Perhaps you'd need a stat at a particular level, or spend money to acquire, or perhaps you can get advanced skills after you used a base skill so many times. No way of knowing yet with the info provided.

Well, if I had to speculate as to what he was doing with only using a 1 handed sword, no shield, on just the information provided us....

I'd guess he was going for a speed set up. If thats true, you'd want to stay with equipment that wouldn't slow you down. No heavy armor, no shields. Light armor, and 1 handed weapons only.

But, your guess is as good as mine.

something

07-21-2012, 11:02 PM

Episode 3:

- Oh Kirito you liar. He says he's level 20, but he's actually level 40.
- I guess some time has passed, again.
- The cute Sachi girl from this guild is in the OP, so hopefully that means she survives at least the first cour.

- Ah, Kirito left that group already. And runs into Klein!
- Ohh he's still in the guild. But he must be leveling solo at night.
- Eargh. So many death flags for Sachi. Okay forget the OP, she won't be around long.
- Awww, she's sleeping in his bed. She's so cute.
- ...So, was SAO programmed for sex?

- Oh great. The others want to go grind at higher levels without their leader. So, how many are going to die?
- Awwww, I was hoping the chest would be a mimic. But it's just an ambush.
- Noooooope. Not only doesn't she last the cour, not only doesn't she last a few eps, she's dead before the midpoint of the same episode. Oh well, someone had already half spoiled it for me, so I knew someone would die, just not who. It quickly became clear Sachi would die though, since she's the one the audience si going to care about. Poor Sachi. ;_;

- What the shit, and we immediately jump to December? Uhhhhhhh? No getting the leader's reaction or anything? It's now also probably going on a year since he saw Asuna.
- Ah okay, we get a flashback. He... just commits suicide. Haha wow.
- Huh, is Kirito implying that the ambush was so strong because it was adjusted for his level? That would certainly be guilt-inducing.
- Evil Santa. And the revival spell it drops is useless to Kirito.
- Wait, did Klein's group kill a few dozen other players?

Awww, Sachi. ;_;

Good episode, but I hope the story settles down and has far less time skips soon. If you jump 1-8 months between scenes, you really start to mess with my ability and desire to connect with where the story is.

Fencedude

07-21-2012, 11:06 PM

- ...So, was SAO programmed for sex?

...

*starts giggling uncontrollably*

HitokiriShadow

07-21-2012, 11:30 PM

- Huh, is Kirito implying that the ambush was so strong because it was adjusted for his level? That would certainly be guilt-inducing.

I missed that. If true, that's interesting and would certainly add a point to show repeatedly making a point of his much higher level and give him a more rational reason for his guilt.

Good episode, but I hope the story settles down and has far less time skips soon. If you jump 1-8 months between scenes, you really start to mess with my ability and desire to connect with where the story is.

It sounds like there are several side-stories, though its not clear how many it will cover before returning to the main story. Apparently they're not from the first novel. So we're getting bonus scene content, basically, instead of establishing the main story. I guess we'll see whether it turns out to be a good thing or not, but the massive time skipping, particularly if its going to be doing it repeatedly, could be a problem.

But my main problem is that I want Asuna back.

something

07-21-2012, 11:43 PM

HitokiriShadow

07-21-2012, 11:57 PM

It sounds like there are several side-stories, though its not clear how many it will cover before returning to the main story. Apparently they're not from the first novel. So we're getting bonus scene content, basically, instead of establishing the main story. I guess we'll see whether it turns out to be a good thing or not, but the massive time skipping, particularly if its going to be doing it repeatedly, could be a problem.
Well, even if these are side stories, they must be happening before he reunites with Asuna. Which means, if there are a bunch of these, that he separates from her for a really long time before they reunite.

It sounds like she does appear in one of them. It sounds like there's an upwards of three of them that would be feasible to animate at this point (apparently there's a fourth that fits better later in the main story). And I've seen at least one person claim that it would make sense for one of them to be 2 episodes. So I would guess maybe 4-5 more of these side-story episodes, and Asuna might be in one or two of them.

Now that you mention it, I have seen something about a time skip mentioned, so it could be that the first two episodes cover a prologue portion and then the main story starts a year or two later. I'm thinking two because.... um, reasons. Anyway, in that case, there might not be anything we're really missing during the massive timeskips here. Well, nothing that the main story would need to jump back and fill in, at least.

Fencedude

07-22-2012, 12:00 AM

HitokiriShadow

07-22-2012, 12:07 AM

Now that you mention it, I have seen something about a time skip mentioned, so it could be that the first two episodes cover a prologue portion and then the main story starts a year or two later. I'm thinking two because.... um, reasons. Anyway, in that case, there might not be anything we're really missing during the massive timeskips here. Well, nothing that the main story would need to jump back and fill in, at least.

Basically, with no spoilers, we're currently covering a time period that is completely skipped in the main novel.

Yeah, that's the impression I was under. Actually.... was the *first* episode from the first novel or was even that something brought up later? Because I think I remember people talking about the show doing things different with the chronology since the very first episode. I remember things like "Oh, I guess they're doing it chronological order". It sounds like it might have somehow started with episode 2 stuff and then time-skipped.

ookamigirl

07-22-2012, 04:21 AM

Opening scene was a total deja vu to .hack//
Kirito seems to be doing just fine on his own.
Reunion with Klein was kinda flat. Kirito is one weird guy.
He doesn't like guilds or parties, but joins one anyway. His strategies are pretty unusual.
Just can't figure him out. He keeps to himself, but helps others when needed.
Going to a higher floor was a really bad idea. That trap came with a high price.
I think I get it now. Kirito avoids others because he always gets them killed...
He took Sachi's death pretty hard.

Ingraman

07-22-2012, 04:57 AM

something

07-22-2012, 05:12 AM

As soon as he joined that group, I expected to see them die this episode. If Saori was in the OP, I wasn't remembering; I've only watched it once... ^^;
Sachi is there briefly, in one shot, after the blond twintailed girl with the pet dragon and girl with short pink hair. Both of whom I hope last a bit longer...

Buckeye

07-22-2012, 09:24 PM

So in this episode, there is a big time skip as it covers a year's worth of events. Kirito joins a guild, and it includes a girl he becomes close to, and the guild does something they shouldn't be doing and they end up trapped and killed. And Kirito goes off on a suicide mission to win an item that could bring back the dead. But it only works on those who are about to die. With Sachi dead, Kirito is through with guilds. Then Sachi sings Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer with a voice memo that was made before she died.

So much has been skipped, and now Kirito is already about halfway through having reached level 49. While the episode was nice as it is, it would have been better to make the jumps smaller, perhaps happening say at episode 7 or so. At the very least, we see Klein again, though Asuna hasn't returned to the scene. Considering that they were skipping floors, it appears that SAO will allow players to re-visit floors they have cleared at anytime. In any case, seeing Sachi die like that was just depressing.

everydaygamer

07-23-2012, 10:48 AM

something

07-23-2012, 11:06 AM

something

07-23-2012, 11:13 AM

So I've decided that the confrontation between Klein's group and the Holy Dragon Whatevers is bothering me. What the hell happened? Given how tired Klein's group is, it wasn't settled diplomatically. But if there was a fight, they would have to have taken down a lot of the Dragon guys before the latter would retreat, given how outnumbered they were.

And by taken down I mean murdered. Killed. For real. You would think that would be a bigger deal, but maybe by this point everyone playing the game is just so emotionally broken that the real-world effects of PK just doesn't matter anymore and survival instincts have trumped everything. For us it's only episode 3, but in game it's been almost a year. The chronology is still a little disorienting, even when you know what's going on.

everydaygamer

07-23-2012, 12:10 PM

well i doubt they killed each other, most likely they gave up after it was no longer worth it. besides it was never mentioned whether or not players can kill other players.

Uainin

07-25-2012, 08:10 PM

well its important to note that the last 2 episodes have been side stories so if it seems to progress in a weird way that's why. while chronologically correct the original LN for these stories were released later on.

So even episode 2 was a side story? Episode 3 being a side story makes sense, but huh, I didn't expect something as important as meeting Asuna to be a side story. Odd that she just shows up in the novels at some point and Kirito already knows who she is and she knows him but the reader doesn't have a clue. I'm sure it is done in a way that makes some sense... unless the anime really changed events around and in the novel he had not yet met her for that first major battle..

(minor LN spoilers)

In the LN, the story starts like it does in episode one of the anime then skips to the 74th floor. In the LN, Kirito introduces Asuna as the sub-leader of one of the top guilds responsible for clearing the game, who he knows through their interactions during previous boss encounters. Asuna first appears to Kirito in Chapter 5, looking to recruit him for the 74th floor's boss battle.

As far as the anime timeline and side stories go, it looks like they're structuring it completely chronologically, so it should look something like this (according to the timeline on Baka-Tsuki):

Episode 1: Chapters 1-4 of volume 1
Episode 2: Aria in the Starless Night, side story
Episode 3: Red Nosed Reindeer, side story, volume 2
Episode 4: The Black Swordsman, side story, volume 2
Episode 5(?): A Murder Case in the Area, side story, volume 8
Episode 6: Warmth of the Heart, side story, volume 2
Episodes 7-?: Chapters 5 - 16 of volume 1
Episode ?: Morning Dew Girl, side story, volume 2
Episode ?-?: Chapters 17-25 of volume 1

So I've decided that the confrontation between Klein's group and the Holy Dragon Whatevers is bothering me. What the hell happened? Given how tired Klein's group is, it wasn't settled diplomatically. But if there was a fight, they would have to have taken down a lot of the Dragon guys before the latter would retreat, given how outnumbered they were.

And by taken down I mean murdered. Killed. For real. You would think that would be a bigger deal, but maybe by this point everyone playing the game is just so emotionally broken that the real-world effects of PK just doesn't matter anymore and survival instincts have trumped everything. For us it's only episode 3, but in game it's been almost a year. The chronology is still a little disorienting, even when you know what's going on.

In the LN, when Kirito meets up with Klein after killing the boss, he takes note that since Klein's party has not suffered any casualties and that Klein is the only one who looks tired, Klein must have negotiated with the other group and fought a duel in order to prevent casualties on either side. The anime seems to be glossing over small, but significant details like that here and there, which I'm not really fond of. As far as murder goes, some people in game take it seriously, some don't. There are orange guilds (named as such because the player's cursor turns orange when harming another player) that go around killing people for profit and entertainment.

FUNiOP

07-28-2012, 02:30 PM

I really love LiSA. I was listening to her music that Aniplex put on iTunes, then Aniplex announced they'd be bringing this OP over, then the episode was streamed. I'll definitely have to get the single digitally at least, maybe physically. I may get the previously-released ones physically as well.

Also, I can't imagine Aniplex won't be licensing the series itself soon enough as well. I had thought that before, since it's their big title of the season, they're simulcasting it on Crunchyroll, and it's one of the few not licensed by anyone else, but now that they're also bringing the OP over, it all but confirms it in my mind. It's not getting a BD Box in Japan, so they'd have to make their own American release. Hopefully it would still be Blu-ray, and preferably without any release over $100. If my hopes are realized, I'll definitely get it.

Oh, and the episode was fine. Probably the worst yet, but still the best thing currently airing by far (other than One Piece, which hardly counts, since it's always airing).

stardf29

07-28-2012, 03:23 PM

Yay, a happy episode where no one dies and Kirito gains a little sister!

Well, this was definitely also a side-story-like episode. Though we do get to learn more about Kirito. Shame we probably won't see much more of Silica and Pina (though maybe that will change; I haven't read the novels, so I don't know if there's more of her in there, nor do I want anyone to tell me).

Now, bring on Asuna!

ookamigirl

07-28-2012, 04:27 PM

Silica sure found trouble fast..
Lucky her there's always some guy out there to save her.
She was being pretty selfish and proud though... it cost her.
Kirito... always such a kind hearted guy.
That redhead Rosalia really annoyed me.
The path to revive Pina was a thorny one 'cause that Silica always got into trouble.
The story about Kirito's sister was nice additional info about his life in the real world.
I was right to dislike Rosalia. That ambush was in for a nasty surprise.

nakimushi

07-28-2012, 06:26 PM

I thought that the hunter becomes the hunted twist worked really well.

Interesting that apparently not everyone appears to believe that dying in the game means actually dying in the real world. Since, there is no way for anyone to prove it one way or the other, it makes sense.

Fencedude

07-28-2012, 07:03 PM

Goddamn Griefers.

Silica's adorable, and its nice to have an episode end on a happy note. lol Kirito, level 78 tanker with 60 HP/s regen.

strangefour

07-29-2012, 12:30 AM

-Twintails Dragoon has left the Party.
-Monkey has a red butt.
-She's playing as a Drg/Whm while soloing. Smart girl.
-Pnia. No. No! Quick use your Two Hour ability. Save both of you.
-Pina. :cry:
-AHAHAH! The "couple" from the first episode want to party with Dragoon girl.
-I like this redheaded bitch. I hope she doesn't die. Yet.
-Red cursors to indicate PK. Damn that's going to be annoyingly obvious when we do meet a PK.
-Damn pervy Marlboro.
-Sh.. She saved herself from a damsel in tentacles scenario? Holy crap the writer may not be a misogynist at all. This is not the Japan I know.
-Giant sea cucumber tentacle penis... I spoke too soon. :(
-Ooh an evil orange guild lead by the red bitch. :blush:
-"Kirito!?" Aaaand now they shit themselves at the Legend of The Black Swordsman. Hehehe.
-AHAHAH! You fools have no clue how many hit points he has.
-HAH! He explains it to them by basically saying, "Math makes me a God."
-She was bait all along. Heh.

Holy crap the author of this has definitely played MMOs, probably Final Fantasy 11, and I like him/her. Damn this is a great show.

HitokiriShadow

07-29-2012, 12:51 AM

Silica was adorable, as the show liked to show off regularly. She better show up again later.

Kirito was pretty cool at the end too. And geez, level 78 and the main story hasn't even started?

I was amused to see the "Oh shit, you're not actually a cute girl!" pair of guys from the first episode return.

something

07-29-2012, 01:46 AM

Episode 4:

- 2024 February 23. Last episode ended... 2023 December 25 I assume, so ok, this is after all that. Good, I didn't really want to go back in time.
- Silica! Hidaka Rina! Yeah get away from that heal-hogging bitch.
- Silica is level 44. Fight, Silica, fight!
- Well that didn't go well. Oh well, thanks Kirito.
- Gaaaah Silica is fucking adorable.
- Hahaha oh Kirito you siscon. That just makes me like you more though.

- Defnitely can't wait for redhead bitch to die.
- Ahahha, adorable blushing. Silica <3 <3 <3
- And suddenly underwear Silica! YAAAAAAAY!

- Oh good she killed a thing. When she started going "Kirito-san, save meeeee!" I was thinking "Oh come on he just did that." Then she took it out, thankfully. Granted it was a weak enemy... but I do want her to be able to fight too, not just be adorable.
- What? I didn't expect a "little sister who is actually my cousin but doesn't know" plot? The real world doesn't matter! Just be a normal sister.

- Everythign has gone much too smoothly. Where's the unexpectedly high level boss PKers?
- Right on cue. Please kill her slowly, Kirito.
- Hahah fuck yes I love the smug look on Kirito's face as he walks towards the PKers.
- HAHAHAHA his life regen is faster than their combined damage output. XD
- lol level 78. What's the SAO level cap? He's totally gonna hit it.
- Onii-chan for a day. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww~

Amazing episode, especially since there wasnt a big time jump or anything. And SILICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!

Kirito is going to have to stop leveling up or none of the other characters will be able to play with him, though. :sd:

Damius

07-29-2012, 06:53 PM

- Oops, they can’t get out of the game…
- So there is no way to logout… and it’s a feature.
- 213 players are dead already? For real? And that from both Aincrad and the real world.
- No one could have thought NerveGear would be that dangerous…that deadly…
- So, they need to complete the game to escape… that is the only way.
- Well, now they know how everyone really looks… most of the girls were guys in the end…
- From the ED, yeah there are still some cute girls! Which probably play an important role since they are in the ED.
- 2,000 deaths after only 1 month, the first floor is not even clear…

Really good first episode, better than I thought.

superdry

08-03-2012, 02:20 PM

That was a really cute episode mainly because Silica is absolutely adorable. Too bad the episode didn't show Pina being revived.

I really liked Kirito this episode - he continues to be a good lead character.

Silica was adorable, as the show liked to show off regularly. She better show up again later.

Definitely, I'd love to see her show up again. I can see her tell Kirito how much stronger she's gotten since the last time and be excited to tell him.

Damius

08-03-2012, 11:54 PM

It'll bite him in the ass soon enough though, I'm sure. The sooner the better because I'd like to see him forced to shake off the self-sacrificing martyr personality before the first cour is up.

I also hope it won't get too long. Will see how it will happen, please make it soon.

Damius

08-03-2012, 11:58 PM

And that was some really spectacular animation, A-1.

The attack at the end with Asuna and Kirito was awesome. I didn't a lot of interest in this show but the action is turning out to be quite well done. It's going to take a lot of effort to keep it going at this level.

I definitely hope the action will be keep at this level. This has a really good chance to be one of my import, so I really hope it will.

Damius

08-04-2012, 12:03 AM

- 2000 dead…wonder what is currently happening in the real world...
- A girl voice… She agrees to join Kirito!
- I really like the scene between Kirito and Asuna, when they are eating the bread. Great introduction scene.
- Asuna’s hood is removed, she is so hot! She is beautiful!
- The fight was really good and the move to kill the boss was awesome.
- I just hope the “hate beta-tester” won’t hold too long…
- Well, that is how Kirito answers to it... Hmm...
- Beta+Cheater = Beater… Ok…
- “Oh, it’s been there all this time” with such a lovely smile. Love you Asuna!

This episode was amazing. Wow!

William K

08-04-2012, 06:47 AM

Wait. Hidaka Rina is the imouto in both this and Accel World? They act differently of course but did her agent offer the producers a 1+1 deal? :D

ookamigirl

08-04-2012, 03:36 PM

Seems like Asuna was thriving in a guild.
Kirito was pretty uninterested to join the fight this time.
Asuna keeps taking his advice. It's pretty LOL
Looks like their safe area was not as safe as they thought.
Those two working a case together was a nice treat.
That "Guilty Thorn" weapon was pretty unusual.
Looks like this episode was detective style and it's not done yet either.

FUNiOP

08-04-2012, 04:15 PM

Ah, a step up. The plot really starts moving now. Kirito and Asuna are back together, and they're faced with a phenomenon that may be rewriting the rules of Sword Art Online as everyone knows them, and in the process killing people when they should have no chance of dying. Throughout the episode, the mysteries only thicken, and we're left with a cliffhanger that really leaves nothing but unknowns in its wake. How will they figure this out, before these weapons claim their inevitable third victim, and who knows how much more damage these revelations will result in before someone does figure it out? Very exciting stuff. I'm back to really looking forward to each episode of this.

superdry

08-04-2012, 04:37 PM

This episode reminds me of murder-mystery quests in RPGs. Good times.

Asuna sure is a fiesty one (slighty tsundere?) and I'm glad we get to see her again even though I'd like to see more of Silica-chan. Her and Kirino actually do make a pretty cute couple...haha.

Kirito and Asuna are back together, and they're faced with a phenomenon that may be rewriting the rules of Sword Art Online as everyone knows them, and in the process killing people when they should have no chance of dying.

This reminds me when PK cheats came out for Diablo where you could kill someone in town. Every game is not bug-free, so I wouldn't be surprised if it is an exploit someone found even though the only people getting killed, so far, are related to the Golden Apple guild.

Fencedude

08-04-2012, 06:32 PM

Wow, Asuna's done well for herself.

This was quite the good episode. A very RPG-style murder mystery, good use of the game's mechanics.

Draneor

08-04-2012, 08:46 PM

Hmm. Another anime-original original to me episode (with the exception of the nap scene, which was rather well done). I'm really enjoying how they're fleshing SAO out. I'm definitely curious to learn how the murders are occurring within the rules of the game. Also, the motive. In episode 4, Rosalia and company justified their murders by denying that dying in game meant dying in the real world. Does whoever is doing this accept the premise of the game or not?

Her and Kirino actually do make a pretty cute couple...haha

Asuna is love. <3 I agree she and Kirito go well together.

Fencedude

08-04-2012, 09:09 PM

Hmm. Another anime-original episode (with the exception of the nap scene, which was rather well done). I'm really enjoying how they're fleshing SAO out. I'm definitely curious to learn how the murders are occurring within the rules of the game. Also, the motive. In episode 4, Rosalia and company justified their murders by denying that dying in game meant dying in the real world. Does whoever is doing this accept the premise of the game or not?

Ahh...Draneor...none of the stories have been anime original.

Draneor

08-04-2012, 09:19 PM

Fencedude

08-04-2012, 09:19 PM

superdry

08-04-2012, 09:43 PM

Ahh...Draneor...none of the stories have been anime original.

OK. This episode and episode 2 must be drawn from a volume beyond where I currently am (5). That.. seems odd to me but my bad. Thanks for the clarification.

Episode two is taken from some side-story called Aria in the Starless Night. Doesn't look like it was collected into a book, yet, from the looks of it - I would not be surprised if it was published either only online or in an issue of Dengeki Bunko.

FUNiOP

08-04-2012, 09:48 PM

Draneor

08-04-2012, 10:00 PM

So how far into the novels is Asuna introduced? For being the apparent female lead, it seems strange that she wouldn't have been introduced early on.

Early. But we haven't gotten to that part yet. (I answered his question about Asuna was introduced). Any more about the structure may be venturing into dangerous territory, which was not the intention of my error.

Fencedude

08-04-2012, 10:06 PM

So how far into the novels is Asuna introduced? For being the apparent female lead, it seems strange that she wouldn't have been introduced early on.

Very early, its just the majority of volume 1 takes place late in the timeline. Short stories published later filled in a lot of the early gaps, which is what we're doing now.

HitokiriShadow

08-04-2012, 11:25 PM

Yay, Asuna returns! And she's the Vice Commander of one of the top guilds too!

At first I thought maybe Yoruko was the one behind it and was manipulating Asuna and Kirito to get Schmidt, but the conspicuous shot of the open window made it clear someone was about to die and the she started backing toward it and her fate seemed sealed, as well as her innocence. Unless she somehow figured out a way to fake her death, which seems incredibly unlikely.

Anyway, very good episode. Lots of Asuna plus an interesting storyline.

FUNiOP

08-05-2012, 12:06 AM

something

08-05-2012, 12:20 AM

Episode 5:

- March 6th, which is only a few days after episode 4 ended. And I know we see Asuna again finally since I've seen a million screencaps of her in this ep.
- Uhhhhhhhh. Uhhhhhhhhhh. Kirito, Asuna and Kline are all together again just mere days after episode 4? And busy planning an attack on a boss. I take this to mean that Kirito was already a member of (or workling alongside at least) this guild for a good while before meeting Silica, and taking down redhead bitch last time was part of a job for this guild.
- And Kirito is being weepy about NPCs dying, seriously? Dude, your lives are at stake. Get your priorities straight.

- Now we jump a month to April. ...I guess Asuna's plan worked.
- Mmm. I hope their antagonistic relationship softens soon. I want to see them working together, not bickering.
- Sleeping Asuna. Adorable. <3
- Cute sneeze!
- And cuuuuuuute deredere! Yeah, I like this.

- Now for PKing. Mystery PKing!
- And while Yoruko tells us about her traumatic experience the camera zooms in on her really nice ass for some reason. Well... that's okay.
- Yoruko is sooooooooooo dead. No way she survives this episode. Unless she's the killer.
- Huh, thought she'd die that very night.
- Whelp, she's totally snapped. Schmidt isn't looking much better.
- And there she goes. So this is a multi-parter.

I don't quite get why we had to jump into side stories and then BAM suddenly we skip at least a few months into Asuna and Kirito and Kline all being together. No segue, no nothing. I can only assume that's how the novels were. I wonder if we'll fill in the gaps later, or if it... just isn't supposed to matter.

Fantastic ep anyway. The body count keeps rising. And goddamn Asuna is hot.

strangefour

08-05-2012, 12:25 AM

Okay let's try out this new PS3 ap Crunchyroll has.

-Kay, start playing SAO anytime now...
-When will you play anything but a black screen?
-why is the bar at 1:45?
-NO NOT BACK TO THE LAST EPISODE!
-Why did you lock up?
-Unlock up damn it!
*restarts PS3* :\

-Wait what? Why would you want to protect the NPCs in a GAME OF LIVE AND DEATH. Fuck the NPCs.
-Why did I lag during the sexy pan of Asuna?
-Sleeper Pks. Man that's a sick sick concept. When do we get to meet one?
-Speak of the devil. :D
-Damn it more lagging.
-Wtf? Why did the quality dip down to ancient youtube quality? Fuck this Ap. I'll go watch it in the PS3 web browser.

-Yuroko has some improbably tight leather pants.
-Me Grimlock (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf48qnmRsfg) sword smith!
-Why would you stand near an open window you insane insomniac?

Woohoo! Funderful PK murder mystery. *squee* Me Grimlock (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE0YgV46l5c&t=11s) stealthy assassin. Heh.

Sadly CR's PS3 Ap sucks balls for me & my DSL.

Ingraman

08-05-2012, 12:26 AM

It feels like the plot's moving (Asuna's advanced far [I was wondering how long of a wait until we'd see more of her], the level that's being worked on is going up, and time's passing), but we're not seeing any of it. We just keep getting these little side-quests. Does Kirito wish that he still had his resurrection item, now?

I like a couple of the characters, but it's been a bit boring. ;_;

stardf29

08-05-2012, 04:00 AM

So, SAO gets a bit of Higurashi flavor today. Obviously without the time-loop and the deaths aren't gory, but Yoruko's flip-out was pretty much right in line with USO DA.

Anyways, we meet Asuna again and she is awesome.

dsmith

08-05-2012, 04:16 AM

- Uhhhhhhhh. Uhhhhhhhhhh. Kirito, Asuna and Kline are all together again just mere days after episode 4? And busy planning an attack on a boss. I take this to mean that Kirito was already a member of (or workling alongside at least) this guild for a good while before meeting Silica, and taking down redhead bitch last time was part of a job for this guild.

Nah, he said he was a soloer (last ep, when talking to red-head and them). He likely teams up with the big guilds for the boss raids, but spends most of his time alone. He only went back down for that one job because no one else was willing to take time out of their busy schedules and strategy meetings and whatnot to deal with a group of PKers.

Asuna herself shows a bit of that at the start of this episode, but seems to have relaxed a bit after her nap.

-Wtf? Why did the quality dip down to ancient youtube quality? Fuck this Ap. I'll go watch it in the PS3 web browser.

Sounds like it's about the same as the Google TV app, which I suppose would be fine quality if I were watching it on a smart phone; on an HDTV, though, it's crap. They promised a number of improvements to it over six months ago that still haven't appeared. I just use the Google TV's Chrome browser instead, as well.

Buckeye

08-05-2012, 09:22 AM

Silica tries to go out on her own thinking she is invincible with Pina by her side, only to lose him and having to be saved by Kirito after an argument with Rosalia. Silica looks like his sister, and seeing how it is possible to revive Pina that Kirito helps her. Thus, the concept of green players and orange players are introduced, with PKs being marked with an orange marker. Rosalia is that type of person, except she is a green player doing the luring while her orange henchmen do all the dirty work. They could take down several unsuspecting players that way, but it does not work on Kirito, and so those thugs go to prison while Pina is revived and living happily with Silica.

That was a very nice episode that gets away from the dark mood that has been set, with a nice way to end the episode. Silica is just cute while Rosalia got what she deserved for gaming the system like that.

Buckeye

08-05-2012, 09:46 AM

Time for a nap with Asuna while the rest of the party goes out on a quest to lure a boss to kill NPCs. And then comes a PK in a town. Players were supposed to be safe in towns, with no threat of monsters and no PK-ing unless it is in a duel. Except that someone managed to find a loophole to this rule. Thus comes Yoruko, who saw the whole thing, and believes that someone is out to get them due to the dispute over what to do with a rare item. And it looks like Grimwald is the PK, and Yoruko gets all paranoid before getting PKed.

That episode was pretty good seeing how there is a crime going on that was not intended to be a part of the game, and now, this story will take two episodes to resolve. Plus, Asuna is back and ready to travel together with Kirito once again. It was just depressing to watch Yoruko go out like that.

superdry

08-05-2012, 10:32 AM

- Uhhhhhhhh. Uhhhhhhhhhh. Kirito, Asuna and Kline are all together again just mere days after episode 4? And busy planning an attack on a boss. I take this to mean that Kirito was already a member of (or workling alongside at least) this guild for a good while before meeting Silica, and taking down redhead bitch last time was part of a job for this guild.

Nah, he said he was a soloer (last ep, when talking to red-head and them). He likely teams up with the big guilds for the boss raids, but spends most of his time alone. He only went back down for that one job because no one else was willing to take time out of their busy schedules and strategy meetings and whatnot to deal with a group of PKers.

Asuna herself shows a bit of that at the start of this episode, but seems to have relaxed a bit after her nap.

And, I think its mentioned Kirito works on the front-lines and even told Silica he needs to go back to it since he's been away from it too long. Isn't Klein part of a different guild? So does the front-line just a group of powerful players and a guild takes charge for different bosses?

-Wtf? Why did the quality dip down to ancient youtube quality? Fuck this Ap. I'll go watch it in the PS3 web browser.

Sounds like it's about the same as the Google TV app, which I suppose would be fine quality if I were watching it on a smart phone; on an HDTV, though, it's crap. They promised a number of improvements to it over six months ago that still haven't appeared. I just use the Google TV's Chrome browser instead, as well.

The videos encoded for the android app is made for smartphones (no higher than 480p) as the quality looks meh on my tablet. Going through the mobile website yields me better quality like you using chrome.

HitokiriShadow

08-05-2012, 10:44 AM

Isn't Klein part of a different guild? So does the front-line just a group of powerful players and a guild takes charge for different bosses?

The "front lines" isn't just a single guild, and it would make sense for guilds to work together to take down bosses. They're obviously willing to take help from non-guild members if they're letting Kirito in. And Klein's guild seemed fairly small and they clearly weren't a top guild (though they did somehow hold off a much larger group from one of those top guilds....), so it wouldn't be surprising if they just joined a larger guild at some point, but I think its more likely they're just working with the Blood Oaths temporarily like Kirito is.

superdry

08-05-2012, 11:13 AM

HitokiriShadow

08-05-2012, 11:48 AM

I'm on my tablet right now and its always a pain to type. What I meant to ask was does a different guild (depending who is currently in the front-lines) take command for each boss that needs to be cleared.

I would guess that its based on either who reaches the boss first or which guild is the strongest at the time.

something

08-12-2012, 12:09 AM

Episode 6:

- Bye bye Yolko (ah, spelling confirmed). Again. Kirito chases after the killer but the latter teleports away.
- Asuna's handmade sandwiches! Hints at the bit in the OP where she's cooking.
- Oh no, Kirito. That sandwich looked yummy. orz indeed.
- Ahh. So the weapons weren't game weapons either. They were actually handmade? That must be what he's getting at. Granted the distinction between handmade and game entity seems a little arbitrary when everything is inside the game.

- Oh. Or Kains and Yolko just faked it. Hahah, okay, nice.
- Kirito, your deduction is clever and all but there's no way you really would have reached it with the evidence you had. It's just pure plot necessity. Well whatever.
- Another PK guild. This one seems rather more sadistic. And one is obviously Grimlock. Or Grimrock. Or Grimdark. Whatever his name is.
- And Kirito rides in just in time. And unceremoniously falls on his ass, heh.

- Marriage means shared inventory? Oh man there must be so many gold-diggers of either gender in this game.
- Annnnd speaking of. Grimlock, you jerk.
- Yay Asuna.
- Huh, so they were married for real. And Stupid Grimjerk was jealous of how well she did in-game, and had her killed.
- You have received a friend request from: Asuna.

Heh. I love how terrified Kirito is of Asuna. They're such a cute couple.

Another good episode. So, when does the show actually start?

And oooh that Asuna ending illustration. Yay Buriki.

Draneor

08-12-2012, 11:34 AM

So that's how Kirito friended Asuna. This is such a weird experience for me. And, lol at Asuna's cooking. We love you for investing time in trade skills. <3

Anyway, moral of the story: always check the name plate down in starting city when you think someone died. It's the only way to know for sure!

HitokiriShadow

08-12-2012, 03:17 PM

Man, what a bastard. He killed her because she was his actual wife and he "loved" her when she was a docile Yamato Nadeshiko waifu and couldn't stand her actually acting like a fulfilled, adult human being. I really wished they killed the fucker.

Anyway, really nice conclusion to this little arc. It focused heavily on the arc characters, but there was some nice development with Kirito and Asuna and nice little hint at things to come with Asuna. Also, I loved Kirito's response to her question about having a hidden side. "Lucky! Double the experience!"

Unless she somehow figured out a way to fake her death, which seems incredibly unlikely.

So yeah, I even considered the possibility, though for a very different goal. But we were missing key information about items. You'd have to know about item durability and what it looks like when they break to have the knowledge necessary to put things together.

Fencedude

08-12-2012, 03:38 PM

That was damn good.

I love how terrfied Kirito gets whenever Asuna brings up personal relationships. He's got it bad, but has no idea whatsoever.

superdry

08-12-2012, 06:29 PM

This episode felt like Hyouka: SAO Side-story. Kirito should team up with Oreki in a crossover. haha.

Glad to see more Asuna though. The two do make a cute couple, though.

Man, what a bastard. He killed her because she was his actual wife and he "loved" her when she was a docile Yamato Nadeshiko waifu and couldn't stand her actually acting like a fulfilled, adult human being. I really wished they killed the fucker.

I felt the same way. I thought "you gotta be kidding me" with his reasons to kill his wife in the game.

something

08-12-2012, 06:34 PM

This episode felt like Hyouka: SAO Side-story. Kirito should team up with Oreki in a crossover. haha.
God Satoshi and Eru would be so ridiculously excited and get in character immediately. Mayaka would end up dying, with her luck. ;_;

Draneor

08-12-2012, 07:25 PM

I felt the same way. I thought "you gotta be kidding me" with his reasons to kill his wife in the game.

I think there was more to it than her being different in the game (although certainly his control issues were a huge part of it). His wife was, quite frankly, better at the game than he was (she was the guild leader, the person everyone was drawn to, etc). Not to mention she apparently wasn't paralyzed with fear, and was actually striving to make the best of it.

Couples often play MMOs together or get their spouse involved. Sometimes, the spouse ends up being better at the game and often jealously causes stupid shit to happen (which either gets resolved or they break up). A lot of drama gets brought into the game that originates from unresolved issues in real life. In short, I think he also couldn't tolerate his wife being better at something than he was. I suspect he was also a piece of shit in real life compared to his wife but traditional roles did not allow her to blossom.

So while I have yet to hear of anyone murdering their spouse because of a MMO, I think it reflected drama that does, in fact, happen. In any case, he was clearly insane and, I assume, will spend the remainder of his game days in prison (the lawful interpretation--the chaotic would be his former guildmates led him off to be executed).

strangefour

08-12-2012, 11:49 PM

-Killer bunny! With big nasty pointy teeth.
-They are alive... wait whut?
-AH HAH! Always check your Friends List fools!
-The pretend PKs just found the real PKs. Hehehehe. Wait... why would PKs form a guild? They are naturally loners and wack jobs who worm into other guilds.

-Letting the PKs live will bite you in the ass Kirito. But probably not for a while.
-Me Grimlock. Me dress like Victorian dandy.
-Griselda was killed for having fun!? You Grimlock bozo.
-"Um mister Black Swordsman sir. Can we keep him? We're just gonna drag him into the woods and kick the shit out of him. Then set up an elaborate Rube Goldberg item device to murder him without changing our icon color. Kay, thanks, bye."
-The server is haunted!

Well that was a weird kind of backwards mystery twist. We know so little of the mechanics of this game. The solution was buried in minutia. But still excellently executed script-wise. Friend request accepted.

ookamigirl

08-13-2012, 07:24 AM

So the mysterious killer story continues..
PK in a safe zone is pretty impossible.
They sure found a loophole in the system.
Revenge can be a really good motivator.
Seems like it was all just a really good show..
Well, at least it was an imaginative way of flushing out the culprit.
Their little play just got them into more serious trouble.
They were lucky Kirito had their backs after what they pulled.

Damius

08-13-2012, 11:46 PM

Good episode, but I hope the story settles down and has far less time skips soon. If you jump 1-8 months between scenes, you really start to mess with my ability and desire to connect with where the story is.

I hope as well they will not jump so often. I will find the show really good even if they still do it, but I will need to get used to it. Will see.

Damius

08-13-2012, 11:50 PM

But my main problem is that I want Asuna back.

I hope it won't get too long before they reunite again... I want to see Asuna as soon as possible!

Damius

08-13-2012, 11:59 PM

- Not Level 20 Kirito, 40!
- Sachi is cute.
- Kirito, will join their guild? I’m surprised.
- Well, when you are with Kirito it’s easy to get some EXP.
- Sachi wants to run from everything even SAO…it doesn’t look good at all…
- Sachi is sleeping with Kirito…
- Trick by the chest…they really should be more careful… and they are all dead including…
- Sachi is already dead…already dead…this is way too fast… Noooo… Sachi… ;_;
- And we jump to December…
- Well, at least we go back to what did the leader after he knew his entire guild was dead… he kills himself…
- Well, the revival spell really exists.
- A gift from Sachi… ;_;

Sachi, it was too short, way too short…

ookamigirl

08-18-2012, 03:27 PM

Asuna & Kirito seem to be hanging out together a lot lately.
Kirito sword shopping really gave Liz some trouble.
Going on a material collecting quest was interesting to watch.
I got the impression that Liz rarely went out in the world.
The quest turned out to be quite an adventure for Liz!
Kirito's new sword "The Dark Repulser" looks really nice.
Can't wait to see it in action.
I felt sorry for Liz when she realized her feelings for Kirito are in vain..

Fencedude

08-18-2012, 04:59 PM

Cute blacksmith voiced by Ayahime? I can get behind this.

Anyway, her heart gets broken, but hopefully she can grow a little stronger from it. Kirito's damn dense though. Jesus.

I was hoping for more Asuna. Also it was remarkably stupid of Kirito (though convenient for the plot) that he didn't bring her along on the dragon hunt.

FUNiOP

08-18-2012, 06:44 PM

Well I certainly wasn't expecting any of that. They're kind of introducing new concepts to us and we just have to kind of accept them. Still really good, though. Even with two episodes, this story doesn't seem like one that will really matter at any later point, but it was important in bringing the protagonist and main heroine closer together, so I can appreciate that. Hopefully that will continue to happen, and Asuna won't have to take another few episodes off every time she's in the series for one story.

FUNiOP

08-18-2012, 07:22 PM

Asuna's in this one, but it actually turns out being another adventure pairing Kirito up with another new girl, I believe the last one left from the OP. This one actually realizes her feelings very quickly and even tries to tell Kirito several times, but of course things can't go that easily for her. It's pretty obvious that her friend Asuna is the one for him, and she takes it pretty hard. Kirito is pretty stupid when it comes to this, not surprisingly considering he's always called the virtual world home, he plays solo, and he's the main character of an anime, but he does try to do some earnest cheering up. It looks like she'll be appearing again, though, assuming he keeps his promise to have her check up on him regularly.

I like how somber and serious Kirito reads the next episode title, but I do wish we got some idea of what to expect, especially since the series hasn't really shown a commitment to do anything big yet. At this point, I feel like this show isn't impressing me quite as much as it was before. It's still my favorite show this season, though. I guess that's kind of depressing in a way.

HitokiriShadow

08-18-2012, 08:39 PM

Fencedude

08-18-2012, 09:01 PM

Ugh, I have such mixed feelings on this episode. I most ways it was a really good episode. And I love Lizbeth. On the other hand, I'm really not thrilled with the role she had for the episode or how she was treated.

She's definitely note an experienced fighter, so I didn't mind him telling her to hide, but his denseness was getting kinda irritating. Also the whole thing would have been avoided if he'd been not-stupid and brought Asuna along on the dragon hunt.

Liz got friendzoned hard though, through no fault of her own either.

HitokiriShadow

08-18-2012, 09:23 PM

She's definitely note an experienced fighter, so I didn't mind him telling her to hide, but his denseness was getting kinda irritating. Also the whole thing would have been avoided if he'd been not-stupid and brought Asuna along on the dragon hunt.

Her just not being a good fighter is still annoying in light of what we've gotten out of the female cast so far. One existed to get killed off and be character development for Kirito, and whatever use she was in combat, we didn't get to see it. Silica's adorable and I love her but what we saw of her was her getting her hand held by Kirito for her entire episode. Asuna.... well, she's sure done well for herself by getting the position she has in her guild, but that's just the show telling us she's supposed to be awesome. What we've SEEN is her playing sidekick/love-interest to Kirito.

I don't have a problem with this episode on its own. And I certainly don't expect or need every female character to be an awesome combatant. Like I said, I rather liked it. But then I look back.... it's not doing anything offensively bad like certain other shows, but its not exactly impressive either.

More than than her not being a useful combatant, I more annoyed at some of the things Kirito was saying to her and that it was a plot requirement for her to be stupid so that she could get rescued.

I don't inherently have a problem with her falling for Kirito. If she's at least a recurring character, we can at least get something entertaining out of that. It was certainly cute and executed pretty well here despite being pretty by the numbers.

something

08-18-2012, 11:48 PM

Glad to see CR is caught up already. When I looked at the schedules I expected them to only be streaming 6 today. Nice.

Episode 7:

- June 24th now.
- Ah, Takagaki Ayahi for Liz. Yay.
- Heh. She taskes one look at Kirito and thinks he's some broke bum.
- Kirito is working off a lvl61 weapon? He's almost lvl80 isn't he? He can do better. Do your best, Liz!
- ...Oh Kirito. You break it, you bought it.
- Actually he does a good job manipulating her. Heh, they're a delight together already. Takagahi sounds great here.

- Yes Kitiro, please kill that CG abomination.
- Oh Liz. Silly Liz. But maaaaaan, the terror in her voice when she's falling is piercing. That's not just someone yelling because they're surprised. That's a "holy fuck I am literally about to die" scream. Very nicely done.
- Kirito is making snow angels!

- Dragon shit obtained!
- And a mid-air confession. o_O Also, maybe you two ought to TP out of there...

- Hmmm. The sword she made has a lower attack score and level requirement than his previous sword. Maybe it has some special ability to make up for it?
- Awwwww. Liz, you fell in love with a taken guy. That moment when she realizes Kirito is the guy Asuna is into... poor girl.
- Goddamn. Kirito even handles Liz's feelings well. ANIME! Why can't you make more male protagonists like Kirito? WHY!? He's so fucking good! It can't be that hard!

Great episode, and a great addition to the cast even if I have no idea when we'll see her again. If I really were forced to complain about anything, I guess I do fine it a little unfortunate that what we're supposed to know about Liz, in the span of just one episode, is that she is just totally into Kirito and... ...well that's really the main thing. But honestly it doesn't bug me here because Kirito didn't do anything stupid, and unlike so many other protagonists, it's really not hard to see why Kirito would affect someone in that way.

Still loving this show. Now bring back Silica!

something

08-18-2012, 11:52 PM

Kirito's damn dense though. Jesus.
...Honestly, the whole reason this episode worked for me despite the "Kirito has to do everything" was because I feel the opposite way. Seemed to me that what she was saying about being his personal smith did click with him (right before Asuna burst in) whereas other protagonists would never have gotten it. And then he said exactly the right things to her by the bridge at the end. None of the usual stupid platitudes, but something that actually sounded like it meant something and was what she needed to hear right then, in addition to being pretty heartfelt on his end.

strangefour

08-19-2012, 12:21 AM

-The animation seems more fluid in this cold open for some reason.
-MMO Crafting: The Animated Series.
-MMO Shop Keep: The Animated Series.
-Crafting failure. :(
-Wait. Did i just start playing Recettear again? never did finish it...
-Silly dragon. This is not Skyrim.
-HOW THE HELL IS SHE HOLDING HER HAND IN THAT POSE!? Liz has a broken right wrist. :(
-Holy love triangles Black Swordsman! :(
-Lisbeth you are such a nice smith. :cry:

That was a cute little episode. Nice to see a female character survive and stay on Kirito's side for once. But how much longer must I wait for a female character to be a competent fighter in battle? Asuna might be badass but we've never seen her do anything since her first early battle against the very first boss monster.

superdry

08-19-2012, 01:58 AM

- And a mid-air confession. o_O Also, maybe you two ought to TP out of there...

That was some serious airtime after launching off the dragon.

Great episode, and a great addition to the cast even if I have no idea when we'll see her again.

Hopefully we see her again, but this episode was also a side-story, right? Maybe not, but we still could see her once in a while since she's is his personal blacksmith now.

Still loving this show. Now bring back Silica!

I mentioned this to a friend, but Silica should get her own spin-off show - Mahou Shoujo Silica-chan!

something

08-19-2012, 02:38 AM

Hopefully we see her again, but this episode was also a side-story, right? Maybe not, but we still could see her once in a while since she's is his personal blacksmith now.
I assume it still was one, yes, but we've gone through all* the major characters in the promo/placeholder image (http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/71RjSx-AG1L._AA1414_.jpg) and OP now, so they have to come back or else there's no cast left.

* Except deus ex machina-chan up top there. If she's not the crazy game creator's "dead little sister who he can't let go of and programmed into the game" I'll eat my non-existent hat. Though it'd be neat if it weren't something so predictable too. Maybe a variant of it where she's comatose in a hospital somewhere and he made SAO as a world she can move around freely in. Why it would require real death I don't know, but crazy guys are crazy.

superdry

08-19-2012, 02:43 AM

I assume it still was one, yes, but we've gone through all* the major characters in the promo/placeholder image (http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/71RjSx-AG1L._AA1414_.jpg) and OP now, so they have to come back or else there's no cast left.

* Except deus ex machina-chan up top there.

You mean the girl up top in the picture? That looks like Yolko/Yoruko to me.

Fencedude

08-19-2012, 02:47 AM

You mean the girl up top in the picture? That looks like Yolko/Yoruko to me.

She looks nothing like Yolko. Also, watch the OP again. Right after Sachi.

something

08-19-2012, 03:09 AM

You mean the girl up top in the picture? That looks like Yolko/Yoruko to me.She looks nothing like Yolko. Also, watch the OP again. Right after Sachi.Yeah, this girl (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31857183/Screenshots/%5BHorribleSubs%5D%20Sword%20Art%20Online%20-%2005%20%5B1080p%5D%5B04-08-22%5D.PNG), with all the screens around her screaming "I am totally in the code and stuff!".

Fencedude

08-19-2012, 03:35 AM

Yeah, this girl (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/31857183/Screenshots/%5BHorribleSubs%5D%20Sword%20Art%20Online%20-%2005%20%5B1080p%5D%5B04-08-22%5D.PNG), with all the screens around her screaming "I am totally in the code and stuff!".

Aura's black-haired sister.

Damius

08-19-2012, 10:21 PM

I really liked Kirito this episode - he continues to be a good lead character.

He is definitely. This show is so much better since he his a really good lead.

Damius

08-19-2012, 10:24 PM

- Silica, good luck with your fight. You need to win this.
- No…she can’t die already… Thank you Pina. But, that only gives her some time…what will happen now? She is saved by Kirito.
- Poor Pina… and that makes Silica sad…
- Kirito will help Silica to revive Pina. ^_^
- The reason he is doing all that… “It’s because you are looking like my little sister”
- If there is a character I want to die fast…is that redhead… How could she be like that with Silica?
- Silica is so cute and adorable.
- Silica in her underwear!
- Speaking about the real world…how many will be able to go back there?
- The redhead, well Rosalia, followed them… She needs to die now.
- Wow, the PKers will never be able to kill Kirito his life is regenerating faster than the damage he gets.
- Wow, Kirito is level 78 and has 14,500 HP…
- “Next time let’s meet in the real world” I hope you will meet again way before that.
- “And about the one day in my life that I had a big brother.” So lovely.

I love Silica already, I sure hope we will meet her again.

Damius

08-23-2012, 10:23 PM

- And finally we meet Asuna again! Awesome! I was so waiting for this.
- Asuna decided to take a nap. She is so beautiful!
- Wow…I love her…she is so cute and adorable. Asuna!!!
- PKing while your opponent is sleeping… that sure is a dirty trick…
- They were not on time… just a little too late. Who the hell did that?
- It was Yoruko’s friend who got kill… I feel bad for her… going threw an experience like that.
- …Yoruko lost it…
- And she got killed.

Asuna, it’s so awesome to see you again! Love you! Fantastic episode.

FUNiOP

08-25-2012, 02:31 PM

Full Kirito/Asuna episode, the beginning of an arc, and looking to be one of the most important stories in the series so far. Very exciting. Even when hardly anything happens, the technical quality and the excellent presentation make Sword Art Online nearly constantly enjoyable to watch. The fights are spectacular, but seeing the main characters' feelings for each other develop is at least as nice.

ookamigirl

08-25-2012, 03:22 PM

Two years into the game and he's still soloing the front lines.
Asuna & Kirito meet again. This time about a cooking thing.
Looks like her guild became something she's not too happy about.
Well, some things are better in smaller amounts ^^
Seems like everyone is slowly forgetting about home & the real world.
Asuna's guard was acting more like a stalker and that guild of hers sounds more like a prison.
Kirito vs Kuradeel was a nice bonus.
Asuna & Kirito in the dungeons again. That was nice, but those 2 taking on a boss alone is not a good idea.

bear

08-25-2012, 05:05 PM

Seems like we're back on the main track. Asuna is prettier than ever and her fighting style spectacular.

Fencedude

08-25-2012, 06:50 PM

That was really damn good. Asuna's glorious.

For the first time I'm really looking forward to the next episode.

strangefour

08-26-2012, 12:53 AM

HitokiriShadow

08-26-2012, 01:19 AM

Lots and lots of Asuna, yay! And we get to see her look pretty damn awesome, even if it was just a generic mob enemy. With Yuki Kajiura music playing.

And I really love Kirito/Asuna. Definitely the standout pairing of the season. Can't wait to see things develop more with them.

Really wasn't expecting an accidental boob grab/revenge punch scene in this show. Could have done without that though I guess it was less irritating than most, somehow.

And now, a boss fight!

something

08-26-2012, 01:23 AM

Episode 8:

- October 17th means almost two months after the previous episode. This opener reallllly feels like "hey, the main storyline is starting now".

- Kirito gets magical stat boosting rabbit! But he can't cook for shit to use it.
- Enter Asuna, with her maxxed cooking skill. And she wrangles half the bonus out of it for her services, heh.
- God Asuna's character design is astounding. I love her armor too. She's definitely one of the best looking characters of the year.
- Well, Kirito just made himself a jealous old man enemy. Kick his ass, Kirito.

- Asuna in casual clothes. My god those legs. We are not worthy.
- Two years completely immersed in a game world that is, for all intents and purposes, real. That certainly would mess with your sense of what is reality and what isn't.
- Heh, she's teasing him about marriage. These two have such a lovely chemistry.
- Yes! Party with her, damnit! Force this show to depict a competent female fighter.
- She doesn't exactly give him much choice. :sd: Fuck I adore Asuna.
- So, what, the ingredient was... just tasty? No stat boosts or anything?

- Ohhhhhhh come on, SAO. I thought you of all shows wouldn't need to go with the "herp derp I don't know what boobies are derp herp what's this soft fleshy thing on a girl's chest herp derp". Don't do that to Kirito, goddamnit. He's better than that!
- And now she's hiding behind Kirito's back like she can't handle this "bodyguard" jerkwad.
- And Kirito has to duel for her because what the fuck I have no idea why.
- And right after she gets a chance to act badass - which was slightly changing my opinion of that scene - she almost faints.

About 10 seconds of her being awesome at the end helps, but fuck I really hope SAO got that earlier shit out of its system with this episode. Like purging poison or something.

I tolerated Sachi being weak because her role was to die and guilt trip Kirito.
I tolerated Silica being weak because she's inexperienced and we did see some growth in her abilities in just that episode and she'll probably be way tougher when we see her again.
I tolerated Liz being weak because she's a smith, not primarily a warrior.

But never, ever do that to Asuna. ::glares:: You do not need to use her as an excuse to let Kirito show off. I think it's been very, very clearly established just how badass awesome he is by now. We know.

The episode before the grope and after the duel was as amazing as it's always been. Kirito and Asuna's chemistry at dinner was spectacular. I liked the cooking mechanic, and Asuna teasing Kirito. They're so adorable together. But man that grope and duel were so beneath this show. I'm keeping a close eye on you, SAO. I'm going to be severely disappointed if such a phenomenal show turns me off because it felt the need to pull dumb shit.

something

08-26-2012, 01:32 AM

-Two years in the digital coma. Maybe the crazy creator of this game made this all as his last creatrion before dying of cancer or something. Why would you assume he's still around. Or he could have unplugged himself and run away to avoid facing punishment. Hell, maybe the authorities found where he was by looking at the server logs, tried, convicted and unplugged his ass. The assuming he's still in the game is a dubious one.
Presumably he's coded in some kind of self destruct that would kill everyone in the game if he were arrested or killed. Hell the police might even know exactly where he is and how to get him, but can't do a darn thing because he has thousands of hostages.

-Oh hi Baphomet.
OP boss. I wonder if he'll really last through the first cour until we get a new OP or not. Probably not, but there are a lot of ways to tie this fight into Asuna's guild's tensions. Unfortunately one of them is for Asuna to get badly hurt and have the guild turn on Kirito for putting her in danger (or on Asuna when she defends him).

HitokiriShadow

08-26-2012, 02:05 AM

The episode before the grope and after the duel was as amazing as it's always been. Kirito and Asuna's chemistry at dinner was spectacular. I liked the cooking mechanic, and Asuna teasing Kirito. They're so adorable together. But man that grope and duel were so beneath this show. I'm keeping a close eye on you, SAO. I'm going to be severely disappointed if such a phenomenal show turns me off because it felt the need to pull dumb shit.

I wasn't thrilled with that either but I was willing to overlook it here because it came across as her just not wanting to deal with the guy, and because of the reason he was there and their relationship, it wasn't something she could just solve by kicking his ass anyway. Then after it was over, they mentioned some other stuff going in the guild with her and the people in it to give some plausible reasons for her to behave the way she did and not simply order him to shove off from the get-go. And we have to keep in mind that all that side story stuff of Kirito showing off hadn't happened (for the readers) when this did, so this was how Kirito established his badassery there.

So I was okay with it here.... and don't want to see the show ever do anything like it again.

Nothing excuses the grope/punch bullshit though.

ZenErik

08-26-2012, 09:08 AM

Looks like we're back on track. I agree with the groping part seeming out of place. :beat:

superdry

08-26-2012, 03:25 PM

That was a fun episode seeing Asuna and Kirito interact on a more personal level without doing a quest or whatever. She's pretty awesome.

I wonder what the Laughing Coffin dude is going to do? Ambush the two during the boss battle or when they leave the dungeon?

- Asuna in casual clothes. My god those legs. We are not worthy.

We also get a shot of her cute butt for one second, too. haha.

- Ohhhhhhh come on, SAO. I thought you of all shows wouldn't need to go with the "herp derp I don't know what boobies are derp herp what's this soft fleshy thing on a girl's chest herp derp". Don't do that to Kirito, goddamnit. He's better than that!

I found that to be rather silly and absurd. Really? Really now?

- And Kirito has to duel for her because what the fuck I have no idea why.

Kirito wasn't dueling for her really since Kuradeel explicitly challenged him to a duel. He even turned to her for approval since I think she wanted to show Kuradeel that Kirito is capable of dungeon crawling with her - she could have easily stepped in and stopped it immediately. What would a duel between the two guild members accomplish? Really nothing since Kuradeel is pretty headstrong and thinks of Kirito as not good enough. I think Asuna probably tried to tell him otherwise, but he wouldn't listen and a duel would just shut him up at that point since he initiated it. I'm glad Asuna stepped in before thing got out of hand.

- And right after she gets a chance to act badass - which was slightly changing my opinion of that scene - she almost faints.

I saw it as she almost faints/breathes that sigh of relief due to finally getting Kuradeel off of her back since it looked like he was hounding/chasing her the whole way to where she was to meet Kirito.

Damius

08-26-2012, 08:26 PM

- Damn…Kirito was not able to catch the killer… he just teleported.
- When food falls on the ground…it disappears… Boo… the homemade Asuna’s sandwich.
- Yolko and Kains didn’t die… Never guessed that one.
- And here we have more PKers… Damn… Hope they won’t die for real this time.
- Ok…this is good. Kirito is there just in time.
- So Grimrock killed Griselda… Ouch…
- Asuna was able to find Grimrock!
- And he killed his wife for that reason… really?
- Kirito you absolutely need to accept Asuna’s friend request. Well, I don’t think he can refuse anything to her!

That was a really good episode. Asuna/Kirito bond grew and I hope it will grow even more.

Damius

08-26-2012, 08:29 PM

And oooh that Asuna ending illustration. Yay Buriki.

Why did CR removed it...Why?

Fencedude

08-29-2012, 08:19 AM

I've taken over blogging SAO over at Sea Slugs!

This week: Asuna Faces! (http://www.seaslugteam.com/2012/08/29/sword-art-online-08/)

strangefour

09-01-2012, 10:39 PM

-You fools. Don't walk in there. That room takes you out of the floor zone into a burning circle boss battle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5DPFP8Ue8c&t=1m).
-Run away! Run away! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAp9sFVdERQ)
-Oh they did get out of the boss's room. Huh. Guess this game doesn't have one way zone walls.
-Klein is still alive? Man. He must be the luckiest bastard on the server.
-How have these army morons lasted this long with that fight till you pass out attitude?
-Wow that really is a Burning Circle.
-Stop having flashbacks Kirito. These are old stuffy men. Not cute young girls.
-Heh. Asuna gets to be the rash hero jumping in to save the stupid brigade.
-Sweet. Kirito has a Limit Break. Err... I mean damn why he gotta be all Mary Stu Chuu2 yo. Dawgs. *cough*
-Okay murdering the boss all by yourself is kinda bullshit. Is Kirito 100 levels above everyone else?
-Hmm but it drains his health down to 1hp to do it?
-MORE DEBAN (http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/more%20deban)!

Well that was better than last time with the boob grab. That really cheesed me off. But Kirito going all Boss Beater by himself was straining credibility. Also WTF every damn MMO has a dual wielding ability. The beta testers would have pitched a fit if it wasn't in there in some capacity. Still the rest of the episode worked for me better than last episodes rabbit stew date did.

Draneor

09-01-2012, 11:00 PM

So now we get the benefit of including the background stories that explained, a bit, about why Kirito has a strong aversion to seeing others die. I thought inclusion of the flashback was a nice touch. I also really enjoyed the contrast between the Kirito that abandoned Klein to his fate--back when the game launched--and the one who can't abandon his companions and strangers now. Overall, I think this part worked better than not understanding what went through Kirito's mind at this point in the novel.
I liked adding a brief Liz scene in there too. More Deban indeed.

Asuna continues to be love. I liked how she understood what Klein was trying to say without him saying it and also how she jumped in to save the members of the Army with no hesitation. Also, systematically testing out 1000s of ingredients over a year to mimic the taste of real world food...

The anime continues to elect to not info dump about the game itself. Most of it isn't really relevant, I suppose.

The beta testers would have pitched a fit if it wasn't in there in some capacity.

Most of the crap people bitch about in beta never gets addressed until post-launch anyway. There are tons of features that are standard that, amazingly enough, get left out of even AAA MMORPGS (let's not put in a group finder or a functioning AH). x class is widely overpowered? Not addressed. I may be a bit bitter.

HitokiriShadow

09-02-2012, 12:29 AM

Yay, Lizbeth! <3
That was the best part of the episode.

Man, it sure was awesome when Asuna.... uhhhhhh, made food. And had Kirito take care of dealing with all the guys for her. Got to be the "irrational one" that ran into the boss room so Kirito didn't have to do that part. Had to be rescued immediately after landing her first hits. Did basically nothing else in the battle but block a sword once and distract it for a bit so Kirito could show how awesome his skill is. Then she gets to cry and talk about how scared she was about him dying, utterly bog standard "girlfriend" dialogue. Then she gives up her position of power and prestige that she had to have worked damn hard for. Then she's not even allowed to make that obnoxious decision for herself. She becomes a fucking thing being fought over by men and isn't even allowed to say anything they're discussing what she's chosing to do with her (digital, sort of) life.

Yeah, remember when we saw Asuna acting like an intelligent, confident, competent leader and player in that little pre-boss fight planning scene a few episodes? Would have been really nice to see anything remotely resembling that here.

Fucking hell, this is what I get for giving the show the benefit of the doubt. I understand this episode was about Kirito showing off and being a badass, but that does not being to excuse everything this episode did wrong.

something

09-02-2012, 02:00 AM

Blah, CR delayed. At least it's not a perma-delay, like from the source station being back a week for good. I guess they didn't get materials in time. Well I'm not waiting, Saturday night is SAO time no matter what, so UTWoots it is.

Episode 9:

- Now it's time for our fearless heroes to ...run screaming and shitting their pants. Bwhahaha.

- Come back with a big party, guys.
- Asuna uses amusing stare. Kirito's secrets are revealed! Well, not quite yet.
- Instead, time for lunch!
- Asuna has cracked the code and can translate SAO flavors into real world flavors. Fearsome.

- Klein! Welcome back.
- And now some scrub guild with delusions of grandeur is going to march into the boss room and get slaughtered.
- Klein is kind of hilarious to listen to because when he's talking to Asuna it's exactly like Mutta trying to talk to Serika.
- Oh great. Sachi-related trauma is going to cause Kirito to do something stupid. Fight the urge, Kirito.
- lol instead it's Asuna who does something stupid first. But she manages to create an opening that saves a few noname players.
- Then... Kirito basically solos it. Even though the OP showed him and Asuna taking it down together. =/ Come on SAO. It was pretty cool for what it was, but I really hope we get to a "Kirito faces something is truly can't solo" development pretty goddamn soon. Force him to let other people help. And I mean for more than 10 seconds while he futzes around in skill menus. Anyway dual wielding makes sense if he's not going to use a shield.

- A skill only he can use? Cheater!
- So is Asuna just going to stay there hugging him through this entire conversation? Without talking? Or moving?
- They finally remember she's there. Okay wow that bothered me more than the fight itself.
- Liz~! So little deban. =(
- Then we set up more dueling to determine Asuna's fate for her. >_> Come on, can't it at least be a 2 on 2? You could test both Kirito's skill and their teamwork, which is (well, ought to be) just as important if they're in a 2-player party.

Sigh. I'm really glad SAO Vol. 1 wasn't a September release, since I already placed my September order. I thought for sure I was going to import this, but after the treatment of Asuna in the last two episodes, I'm back to being entirely undecided. I need something really big to change in that department in the next month or it's not going into my October order.

ookamigirl

09-02-2012, 06:46 AM

Asuna really mastered cooking.
An unexpected reunion with Klein was nice.
This boss room was a special sort... especially hard.
All of Kirito's fears came to life again in this fight.
This fight was a close one, even for him.
I didn't really expect him to accept the fight for Asuna.
Guess there are some real feelings between those two.

Buckeye

09-02-2012, 08:00 AM

I need to catch up on this show. Anyway, it turns out that there were no violations in regarding to PK-ing in towns, because there was no PK-ing to begin with. Yoruko and Kains faked their own death to draw out Griselda's killers by destroying their armor and using a teleport crystal. And the killer was none other than Grimrock by using other players to do the dirty work for him. Kirito delivers once again and was able to figure that out after dropping his sandwich.

It's great to see that none of those players were actually killed and that all this PK business was just an act. Not to mention, Asuna is back.

Buckeye

09-02-2012, 08:01 AM

Kirito needs a new sword, and he meets the cute blacksmith Liz. Only one problem: no materials. Even her best sword is a toothpick compared to what Kirito has. So it's off to slay a dragon to get a rare alloy. Well, not quite slaying it, but falling into its nest and unearthing it. Of course, Liz falls for Kirito. Asuna is the one who told Kirito about her, and so as payment, Kirito goes only to her for equipment maintenance .

While there was not enough Asuna in this episode, seeing Liz do all that was great.

FUNiOP

09-02-2012, 08:20 PM

I absolutely loved this episode. Klein shows up, the boss is overwhelmingly dangerous, and on top of that, he's in a trap room. The death that Kirito had to witness after getting so close to a character throughout a previous episode still weighs extremely heavily on him, and seeing the possibility of that happening again, to the likeable comrade he's known since the game started as well as the girl he's grown far closer to than any other, he stakes everything on a unique skill that all but kills him in return for giving him the power he needs to kill this monster of a boss all by himself, in quite the epic fashion. Now he has to fight for the right to take Asuna with him, against the strongest guild leader in the game, while avoiding the glut of players who want him for his newly-revealed ability.

Buckeye

09-02-2012, 08:52 PM

Kirito brings a premium ingredient for Master Chef Asuna to digitally cook. Thus, the beginning of their sustained friendship is finally established. Then Kurandeel goes and becomes way too overprotective of Asuna that Kirito had to beat some sense into him. Kirito has cleared three quarters of the game as a solo player over two years, but now comes the time where having an ally is actually critical, and the episode ends with a boss battle.

Great episode here now that Kirito and Asuna are going to be together for the long run now. And it seems like the anxiety from the start where players are looking for a way out of this game has settled down and the characters are living life in the virtual world, all while their real world bodies remain in hibernation. After a bunch of side stories, it's time to get back to the main story with 27 floors remaining.

relentlessflame

09-02-2012, 09:34 PM

Then she gives up her position of power and prestige that she had to have worked damn hard for. Then she's not even allowed to make that obnoxious decision for herself. She becomes a fucking thing being fought over by men and isn't even allowed to say anything they're discussing what she's chosing to do with her (digital, sort of) life.While I get where you're coming from, I think you're a bit overboard on this. She's not giving up her position; as she explained to Kirito, she's just planning on taking a break. They've established already that she's under a lot of stress and she wanted a break from the guild already (which is why she was partying with Kirito in the first place), but him nearly dying certainly added to her stress level. So it's just a break -- she's not giving up her position.

As for the "being fought over by men" bit... I think this was just a setup to try to get Kirito to join the guild. Honestly, although Asuna is probably trying to defer to the guild leader to preserve decorum and not cause a dissension or strife in the already-maxed-out guild, she didn't have to agree to the terms. She could easily just leave the guild if she wants. But the leader knew that Kirito already agreed to that sort of duel condition before, so I think he was just banking on Kirito walking into the trap. I am presuming that means the guild leader has some reason to believe that he can win the fight (because he already knows how easily he beat Kuradeel and his ability against the boss).

So anyway... I get what you're saying (as I felt a bit of the same thing in some regards), but I think it wasn't quite as bad as you made it out to be.

nakimushi

09-02-2012, 10:22 PM

relentlessflame

09-02-2012, 10:50 PM

Not sure, but Asuna is second-in-command of probably the strongest guild and Kirito's hit-point gauge is three times the size of hers (http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2440/hitpointso.png).Nah, that's only because it's showing it from Kirito's point of view. Your own HP gauge is larger than that of your party members. This is common in most MMOs I've played.

I think he's a bit over-levelled (and we know from before that he prioritized skills that would allow him to do well while soloing, which is precisely why he managed to do well here), but I don't think he's so much better than everyone else. In fact, what he did here was pretty reckless and very nearly got him killed. He was just lucky (of course, it's good to be the protagonist :sweat: ).

HitokiriShadow

09-02-2012, 10:51 PM

-Okay murdering the boss all by yourself is kinda bullshit. Is Kirito 100 levels above everyone else?

Not sure, but Asuna is second-in-command of probably the strongest guild and Kirito's hit-point gauge is three times the size of hers (http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2440/hitpointso.png).

I'm not sure that's a useful indicator of anything. It's very possible it just display's the player's own HP gauge much larger than their fellow party members. It would hardly be the first time a game did something like that.

something

09-02-2012, 11:19 PM

[Not sure, but Asuna is second-in-command of probably the strongest guild and Kirito's hit-point gauge is three times the size of hers (http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2440/hitpointso.png).I'm not sure that's a useful indicator of anything. It's very possible it just display's the player's own HP gauge much larger than their fellow party members. It would hardly be the first time a game did something like that.
Yeah, this screenshot (http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/anon09876/HorribleSubsSwordArtOnline-021080p00-16-00.png) is from all the way back in episode two, where they first meet, before he could possibly be leveled higher than her. So it's always been like that when partied.

strangefour

09-02-2012, 11:40 PM

Damius

09-03-2012, 01:56 AM

- Welcome Liz, it’s really nice to see you!
- Kirito broke the sword Liz made…
- Kill that dragon already…
- …or fall in that.
- Well, Liz you really yelled that in the sky? That’s a unique place to say it. Not a lot of people have the chance to confess in a place like that.
- And he accepts the sword. It’s heavy enough.
- She doesn’t need any money; she wants him to be his exclusive smith!
- Just when she was about to say how she really feels…Asuna appears.
- I feel sad for Liz…. ;_;

I hope we will see Liz again.

Damius

09-03-2012, 09:44 AM

- It’s been almost 2 years the death game began…
- So who would be able to cook this rabbit? It’s obvious, Asuna! She maxed out her cooking skill.
- Not only a bite Kirito, she will have half of if.
- And the beaters thing is back…
- I love Asuna in her armor, but I love her in casual clothes as well. Wow!
- Yes, please Kirito you need to party with her, you absolutely need to.
- He doesn’t have the choice anymore! Asuna is the best!!
- And that whole scene was awesome. Love Asuna and Kirito together a lot.
- Why this show had to do it? Why???? The “accidental” boob grope and then groping it for way too long because Kirito was wondering what it is… This show doesn’t need it. Doesn’t need it at all.
- And why is she hiding behind Kirito now??? Why???
- And now…we have the duel… I need to ask why again…
- Well, she relieves him from his function…
- Well, at least she was looking really good at the end of the episode, even if they were weak enemies…

I sure love Asuna and Kirito being together. I hope we will have a lot more of it.

Damius

09-03-2012, 09:50 AM

- And Kirito has to duel for her because what the fuck I have no idea why.Kirito wasn't dueling for her really since Kuradeel explicitly challenged him to a duel. He even turned to her for approval since I think she wanted to show Kuradeel that Kirito is capable of dungeon crawling with her - she could have easily stepped in and stopped it immediately. What would a duel between the two guild members accomplish? Really nothing since Kuradeel is pretty headstrong and thinks of Kirito as not good enough. I think Asuna probably tried to tell him otherwise, but he wouldn't listen and a duel would just shut him up at that point since he initiated it. I'm glad Asuna stepped in before thing got out of hand.

I still think they could have find a way better way to show Kuradeel that Kirito is good enough.

Damius

09-03-2012, 10:46 AM

Sigh. I'm really glad SAO Vol. 1 wasn't a September release, since I already placed my September order. I thought for sure I was going to import this, but after the treatment of Asuna in the last two episodes, I'm back to being entirely undecided. I need something really big to change in that department in the next month or it's not going into my October order.

I definitely feel the same way. I was almost sure that I wanted to import this show. But, now I doubt it... Why do they have to give Asuna this treatment? There is no reason at all. And yeah, it's a good thing Vol. 1 will be released in October since we will have done the first cour by that time, so I'll be able to take my final decision. I'll cross my fingers that something awesome will happen... Will see, I guess.

superdry

09-03-2012, 11:41 PM

Oooh...so Kirito finally uses his special skill in the boss battle. I love dual-wielding (probably due to watching too many John Woo movies growing up...haha) - awesome skill to use whenever it's available.

It was nice to see Klein again and still kicking - he's like the bumbling male friend at this point.

I like how Asuna at the end just held onto Kirito for what felt like eternity. So, she wanted to take a break from her guild and continue to party with him - I'm all up for that as they make a cute couple (her questioning about his using one sword was like a girl questioning her boyfriend if he's cheating on her or not). It's obvious she likes him, but did he get it?

I'm quite interested in the next episode to see the fight between Kirito. WIll he be forced to break out his special skill, again?

So now we get the benefit of including the background stories that explained, a bit, about why Kirito has a strong aversion to seeing others die. I thought inclusion of the flashback was a nice touch. I also really enjoyed the contrast between the Kirito that abandoned Klein to his fate--back when the game launched--and the one who can't abandon his companions and strangers now.

I felt the same way too when the episode showed flashbacks to the side-story.

superdry

09-03-2012, 11:51 PM

As for the "being fought over by men" bit... I think this was just a setup to try to get Kirito to join the guild. Honestly, although Asuna is probably trying to defer to the guild leader to preserve decorum and not cause a dissension or strife in the already-maxed-out guild, she didn't have to agree to the terms.

I felt the same way at the end since the losing condition is to force Kirito to join the guild (if they were really fighting over her, I would think the losing condition would be different). And, you're right, that Asuna could have easily objected (I wonder if she lets Kirito do this, well twice now, so she can show people in-person that Kirito is the real deal).

Heath probably knows about Kirito and would love him to join one of the most powerful guilds in the game.

ZenErik

09-03-2012, 11:52 PM

Ingraman

09-04-2012, 01:36 AM

I'm quite interested in the next episode to see the fight between Kirito. WIll he be forced to break out his special skill, again?

In the challenge the guy explicitly said he wanted Kirito to use both swords.
With confidence like that, does that mean that he's also got a skill/ability that few or no one else has? What will the outcome be? I presume that Kirito will win, but it'd be a nice change if he didn't (especially in what should be a non-fatal environment). ^^

Buckeye

09-08-2012, 08:04 AM

Klein is back, and the army comes demanding the map to the boss, and they go charging in despite Kirito's warnings about how tough the boss is and the unit being so wiped out. But they didn't listen and figured that their ego is more important than survival. And now, Kirito is in a bind since he was forced to unleash his dual-wielding skills and now, he has attracted so much unwanted attention that he has to duel Heathcliff to remain a solo player and travel with Asuna.

Nice episode overall. The fight was certainly good, but then there is just this whole problem with the army. Their ego and pride mean way too much and now Kirito has drawn a ton of attention to himself because he had to cover for their commander's inability to make rational decisions. The next episode should really be something now that Kirito's future in the game is about to be decided with a duel, and it looks like Heathcliff is a much stronger opponent than Kuradeel.

Buckeye

09-08-2012, 02:35 PM

Kirito gets crushed in his duel with Heathcliff, and now he is forced to be a member of his guild. Then he goes on what was supposed to be a training session with Kuradeel and Godfrey. And then Kuradeel unleashes his sadistic persona in full force by slipping paralysis poison into their water jugs for the kill. Turns out Kuradeel is an undercover member of a guild of assassins, and was about to kill Kirito until Asuna comes to the rescue. Good thing Kirito is not as naive as Asuna is or else she would have been dead. Asuna and Kirito are getting so close.

Here is a nice episode and after seeing what kind of a jerk that Kuradeel is, Kirito was right to send this PK out of this game. Now that Kirito is a member of the guild, things are about to get really interesting considering that he is at the point where being a solo player won't cut it.

ookamigirl

09-08-2012, 03:37 PM

Kirito vs Heathcliff!
I was kinda surprised he would fight to free Asuna..
It was a great fight, but Kirito really did himself in with this decision.
Looks like that psycho Kuradeel was so not over Asuna.
That was an extremely close call for Kirito.
Well, at least Asuna - Kirito relationship is developing nicely.
The lets get married part left me just gaping...

superdry

09-08-2012, 05:44 PM

The duel between Heathcliff (every time I see that name, all I can remember is the cat of the same name) and Kirito was pretty good. That skill at the end of the fight though that Heath pulled off was intriguing since he cheated essentially - looks like something of a remnant of brain burst.

The episode also confirms that Kuradeel is a major asshole and deserved to die. Glad that Asuna showed up to take care of him essentially (she is damn good with that rapier), but her lawful-good alignment got in the way (glad Kirito doesn't care). Only issue is that Kirito had to "save" her at the end even though the outcome probably would have been the same if it was some else instead of Asuna (the whole setup that happened is not uncommon) - of course, she should haven't lowered her guard. I do have to wonder how much damage would she have taken from that sword swing? I presume a lot because she wears light armor?

But, man does Asuna have it bad for Kirito - the misunderstanding at the end was pretty humorous and a very bold move on her part. But, the nice thing is that Kirito finally also realized how much she loves him and that's a plus moving forward and something to get out of the way now.

The interesting thing is that both of them are part of the guild and she still wants to leave the frontlines? Are they just going to up and leave the guild or will Heath allow them to have a vacation for a short bit (maybe after the Kuradeel event and upcoming marriage?)

FUNiOP

09-08-2012, 07:17 PM

Whoa, loads of stuff I didn't expect. Kirito loses the duel, and has to join the guild. On his first assignment, that asshole Kuradeel proves that not only is he an asshole, he's also a treacherous coldblooded murderer, and kills the other member that came with them, before getting Kirito to the same 1HP he was at in the previous episode. Kirito sure is almost dying a lot these days. Fortunately, Asuna finds him right as he's at that point and saves him, stopping short of killing Kuradeel herself, and requiring Kirito to save her. I really like that they've both had to save each other. It strengthens their bond through combat without one of them being the one who always needs protecting. Then their relationship develops far more than I expected it to before the series is even half over, not only with a kiss, but with attempted VR sex (and it almost looks like it actually happened with her sleeping naked next to him), and then a proposal which is of course accepted. Will the next few episodes actually be a peaceful look into the life of a married couple? That doesn't really seem possible. I hope they do get some nice time with each other at any rate. I really have no idea where the show will go from here. Not only is Asuna still in the guild, but now Kirito is as well. Running away together doesn't really seem possible in this situation, not only because of the logistics, but also because of the plot needing advancing by its leads. Well, they do have plenty of time, so maybe they can live their peaceful fantasy for a little bit before stepping back into battle to press on in the game. I'm really liking the direction it's taking, so I'm pretty hopeful, more than I have been since maybe the very beginning. I hope I'm not disappointed, but I won't be too surprised if that's the case at this point either.

stardf29

09-08-2012, 08:44 PM

Well, that duel ended faster than I thought it would.

And Kuradeel isn't just a jerk; he's an outright sociopathic murderer. Good thing Asuna got there on time. (Does killing a PK in SAO mark you as a PK as well?)

And, uh, either Asuna prefers to sleep in the nude, or uh... yeah. Not that I'm surprised that the VR technology was designed for sex to be possible...

Anyways, Kirito and Asuna are a great couple and it's nice to see that their relationship isn't being dragged out. Of course, marriage in an MMORPG doesn't *quite* have the same weight as in real life, but that proposal at the end was still very sweet.

strangefour

09-08-2012, 10:05 PM

-I'm not sure having Asuna as the prize is setting the right impression of gender issues.
-Wait the cheating special skill Kirito has been hiding isn't that much of an anomaly. His opponent has one two and uses it all the time. Then why the hell have you been so secretive Kirito? Not like you are the only one with a super secret seemingly haxxored skill.
-"I'm too much of a stupid teenager to realize I can lose." Now I really hope Kirito gets his ass kicked.
-It's like Kirito doesn't know how to fight someone with a shield... well that was fast. Now begins Kirito's quest to learn humility.
-Silly Kirito. You can't survive on your own without Asuna looking after you.
-Uh is chibi Iskandar taking Kirito out into a dungeon with douchey guy to murder him?
-Oh nope it's just douchey guy who wants to commit murder. Sorry chibi Iskandar.
-Come on. Hurry it up. We all know Asuna's coming. Just get to it already. Kirito can't save his own ass in this unwinnable situation. That would be the worst writing. Come on!
-ASUNA SMAASH! What do we say to death? Not today, ya damn right.
-Oh that old villain surrenders only to be dumb enough to attack again schtick.
-So now Kirito has a red icon.
-So hands grow back. Huh. A one handed dual wielder would have been amusingly silly.
-ASUNA PAUNCH!
-We get nearly naked Asuna (hey I guess there is a nude code for this game) but not even a shirtless Kirito. That's not fair. I want to see Kirito naked too... wait. :\

Hooray Asuna can do things on her own! Like save her dude in distress. I do have to wonder why we skipped over the obvious murder investigation the Guild had to have had. Sure they are going to take Asuna's word for it in the end. But Kirito killed a douchey guy. Someone in the Guild had to have been friends with even a scumbag like that. There is now a rift in the Guild. New guy joins and two high ranked members die. DRAMA!

Who cares, we're married~~ *sigh*

HitokiriShadow

09-09-2012, 12:02 AM

On the one hand, I'm thrilled to see two main characters actually have sex with each other almost no matter what (barring severe bullshit or absolutely terrible execution). Congrats on getting your GLOPPING, Asuna. And now they're even GETTING MARRIED, even if its "just" in the game.

Still, not exactly what I was hoping for when I first saw indications that they would get married and found out that they actually would have sex. Frankly, the relationship development has between the two of them has been distressingly minimal, so the emotional pay off is pretty low. Also really could have done without the BAAAAKAAAA gag in that scene and Kirito suffering from being a male lead. Then, even if you ignore the lack of development in their relationship, it just jumps to afterward.

I like them as a couple and its nice to see the relationship go well beyond where most anime stop, but I'm rather disappointed at how it played out.

I wish I could just enjoy Kirito's fight with the commander dude, but the context of their fight was still highly obnoxious. It was nice to see Asuna finally fucking do something.... and then she had to get saved again, and by using one of the most overused cliches ever. It's irritating to see anyone fall for that, but its much worse to see it happen here, when I'm waiting to finally see a character do something and it severely mitigates their scene.

Goddammit SAO, this should have been a fantastic episode. Instead it was a kinda good but rather annoying one. Why are you such a fuckup?

ndm

09-09-2012, 03:38 AM

Having just finished watching ep 10 (great ep) I was thinking about where I hope the story goes from here. Never having read the books I have no idea how they end, but here's what I'd like to see. If you're not interested in a vague theory feel free to skip my post. :)

The way I hope this story goes is that the Game Master lied and they aren't all in induced comas in hospital beds but are actually all just simulated copies of the original players and the originals logged out at the end of the first day just fine. So the real reason they can't actually ever leave is because they're really just very advanced npcs - which would also give a nice moral slant to Kirito's reluctance to use npcs as meat shields some episodes back. It would also be a happy ending because all the dead players like Kirito's original guildmates would still have living originals out in the real world. It would be easy enough to create a motivation: the story could be something like the GM could have encoded his dead daughter into the game (floating code girl in the OP) and simply wanted friends/entertainment for her. It would turn him from the greatest mass-murderer of all time into just a computer programmer who loves his daughter.

Anyway, that would be my personal favourite way to conclude the series - with them all realising that this world actually *is* their reality.

Ingraman

09-09-2012, 03:49 AM

The lets get married part left me just gaping...
CR's stream froze after Kirito asked the question and she was starting to tear up. Before I'd realized that it had frozen, I just thought that the music had stopped and we were getting a dramatic pause before she said that she wasn't ready for it. ^^;

Ingraman

09-09-2012, 04:00 AM

-It's like Kirito doesn't know how to fight someone with a shield...
No monsters must use them effectively, I guess.

-So now Kirito has a red icon.I didn't notice one. We did see the one he killed get an ?orange? one, though.

-So hands grow back. Huh. A one handed dual wielder would have been amusingly silly.He missed out on getting a hook for a hand! Or just attaching the sword to where his hand was.

-ASUNA PAUNCH!Do not accuse Asuna of having a paunch! ^^;

something

09-09-2012, 05:08 AM

So this episode has sent SAO's Amazon rankings completely fucking bonkers, with all three BDs in the top 5, vol 1 at #1, and even the DVD hitting ~50. So obviously someone, ro a lot of someones, think it's a totally awesome ep. Let's see if it helps fix any of the issues of the last two weeks for me.

Episode 10:

- Commander is OP. Nerf him!
- Yaaaaaay, Kirito loses! I mean I don't like Heathcliffe, and I do like Kirito, but Kirito losing is probably the more interesting outcome here. I also think we need to see him fail at something for once (in the present day, so other than losing Sachi).

- Nooooo, fuck this uniform, white looks terrible on Kirito! ;_;
- "I was reaching the limits of what a solo player could do." THANK YOU. I'm so glad to hear him say that.
- "It was a long time ago." "Over a year ago." Heh. The compressed sense of "history" that teenaged characters have in anime always amuses me. They'll talk like an old war veteran reminiscing about battles decades past and it'll end up being, like, "I tripped and hurt my knee last week".
- Wait what? No, Kirito, Sachi's guild can't be your trauma, because you were a lone wolf afraid of forming relationships long before that. There's something deeper there, something from another pre-SAO game.
- Hrm. I was really hoping that the trap that killed Sachi and the rest was level-based, because then Kirito's guilt would come through even stronger. I suppose guilt over not telling them about the dangerous of a trap he knew is pretty bad too though.
- "I'll be the one who protects you." That's the kind of phrase that gets characters who aren't the protagonist killed, Asuna. Not that I can see Asuna dying, unless the author hates money. Anyway it's nice to see her being more proactive and comforting him.

- Oh god that guy looks just like (a smaller, less badass) Rider. If it were the same seiyuu I'd be laughing my ass off.
- Uh yeah somehow I don't think whatshisname's apology was sincere. Gee I wonder why.
- Well this is a rather suspicious setup. >_>

- Heh. Food comes up and of course Kirito can only think about Asuna's sandwiches.
- Kirito is level 96? with 18,500 HP. If the cap is 99 he sure doesn't have far to go, jeeze.
- Ahhh, not-Rider wasn't in on the plan. Hey Asuna, you said you'd protect Kirito. Now would be a good time to show up! You'd both get to do something cool and get to even out the relationship with Kirito some. Pretty please?
- But for now, cue reallllllly awful faux-villain laugh, ew, lame, SAO.
- Bye bye not-Rider.
- This show really does forget about the "you can't feel pain" rule it set up in the first episode, doesn't it?
- Any minute now, Asuna. Aaaany minute now...
- ...THANK FUCKING GOODNESS. When Kirito reached out and grabbed the sword himself I just about lost hope of ever being able to truly enjoy this show. I mean if they didn't even let Asuna act in this completely, utterly obvious "gimmie" setup I would absolutely scream.

- Too bad she probably won't kill him, but as long as she doesn't fall for--
- Oh. ... ... ...I have a headache now. A real one. Did they have to choose this method to deliver a "we'll protect each other" message, I mean come the goddamnedfuck on I just sat through two bullshit weeks before this of--

::deep breaths:: If I keep talking I'll end up convincing myself to drop this show so instead I'm going to go kill some shit in Skyrim for about 20 minutes, then come back, pretend that didn't happen, and finish the episode. It's a plan!

- Okay we're back an hour later! So Asuna killed the baddie (shut up) and saved Kirito and now it's time for cybersex yaaaaaay!
- Awkward teatime.
- Lights out boobs on.
- Kirito fumbles it.
- Sex anyway!
- Marriage!

And they lived happily ever after. The end.

I can't remember the last time I had this intense of a love/hate relationship with a show. Import status: still waiting for an episode involving Asuna that I don't have to describe with "It was good but..."

Westlo

09-09-2012, 07:17 AM

Westlo

09-09-2012, 07:21 AM

pathos

09-09-2012, 10:27 AM

So Asuna killed the baddie (shut up)

Why would you want Asuna to have something like that to carry through the rest of her actual life. Heck she wanted to stay away from Kirito because he was forced to kill someone because of her naivety.

Well, not like I've ever killed someone, but I'd imagine, even in self defense, thats got to leave some baggage.

And someone mentioned her falling for his ploy. I don't think thats the case. I just think, at the end of it, she just couldnt bring herself to kill someone. I mean, even after he surrendered, she brought up her rapier to ram it down through his head, but just stopped at the last second.

Damius

09-09-2012, 11:12 AM

- Kirito loses the duel. Well, I prefer it that way since maybe there is some hope that Kirito won’t anymore say that he can do everything by himself anymore, he needs the help of others to win the game.
- I prefer the previous Kirito outfit…that for sure.
- “No, it’s a good chance. I was reaching the limit of what a solo player can do.” This is exactly what I was hoping for after Kirito lost the duel. Awesome.
- Kirito is missing Asuna’s food. That’s quite understandable.
- So, Kuradeel uses poison on both Kirito and Godfrey…
- And he killed Godfrey. And that guy was Asuna’s bodyguard…
- After that he attacks Kirito…
- And Asuna arrives just in time and hits Kuradeel… Couple of seconds later would have been too late. It’s good that this time it was Asuna who saved him.
- Asuna lower her guard because of that of cliche...
- And… Kirito had to jump in…again… Damn.
- Ok…let’s say I will deal with that by saying that Kirito was the one killing Kuradeel because he didn’t want Asuna to kill someone. I think it’s the best way for me to deal with it.
- Oh… Asuna’s in her underwear!
- Are you stupid Kirito? Why did you have to say that?
- It looks like they did it anyway.
- Kirito asks Asuna for marriage!

Damius

09-09-2012, 11:17 AM

(Does killing a PK in SAO mark you as a PK as well?)

No it doesn't, that's the same as in most MMOs like with TERA Online for instance. It would be a silly system if you had to kill PK to defend yourself and it in turned labeled you as a PK.

Ok, thanks for the confirmation. I would have find it really frustrating if it was not the case since it makes a lot of sense.

relentlessflame

09-09-2012, 05:15 PM

And someone mentioned her falling for his ploy. I don't think thats the case. I just think, at the end of it, she just couldnt bring herself to kill someone. I mean, even after he surrendered, she brought up her rapier to ram it down through his head, but just stopped at the last second.
Well, yeah. I mean, isn't it actually worse for her characterization if she wasn't conflicted at all about taking someone's life? Consider as well that she didn't see the entire scene previous to realize just how twisted he was (though obviously she did know he killed Godfrey and nearly killed Kirito). In that sort of situation where he's begging for his life, I imagine that a part of you would think for a second "am I murderer?" "Is there any other way to resolve this?"

I get of course that it's cliché, and people find it annoying, but if she had just killed him without hesitation while he was ostensibly begging for his life, I do think she would have lived forever wondering if she had done the right thing (even though most of us would consider it well-justified). Now, because of what happened, they both know that they did what had to be done. That won't necessarily make the nightmares go away over the short term, but at least there won't be as much guilt on top of that.

Fencedude

09-14-2012, 06:26 PM

Why would you want Asuna to have something like that to carry through the rest of her actual life. Heck she wanted to stay away from Kirito because he was forced to kill someone because of her naivety.

Because that would actually be interesting?

But no, we can't have that.

Fencedude

09-14-2012, 11:42 PM

Oh yeah, finally blogged these episodes

Episode 9 (http://www.seaslugteam.com/2012/09/13/sword-art-online-09/)

Episode 10 (http://www.seaslugteam.com/2012/09/14/sword-art-online-10/)

GLOP GLOP GLOP

ookamigirl

09-15-2012, 02:59 PM

So those two got married...
It was nice watching them relax & enjoy time off.
Mystery girl from the woods was interesting.
A player, yet not quite..
Seems like those two got an instant family now ^^
Although it was nice, it still felt like a wasted episode.
The only thing that improved it was that little clash with the soldiers.

FUNiOP

09-15-2012, 03:07 PM

It just keeps getting better and better. So Kirito and Asuna do get to go have their happy and peaceful honeymoon at their beautiful new home together, and they even get the guild's official blessings to do so. However, as nice as it is to see this, they can't escape trouble for long, as they come across the last of the main characters, based on the OP and promo art. She doesn't have the distinctive characteristics of a player, NPC, or quest giver, but she's clearly someone. She also doesn't remember anything but her name, Yui, and despite appearing to be simply a young girl, speaks more like a baby. She decides that Kirito and Asuna are her parents, and while they enjoy the full family experience, they feel like the only right thing to do is to try to find out who she really is and try to get her back to where she should be. However, coming back to the Town of Beginnings for the first time since the beginning of the game, they find that the streets are far more barren than they should be, and after a little tussle with the local Army jerks, Yui starts freaking out and affecting the very digital environment they all exist in. Considering her appearance in the OP has her surrounded in code, I was waiting for something like that to happen, but I'm just more and more curious to find out what's really up with her. Keep 'em coming, because they keep getting better!

superdry

09-15-2012, 07:50 PM

Asuna and Kirito really do make a cute couple. I'm glad they were able to get their time off and away from the frontlines to live a quiet life for a bit.

Yui is definitely the interesting aspect of the episode. Who is she or, possibly more important, what is she? The end with the high-pitch distorted sound was eye-brow raising.

Every time I see an Asuna sandwich, I get the craving for a katsu sandwich.

strangefour

09-15-2012, 10:45 PM

-Somewhere on the floor of Big Zam...
-GLOP GLOP GLOP.
-What are the stats on those wedding rings? I must know!
-Haven't talked about their ages. Sleep in separate beds. Not wanting partner to see up skirt. Piggie back rides. These children are soooo not ready for a relationship.
-Why do I have the sudden urge to go fishing in Windurst?
-That's no player. It's a g-g-g-g- rogue NPC!
-Wait you assume it's a player that's glitched and not an NPC that's glitched? That's jumping to conclusions with no proof. She could be either. Or neither. A new kind of NPC no one has found yet guys.
-Well that was fast. They only had sex last episode but already Asuna's a mother. In game pregnancy is completely painless and happens over night.
-Asuna has gone pity pedo yuri! Poor Kirito.
-"What's your name little girl?" "My name is Kuroyukeeeeh- Yui My name is Yui."
-FUCKING FINALLY! Asuna kicking ass. On her own. Mama is badass.

Huh. Odd glitch. So Yui is a digitized version of the crazy dungeon master programmer's daughter. Or maybe an imperfect AI he made. Unless maybe uh.. Yui is the game?

HitokiriShadow

09-16-2012, 12:42 AM

Well that was certainly a step up from previous episodes, though the beginning part annoyed be simply due to the severe lack of relationship development and then what felt like several minutes of Asuna freaking out from Kirito's ghost story.

At least we finally got to see her be awesome without having to be saved. Even if the show did make a point of it being a safe zone, so neither she nor her opponents were in any real danger. Still a step up from the bullshit in the previous episodes (and it wouldn't even be a mitigating factor if not for said previous bullshit).

And most importantly, we have the adorable Yui. Unlike Lizbeth and Silica, at least she's clearly going to be highly relevant to the plot and sticking around for a while, and thus will be an actual and reliable reason for me to look forward to each new episode. Though I'm sure she'll be kidnapped at least once...

something

09-16-2012, 02:41 AM

Episode 11:

- Heh. Kirito asks if this relationship is game-only. I like Asuna's reply. Also, how about you two just exchange contact information now? None of this "I swear I'll find you!" ...just, like, ell the other person your cell phone number. :sd:
- So on the one hand I think it's great that we have a relationship established before the first cour is up. On the other hand not very much of that cour was spent developing the relationship. I think it gets away with it because they have really good chemistry with each other during peacetime, but it's all moved quite quickly. Source material is to blame there, I don't doubt. Still, development can come after formalizing the relationship too.

- Hahahaha, only after having sex a couple times does Asuna realize she never asked Kirito how old he is. :sd: I wonder if Kirito ever wondered about the reverse.
- Asuna in her sleepwear, sexy max!
- But Kirito is already getting tired of the quiet life. Guild master guy knew full well Kirito can't keep out of battle.

- Haha, Kirito you looks ridiculous carrying her on your shoulders. But oh my god her legs. <3
- Oh god Kirito is totally mortified.
- Now time for some trollin' revenge.

- Oh yay it's deus ex machina-chan! Just about time, she was the only OP1 character left.
- I'm getting "let's adopt her" vibes from Asuna.
- Awwwwwww, Asuna got in bed with her. Fucking adorable and a half.
- YUIII! She's adorable. <3 Even if she's probably not real, or long dead!
- Haha, yes, if she can't pronounce your name you damn well better just change it to match. Yuiiiiiiiiii~! I wonder if she's leaving out part of her own name, and she's really Yuri to Yuiko or something.
- "Papa. Mama." HAHAH YES. Kid obtained!

- Back to the Town of Beginnings to search for parents that don't exist.
- That voice... AKARI IS IN TROUBLE! SAVE HER!
- And oh my god Asuna actually got to do a thing! All the way through! By herself! ...even if it was just scaring off some weak-ass thugs who posed no real threat to her or Kirito whatsoever. But this is still progress, SAO! I'll take whatever I can get. Maybe Kirito should carry a child on his back at all times.
- Gaaaah that static sound effect was so loud, way to give me a heart attack. Also, the OP was evidence enough that Yui wasn't normal, but this sure confirms it.

Best SAO episode ever, no question. I don't have to say "It was good but..." I can just say "It was good." It was great. It was YUI-CHAAAAAAN!

More like that and this is absolutely going back onto my import list.

Fencedude

09-17-2012, 07:07 PM

OMG YUI'S SO CUTE
(http://www.seaslugteam.com/2012/09/17/sword-art-online-11/)
*explodes*

Damius

09-18-2012, 09:43 AM

- Asuna and Kirito have some time off… the place they chose sure looks nice.
- “Even if this is a virtual word, my feelings are real” Nice. Perfect answer, Asuna.
- And she will find him again when they will be back in the real world and falls in love with him again.
- I really love both of them together.
- Time to carry Asuna on your shoulder, Kirito.
- Asuna is afraid of ghost isn’t she?
- So who is the black hair girl?
- She has no cursor…who is she exactly???
- The day after, she wakes up.
- Yui-chan!!! She is so cute and adorable.
- She said Papa and Mama to Kirito and Asuna, love it!
- Yui tastes super-spicy Asuna’s sandwich. Because she wants the same thing as her father.
- Well…they are looking for her parents or siblings…
- Asuna is awesome against the army… and yeah… for the first time she did it all by herself. FANTASTIC. Want more of Asuna being awesome from start to finish no need to be helped at all.
- “What was that just now?” I wonder as well… What was that loud static sound… Who are you exactly Yui?

Fantastic episode! And I want to find out more about Yui-chan. I love Yui-chan! I love Asuna and Kirito as a couple. So I want, Asuna x Kirito with Yui-chan as their child. And yeah, it was my favorite episode as well. Can't wait for more!

Buckeye

09-22-2012, 08:11 AM

Kirito and Asuna are living in the country, and find a mysterious girl that nobody knows who she is, only that she goes by the name Yui. Then to try and reawaken her memories, they go to the first floor to see if she remembers anything, all while saving a group of children from an army of tax collectors.

Great episode here, and it looks like there is something about that girl. It will be interesting to see what exactly she is considering that she is supposed to be a player, yet she doesn't register as one for some reason.

Buckeye

09-22-2012, 02:44 PM

So it turns out that Yui is actually an AI and a part of game's main computer system Cardinal. She went rogue after erasing that super-powered bonus dungeon boss underneath the first floor so that Thinker and Yulier could escape. The only thing left of her is her heart after getting erased.

That was an excellent episode to see Yui being what she is, and while her time was short, she definitely left her mark. Moving forward, Kirito and Asuna are more determined to finish this game and one day bring her back.

FUNiOP

09-22-2012, 03:36 PM

Not necessarily a step up as each of the previous few episodes have been, but definitely on the same level as the one immediately before it. I didn't expect the Yui arc to only last two episodes, but it was a strong and solid little chunk of the story. Thanks to Kirito's hax skills, they have her "heart" in the form of a little crystal, so hopefully that can help in the future. I'm curious what the next episode will be about. It doesn't really give up any idea, other than the fact that the title of it doesn't sound very happy. I hope it can go back to getting even better with each episode.

I see new OP and ED information, so does that mean they'll be changing next episode? I assume that if they're going to change it would be either that episode or the following. I wonder if the next episode will have a real "beginning of the second half" feel that tends to go with that, if it is the case. That's interesting that the second OP will be done by the singer who did the ED to the first season of Fate/Zero, opposite LiSA's OP. I also liked that song, so I imagine the same will be true of her Sword Art Online OP, but I really love LiSA, so I can't imagine it won't be a step down for me. Oh well, the content will just have to make up for that! Oh, and just in case Aniplex wasn't making their music theme obvious enough, the second ED will be by the same singer as the ED to the second season of Fate/Zero.

strangefour

09-22-2012, 03:43 PM

-So many children... If this is how many are alive in this game, imagine how many have died over the past two years.
-Onegai Beater.
-Okay fine trust Yui that the grey haired lady is telling the truth. But you do not take a small child into the depths of hell because she wants to come. She's too young damn it! You are horrible parents! Your whining brat is ruining the movie for everyone else!... er yeah. Bringing Yui into the dungeon is dumb. I guess maybe she'll keep Kirito busy so Asuna can kick some ass maybe.
-Hypno-Toad has a posse.
-You can not escape from Death.

-Do not listen to him Asuna. Do not teleport out with the others. Kick some ass!
-Yui: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
-Yui is the physical manifestation of all Chuu2.
-Well that sucks. Bye Yui. :\ You will never get More Deban.
-YES! Think with your hacking skills Kirito! Hack the Gibbard!
-Oh backup file. Yeah saving Yui is fine... I was hoping for something ya know more useful in ending this digital imprisonment. But saving the life of your first born is cool too.

Well that was um. Not what I was expecting. Mostly good. Yet strange. Yui upstaging daddy to save the day with the same kind of Mary Sue super ass kicking power was interestingly hilarious. Asuna didn't get to do enough, but didn't seem like she wasn't contributing at all since Kirito got pwned too. I guess there is still hope that Yui could still become Kuroyurihime.

ookamigirl

09-22-2012, 04:17 PM

Yui really is a mystery.
Asuna & Kirito on a rescue mission.
Watching those two fight over toad legs was LOL
Looks like that mission was not a breeze at all.
At least we got to see what kind of powers Yui has.
It was just amazing!!
I was suspecting she'd be some kind of a program.
Looks like I was right. This totally reminds me of .hack// again.

HitokiriShadow

09-23-2012, 12:47 AM

So now Kirito is also some sort of genius hacker. oh god, that was by far the dumbest thing to happen in this show yet.

On the other hand, Yui trashing that monster was pretty awesome. And Yui cheering Kirito as he slaughtered monsters was adorable.

So we learned about Yui and saw her leave the story a lot sooner than I was originally expecting (between last episode and this episode I heard things to indicate she was not going to be sticking around long). However, she wasn't what I thought she was. Though I did then remember hearing something that was pretty much a dead giveaway. I guess I successfully wiped that from my memory and read incorrectly into a different comment instead.

something

09-23-2012, 01:31 AM

Episode 12:

- So many kids. What's the minimum age to buy SAO? Though I suppose out of 10,000 this isn't too surprising a number. Though I imagine there were more that died already.
- Yui is cute!
- Yui is sleepy!
- Oh and we finally meet someone seemingly intelligent from the Army.
- So the stupid guy we met early on is-- YUI DRINKS CUTELY!
- Yui knows when someone is telling the truth or not. It must be her cuteness! Or that she is SAO. Or something.

- Uhhhhh, Kirito and Asuna. I know Yui is adorable and hard to resist but when a defenseless (as far as they know) little girl wants to go into a high level dungeon, you say no. Bad parents!
- At least it's enemies in the 60s, which should be a piece of cake for Kirito and Asuna.
- Yui likes watching frogs get slaughtered. =D
- Yui Yui Yui Yuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

- Enemy. Kirito tries tp play the badass again, thank goodness Asuna pretty much told him to shove it.
- And they both gets their asses whipped in one hit, haha. Well, as long as it's equal opportunity failure.
- Because now it's YUI TIIIIIIIME!
- Yui is immortal! Unsurprising but yaaaay anyway.
- Hahah oh wow, that sword.
- One shot, one kill.

- Time to confirm that Yui is indeed an AI. She's not quite the foundation of the system itself, but she is part of that "Cardinal" system and is in control of the mental states of players. So that's a rather important piece of the system, certainly.
- And with this being revealed at the halfway point you know there's got to be way more to her. Though I suppose later arcs could move onto something else... oh fuck, that would mean no more Yui.
- What. No. NO. YOU CAN NOT DELETE YUI. STOP THAT.
- Um. The fuck are you doing, Kirito? How would you even know what to type into that GM console, this doesn't make any sense. But I have to say I'm curious how a scene like that is described in the novels. In animation you can get away with utter bullshit like "throw some numbers and static on a screen and BAM Kirito makes shit happen" but in a novel you have to describe what he's doing in words and how do you write this scene without sounding completely fucking ridiculous? :sd:
- I isolated her program and downloaded it into my Nerv gear and oh my god are you serious how did someone write this without feeling completely embarrassed in themselves as a human? Hahaha.
- But, shit, know what? I don't care, as long as it results in getting Yui back somehow. I don't want to wait until the end of the show though. ;_;

Man. Why do things have to happen so fast in this show? How was it a good idea, on any planet, for Yui to only get two episodes? In fact, if this post-sidestory stuff is all still the first novel (or are we in the second yet?), what the hell do the other 8-9 cover? (Don't actually answer that.) Kirito and Asuna's relationshp should have taken a few more episodes before turning into SEX&MARRIAGE, and Yui should have been around at least three times this long.

This was still a really good one because OHGODYUI. But what now? ("it was good, but..." striks again.) Man there's only one more episode before I should be putting my October import order in. Hurry up and let me decide, SAO!

Fencedude

09-23-2012, 01:37 AM

bear

09-23-2012, 12:24 PM

(or are we in the second yet?)

Nope, still in the first.

As to what the rest cover, well, if you've amazingly not managed to be spoiled (unlike basically everyone else on the entire internet)...you'll see. It should be obvious very soon.

Actually it's somewhat confusing because the side stories are in vol 2 and the main in part of the story is still in vol 1, so we've had a bit of both. Other than that I won't say anything.

Damius

09-23-2012, 12:39 PM

Man. Why do things have to happen so fast in this show? How was it a good idea, on any planet, for Yui to only get two episodes? In fact, if this post-sidestory stuff is all still the first novel (or are we in the second yet?), what the hell do the other 8-9 cover? (Don't actually answer that.) Kirito and Asuna's relationshp should have taken a few more episodes before turning into SEX&MARRIAGE, and Yui should have been around at least three times this long.

This was still a really good one because OHGODYUI. But what now? ("it was good, but..." striks again.) Man there's only one more episode before I should be putting my October import order in. Hurry up and let me decide, SAO!

You know, I feel the same. Yui is adorable and so cute... but she is now gone... only after 2 episodes. And Asuna & Kirito are a so cute couple, but they would look even better if they took the time to let us know how they got there. Will they rush everything I care for in this show in the following episodes? Will there be a awful arc at some point? How many seasons will be the show? There still chances for me to import it, I guess... but all this questions make it hard to. Also, SAO is not my second favorite of the season; Dog Days' is and my third favorite is Yuruyuri♪♪, but since I didn't get the first season of both of them I can't import them. So what I wonder now, do I prefer to import SAO or import my top 3 of Fall or Winter...

Damius

09-23-2012, 12:44 PM

- Yui is so cute and adorable at all time.
- In addition, Yui can tell if someone is telling the truth or not. She is even more awesome!
- Asuna and Kirito let Yui accompany them in the end… Well… ok… You need to make sure she is not hurt…
- Yui realizes the Army woman smiled for the first time and Yui made a so irresistible smile.
- New enemy that looks relatively strong… This time Asuna will help…
- Well, they were not able to do anything. But, it’s now Yui turn???
- And Yui using an impressive sword and being immortal killed the enemy like it was nothing. Wow.
- She remembers everything now…
- And here we have the confirmation that Yui is an AI. She is a part of the “Cardinal” system which controls everything including players’ mental states.
- What??? Yui can’t be deleted… She can’t be… Nnnoooooooooooooooooo…. She wanted to stay with them forever… ;_;
- Ok now… how does Kirito know how to use the GM account… and hacks it.
- Well, at least they got the Yui’s heart out of it.

Yui…. Why you needed to go after only 2 episodes? WHY?

something

09-23-2012, 01:40 PM

superdry

09-23-2012, 01:48 PM

So, it turns out Yui is an AI tied to the game's main system Not entirely surprised at the revelation - I originally thought she was an advanced NPC. I'm going to miss her...she's was so adorable in the show.

So now Kirito is also some sort of genius hacker. oh god, that was by far the dumbest thing to happen in this show yet.

That scene probably made a lot of people go WTF. Maybe he's a super tech-kid in the real world - I wonder if that is explained any where in the future.

Now, Kirito was able to save Yui's data to his Nerv Gear, but what happens after the game is complete? Sure, they have the data, but how useful is that unless you can somehow transfer the data to another program or there is another program that can read that information.

Damius

09-23-2012, 02:38 PM

Also, SAO is not my second favorite of the season; Dog Days' is and my third favorite is Yuruyuri♪♪, but since I didn't get the first season of both of them I can't import them. So what I wonder now, do I prefer to import SAO or import my top 3 of Fall or Winter...
Import DD' and/or YRYR♪♪ now, buy BD boxsets of the first seasons later. =P I'm sure they'll get them eventually...

I think I prefer to wait for BD boxsets to be release for both seasons for each, like that I would be able to support both of them. 3 shows (with Kokoro Connect (my third favorite)) this season would be a little too much, since I will have to import couple of boxsets soon.

And I changed my mind couple hours later... Hello DD and DD'... So, no more chance of importing SAO now.

pathos

09-23-2012, 07:28 PM

So now Kirito is also some sort of genius hacker. oh god, that was by far the dumbest thing to happen in this show yet.

That scene probably made a lot of people go WTF. Maybe he's a super tech-kid in the real world - I wonder if that is explained any where in the future.

Now, Kirito was able to save Yui's data to his Nerv Gear, but what happens after the game is complete? Sure, they have the data, but how useful is that unless you can somehow transfer the data to another program or there is another program that can read that information.

I don't remember the particulars, but it seemed like she mentioned she is the one that accessed the terminal, and then he said something like he used her access, that was still open (until he got kicked out by admin). Would it take super haker skillz to type out "save this file in this directory?"

Now, if he had hacked into the terminal from scratch by himself, that would have made me roll my eyes.

relentlessflame

09-23-2012, 08:18 PM

I don't remember the particulars, but it seemed like she mentioned she is the one that accessed the terminal, and then he said something like he used her access, that was still open (until he got kicked out by admin). Would it take super haker skillz to type out "save this file in this directory?"

Now, if he had hacked into the terminal from scratch by himself, that would have made me roll my eyes.Yeah, it's not really the concept, more the way the animators chose to illustrate it. From our perspective, he just starts typing away frantically at the keys without any sort of interface, menu, or even visibility of what he's typing, and then the weird Matrix display appears with the progress bar. Whatever he was really doing was probably shown on his NerveGear display and probably wasn't all that complicated. They just made it look funny. I have no idea how it was explained in the books, but this seems like a sort of creative license "to make it look cool". (The problem is your audience is full of geeks... :sweat: )

HitokiriShadow

09-24-2012, 01:37 AM

pathos

09-24-2012, 05:26 AM

The problem here is that he did something that seems way outside of what the system should have allowed anyone to do. So unless Yui had already done all sorts of hacking for him, he should have needed to do a lot more than click a few buttons to do a standard process.

Perhaps. I'm not really sure what someone with system admin access would be able to do or not do. But, since I didn't know, I didn't right it off as being totally impossible. It did allow Yui to totally erase a boss mob. But, as for just for file access, /shrug

On an only slightly related note, I remember back when I played eq, there were stories of a gm on another server going berserk and randomly porting people to the highest level raid zone, and then binding them there so they'd get stuck in a death loop. I always wondered if that story was true.

Damius

09-24-2012, 07:11 PM

FUNiOP

09-29-2012, 02:30 PM

Oh, so we get to keep the first OP and ED for another episode. Considering this appears to be the beginning of another arc, or at least continues into the next episode, I'm surprised to see that, since I imagine they'll have to change it next time.

Well the first half of the episode was about as far from what the title indicated as I could possibly expect. I found it amusing that the fishing guy was voiced by the same seiyuu as the most similar guy in last season's fishing anime. Then, the situation suddenly did a complete 180, and now we're back to the brutal slaughter we expected. And the title of the next episode... will that be even MORE brutal? I can't imagine it will actually be the "end of the world" quite yet.

ookamigirl

09-29-2012, 02:49 PM

Kirito made an interesting friend.
Guess fishing is not Kirito's thing.
The big game fishing turned into a fight pretty fast!
Asuna she showed that fish who's boss.
Getting called back to fight on the front lines again was good.
It was about time for some serious action!
That skeleton boss was insanely strong!!
Looks like Kirito & Asuna will need to boost their levels if the plan on winning against other, stronger bosses.

superdry

09-29-2012, 05:37 PM

Fishing? We spend the first third(?) of the episode on fishing and it was rather amusing. I loved Asuna's face when Nishida mentioned about the giant fish. And, of course the reaction of everybody when the giant fish arrived - good humor. I dunno if it felt forced or not that Asuna took care of the thing while everyone was still shocked - Kirito sort of didn't really care.

Speaking of him, we see that the vacation is having effect on Kirito - why not? It's an easy quiet life thats totally different from what he's use to doing in the game. Glad that Asuna is sort of the voice of reason here during his doubts (especially when she got annoyed when he asked her to stay behind). The dynamics of the couple work nicely here. The bedroom scene was cute (and hnnngg for her sleepwear).

The battle though at end was pretty nice. That is one crazy ass boss that can kill in one-shot. But, really good to see all our familiar faces working as a team to try and take it down. Can't wait to see how the battle goes next week...ugh cliffhanger.

strangefour

09-29-2012, 11:23 PM

- /fish
-But soy sauce was supposed to be your little secret Kirito! This is like adultery. But with condiments.
-The Tale of the Wopper.
-That is Dagon's ugliest child.
-Asuna the Fish Slayer.
-Dawww happily married Asuna is so sweet.
-Being married makes Asuna emotionally stronger and Kirito weaker. Heh.
-LEEROY JENKINS!
-THREE SWORD STYLE!

I think this is the most comedy and most death in a SAO episode yet. Strange mix, kinda works. Bet Asuna & Kirito really wish they'd skipped the last adventure and brought Yui with them this time. "Yui wants to come with you. Yui can fight like mommy. Like a boss."

HitokiriShadow

09-29-2012, 11:57 PM

Aaaaaargh, CGI monster. ;_;

The fight against was pretty awesome though. Finally, Asuna gets to contribute to a serious fight. And at least so far, she's able to be as useful as uber-players like Kirito and Heathcliffe.

That "Remember when" thing about players being disconnected was rather awkward though. Wish that had been kept in and shown when it happened. Would have been one less really stupid complaint to listen to during earlier episodes.

Fencedude

09-29-2012, 11:59 PM

HitokiriShadow

09-30-2012, 12:11 AM

That "Remember when" thing about players being disconnected was rather awkward though. Wish that had been kept in and shown when it happened. Would have been one less really stupid complaint to listen to during earlier episodes.

I'm 90% certain that this is, in fact, the point in the novel where that was brought up.

Yep.

Really? That's.... very odd. I wasn't going to blame the writer for this since I figured it was one of the things the anime cut (as it sounds like a lot of details were removed from the anime) but I guess I can/have to blame it on him after all. Either way, doesn't make it less odd to suddenly bring up here for the first time or mean that it wouldn't have dealt with one of the dumber complaints had it been mentioned early on.

superdry

09-30-2012, 12:58 AM

Really? That's.... very odd. I wasn't going to blame the writer for this since I figured it was one of the things the anime cut (as it sounds like a lot of details were removed from the anime) but I guess I can/have to blame it on him after all. Either way, doesn't make it less odd to suddenly bring up here for the first time or mean that it wouldn't have dealt with one of the dumber complaints had it been mentioned early on.

The novels are told from Kirito's POV, right? If that's the case, either no one before Asuna told him, he didn't ask any info brokers, cared or wondered (he did seems intent on trying to beat the game). So, while I was thinking "oh great, now they bring it up" while watching the episode, it sort of makes sense it was brought up during that scene.

If the anime wasn't telling the story chronologically, we would have heard about it a few episodes earlier.

HitokiriShadow

09-30-2012, 01:42 AM

superdry

09-30-2012, 02:14 AM

Buckeye

09-30-2012, 11:41 AM

It starts off with a fishing activity where they Kirito hauls a big one, while Asuna slays it. Then their vacation time is cut short when an emergency comes up and a super-tough boss attacks and there is no escaping this fight.

This episode goes from lighthearted to very serious just like that, and if the boss at floor 75 is this tough, I can't imagine what awaits these characters in the higher floors. And it looks like the players think they know what is happening with their bodies in the real world since they had been playing SAO for two years nonstop as the players are apparently in the hospital now getting their bodies the necessary maintenance while they are playing. This episode leaves its mark by all of the sudden becoming serious again now that clearing the game is about to become much tougher than before. The visuals were really something.

something

09-30-2012, 10:53 PM

Okay I need to put my October import order in tonight. Which means this ep is make or break for whether it gets into that order. I guess if I skip it this month I could always double-up for November and get 1-2, but... I'd like to be able to decide now.

Episode 13:

- Now there's a useful person to know: the real life network security guy for SAO.
- Kirito sucks at fishing. Too busy putting all his skill points in "invincible protagonist".
- What are the odds? I've watched two "master of the lake' fishing episodes this weekend. This and SenColle.

- Asuna's sleepwear is ridiculously hot. Sideboob!
- Oh jeeze and she looks so cute in her little dress and hood-thing the next day.
- Huh, not used to this show using this kind of comedy.
- HEY! Asuna got to do a thing by herself again!! I, um, guess a walking fish is a slight step up from low level thugs in a safe zone... maybe? I'll take what I can get, honestly. But can she take out something major and important on the front lines now? I suppose I shouldn't hold my breath.

- Back to work. Vacation is over.
- I'd normally be mad at Kirito for asking Asuna to stay out of this upcoming boss run, but this time it was presented really well. It's not just Kirito being a tough-guy protagonist protectnig the girl; it's Kirito scared shitless and on the verge of a mental breakdown. That's so much more interesting to see than cliche heroism. Asuna's reply was pretty great too. It could be taken as "I have no life outside of you, you're the only reason I matter" but that's not what I really heard from her words.
- Oh hey it took a cour, but they explicitly addressed their situation of their real world bodies. I'm glad Asuna brought that up.

- Yay it's Klein and... I can't remember the other guy's name and choose not to look it upso as to avoid spoilers. But no DEBAN-chan girls yet. ;_;
- Ewwww, ugly cg monster.
- But what the hell, the first truly good fight of the series! We actually get to see people working together, and someone other than Kirito being competent! Very very competent, actually. Klein, shop guy, Heathcliff, Kirito and Asunaaaaaaaaaaa!

Okay that episode was fantastic. Assuming Kirito doesn't just protagonist hax the boss in the next episode, the introduction of Yui and this fight could be the real turning point of the show for me.

Kirito and Asuna are still an absurdly cute couple.
Kirito's fear and hesitation in this episode made him so much more interesting and believable a character. It built on earlier scenes that had done this well too, but it's a lot more important now that he's going through those emotions with someone else.
Asuna had a great performance in his episode too, both in terms of getting to kick some ass, and in terms of really coming across as an equal to Kirito in every sense. I don't necessarily mean that she's equally powerful in-game, but certainly powerful enough to stand beside him, to work with him, to be a team. I was also really impressed with how she was the one who had her emotional shit together, so to speak, and kept Kirito focused even while she herself was just as scared as he was.

SAO tentatively makes my October order. That should ship about four weeks from now, which means SAO just needs to not piss me off and get itself cancelled between now and episode 17 or so. Bringing Yui back somehow would be a great step towards making sure the order stays in place...

HitokiriShadow

09-30-2012, 11:38 PM

- I'd normally be mad at Kirito for asking Asuna to stay out of this upcoming boss run, but this time it was presented really well. It's not just Kirito being a tough-guy protagonist protectnig the girl; it's Kirito scared shitless and on the verge of a mental breakdown. That's so much more interesting to see than cliche heroism. Asuna's reply was pretty great too. It could be taken as "I have no life outside of you, you're the only reason I matter" but that's not what I really heard from her words.

Yeah, my instinctual urge was to scream "Fuck you, Kirito!" but I really couldn't here.

- Yay it's Klein and... I can't remember the other guy's name and choose not to look it upso as to avoid spoilers.

Egil or Eigil.

But no DEBAN-chan girls yet. ;_;

Indeed. ;_;

bear

10-01-2012, 09:42 AM

Damn, that was good. The first part played well against the last by making such a strong contrast between a peaceful life and what they had to face in battle. And what a battle! Heathcliff finally shows his abilities in a boss battle and Kirito and Asuna were awesome together. Leaving it hanging like that wasn't fair though. :( Now I've got to wait a week to see the ending.

Asuna is becoming more and more one of my favorite heroines.

Fencedude

10-01-2012, 08:14 PM

Sword Art Online? More like Fishing Art Online (http://www.seaslugteam.com/2012/10/01/sword-art-online-13/) AMIRITE?

nakimushi

10-06-2012, 03:22 PM

Hmm, if the show had actually ended like this, I would have been very unsatisfied.

First, I was somewhat disappointed that the boss battle was completely truncated. When the previous episode ended, the boss monster had taken pretty much zero damage, but at the start of this episode it is on its last (100 or so) legs.

I was actually genuinely surprised by the revelation about Heathcliff actually being the game creator, but what followed was very unsatisfying.

The two things that bothered me the most were first, a player was seemingly able to override an apparent system level paralysis, and second, a player was seemingly able to overcome having zero hit points and ensuing death by sheer willpower?!

Not to mention, the amazingly-not-really-dead player Kirito was then able to kill someone Heathcliff after that - someone who had previously weathered a furious onslaught pretty much unscathed. I suppose that the success of the final attack could be explained by the complete surprise of being attacked by someone who had already died, but it still seemed too easily done.

In the first case I was wondering if perhaps the paralyzed player Asunawas intentionally allowed to escape paralysis by the game creator. Perhaps either out of cruelty, to make Kirito watch Asuna die just before his own death, or out of (a somewhat warped sense of compassion) to grant Asuna's apparent desire to die along side Kirito.

Primarily, because I would have really hated if the show had ended this way, I am somewhat relieved that it wasn't the last episode (I hadn't checked the episode count beforehand, so I did not know for sure that there were actually another 10 episodes after this one).

However, I am having a difficult time figuring out why anyone would voluntarily log into another round, after approximately 4000 people died in this game. That is a pretty high hurdle to clear, and I am not sure it can be cleared gracefully. If the next round does not have the same fatality "feature", it would not really have the same sense of drama for the viewer as the first game did. At least for me it would not.

bear

10-06-2012, 05:58 PM

Maybe it's because I've read the novels and knew what was coming, but I thought this episode was magnificent. It actually was as good as my imagination of what it should look like. Asuna... The last scene of Kirito was a perfect coda.

Yes, they managed to exceed the limits of the game, but then it's a complex game and they've managed things like that before. And of course there's Yui somewhere out there who shouldn't have existed so why not this?

As for the rest of the story, you'll have to wait for the next episode. Some are going to hate it for a number of reasons, but there is a logical explanation for the story to continue.

FUNiOP

10-06-2012, 06:36 PM

Whoa, even with that title, I definitely didn't see any of this coming. So the game has been completed, three quarters of the way into it and halfway through the series, while the source material is still ongoing. Kirito and Asuna died in the process, but apparently they beat Kayaba just soon enough after that to not actually die? And somehow Kirito inflicted the finishing blow after he had already died, anyway, as some sort of ghost in the game. They go to what seems like an an afterlife and don't seem surprised to be there, but still assume they'll be gone forever. But then, Kirito wakes up in his hospital room and sets out for Asuna. Obviously that's the only thing on his mind, so he's not really wondering why he's alive so much at this point. And that's where we end.

Well that is quite the way to end what I guess is the first cour, despite it being three episodes longer than the second will be. So what will the series even be about now that its namesake and sole content has been a game that no longer exists? I can't say I've ever been this curious watching this series.

something

10-06-2012, 06:53 PM

Episode 14:

- And it's dead. Before the OP. Oh, I... okay. I kinda thought it would be a big thing in this episode. Uh, moving on then? Or, second form?

- Nope, it's dead. Okay fine, what we got in the previous episode was still awesome, and I'll take an abruptly ended fight over Kirito pulling protagonisthax any day.
- Uhhh wow okay, what? Kirito, you were only right because you're the protagonist. Because attacking Heathcliff on the assumption he's an NPC is a huge huge huge and very stupid gamble. Sometimes I thnk Kirito is self-aware that he's a protagonist in a fictional story. >_> But, silly as this logical leap is, I think it's pretty cool that Heathcliff is another NPC. Now to get the details.
- Alright so he is Kayaba himself. Well then!

Uhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Well, that was a thing I guess. Not sure what. I'm sure Asuna is alive, at least in some sense. Even if it's just in some spiritual sense that Kirito will now go crazynutbar trying to get back by creating SAO2 or whatever.

But jeeze this episode was seriously awkward. I feel like we were in the middle of a story that was just getting really good, and then it got cut short with a kinda silly mega-rushed ending.

Except, it's only half over. I suppose we were going for "mid-series shocking twist!" but instead I'm just scratching my head wondering how I should feel about it, or if I should care. I guess my overriding thought right now is, like... "Damn, so much for that story I was finally getting into."

How does a show end the first novel volume at episode fourteen and leave me feeling like it's been incredibly rushed? Even considering side stories from later volumes, that should just be impossible per the laws of physics. Awkward awkward awkward. I really cannot fathom that this went down any more smoothly in the original novel. That seems so improbable.

No decisions yet on canceling my order. It would be premature to do so now, without seeing what's in store for the second half of the show. And I admit I'm morbidly curious in seeing what the fuck the story thinks it could possibly do to justify any of this epic-tier awkwardness. It could take a brilliant turn. Or it could just completely fall apart. I'll wait 2-3 more episodes for it to convince me either way.

Draneor

10-06-2012, 07:16 PM

How does a show end the first novel volume at episode fourteen and leave me feeling like it's been incredibly rushed? Even considering side stories from later volumes, that should just be impossible per the laws of physics. Awkward awkward awkward. I really cannot fathom that this went down any more smoothly in the original novel. That seems so improbable.

I can confirm it didn't. The problem with SAO is that it originated with a one shot Kawahara wrote for the Dengeki Game Novel Prize. It exceeded the page limit, so he ended up not submitting it and just posting it online. The story was far too ambitious for even that. But there's actually quite a few side stories that were written afterwards (novel 2, semi-canon doujinshi he's done, etc) that could have been used more than they were, if so inclined. What I wanted was to stretch SAO out--perhaps with a lot of original content--and make it a full cour. Obviously, that's not what we got. I personally rather like the base of the SAO portion--and I think the anime could have improved it--had it been willing to stray from the original far more than it did.

superdry

10-06-2012, 07:59 PM

Yea...it was pretty much an episode of "shit just happens." At least the fight between Kirito and Kayaba was nicely done and the final scene with Kirito and Asuna was heartwarming.

Yes, they managed to exceed the limits of the game, but then it's a complex game and they've managed things like that before. And of course there's Yui somewhere out there who shouldn't have existed so why not this?

Pretty much sounds like Kirito found a bug or glitch and took advantage of it...that seems to be a plausible explanation for what went down. Now...what happened to Asuna, I sure hope its explained what happened to her.... (you read the novels, so you should know what I'm talking about).

strangefour

10-06-2012, 08:18 PM

Twitter's all a flitter with SAO talk. something wants someone to talk to about it. Guess I have to watch some anime. *sigh*

-So the half hour long boss fight with desperate strategy and hard fought battle for survival happened between episodes... okay. I didn't expect it to take up a whole episode. But it's over in 30 seconds? Meh. So what are the drops?
-Whut?... Yes please explain how in the fuck you figured that out Kirito because cause your attempted murder and the truth of the red knight are out of left field.
-Okay so you are spouting bullshit Kirito. Whatever. BOSS BATTLE!
-"Are you chuu2 enough to beat me, Kirito?"
-Wait a minute... Kirito. Did you just trick the Boss into granting Asuna the ability to win the game? Quick someone use a paralysis removal item on Asuna!
-NOT THE DEBAN BLADE!?
-Wait but you made Asuna an Imortal Object so she can't be killed now and... huh?
-Mismatch: Human is dead.
-Kirito: "Hit points. I have one left." Oh bullshit. You are too Chuu2 Kirito! I call shenanigans!
-Thank you Deban Blade.
-MORE DEBAN!
-We you die you get uploaded to heaven.
-Kirito: "So why the fuck did you do this all in the first place?" Not-Okarin: "I forget. Ya know, things and stuff."
-Considering all the other madness that just happened, I'll let you get away with a boy who was in bed for two years get up and start walking.

Wait isn't this a two cour show? But that was very much a definite ending. Well safe for Kirito finding a door with Asuna's name on it across the hall way. This is just all very weird. It feels like the show just got canceled and they had to wrap everything up in one episode. And it only kind works. So much potential for in game plot lines just thrown out the window. HELL! Never really did anything with PKs.

Huh another episode. Well I guess that's why Kirito didn't find Asuna in the same hospital. They can meet up next time when whatever government organization that was in charge of all these kids starts questioning them about the game and putting them in support groups to help them over come the trauma. Being put together with people you came to depend upon in the game will help ease them back into the outside world. There is no way they could drag out the outside world for episodes on end of Kirito looking for Asuna. That would be asinine.

I wouldn't put it past them having this be a total fake out "OMG You are still in THE GAME" bullshit. Cause evil smirking villain nonsense. :(

bear

10-06-2012, 08:39 PM

Now...what happened to Asuna, I sure hope its explained what happened to her.... (you read the novels, so you should know what I'm talking about).
I won't say anything, but since the story continues they should spend some time clearing up the aftermath of the whole tragedy. For example, did Kayaba play the game fairly at the end and die or did he cheat? What happens to the other players? Does Kirito meet them in real life? How badly were they traumatized by this? Kayaba shut down the system but did he destroy the code too? They could spend the rest of the episodes just dealing with this.

Actually, there are three events at the end of the episode that make for interesting speculation. The first is what Kirito asked Kayaba to do to prevent Asuna from killing herself at least for awhile. Watch what he set her avatar to. (Edit: Interesting thought. I wonder if that affected her paralysis?) The second is that she disintegrates, so she's dead, but she interacts with Kirito after the game is essentially over. Third, Kiritio died in the game but he survived and awoke.

something

10-06-2012, 08:41 PM

I personally rather like the base of the SAO portion--and I think the anime could have improved it--had it been willing to stray from the original far more than it did.
Seems like that might have helped. Although it'd be an enormous risk because it could make sequels harder, and this looks set to be a huge hit so...

It's just so frustrating because recent episodes had me thinking "Hey, Kirito and Asuna are really starting to gel together as equals." And "Hey, Kirito is working side by side with other people to fight as a team." And "Hey, I'm totally getting into the direction of this show, the interactions of the characters, heck even the strength of the writing in some cases, overly short Yui-time aside."

Then suddenly the story goes "Hey yeah we're gonna stop on a dime and do something else now lolbye".

And I'm left unable to see any way this continues for nine more novels (or I guess like ~8, we covered a lot of side stories) without a lot of characters doing very very stupid things for very very stupid reasons. So like I said, I'm intrigued to see where it'll go... but I can't tell if it's genuine excitement at the possibilities, or anticipation of a spectacularly horrific train wreck. I'm also going to need to be very careful what I read because I know people with helpful intentions wll say things they think are adequately vague, except they won't really be. And as ridiculous as I think this whole development has been, I still don't want it spoiled. Even if the show annoys me enough to stop importing it, I'm guessing I'll still like it enough to watch it.

Gah let's just scrap everything and animate Mahou Shoujo Yui-chan. Any takers?

Draneor

10-06-2012, 09:28 PM

something

10-06-2012, 09:58 PM

Even if the show annoys me enough to stop importing it, I'm guessing I'll still like it enough to watch it.I ended up canceling my preorder. The initial excitement wore off a while back for me. I'd still pick it up if Aniplex released it here though. Not buying a summer show beyond the Haganai OVA and NakaImo volume 2 (Miyabi volume) leaves more money for fall and winter.
If I were being as selective as I should be, SAO almost never would have been in the running. But when I'm willing to import 7 shows in one season... though even then it's borderline. This show just seems to be incredibly confused as to what it is and what it wants to be. I've seen people criticize A1 a lot for their handling, but I don't know, all the problems so far feel like problems of the source material.

Draneor

10-06-2012, 10:22 PM

I've seen people criticize A1 a lot for their handling, but I don't know, all the problems so far feel like problems of the source material.

I'd say only part of it is the adaptation (like cutting out Asuna's backstory and related events in Aria in the Starless Night so it all fit in one episode or having Kirito come to Silica's room to explain the fights rather than Silica going to Kirito's room because she wanted to be prepared). Lack of context (i.e., info dump on the mechanics) is another issue. There were a lot of details about the game and real world technology that didn't make it into the anime that could have provided context. I think this was for the best, honestly (c.f. Index magic side).

Some--like the Floor 74 boss--seemed much more believable when much of how it went down was left to the imagination. I suppose A1 could be blamed for how they filled in the gaps. Others--like the ending--reflect issues with the source material that could have been corrected in the anime.

I enjoyed the first novel, but it had its flaws. All things considered, I think A1 did a pretty good job, considering what they had to work with and how popular it is.

stardf29

10-06-2012, 11:27 PM

So... yeah. Weak end to this arc, and it seems that most of the fault of that is in the source material. Not much else to say; hopefully what follows is worth following, lest I drop this show for good.

pathos

10-06-2012, 11:27 PM

There were a lot of details about the game and real world technology that didn't make it into the anime that could have provided context. I think this was for the best, honestly (c.f. Index magic side).

There was alot of explanation cut out of it, yup. And, that is either good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

I imagine there would be alot of complaining if long explanations were left in, just like the Index reference.

But, as it is, there is alot of complaining about the lack of explanation. Basically a no win situation, really.

Probably a happy medium would be to leave out most of the walls of text, and leave in alot of Kirito's inner monologue. Would tie up at least a few things, without really making the show dry from a technical "how to" view point.

If they left EVERYTHING in, would probably have come close to doubling the length of what we got though. I don't think they'd have to do much non novel filler to fill up 24-26 episodes, really :sweat:

strangefour

10-06-2012, 11:47 PM

I'd say only part of it is the adaptation (like cutting out Asuna's backstory and related events in Aria in the Starless Night so it all fit in one episode or having Kirito come to Silica's room to explain the fights rather than Silica going to Kirito's room because she wanted to be prepared). Lack of context (i.e., info dump on the mechanics) is another issue. There were a lot of details about the game and real world technology that didn't make it into the anime that could have provided context. I think this was for the best, honestly (c.f. Index magic side).

Wait, we missed out on a back story for Asuna? Damn it anime! Oh well least we didn't get buried under an episode filled with rules and game mechanics. Though finding out a few more things about the game sprinkled in episodes still set in the game would have been nice.

HitokiriShadow

10-07-2012, 12:21 AM

Christ, I hate this show so much right now. So much bullshit in this episode.

The main reason I'm even going to keep watching is to finally see Silica and Lizbeth finally get MORE DEBAN at some point.

relentlessflame

10-07-2012, 12:26 AM

If they left EVERYTHING in, would probably have come close to doubling the length of what we got though. I don't think they'd have to do much non novel filler to fill up 24-26 episodes, really :sweat:
I think that's usually the main issue with novel to anime adaptations. Novels are naturally rich in detail and description, and even the rather common 6-episodes-per-novel standard (plus or minus) still means a significant of detail gets cut. But given that this is an ongoing series and that this was only the first arc, I'm happy too that they're moving along and we'll see more of it, so that there's some hope that all of the novels can be animated at some point. (If they spent all 25 episodes on just the first arc, they can't necessarily keep that standard up for the rest of the series, and the loss of detail from that point forward could be jarring...)

In the end, as someone who didn't know the novels going in to this, I was pretty satisfied with the way the first arc turned out. And yes, even the ending -- really didn't bother me as much as it seems to have bothered some (if they exceeded the rules of the world, per what Kayaba said, I assume it'll come back again). A big thing I like about this anime is how the various disparate events end up connecting to each other and contributing to the story later on, and I thought that was done quite effectively. So I'm sure that even the events here will have some role in whatever comes next. I'm looking forward to it.

superdry

10-07-2012, 12:50 AM

And yes, even the ending -- really didn't bother me as much as it seems to have bothered some (if they exceeded the rules of the world, per what Kayaba said, I assume it'll come back again).

The end of the game part bothered me when watching due to the high WTF factor. But, as I mentioned before, a bug or glitch in the game could have been found at the moment that allowed them to exceed the rules of the world. Many time in games there are bugs which allows to exceed the rules.

relentlessflame

10-07-2012, 01:12 AM

The end of the game part bothered me when watching due to the high WTF factor. But, as I mentioned before, a bug or glitch in the game could have been found at the moment that allowed them to exceed the rules of the world. Many time in games there are bugs which allows to exceed the rules.Well, I think it being a bug or a glitch doesn't make sense (even though it would be plausible), because then it wouldn't be like they exceeded the rules but that they inadvertently discovered some sort of bug or exploit. And if that's the reason, then it really is just random and out of nowhere (and all the "bullshit" complaints are justified).

I think it makes more sense to assume that Kirito and Asuna's will was able to somehow exceed the limits of what was anticipated by the programmer. This could be why, for example, Kirito exceeded Heathcliff's expectation in the first dual requiring him to use the system-assist function, and why he was able to find enough strength to thrust a sword despite being in "death status". During all of Kirito's "crowning moments of glory", he's pushing himself to go faster, and faster (he had the fastest response time in the game), and he said here in this episode that his normal sword techniques relied on his own skill (as opposed to the sword skills, like combos, that are pre-programmed by the game). So anyway... with all this backstory, I think the suggestion is: even in a programmed world, the human mind is able to bend the rules that surround them. This obviously a theme familiar to many sorts of fiction in this sub-genre (including the author's other work). So if this comes back as a theme later in the show, then the events we were shown here may make sense.

(Now, whether people like this only-lightly-suggested theme being used as a plot device to solve the conflict here or not is of course a fair complaint. Even if this is the case, it would have been a bit better if they made it a bit clearer earlier. But then again, the actual conflict here was introduced sort of out of nowhere in the first place. It does have a bit of a "manga suddenly getting cancelled" feel, despite most of the setup elements being properly foreshadowed. I mean, truthfully, this sort of ending could have happened at any floor from this point forward, and it would have been the same. Doing it now is sort of more getting it over with so the story can move on to what's next (because the Asuna/Kirito relationship was about as firmly established as it needed to be, with no more major hurdles left to cross at this point).)

superdry

10-07-2012, 01:41 AM

relentlessflame

10-07-2012, 01:44 AM

Ingraman

10-07-2012, 04:39 AM

-"Are you chuu2 enough to beat me, Kirito?"
"chuu2"? Eh? Chuu^2, perhaps? A reference to the mouse in Utena? ;p

-NOT THE DEBAN BLADE!?
<sigh> If I ever knew either of these terms, I've forgotten the context/definitions...

Fencedude

10-07-2012, 04:40 AM

"chuu2"? Eh? Chuu^2, perhaps? A reference to the mouse in Utena? ;p

Not watching Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai?

pathos

10-07-2012, 07:26 AM

It's a possibility - that's why I tossed it out there even if it's not the case here. I can't remember specific examples off the top of my head, but I remember there were times where a glitch (to help you) was first found in a way that would make players go "what?"Well, there definitely are bugs -- like the "Sleep PK" mechanism that was the topic of episodes 5 & 6. Well, at least, I think it would be considered a bug if this were any other game... :sweat:

Nitpicky here, but the sleep pk thing is actually known as an exploit.

Basically, the game worked as intended. But, the designers didn't think of every possible situation, and clever players find ways of exploiting in ways that are NOT meant. Happens alot in mmo's.

Bugs are when the game does not work as intended. Say, a quest mob fails to spawn properly when its supposed to. Or 8 bosses spawn instead of 1 wiping out a raid. Or a door not opening when its supposed to. Etc, etc.

ookamigirl

10-07-2012, 08:20 AM

Looks like Commanders secret is out!
Those players sure felt extremely betrayed.
A deal with the devil is never a good option.
Kirito vs Commander! Awesome battle!
It was kinda ridicules seeing how much stronger Commander was.
Well, Kirito payed the price of his heroism.
Gained nothing and lost his precious Asuna.
At least he gave Kitiro a new strength to even overcome death.
The game finally ended, but it's just the beginning ^^

mellowrg2

10-07-2012, 10:03 AM

perhaps the plot twist is that SAO is just like Total Recall

everyone Kirito has seen and everything he has done is part of a scripted scenario

bear

10-07-2012, 10:05 AM

I think it makes more sense to assume that Kirito and Asuna's will was able to somehow exceed the limits of what was anticipated by the programmer. This could be why, for example, Kirito exceeded Heathcliff's expectation in the first dual requiring him to use the system-assist function, and why he was able to find enough strength to thrust a sword despite being in "death status". During all of Kirito's "crowning moments of glory", he's pushing himself to go faster, and faster (he had the fastest response time in the game), and he said here in this episode that his normal sword techniques relied on his own skill (as opposed to the sword skills, like combos, that are pre-programmed by the game). So anyway... with all this backstory, I think the suggestion is: even in a programmed world, the human mind is able to bend the rules that surround them.

I pretty much agree, but I think it's less a question of bending the rules than that the rules were flexible to begin with. Yui certainly was outside of the parameters of the game, for example. Asuna moving while paralyzed appeared to be a cheat, but then she was made an immortal object by Kayaba which was not in the standard rule book either. Unexpected interactions between functions is not uncommon in programming, so immortality allowing her to overcome her paralysis seems reasonable. As for Kirito moving while dead, consider the fact that he sees the message "you're dead". It's seems that Kayaba is one sadistic dude. He set the game so that people see that they're going to die by rubbing it in. Then, there is a short gap before he kills them so they get to absorb the fact. How many people in that situation are going to try to do something? Not many. That was the loophole that Kayaba didn't realize was available to Kirito. With his speed there was just enough time to kill Kayaba and end the game. Kayaba kept underestimating Kirito's abilities by assuming that only the game abilities which he programmed were usable by the players. He didn't realize that Kirito had also worked to improve his reaction times beyond the standard abilities. So at least from my POV the events were reasonable.

Ingraman

10-07-2012, 02:12 PM

"chuu2"? Eh? Chuu^2, perhaps? A reference to the mouse in Utena? ;p

Not watching Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai?
I am, but I didn't realize that was the show's abbreviated title, and I wasn't thinking about that series while reading this thread. ^^;

Damius

10-07-2012, 10:35 PM

- Time for some fishing.
- The outfit Asuna is sleeping in is so sexy. Love it!
- I miss Yui so much… Asuna and Kirito are really cute together, but Yui was a so nice addition…
- All good things have an end… time to go back to work.
- I hope it will be a good fight.
- The scene where Kirito asks Asuna to stay behind was fantastic. We saw a weakness of Kirito, we saw him being scare. And Asuna gave a really good answer.
- Nice to see you again Klein.
- Well, we have a nice fight here. And finally, everyone participates.

That was a really good episode. Can next episode be as good?

Fencedude

10-07-2012, 11:29 PM

Have I mentioned that I really hated this episode? (http://www.seaslugteam.com/2012/10/07/sword-art-online-14/)

Because I did. Seriously.

strangefour

10-08-2012, 12:01 AM

Have I mentioned that I really hated this episode? (http://www.seaslugteam.com/2012/10/07/sword-art-online-14/)

Because I did. Seriously.

Aww come on. It's not that bad. It's the best work of fiction ever written by a 12 year old. There is no way the author could have been much older than that when this was written. 16 tops.

relentlessflame

10-08-2012, 06:14 AM

I pretty much agree, but I think it's less a question of bending the rules than that the rules were flexible to begin with. Yui certainly was outside of the parameters of the game, for example. Asuna moving while paralyzed appeared to be a cheat, but then she was made an immortal object by Kayaba which was not in the standard rule book either. Unexpected interactions between functions is not uncommon in programming, so immortality allowing her to overcome her paralysis seems reasonable. As for Kirito moving while dead, consider the fact that he sees the message "you're dead". It's seems that Kayaba is one sadistic dude. He set the game so that people see that they're going to die by rubbing it in. Then, there is a short gap before he kills them so they get to absorb the fact. How many people in that situation are going to try to do something? Not many. That was the loophole that Kayaba didn't realize was available to Kirito. With his speed there was just enough time to kill Kayaba and end the game. Kayaba kept underestimating Kirito's abilities by assuming that only the game abilities which he programmed were usable by the players. He didn't realize that Kirito had also worked to improve his reaction times beyond the standard abilities. So at least from my POV the events were reasonable.
In general I think I agree with you, barring a few little details. Like, Yui was an AI, part of the SAO system, so that's within the parameters of the game, even if the normal rules didn't apply to her the way they applied to the rest of the players. Also, it's widely thought that the "Chaged into Immortal Object" [sic] icon is more of a typo/Engrish issue, and what it was supposed to represent was Heathcliff turning the immortality status off of himself for the dual (hence it turned red). So he likely didn't make Asuna immortal (because she subsequently did run out of HP and disappear).

We already know that there is a gap between when you "die" (your HP hits zero) and when you disappear, because we've seen many occasions where people put in last words, and even move their bodies around a bit. We also know that there was a resurrection item mentioned earlier in the anime that allowed you to revive someone for up to 10 seconds after they "died". So yeah, "death" isn't instantaneous. And even after you disappear in the SAO world, it doesn't necessarily mean you brain fries right that very second either (or that it's instantaneous). We can assume that, after Asuna disappeared from the boss room, she was sent to the sky platform, to await Kirito who followed. Perhaps this is because this was all part of the end-game sequence, and they were the designated end-game players... or perhaps it was simply what was set to happen to anyone who is killed by the GM.

In either case, I think the main objection people have is that it's just not clearly explained, so you're left having to either a) try to figure out for yourself how it could have been possible, or b) just having to accept that the rules can simply be exceeded/broken when it's convenient for the storytelling. Personally it all didn't bother me too much because I liked the way the episode worked from an emotional and poetic point of view (and I can accept the general premise that willpower can override the constraints a program tries to place on your mind's ability to control your body in a VR world), but I do understand why it bothered some people.