Sword Art Online Discussion Thread

[something]

Episode 17:

- Suguha (er, I mean Leafa, yeah that's it) really doesn't recognize Kirito? And I guess he never mentioned his in-game name to her either?
- YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI
- ...Leafa's boobs are crazy. Crazy nice.
- Brakes? Who needs brakes?
- YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI
- Looks like maybe Suguha realized who Kirito is. Or maybe she just sees the same look in Kirito's eyes and is thinking of her brother.
- I'm wondering if the camera can possibly find more opportunities to shove itself into her cleavage. Because it's there a lot. Which is ok!
- Suguhaaaaa~ And, good. I thought the show was seriously going to go multiple episodes pretending it wasn't blatantly obvious who Leafa was.
- YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI YUI FULL SIZED!

And then the episode turns to utter shit because we can't have nice things.

And because the baddie is all powerful in the game, Kirito will have to end up winning due to some absolute bullshit that'll be so bullshitty it'll make the end of the SAO arc look logical and well-written.

Ughhhhhhh. I really want to watch for more Yui and Suguha (I've given up on Asuna being anything other than a damsel in distress with this fucking terrible setup). But I don't know how long I can tolerate this awful, awful antagonist.

[HitokiriShadow]

Suguha has a poster of her online self above her bed? what. THAT'S NOT WEIRD AT ALL.

And then there's that Asuna/Sugou scene. SAO: making Accel World's Noumi arc look downright tolerable in comparison. Fuck you Sword Art Online and Fuck You Kawahara Reki At least I didn't have to see this bullshit happen to Kuroyukihime, they merely shuffled her off to another city and had the male lead and his friend be morons about the situation.

[strangefour]

-"Dude screw this I don't want to lose exp from dying when I'm so close to the next skill level." Hahaha. That's the best & funniest thing SAO has done in a long time.
-"You should be running into my arms and crying right now." Aaaaand Kirito just torpedoed the goodwill the previous joke gave me. How are you this much of a misogynistic asshole Kirito?
-Fairy Yui is the only good thing left in this world. Soooo cute eating her cracker.
-Oh noes! Leafa is really Suguha. Who could possibly have guessed that from it being obvious as hell in the new OP.
-Oh of course the slimeball who's going to marry Asuna is in this game. Bleh.
-Uuuugh. It's like the writer is trying to make this villain into a smooth conniving Loki, but instead all he knows how to write is a sleazy drooling rapist.
-Take off that ribbon and I'm dropping this show. Right here. Right now. I've had enough of this crap.
-Oh goodie. He's also a megalomaniacal mind rapist with 300 slaves.

This show is torturously hacky. Somehow it has gotten even more like the writings of a stupid teenage boy. How is it getting worse? I don't know. It shouldn't be possible. Wait, is the writer actually 15? Can he be sent to his room without dessert?

[HitokiriShadow]

Originally Posted by strangefour

Wait, is the writer actually 15? Can he be sent to his room without dessert?

This is Kawahara Reki. He very likely was about 15, if not younger, when he originally wrote this. Edit: .... and for the love of god, don't read the comments. You will weep.

[something]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Unlike the last game with the "Mirror", this is one where the appearance is customizable or generated at random (don't know which Suguha did for her own design) and even the gender is user-selectable (with voice changers, if it's like SAO ep. 1). So even if he looked and sounded like Kazuto in the game, she doesn't necessarily have any reason to believe it's him (she doesn't even know that he's playing the game, or that his "not giving up on Asuna" had anything to do with ALO). She also probably doesn't know that Kirito was Kazuto's handle (because it seems he hasn't really talked to her or anyone about what happened in the game).

Suguha not immediately knowing it was him would be understandable. But Suguha not showing even one millisecond of surprise when a guy who sounds exactly like her brother and looks exactly like her brother walks up to her is just completely absurd. There wasn't even the slightest flash of recognition or suspicion when he showed up. She didn't even think "wow this guy is just like my brother!" That is what's not remotely believable.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by something

Suguha not immediately knowing it was him would be understandable. But Suguha not showing even one millisecond of surprise when a guy who sounds exactly like her brother and looks exactly like her brother walks up to her is just completely absurd. There wasn't even the slightest flash of recognition or suspicion when he showed up. She didn't even think "wow this guy is just like my brother!" That is what's not remotely believable.

Well, she has no idea he's even playing any games again -- he only just started today and without telling her. And when she first saw him in Episode 16, and again in Episode 17 when she looks at his eyes expressing the sense of loss, there's a look of kind of surprise and recognition in her eyes (I think she has sympathy on him because he reminds her of her brother's situation). But even if she thinks it, she probably immediately dismisses it because she doesn't think he's playing any games. And keep in mind that she doesn't look anything like her real-life self, so why would she immediately assume anyone else would? Perhaps it would be better if they explicitly showed her making the connection and then dismissing it, but in either case I don't think it's actually unnatural for her to dismiss it.

(Edit: One reason they perhaps couldn't show her making that connection too clearly up to now is because they only revealed her identity at the end here; if they gave us too big of a hint sooner, they'd give away who she was. Of course, it wasn't *that* well-kept a secret anyway, but we'll see if it comes up in a future episode now that we in the audience know for sure who she is.)

[something]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Well, she has no idea he's even playing any games again -- he only just started today and without telling her. And when she first saw him in Episode 16, and again in Episode 17 when she looks at his eyes expressing the sense of loss, there's a look of kind of surprise and recognition in her eyes (I think she has sympathy on him because he reminds her of her brother's situation). But even if she thinks it, she probably immediately dismisses it because she doesn't think he's playing any games. And keep in mind that she doesn't look anything like her real-life self, so why would she immediately assume anyone else would? Perhaps it would be better if they explicitly showed her making the connection and then dismissing it, but in either case I don't think it's actually unnatural for her to dismiss it.

But, again, it should have been the very first thought she had upon seeing him for the first time. And in a world where people can randomize their appearance it's really even stranger for your brother's doppelganger to walks up to you out of the woods. The tentative recognition you mention didn't come until way after that.

It just comes off as more lazy writing requiring more suspension of disbelief than should be necessary. Like almost everything else in this show lately. Maybe we can blame this one on A-1 rather than Kawahara because it's easier to gloss over this stuff in print than it is to depict it visually and with seiyuu (thus, one could argue A-1 dropped the ball regarding making it believable), but the effect on me as an anime watcher regardless of who deserves the blame.

[Fencedude]

You know what would have been, *gasp* interesting?

Kirito using a female avatar and Suguha using a male avatar.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by something

But, again, it should have been the very first thought she had upon seeing him for the first time. And in a world where people can randomize their appearance it's really even stranger for your brother's doppelganger to walks up to you out of the woods. The tentative recognition you mention didn't come until way after that.

I don't know about that -- look again at her reaction in that very first scene in Episode 16 when he crash lands. First she's surprised, then she gets a good look at him and does a double-take. I suppose they don't cut to inner thoughts there and go "wow! he looks just like my brother!", but again, we're not supposed to know who she is yet. So I don't know.

Originally Posted by something

It just comes off as more lazy writing requiring more suspension of disbelief than should be necessary. Like almost everything else in this show lately.

I can't change the way you perceive the show. But I will say that my perception is that people have gotten into a mood where they just generally hate everything that's going on and so are being more critical of everything without spending much time trying to think through if it's really reasonable or not. Anything that doesn't make immediate perfect sense to them is automatically dismissed as poor writing, even when a plausible explanation exists and is even suggested by the narrative. I'm not saying that there isn't any poor writing in this show (because there are a few head-scratchers for sure), but I think it isn't as bad as people make it sound -- whether that means people will enjoy the show or not notwithstanding.

[something]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

I can't change the way you perceive the show. But I will say that my perception is that people have gotten into a mood where they just generally hate everything that's going on and so are being more critical of everything without spending much time trying to think through if it's really reasonable or not. Anything that doesn't make immediate perfect sense to them is automatically dismissed as poor writing, even when a plausible explanation exists. I'm not saying that there isn't any poor writing in this show (because there are a few head-scratchers for sure), but I think it isn't as bad as people make it sound -- whether that means people will enjoy the show or not notwithstanding.

I tried for too long and too hard from early on to justify to myself the things this show was doing. I kept looking for ways to spin the dumber or more irritating things to convince myself it was worth importing because hey, the good things were good. And I saw potential in it all. I really did want it to be an excellent show. But man it just keeps beating me over the head with stuff I can't excuse anymore. Some minor, like what we're discussing, some major.

Part of me wants to drop it now and just be done with it, but part of me won't let me drop a show with the angelic ♥Yui♥ in it. Or Suguha's boobs and legs, but maybe that's a different part of me saying that... I'm guessing the first part will win out in the end but for now, maybe I'm just waiting for an arc where Suguha and a cute friend go to a beach on Okinawa and have a heart-to-heart far away from Kirito and Asuna and Noumi Mk.II, and then I can convince myself that's where the show ended. And then I will be able to say goodbye and know to never touch anything written by this author ever again. >_>