It has potential and doesn't piss me off, which I can't say featured into Accel World. Anyone else hopeful?
Sword Art Online
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Can't agree about the Accel World part- since I love it- but SAO definitely has some big potential. Many praised it and it's said to be even better than Accel World (same author for those who don't know) and after watching the first episode I might have to agree. It's also about virtual worlds and games but it's somewhat darker and that very aspect makes it so appealing to me. Personally I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.
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Can't agree about the Accel World part- since I love it-
You shouldn't admit something like that, people might get the wrong idea.
http://i48.tinypic.com/4gpv12.jpg
Many praised it and it's said to be even better than Accel World (same author for those who don't know) and after watching the first episode I might have to agree. It's also about virtual worlds and games but it's somewhat darker and that very aspect makes it so appealing to me. Personally I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.
I wouldn't call it darker, necessarily. I think the setting has focused the plot in such a way that we may see something unique and interesting as far as game-play is considered, like the technical creativity of Oda's fights. Why? Because there's no magic in SAO (just swords and "techniques" which might end up being magic anyway) and the need to log out periodically has been completely obviated. That's set the stage for character development between a troubled, but not painfully so, youth, and his other companion who he seems to get along with well.
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Ahaha what a glorious picture you picked there. People might really misunderstand it not knowing about the context of that particular situation.
Well the darker part was referring to players literally dying if being stripped of all their HP or the NervGear device itself. And that is quite a dark part of a game(!) which admittedly makes for some good drama and entertainment. Our protagonist has got 100 floors to clear before he can get out of that virtual hell so I'm curious as to what else is going to happen- for example the inevitable deaths of future friends/companions in order to build up some tension.
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Just watched the first episode. I'll have to be frank it was pretty boring it seems like very bookish pacing and the kind which isn't highly regarded in today's time anymore "Dumping the whole set up in chapter 1".
Characters are boring, being a antisocial loner without context isn't an interesting character trait. The setting itself is your standart fantasy world, but oh well that's at least something that's coherent with the landscape of mmo of the last decade (and no having no magic is not a trait enough to distinguish itself). The whole simulated reality thing doesn't earn originality points either since that's something I'm already extremely familiar with from other media. The execution of it wasn't very interesting either (oh they wear hightech helmets).
That said this was very much a introduction episode. So if this follows the procedure of old school book pacing, things might kind of get way more interesting in the next 2-3 episodes. And the thing that draws me into for now is the top of the line animation.
So this was pretty heavy critique which makes it seem that I already have a negative attitude to this series but I'm actually very hopeful.
Some of the best books use the info dump in chapter 1 thing and in exchange become really hard to put away once you've gotten through that. -
This is on my list to try this week. I'll let you know my opinion when I watch the first episode within the next few days.
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My friends and roommates at college this year are/were into MMOs to varying degrees, so I decided to give this a look-see. Most of the elements presented in the first episode I'd already seen utilized elsewhere at some point or another, so I guess the draw at the moment is seeing how this show is going to distinguish itself. The prospect of no magic (at least for the good guys, I'll bet that the villains will eventually break it out) can lead to some interesting fights, and I'm a sucker for ''band of heroes'' stories, so I'm going to stick around for a bit and see where this leads.
I cracked a smile when I recognized Hiroaki Hirata's voicing Klein, and got a big kick at the players' true identities being revealed, seeing all the handsome teenage boys and girls turning into…well, the type of people you'd expect would be on an MMO in real life (including guys pretending to be girls).
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Very interested. A darker, more action-oriented dot.hack//SIGN-like with Yuki Kajiura doing music? I'm totally in.
One of the things that I appreciated was that they took a slow, show rather than tell approach to establishing the confines of the virtual world these players will be stuck in.
The narrative choice to frame the game as one of survival of the fittest where people really are dying left and right –and giving that it's appropriate gravity-- intrigues me.
And the character interaction between Kirito and Klein (Hiroaki Hirata YESSSS) has me feeling hopeful.
Let's just hope it doesn't unravel too quickly (like, I would agree, Accel World did).One of the few series I'll be watching this season.
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Just watched episode 2. Man I really like the animation nice fighting scenes. Aside from that another setup chapter where we are introduced to some new characters one of them the girl from the intro. Dunno the characters are still to vague to judge. Still hard to give an educated guess of how this show will develop.
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They cut out some things from the novels in episode 2. And man, the pacing was really fast.
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I felt the pacing was fine for everything except the character development. Kirito's revelation about Diabel didn't seem appropriate given he'd only met the guy the day before, and we'd only know Diabel for like 6 minutes. The revelation was perfectly acceptable, and everything Diabel did was perfectly acceptable, but the two didn't gel together because the revelation needed a lot more exposure. If you exclude that part, the biggest beef with the episode is they didn't explain the game mechanics, which is a big problem.
I feel that the game mechanics are going to be a major appeal of this show, because like any game people know the rules too (chess, mahjong, Yu-Gi-Oh!) we can appreciate the plays/moves made by other players. If we have no concept of the rules, we have no standard for being amazed at how clever/insightful the players are.
The fight scene against the Kobold Lord, for example, was rather empty for me. I didn't feel tension or any emotional connection to it, although the music suggested there should be one. If the Kobold Lord acted like The Butcher in Diablo, who was a notoriously strong, terrifying boss on Level 2 of that game and was likely to slaughter weak allies - you could have had some anger/resentment toward the Kobold Lord.
Also, I did not understand why Kirito couldn't find his way to the boss's lair earlier. He didn't remark that that part of the game changed, but he did on the weapon switch.
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This series is so weird. Just saw episode 3.
Events are so disconnected from another that I don't get a feeling for the characters at all. They're still pretty flat.
It's kind of cool how they integrate different mmo skills visually but that's it.I'm not sure what to think of that kind of story structure it doesn't feel that it's suited for the kind of impression the series gives off.
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Watched Episodes 1 and 2 last week. I've played alot of MMOs, so the premise is cool to me.
I haven't read the visual novel, so I had no idea that the pace was so fast. It seemed pretty normal to me.
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@Galaxy:
Watched Episodes 1 and 2 last week. I've played alot of MMOs, so the premise is cool to me.
I haven't read the visual novel, so I had no idea that the pace was so fast. It seemed pretty normal to me.
Same
I liked the pacing. Kinda like what was done with Druaga.Just saw ep 3… WTF THAT'S TOO FAST!!!
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@Galaxy:
I haven't read the visual novel, so I had no idea that the pace was so fast. It seemed pretty normal to me.
There isn't a VN; SAO was originally fanfiction that was picked up and refined as a light novel series.
I'll check out Episode 3. Personally though, I'm really looking forward to Smile PreCure! above all else this week. :<
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fanfiction
Web novel, you mean. It was never a fan work based on any existing work.
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Doujin then. The original was definitely a doujin, there wouldn't have been an H scene in a published work, "web novel" or not.
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I wish they would have shown more of the fight against Nicholas Renegade
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Supposedly the real story is coming next week, so I'll be patient and hope the pacing stabilizes.
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Supposedly the real story is coming next week, so I'll be patient and hope the pacing stabilizes.
I hope so, I don't like how they skip some things. The chraracter development of Kirito really suffered from it during those 3 episodes.
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Gotta agree with the fast pacing after I've started reading the novels (currently at novel 2 chapter 3). It's a whole different thing when reading about it in detail and realizing just how much depth there is in this story. Well, there are still a good bunch of novels left so excuse me.
On a side note- I liked the way the adapted the "The Black Swordsman" story last week.
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Episode 4 was pretty good and a big improvement over Episode 3. Hope it continues.
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Seconding that: this episode was a big improvement over the last one. I really enjoy the utilization of MMO mechanics as part of the story.
Hope they do something about the "girl-of-the-week" trend they have going here.And I think the series greatly benefits having an experienced, confident lead.
I can tell you straight off that if he was a plucky, headstrong newbie I wouldn't be watching this show at all:
I find them impossibly annoying, so even though we don't know that much about Kirito yet he's got a leg up on his competition in more ways than one, imo.I've heard talk that there's a lot being left out in this adaptation though, so is there a place I can read the novels?
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I've heard talk that there's a lot being left out in this adaptation though, so is there a place I can read the novels?
Of course. http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online
All currently available novels (ten) have been translated. Personally I finished the second one yesterday and number three is nearly done as well. Can't stop reading for some reason.Edit: And finished novel 3 as well. Time to grab a bite and then tackle the next one.
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Is it wrong that I already start to hate how obnoxious 95% of the fanbase of this anime is (I pity them more than the fanbase of Guilty Crown already)? This series is getting hyped so much by the usual audience, while I find it hard to see it as nothign more than bit-above average Battle Shounen in an MMO setting (not that generic, but not really creative either).
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Is it wrong that I already start to hate how obnoxious 95% of the fanbase of this anime is (I pity them more than the fanbase of Guilty Crown already)? This series is getting hyped so much by the usual audience, while I find it hard to see it as nothign more than bit-above average Battle Shounen in an MMO setting (not that generic, but not really creative either).
Well I don't know but live and let live, I guess? It's not like somebody forces to interact with any fanbase.
But I'm with you it's been from a story standpoint pretty mediocre(which doesn't mean it needs to be bad if executed well) and the pacing is horrible.
Every episode as selfcontained story is somewhat fine but the way things between episodes are omitted is pretty bad.Episodes 1-3
! It's like episode 1 protagonist is somewhat a loner and we don't really know anything about him. Episode 2 he suddenly decides to join a group? Episode 3 he joins a guild and is like around level 50 that seems like a massive amount of time has passed between and we still don't really know anything about the protagonist and are in addition left to ask if they omitted character progression inbetween. It's been super incoherent.
But still don't know why I haven't dropped it yet it's kind of like always wondering if it gets better. It's kind of in a position where it can still get good enough to be amusing (unlike Guilty Crown which I didn't like to the point it made my head hurt, I had to drop it after episode 3) but at the same time it kind of let's me down a little every week. Dunno like I said if anything I'm superficial :P enough to a point where I can derive some enjoyment from the visuals, but it kind of helps that the only other series I'm currently regulary watching is sket dance.
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I think SAO is being hyped because the premise is interesting, and unlike other shows recently it's the only one that doesn't require prior setup (Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse is a lot better, but let's face it, TE will spoil huge parts of MLA proper) or (badly) pander to a demographic. Because of how shows are demographic-driven, there haven't been very many serious, 'adult' oriented shows lately. They've all been filled with the same garbage that we see recycled in every other season.
So, SAO is being held to a higher standard for no reason other than the shows around it aren't good. Expectations might exceed the author's writing skill, but we should expect that an animation team should be able to process the novel into something more palatable. Thus far, because of the pacing, we haven't seen that at all.
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I think SAO is being hyped because the premise is interesting, and unlike other shows recently it's the only one that doesn't require prior setup (Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse is a lot better, but let's face it, TE will spoil huge parts of MLA proper) or (badly) pander to a demographic. Because of how shows are demographic-driven, there haven't been very many serious, 'adult' oriented shows lately. They've all been filled with the same garbage that we see recycled in every other season.
So, SAO is being held to a higher standard for no reason other than the shows around it aren't good. Expectations might exceed the author's writing skill, but we should expect that an animation team should be able to process the novel into something more palatable. Thus far, because of the pacing, we haven't seen that at all.
I fail to see how SAO doesn't badly pander to a demogrphic as well. The whole character of Kirito seems like a teenager self-insert to me. Especially with that aura of Gary Stuness around him. Still, he's a bit better than most of the spineless protagonists we are so used to see by now.
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I wouldn't call SAO generic since it has a unique touch to it. Just the idea of taking an MMO and making such a vast story out if it fascinates me.
That being said- finished novel 4 as well. I'm absolutely in love with the story. <3
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Well, the MMO setting is just a minor twist used to establish a "normal" fantasy world. Maybe I just can't appreciate that anymore after I reread ASOIAF and LotR the past months.
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I fail to see how SAO doesn't badly pander to a demogrphic as well. The whole character of Kirito seems like a teenager self-insert to me. Especially with that aura of Gary Stuness around him. Still, he's a bit better than most of the spineless protagonists we are so used to see by now.
From what we've seen thus far, I can't conclude that. What I know about Kirito
1. He's a loner.
2. He's knowledgeable about video games.
3. He is very powerful.He isn't particularly well developed yet because his actions are so detached. But nothing yet points to him as a Mary Sue self-insert…it could happen, but not right away. And it isn't even close to as blatant as Accel World.
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Which is also written by the same author and features a MMO theme. Oh well, it will be interesting to see how both series are connected.
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Which is also written by the same author and features a MMO theme. Oh well, it will be interesting to see how both series are connected.
From what I've been told,
! Kuroyukihime from Accel World is the orphan/abandoned daughter of Kirito. They have similar nick-names and Kuroyukihime's real name is deliberately obfuscated.
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I'm really loving this anime .
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I wouldn't call SAO generic since it has a unique touch to it. Just the idea of taking an MMO and making such a vast story out if it fascinates me.
That being said- finished novel 4 as well. I'm absolutely in love with the story. <3
Well since it came after hack.dot and accel world it can't really be called unique. And the whole fantasy aspect of it is pretty flat and not really fleshed out.
It makes use of the most common fantasy element tropes existing in MMO's. -
Actually, SAO came 6 years before Accel World.
From what I've been told,
! Kuroyukihime from Accel World is the orphan/abandoned daughter of Kirito. They have similar nick-names and Kuroyukihime's real name is deliberately obfuscated.
! She also used one of Kirito's Dual Blades skills
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Read the novels till volume 4,
! found it a bit cliched really.What was with the turn around in character for kirito jumping from Aincrad to ALfheim?He literally jumps from being the sulking loner protagonist , to one who jokes around with complete strangers while taking them on.
! Also for anyone who has read the volumes after the fourth one, anything to go on after the fourth? as it really did have a nice enough closure to the proceedings there , and apart from the detailing the author goes in for the fights , I found nothing warranting a further read to the material with the closure we had there? -
Well since it came after hack.dot and accel world it can't really be called unique. And the whole fantasy aspect of it is pretty flat and not really fleshed out.
It makes use of the most common fantasy element tropes existing in MMO's.Lol SAO was way before Accel World .
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@D:
Lol SAO was way before Accel World .
Sorry but it should be obvious that I'm talking about the anime. I mean why else would I point out hack.dot as one of the examples? And how exactly would the fact that SAO as a LN came out before Accel world relate to hack.dot at all?
You don't seriously believe that SAO is unique if it comes to written stuff? A medium far older, far more reaching and far more widespread than anime.
If we talk about literary work I would have chosen way different examples and while we're at that quite a few more since I'm a bit more familiar with written stuff than with anime.So yeah my point stands SAO is far from being a unique work within the medium of anime. I didn't think that I had to point out too that it's even far less unique within the medium of written works.
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There's nothing unique about "modern humans trapped in a medieval world", it's on the same lines as time-travel or dimension sliding. Making the fantasy world an MMORPG merely adds details. That's why SAO's appeal isn't in the originality (although we can agree, once looking past the contrived circumstances leading up to it, it's an inherently intrinsically premise) but the exploration.
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Sorry but it should be obvious that I'm talking about the anime. I mean why else would I point out hack.dot as one of the examples? And how exactly would the fact that SAO as a LN came out before Accel world relate to hack.dot at all?
You don't seriously believe that SAO is unique if it comes to written stuff? A medium far older, far more reaching and far more widespread than anime.
If we talk about literary work I would have chosen way different examples and while we're at that quite a few more since I'm a bit more familiar with written stuff than with anime.So yeah my point stands SAO is far from being a unique work within the medium of anime. I didn't think that I had to point out too that it's even far less unique within the medium of written works.
No, It wasn't obvious at all, saying SAO ain't as unique as AW, you were implying that AW was before it, so SAO being a form of "predecessor" to AW is lacking "hence" it's not unique .
It doesn't matter whether this is about the anime, because is a fact that the anime is an adaption of the novel, which [the novel] was before Accel World, wasn't it ?
Well SAO is my first rpg kind of anime, so yes, I actually do believe it's unique, then again, so is Accel World [a fatass as MC, something that almost never happens]
P.S. i haven't read/watch Hack whatever so i have no say in that .
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Which is also written by the same author and features a MMO theme. Oh well, it will be interesting to see how both series are connected.
Apparently they had a cross-over .
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@D:
1. No, It wasn't obvious at all, saying SAO ain't as unique as AW, you were implying that AW was before it, so SAO being a form of "predecessor" to AW is lacking "hence" it's not unique .
2. It doesn't matter whether this is about the anime, because is a fact that the anime is an adaption of the novel, which [the novel] was before Accel World, wasn't it ?3. Well SAO is my first rpg kind of anime, so yes, I actually do believe it's unique, then again, so is Accel World [a fatass as MC, something that almost never happens]
P.S. i haven't read/watch Hack whatever so i have no say in that .
1. No, sorry but that's just you not thinking at all before you did post. I'd wanted to imply that I'd certainly wouldn't have listed hack.dot as an example.
You still haven't explained why I would do this if I really wanted to imply what you said so the misunderstanding is on you.
2. How does this not matter? This extremely important. If you read my post the reason for this distinction should be clear as the sun. But I spell it out again for you. If we talk about originality you always have to be considerate about the medium or else there would be no discussion about originality anymore.
3. And now you're kind of admitting that the reason for your misunderstanding is the lack of your knowledge. Of course SAO is original for you than and that's fine, people have to start somewhere. One of the first fantasy novels I read was of the shannara series and at that time I thought it was original because I didn't know what else existed but it's actually cunning how many parallels it has to Lord of the Rings.As for accel world I have dropped that series after 3 episodes so I can't make a comment about how unique the fat protagonist makes this show. But the reason I disliked this show is how totally unfounded the complex he had was (seriously he was surrounded with good/supportive friends that treasured him the extent of his inferior complex was just ridicilous, you can't feel sympathy for someone that judges themselves on an attribute that everyone else around them doesn't consider to be important.) and how it was exclusively pandering to male adolescent fantasies (I mean a beauty likes you purely because of gamer skill… yeah...). I don't cringe often but this series was just a tad too much. There just wasn't any aspect I could enjoy in that.
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Accel World's purpose is to breed feelings of envy and disgust. SAO, barring the hilariously cheesy H-scene that now seems to define it (I just recently read it, it's ridiculously goofy) is a more serious story and less an exercise of exasperation.
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Just saw the first three episodes. Not bad, I actually liked it.
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Sword Art Online
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Finished the seventh novel a couple of minutes ago. After having completed it, it was way better than expected and really hit the core. A little timeline will follow in the spoiler for those interested. Don't worry, I'll try not to spit out any relevant details.
! Volume one and two- the latter being a compilation of side stories- focus on the whole SAO incident and how they try to escape their cruel fate. Three and four continue in ALO (ALfheim online), another game that focuses more on fairies and the ability to fly. Number five and six then concentrate on GGL (Gun Gale online), an VRMMORPG set in a world dominated by guns. Concerning the plot of the latter ones- death pretty much becomes a threat yet again and some surprising things are revealed. The seventh novel is about Asuna and 85% of the volume focus on the brown-haired girl and her inner struggles (very emotional but beautifully written in my eyes).
! Number eight, nine and ten- which I myself have yet to read- are about a few SAO/ALO side stories and (what seems judging by the title) another virtual world respectively. But those are just a few brief explanations and there's a lot left to read so give it a try if you enjoy a good read.I'll probably continue reading in a few days since I've been marathoning the first seven works since last weekend and now might need a little break.
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After watching the first four episodes, I can conclude this is the only series this season I would actually call "well written". I'm "enjoying" a few others, but overall the quality this anime season has been terrible. So it's nice to have at least one series to look forward to that I can relate to.
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After watching the first four episodes, I can conclude this is the only series this season I would actually call "well written".
What are you watching? I find that claim rather hard to swallow.
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What are you watching? I find that claim rather hard to swallow.
This season I've been watching Oda Nobuna no Yabou, Tari Tari, So, I Can't Play H, La storia della Arcana Famiglia, and Sword Art Online. Out of these titles, Sword Art Online is the only one I was motivated to find the time to keep up with, because it was the most appealing to me.