Sword Art Online deserves its own thread - movie announced!

Be wary, there are spoilers in this announcement video:

SAO sucks

^grrr

So it's an original story, not recap movie.

Hmm, still need more info tho.

Falcom wrote:

SAO sucks

SAO started very strong but then it was a never ending trainwreck. That little sister (BUT NOT REALLY HER SISTER/Related by blood) arc was Olympic medal worthy.

I think the problem is that far too many people expected that Aincrad would be the entire adventure, rather than a world-building catalyst. People who gave it up due to ALO disappoint me. I'd rather have this any day over what .hack kept repeating.

And while I understand that the subject of incest can make people uncomfortable, I think it's cool that SAO explored the difficulties that those kinds of feelings can cause.

Taiyz wrote:

I think the problem is that far too many people expected that Aincrad would be the entire adventure, rather than a world-building catalyst. People who gave it up due to ALO disappoint me. I'd rather have this any day over what .hack kept repeating.

And while I understand that the subject of incest can make people uncomfortable, I think it's cool that SAO explored the difficulties that those kinds of feelings can cause.

Let's put the plot aside for a moment ---

2nd part of S1
-> "Soft" Incest
-> Middle age man sexually abusing a young woman

S2
-> Attempted rape

---

To be honest, I have not watched .Hack even though I played the first 4 games. My issue with SAO is that the first half (which was really good) was kind of tense. The 2nd half was horrible. The other season we had was decent.

That arc permanently damaged SAO for me. I watched all seasons and if they ever release more, I'll likely watch the rest (unless it gets terrible).

Alicization is pretty okay, so if it ever does get its 4-cour anime series I'm sure you'd like it.

Harbinger wrote:

2nd part of S1
-> "Soft" Incest
-> Middle age man sexually abusing a young woman

S2
-> Attempted rape

---

Actually I like it because of this reason. I don't condone rape and NTR, so watching the protagonist go big damn hero/"dont f*** with me" on the perpetrator before any not-undoable stuff is done is an "OH f*** YES" moment for me.

SAO is rather tame about this issue though. There's other series with more infuriating stuff, complete with the perpetrator managing to get away with it. Rising of Shield Hero for example, is full of unfairness, with everyone in the world against him and even tried to NTR his only comrade away from him. And he can't do anything about it because he's a fucking shield hero, unable to even attack. He spent almost 4 volume being ostracised by the world he's supposed to protect.

The point is, SAO is actually light on this kind of stuff and is usually quickly dealt with by the hero, so it's cooler in my book. You might not like S3 too though,

Spoiler:

As for my favorite arc, I don't rate Aincrad arc too highly in the list tbh. Much worse in the anime adaptation because they're wavering whether to make it chronologically or just according to the volume. Alfheim arc is the one that hooked me to SAO, so the hate on ALO is lost on me. It's actually pretty fun seeing Kirito wrecking plebs because said plebs is playing for fun while he's a man on a mission. But I love story with OP protag and "NANI!!!" plebs, so my opinion is invalid.

I'd go Alicization 1st part (pre-vegetable) > Alicization 2nd part > Caliber SS (because more explanation on system) > Caliber > ALO > GGO > Aincrad > Aincrad (Progressive) > Mother Rosario for my favourite arc. I like the world-building part of the series because it's much closer to our world, and as a computer science student, it's a lot easier to relate with some of the terms and metaphors (also easier to notice some inaccuracies tho).

Yeah. NTR and rape of any kind makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. That actually had me really tensed up for the entire arc, but I think it was cool that they set up a plotline that HAD to take place over the course of a week, versus a story arc that took place over two goddamn years. Watching that arc still makes me queasy, and I don't feel like those components "improve" anything (the incest bit I'm totally fine with by comparison) but you have to admit that it's kind of admirable that the villain actually set some high stakes for once. Oh sure he made vague threats that he could kill her at any time, but what's more is that he plans to "take" her for himself, and Kirito, a normal dude in the real world with no pull in society, has to use what the virtual world allows him to do to save her. That is a fucking cool arc if you think of it that way, IMO.

ALO is still my least favourite arc (well, apart from Caliber) because of the NTR stuff, but there was so much other stuff in it that was awesome that people seem to let the gross stuff overshadow. There are also a lot of Asuna fans who got pissed off that she was turned into a damsel from her previous role as deuteragonist, those people obviously missed out on Mother's Rosario. There was also that scene with the tentacled scientists, but I think that it raised a good point that you can achieve some pretty fucked up stuff within Full Dive environments, I doubt they're gonna show us the Seed being used to create a virtual sex MMO so that's as close as we're getting to that kind of creepiness, but it was an inevitable world-building moment IMO.

I also need to point out that fuckface being a middle aged man is actually pretty normal for these kinds of arranged marriages and shit. Apart from ALO being involved, what you see take place in SAO is pretty normal for a Japanese romantic drama storyline. They just spice it up by allowing him to do extra creepy stuff using the virtual world, while also allowing Kirito to show that you can't truly control people through the virtual world.

Taiyz wrote:

I doubt they're gonna show us the Seed being used to create a virtual sex MMO so that's as close as we're getting to that kind of creepiness

Well....even with only Oculus Rift, there's already people combining it with mechanized sex toy for the "virtual sex experience" so I don't doubt the more creepy part is a given. Thankfully, the show has to be moderate about the issue or who knows how much more creepy stuff we could get lol.

Sure not everyone likes those disgusting stuff, but I love having such a clearly despicable villain with really human desires. It builds up the sense of urgency and gives a really satisfying feel when the hero finally managed to punch the antagonist in the dick.

I guess that's also one of the reason it was really unnerving. Because of how closely the issue can be related with our world. Stuff like world domination, mass brainwashing antagonists is a rather detached idea to us while rape (and cuckold) is common enough issue.

So, it happens sometimes. You think of yourself as the last bastion of quality on the internet, but then a dumb meme makes you laugh your head off. It happens to all of us, and it happened to me. I considered posting this in Forum Games or Entertainment, making a video meme thread...But that would be like throwing a needle into a haystack...In a locked safe behind a laser grid. I should air out my embarrassment publicly, yeah...That's how you make friends.



The addition of Kirito is what totally sells this to me. I only really appreciate memes if they have an interesting backstory, this is basically a modern day (well, closer to the modern day by comparison) Milk and Cereal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOv4HHOtn1E
The video on the right came first in 2009, then a Miku Miku Dance editor on Nico Nico Douga was testing their ability to match models' poses to videos, and this comparison video exploded.


Oh and PS: Buy SAO Lost Song, it's dope as shit. Cross-saving but no cross-play for the online MP.

too much yandere eyes D:

I'd say it's more of a non-sexual ahegao.

Edit: so Calibur is out on disc, and I noticed a few things I missed first time around (or just don't remember.) In the flashback in Jotunheim, Kirito still had his old ALO avatar and buster sword, so the flashback was actually from before both Extra Edition and Phantom Bullet. Also when Yui first shows up in Calibur, she immediately lands on Kirito's head, so although the anime and Sword Art Offline never addressed his hairstyle change, there's still a nod to it (can't remember if she sits on his head in EE.)

The flashback is actually right after Kirito and the Salamander vice leader guy fight in Fairy Dance arc. So, between episode 20 and 21.

It was a rather weird filler in that arc. Considering that they are rushing to get to the world tree thing as fast as they could, the whole Tonkii subplot honestly felt like padding at most, so I understand why they omitted it in the anime.

Is Extra Edition an original thing, or was it a bit from new ALO in the novels? I'm referring to the quest they take on so Yui can see a whale.

Pretty sure the quest is an original story.

I hope the movie is about the girls finally becoming actual characters instead of constructs that exist to fall in love with Kirito to build his virtual harem

Read Girls Ops?

The thing is, the story arcs we've seen thus far have focused on Kirito, Leafa, Sinon and Asuna, in that order. I doubt that Lis and Silica are going to get their own story arcs at this point, but that's not really a problem when Klein and Agil also aren't getting their own arcs (which I'd personally like to see,) but there is the Girls Ops manga series which is written by the creator.

That's the thing about SAO, much like .hack it's comprised of different parts, the core SAO story, Progressive, Girls Ops...Those three are written by the creator himself. THEN, there's a spin-off focusing on a new cast in Gun Gale Online, written by Kino's Journey/Allison and Lilia creator Keiichi Sigsawa OH MY GOD WHY ISN'T THIS LOCALIZED RIGHT NOW and supervised by the creator.

So personally, while I understand your argument (and you're hardly alone,) I think it won't be valid when they decide to animate some of these other stories.

I think Leafa and Sinon are developed fairly well (the latter especially). Those 'no-brain harem members' trope are applied only to Silica and Lisbeth to be honest.

Which is not surprising since the former two have 2 full volume of their interaction and personality while the latter two has only one chapter each.

As for Asuna, well, while I don't really like her that much in main storyline, I like that Kirito stays loyal to her from beginning until the very end. It's actually rather refreshing having the OTP clearly defined, but it does make the subsequent romance scene feel negligible.

But Asuna is really interesting in the Progressive novel, she gets great personality development and is actually a good female-bro character throughout the novel (at least the first novel, still waiting for my volume 2). She doesn't immediately start fawning over Kirito as in the main novel, since the love only buds (lel) when they're at the upper half floor in main storyline.

So imo over half the harem members has good writing.


but yeah i read the novel so im a huge dork so my opinion is invalid

Speak of the devil, LLENN is gonna be a DLC character (support) in the new Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax.

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/12/09/yuuki-and-llenn-from-sao-join-dengeki-bunko-fighting-climax-ignition/

I'm surprised it's not Sinon, but I appreciate the variety.

And there's the key visual.

oh, it's AR this time. i'm guessing this is going to be some kind of a bridge to the stuffs in Accel World. Which is pretty cool because it's already obvious they are related, but the 'how they are related' can be a good plot to explore.

Did they all die yet?

OH f*** THIS LOOKS GODDAMN COOL

Kinda cheapens the stuff that Kirito was doing to let Yui see the real world though.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-08-08/sword-art-online-film-to-play-in-about-1000-theaters-worldwide/.105123

dude, that's a cool key visual.