EDIT: Correction 16 hit combo.
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Summer 2012 Anime |OT3| Where All the Waifus Are Made Up and the Points Don't Matter
- Thread starter Branduil
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EDIT: Correction 16 hit combo.
Wait there arent 16 episodes of SAO out yet...
RyougaSaotome
Member
I'm with the Roll of Duck on this. I haven't read the novels in English, but I'm on volume 3 (skipped 2) in Japanese and it seems clear that he's more interested in describing the world than he is the characters.
Huge chunks of pages are reserved to describing the way game mechanics work, and I personally find it pretty interesting/cool.
The show certainly has issues, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to each new episode every week. Few series get me to run out and want to read the novel they're based off of.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
He means chapter 16.5 from the LN. It's the gloptastic fapfic.
really? that was one of its weaker elements imo
Looks more like 32-hits or something. Could have been as many as 40 I guess.
I like how the characters look in SAO. Their armor stands out particularly. They look cool and something I would see in an MMORPG, at least for some characters...
Imma count right now. BRB.
This isn't a statement on your criticism since we're all looking for different things out of what we watch, though for me personally I don't necessarily think that episodes have to have a consistent emotional tone when they're completely self-contained and there's virtually no continuity--in fact, I think that the show is able to stave off monotony by being able to shake things up each week and basically begin again with a clean slate. As someone who has a near-infinite tolerance for formulaic content as long as I enjoy the characters, if the show was thematically similar each week on top of its revolving door of dull moeblob non-characters, I would have much greater difficulty in watching it than I already do.
Ultimately Sengoku Collection's thematic inconsistency is nothing more than a result of much more creative effort being put into some episodes over others, but I suppose it also kind of jives with the in-universe idea that while all the characters have been transported to the same world, some have found far more ideal lives for themselves than others, which I guess is just a reflection of life in general.
I really need to hurry up and watch episode 23.
It seems that way, particularly in the pay-off in terms of the characterization, as well as few subtle narrative strands that been picked up along the way.
I think it's the pacing that ultimately does it, though. It is true that Hyouka has something of a deliberate pace, and I can see why some wouldn't like that, even to go as far as to call it boring, but I don't think this particular arc would be anywhere near as impactful without that initial slow-burn.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
I'm not sure I'd like them as much in a different show, but in this context they really click with me.
What is the Starburst Stream? I haven't seen last week's episode yet. Is this something new?
The world is what mostly attracts me to SAO. I feel that it does a great job at translating all the interesting little MMO details into an anime. Stuff like the menus, weapon systems, battle systems, items, etc. I've never really played an MMO before so I find these details pretty interesting. I don't particularly care for any of the characters in the show (outside the silly waifu conversations here on GAF which makes watching this show with the community here all the more entertaining) but I'm just going with it out of mild interest.
So far I just see it as middle of the road entertainment with an interesting setting.
So far I just see it as middle of the road entertainment with an interesting setting.
yn-neko hates a cat
Banned
Come on... that's harsh. We still need to see Chitanda confess.
We both these types of anime never take that next step.... god Bokura ga Ita was so under-recognized for its full life arc.
Dude. Where the fuck have you been? Out of the 9 episodes aired, episode 9 was THE ONE you had to have watched. Come on man!
RyougaSaotome
Member
So I went window shopping today out of boredom and figured I'd take some pics of shit for the thread.
Sword Art Online has tons of little displays all over the major stores. There were two different ones at Animate.
This one is for Fate/Zero fans...
This is the inside of Animate. Spoilers, it's always stupidly humid and smelly in here.
Sword Art Online has tons of little displays all over the major stores. There were two different ones at Animate.
This one is for Fate/Zero fans...
This is the inside of Animate. Spoilers, it's always stupidly humid and smelly in here.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Kirito and Asuna go on a picnic in the Candy Zone and eat beside a stream filled with Starbursts.
yn-neko hates a cat
Banned
I like the main character. I like how the story empowers him. I like the the layers of his motivations and internal conflict. I enjoy the emotional tones earch story hits. I love the core conceit of the world where a death virtually means death in real life and the possible truths behind this conceit. I've always been a sucker of the misunderstood hero.
Very few animes give me this emotional reaction without feeling completely opressive. It's walking a fine line for me and it's my sweet spotI LOVE IT!
Layers of motivation and internal conflict? What? His only motivation is fighting and getting stronger. I mean he doesn't even seem like he wants to leave. He hasn't shown anything resembling complexity. I mean the biggest characteristic of him is that he's a loner but that's more a sidenote than of anything of value. He's very much a Gary Stu character.
I'll give you appealing character designs and expressive animation. They don't do anything with the subtext and just leave it there. Tell me, would much of anything change if this was changed to a fantasy show? The subtext is just there floating around. It moves quickly in time but spins its wheels in place. How many stand-alone episodes have we had now? I also would rather we had a proper Batman who sulks a bit more, instead we have a kid who is anti-social at best.
Unloading a bunch of facts in exposition dumps isn't good world building.
It's absolutely nothing like a real MMO. I do like the UI though.
I will soooooon™
It's like Willy Wonka
And since it's not real food, they actually get NOTHING
OoooooooooooIt's something awemsome! That's what it is
I wish it would end with that kind of resolution :/
Omg.... dude, is there any cool F/Z or SAO swag? Maybe you can buy it and send it to me and I pay you back? ^_^
That's just the smell of the promised land, man.
I don't think how it's executed is the sole factor with the quality of world building.
It's a big indicator. There's a reason why most people don't like the Similarion.
RyougaSaotome
Member
A little part of me dies every time I walk by someone and notice a smell I don't want to be noticing.
OTL
I think its more that they seem more like rpg videogame caricatures themselves, rather than gamers inside of a game, which is kind of disappointing.
I'm not saying it's not a factor. I'm saying that while execution matters, if the information is interesting and helps to give a better idea of the world, it sometimes becomes irrelevant.
Also, for duckroll
Using crap armor
After Kirito decks her out.
RyougaSaotome
Member
I crave a design works book for SAO. I'd buy one in a heart beat.
Same. Same for Accel World as well.
Yeah, I think the communal aspect of it--whether it be appreciation or scorn--plays a part in how people enjoy the show. It's nice when you can laugh at something together; and it helps that SAO is just a really basic, hero's grind kind of a story, I guess.
I'm not even watching it anymore, but it feels like some people miss the point when they slam the show as being, well, bad--chances are most people who watch it already know; comfort food needn't be complex. It's also bad in a way where it's tolerable to watch, instead of the usual production faults that plague bad shows.
e: I guess what I'm trying to say is that Kayos is wrong and Asuna sucks.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
That certainly resembles complexity, and the show thus far has been all about giving Kirito motivation. It's given him things to fight for.
Perhaps I'm misusing the word "subtext." What I meant is that the show doesn't really hold your hand -- it uses visual storytelling and implications to flesh out the story without forcing it on you.
I disagree that it's just spinning its wheels in place. Even though these are sidestories, it's still moving forward.
er...are you saying Tolkien is bad at worldbuilding, then?
so all he gave her was red dyes?
However if it's told in a certain manner then it breaks the logic of that 'universe'. Many novels use newbs or some other outside party as a way to try and explain things both to that character and the audience. When a good chunk of this is done in exposition it actually hurts the worldbuilding. That was a serious problem with the Star Wars prequels(among other things) in that many crucial bits were just told in dialogue rather than shown or demonstrated.
I completely disagree with that. It's a very shallow take on the 'white-knight' complex. At most you could say he has guilt over what happened to his previous guild(although the way it was demonstrated in the anime he really shouldn't however I know the details in the LN are more explicit) but that was only with the last episode. The rest is him floating around doing oddjobs here and there.
Most Tolkien fans I've spoken to don't like the Similarion because it's essentially a big history book. I have issues with it for other reasons though.
And a shorter skirt that allows her pantsu to be shown.
i dunno bout no complexity, but SAO does play with the kind of attachment people develop for their online avatars, but taken to their extreme--you are your avatar; and this identification entwined with the need for self preservation plays out in rather interesting, if otherwise undeveloped, scenarios.
Imagine if Kirito gave her level 100 armor; she may as well be naked at that point.
Imagine if Kirito gave her level 100 armor; she may as well be naked at that point.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
He gave her the greatest gift of all: zettai ryouiki.
RyougaSaotome
Member
A skirt and thigh highs as well. IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS.
Best girl <3
Proper hygiene just cuts into anime time which in turn threatens the whole industry. You should be saluting these brave people for sacrificing every last shred of personal dignity and human decency for the sake of the hobby.
sounds gross
Also, now that I look at that photo again, that store is kind of depressing-looking. With all those exposed pipes and fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling and the claustrophobic narrowness it looks like it was set up in a bomb shelter or something.
Ah yes, the truly useful skills for the lone loli adventurer.
e: one would think that, paired with a familiar, she would go lance-and-shield and play defensively instead of going balls to the wall with fucking daggers, man.
e2: admittedly we all know what happens to people who use lances.
yn-neko hates a cat
Banned
I couldn't disagree more. Getting stronger is the means to an end. On layer of this motivations is to survive. Kirito doesn't want to lose to this fate forced on him. Another layer is attonement. He was deeply scared when he lt his first guild was wiped out and you see the affects of that truma with him into episode 9. He wants to save lives and actually at ep 9 we see the first time two of his motivations at odds with one another. Another layer of motivation are his friends who he wants to be around but feels he needs to be away from to keep them safe... the reasons for this are another universe of thought of its own. I can write a short story on what makes him complex but I hope the above was enough.
Come on now! Him wanting to leave and him being a famous front-liner are all the surface reasons to see he wants nothing more then to leave! It's obvious without even diving deeper into is personality.
50% of the story reinforces why he's a loner. God is in the details... you almost make it sound like the story said in a single dialog line at the begining "Kirito is a loner"
and left it at that. You know he's a loner because that's the manifestation of his pain.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
I can't remember: how does Klein's sewing compare to Silica's?
A twintail zettai ryouiki imouto type loli. A deadly combo that even a starburst stream can't defeat.
Let's all hope for an anime original arc.
Hey now, she's got high thrust skill.
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