What? It's important only as a goal and driving force for the characters. What's actually going on in the real world is of zero relevance. Think of One Piece: the one piece is supposedly the reason for everything going on, but what it really is doesn't matter, it's only a goal for the characters to strive for.
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Summer 2012 Anime |OT3| Where All the Waifus Are Made Up and the Points Don't Matter
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What? It's important only as a goal and driving force for the characters. What's actually going on in the real world is of zero relevance. Think of One Piece: the one piece is supposedly the reason for everything going on, but what it really is doesn't matter, it's only a goal for the characters to strive for.
CornBurrito
Member
SAO EPISODE 11
Wow... wow.....
That was just really uninteresting and bad.
Wow... wow.....
That was just really uninteresting and bad.
It does have relevance because every bonkers thing that happens or doesn't happen requires a suspension of belief for shit to happen in SAO itself. Like that it's been two years and no one has figured out how to safely remove the helmet.
Though, unlike others, I don't really mind that they haven't gotten to explaining it yet. I'm just asking why people think that wouldn't be an important aspect to examine.
chickdigger802
Banned
Where was the lull?
Not every 'arc' was great, but they usually have something redeemable.
Chet Rippo
Member
This episode really reminds you why Mio is in the club in the first place. This episode made them really feel like a real group of teenage girls hanging out.
Azusa will get more episodes where they flesh her character out more. And Jun is great.
PdotMichael
Banned
The time table is interesting. Thursday is brutal with three must-watch shows (Hidamari, Robotics;Notes and Pyscho-Pass) for me but it's nice that I have for each day one show on my watchlist.
CornBurrito
Member
Oh I see we are discussing the plotholes of SAO. Fun stuff.
My question is if it is an MMO, why are there only like 6000 players?
My question is if it is an MMO, why are there only like 6000 players?
NOVEL SPOILERS:
people keep using the helmet to play games even after the events of SAO.
4000 of them died, of course.
It's not important.
Chet Rippo
Member
Because only 6000 people were stupid enough to put the helmet on.
R_thanatos
Member
there was only 10k copies and 4000 players died in the span of 2 years
The huge stone at the end of episode 1 ? If you go there you can check whenever a character is dead or alive and how they died if they're dead . So players in the front lines know the overall count as that information is available to everyone.
Some infos from the novels
Same technology , different company .. Another company will use the same tech to produce another game BUT this time it was advertised as 100% safe .
You can't stay loggued for an extended period of time and the helmet can't fry your brain.
Some SAO players will go back in virtual realities because Real life sucks , some for other reasons.
The technology being the same, you can use the nervegear or new helmet , it doesn't matter.
You can't stay loggued for an extended period of time and the helmet can't fry your brain.
Some SAO players will go back in virtual realities because Real life sucks , some for other reasons.
The technology being the same, you can use the nervegear or new helmet , it doesn't matter.
CornBurrito
Member
Why are there so few copies.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I love how these guys are S-tier pervs. The post-bath scene was amazing. lol
It's like people who buy
CoD and Madden
Other than a descent into referential nerd-humour, I honestly don't think that middle episodes were all that bad. The "SimCity" episode was pretty fun, for example.
----
Oda Nobuna 11
Japan. lol
But yeah, I can't believe I didn't see this coming. If you had to force an artificial ending, then of course you do what they did in order to
fundamentally change the character dynamics, only to have the dude show up again and bring her back from the brink.
If you're going to have people playing 24/7, you really don't need more than that.
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita End
A fine ending to a strange arc and to a rather strange show itself. For an episode that focused very little on the fairies, I enjoyed this and especially seeing
. The final half of the arc felt a bit rushed to me, but I thought the last few minutes wrapped up the show in a very good fashion. Definitely one of those so-called :firehawk endings and a very satisfying one at that.
Ultimately I enjoyed this show a lot and is possibly my favorite show of the summer season (discounting Hyouka which continued from Spring and a few other shows I haven't finished/caught up on yet). While a good chunk of the 12 episodes didn't quite live up to the promising first two episodes, at its worst I thought the show was still very much enjoyable. At its best Jinrui was an ingenious and eccentric show quite unlike a lot of recent anime. While the show had some directional issues and drops in animation quality at times I really loved the overall style of the art. The bright color pallete and pleasing character designs made for a post-apocalyptic setting that felt pretty original and unique.
As much as the fairies in this anime brought endless amounts of entertainment and (relatively dark) humor, The Protagonist/Watashi/Mediator/etc. was a stand out character in my opinion, easily one of my favorite main characters from this year. Mai Nakamura's line delivery for this role was outstanding. I loved the subtle and sometimes not-so subtle sarcasm and dry humor that she exhibited through out the show.
It had its share of flaws but I thoroughly enjoyed this and I believe over time it might even possibly become one of the more underrated shows from this year. I'll miss those rascally little fairies.
Also,
A fine ending to a strange arc and to a rather strange show itself. For an episode that focused very little on the fairies, I enjoyed this and especially seeing
the hidden nature of the rest of the Wild Rose Society members
Ultimately I enjoyed this show a lot and is possibly my favorite show of the summer season (discounting Hyouka which continued from Spring and a few other shows I haven't finished/caught up on yet). While a good chunk of the 12 episodes didn't quite live up to the promising first two episodes, at its worst I thought the show was still very much enjoyable. At its best Jinrui was an ingenious and eccentric show quite unlike a lot of recent anime. While the show had some directional issues and drops in animation quality at times I really loved the overall style of the art. The bright color pallete and pleasing character designs made for a post-apocalyptic setting that felt pretty original and unique.
As much as the fairies in this anime brought endless amounts of entertainment and (relatively dark) humor, The Protagonist/Watashi/Mediator/etc. was a stand out character in my opinion, easily one of my favorite main characters from this year. Mai Nakamura's line delivery for this role was outstanding. I loved the subtle and sometimes not-so subtle sarcasm and dry humor that she exhibited through out the show.
It had its share of flaws but I thoroughly enjoyed this and I believe over time it might even possibly become one of the more underrated shows from this year. I'll miss those rascally little fairies.
Also,
Factory Arc > Island Arc > Wild Rose Society = Time Paradog > Manga Arc > Pion Arc
Crash Station
Member
It's been limited to 10,000 since the beginning.
I'm not sure; I only know that Kirito and Lizbeth keep playing in order to rescue Asuna; I don't know what is the reason for everyone else (Klein and his gang and Silica).
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I think the Pion arc is better than the Manga arc, but sure. lol
zyxwvu4321
Member
Other games are made by different companies, and new VR helmets are used that don't have the brain-frying parts. Next arc after SAO is in a game made using SAO as a foundation, but not by same company.
R_thanatos
Member
Because there was only 10K nervegears
No they all have different reasons... not every player came back in the new games by the way.
The new game was commercialised while they were still in SAO .. the creator of SAO and the creator of the nervegear isn't in the new game. ( different company that bought the old one because it obviously went bankrupt after the SAO launch )
The new game was commercialised while they were still in SAO .. the creator of SAO and the creator of the nervegear isn't in the new game. ( different company that bought the old one because it obviously went bankrupt after the SAO launch )
i can explain that one ..but by PM only.
Or you can wait because that will be adressed in the next month
AlimNassor
Banned
Muv Luv: Eclipse 12
Good episode for once.
Good episode for once.
I actually liked both for what its worth but I just found the commentary and subtle bashing of the manga industry just too hilarious even if it was a departure from what a lot of people expected out of the show.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Yeah, I get what they were going for there, but it was also a bit too on the nose for me in terms of being "nerd humour". If The Big Bang Theory was a Japanese sitcom, they probably would have done this exact same story.
That wont be necessary, your response was enough. 'ppreciate it!
I've seen people make this assertion from time to time, but I can't fully agree.
It's easy to come up with examples of fan-targeted adaptations to other media that are clearly not intended to stand alone (OVAs/ODAs, drama CDs) and you're probably not saying those shouldn't exist, so that means you're selectively targeting either the transmission medium of TV, or maybe shows with episode counts higher than a certain number, and saying they're "supposed" to be completely self-contained, which is just a hope on your part for the sake of your own enjoyment as someone who wants stand-alone animated products, not really a rule that has to be followed if the goal is different.
One goal of these modern late-night novel-based anime like SAO is to get people to buy the novels (much easier than getting them to buy videos), so while it's not good to drive away viewers with a show that's just plain unenjoyable on its own, if one can manage to get them curious to read the novels for what's missing, that's a success. (That perspective is going to be different for foreign anime fans for whom "reading the novel" isn't something that's a common part of their culture.)
As someone who's probably pretty similar to you in mostly watching anime without having read the source material, I agree that fully stand-alone shows are more enjoyable. But I can't really agree with the idea that there's a cosmic law saying all animation on television is required to be like that.
You don't want to wind up sounding like the writer for ANN's The Stream column who said that Oda Nobuna no Yabou "fails as a piece of entertainment" because it requires you to know Japanese history.
I feel that you are severely misrepresenting my position here though. When I say adaptation, I specifically mean adaptation. Not something that is created intentionally as a companion piece to the original material targeting directly fans of the existing work, and getting them on board to also buy this extra thing. In those cases, they are not created as adaptations so much as fan service or side stories which either do not attempt to replicate the original material in any meaningful way, or attempt to only replicate a specific short arc which is a fan favorite just so fans of the original can see that part animated.
These works operate on a different creative spectrum, and personally I would argue that they don't really have much worth or value outside of being extra advertising for fans. I wouldn't say they shouldn't exist, but I would not compare them to works which are approached with more seriousness with regards to planning and production.
Now, regarding your second point, this is where I think it is very simple for me to draw an easy line. Yes, the "aim" of anime from the top level production perspective is to sell certain things. That's the commercial reality of all entertainment. But that does not mean this is something which should have an impact on the actual creative approach of the people who work on making the show. You want something which can sell, and can help sell other things, sure. But you should also approach it wanting to make something good. This is where the "law" of adaptation applies.
If the law is then broken simply to try to specifically sell something else, then it becomes like blatant product placement in a movie, which is recognized as bad and a negative influence on the creative quality of the film. The same applies here. Yes, I think it is an unshakable golden rule with regards to adaptation quality, and that doesn't mean that it is never broken, but when it does, then it is a violation of creativity for the pursuit of commercialism, instead of the two co-existing as partners of necessity.
I bitch all the time with Sunrise producers on Gundam being terrible people who make the shows worse each time by pandering to fan "demands" as the seasons go on and demanding changes in the script and direction of the series to manipulate toy model sales and character popularity to sell more merchandising, and I would be doing myself an injustice if I do not apply this same logic to adaptations.
This season will be the doom of me.
Jex
Member
I asked about this in episode 1!
Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden 2
Suguru goes to school and we're introduced to his classmates: two guys whose names I don't remember, and three girls named Miyuki, Rin, and Chizuko. Suguru addresses the matter of having a teenage-looking maid by not doing so at all. Of course, this blows up in his face when Mahoro shows up in his classroom to give him part of his lunch he forgot. What follows is the predictable jealous class scene, although the way it's executed is definitely for comedy. Reminds me of how Ataru's class usually reacts to Lum.
We're also introduced to Saori, the 25-year old shotacon teacher who wants nothing more than to share her ripe fully grown cantaloupes with her students, but has an eye for Suguru especially. She's less than enthused when she finds out about Mahoro and is kind of crazy. Mahoro hosts the students as they visit Suguru to ensure there's no funny business going, but Saori shows up as well and wacky hijinx ensues (kinda). Requisite bath scene with Mahoro and Saori complete with boobies and breast envy. Mahoro doesn't take kindly to Saori's taunts of her body and punches her out, but not before starting to harbor insecurities. Yawn. 378 days until Mahoro blows up or something.
I'm liking the really exaggerated visuals and comedic pacing this show is employing. I'm not one of those "anime was teh best 20 years ago!" people, but it definitely hearkens back to those 80's style romcom trappings where it was big and exaggerated while not quite slipping into blatant absurdity, before stuff like Love Hina ruined everything. I think too many anime comedies nowadays try way too hard to be cute as well when, honestly, those two goals don't really mesh all that well together in the first place. This is one area where I feel western shows really "get it" as opposed to their eastern counterparts. Spongebob was an absurd comedy and never deviated from that. Simpsons can be sentimental at times but it never gets in the way of the joke. And then you have a show like Kim Possible which is a kids action show that uses parody to great effect and when the opportunity presented itself to bog it down with relationship drama, it instead resolved the issue without incident and put it on the backseat for more of the same. Now of course this is only my general feeling. Many of my favorite anime try to be cute and funny at once (coughazumangacough) and it doesn't really hurt the show all that much. On the other hand, there are other shows I like that do well in their comedy bits but where too often I'm left yelling in my head "okay this is boring, get on with it" (Nyaruko, Yuru Yuri, to name a few recent ones). I could mention K-On's boredom here too but that's covering old ground and I've lost the tack on this post quite a bit by this point
So even with that said, the main problem is that Mahoromatic isn't particularly funny so far. A few decent scenes here and there but it's all stuff that I've seen before and that I never really found funny the first time. Jealous classmates, flustered male lead, crazy perverted teacher, breast size insecurities, blah blah you know the drill. And next episode is a full fanservice episode. Gainax/Shaft sure have their priorities straight at least.
Suguru goes to school and we're introduced to his classmates: two guys whose names I don't remember, and three girls named Miyuki, Rin, and Chizuko. Suguru addresses the matter of having a teenage-looking maid by not doing so at all. Of course, this blows up in his face when Mahoro shows up in his classroom to give him part of his lunch he forgot. What follows is the predictable jealous class scene, although the way it's executed is definitely for comedy. Reminds me of how Ataru's class usually reacts to Lum.
We're also introduced to Saori, the 25-year old shotacon teacher who wants nothing more than to share her ripe fully grown cantaloupes with her students, but has an eye for Suguru especially. She's less than enthused when she finds out about Mahoro and is kind of crazy. Mahoro hosts the students as they visit Suguru to ensure there's no funny business going, but Saori shows up as well and wacky hijinx ensues (kinda). Requisite bath scene with Mahoro and Saori complete with boobies and breast envy. Mahoro doesn't take kindly to Saori's taunts of her body and punches her out, but not before starting to harbor insecurities. Yawn. 378 days until Mahoro blows up or something.
I'm liking the really exaggerated visuals and comedic pacing this show is employing. I'm not one of those "anime was teh best 20 years ago!" people, but it definitely hearkens back to those 80's style romcom trappings where it was big and exaggerated while not quite slipping into blatant absurdity, before stuff like Love Hina ruined everything. I think too many anime comedies nowadays try way too hard to be cute as well when, honestly, those two goals don't really mesh all that well together in the first place. This is one area where I feel western shows really "get it" as opposed to their eastern counterparts. Spongebob was an absurd comedy and never deviated from that. Simpsons can be sentimental at times but it never gets in the way of the joke. And then you have a show like Kim Possible which is a kids action show that uses parody to great effect and when the opportunity presented itself to bog it down with relationship drama, it instead resolved the issue without incident and put it on the backseat for more of the same. Now of course this is only my general feeling. Many of my favorite anime try to be cute and funny at once (coughazumangacough) and it doesn't really hurt the show all that much. On the other hand, there are other shows I like that do well in their comedy bits but where too often I'm left yelling in my head "okay this is boring, get on with it" (Nyaruko, Yuru Yuri, to name a few recent ones). I could mention K-On's boredom here too but that's covering old ground and I've lost the tack on this post quite a bit by this point
So even with that said, the main problem is that Mahoromatic isn't particularly funny so far. A few decent scenes here and there but it's all stuff that I've seen before and that I never really found funny the first time. Jealous classmates, flustered male lead, crazy perverted teacher, breast size insecurities, blah blah you know the drill. And next episode is a full fanservice episode. Gainax/Shaft sure have their priorities straight at least.
Jex
Member
I must say, Sword Art Online appears have had more discussion in this thread than any other recent title I can think of it. We've delved deeper into the finer points of it's story than any other, worthier title. We've argued more pointedly about it's characters and pandering than any other recent work. I guess on that level it's a massive success.
As a totally honest point, I feel that it speaks to how well the show resonates with the demographic on a whole. I'm tired of being snarky about the show, or make jabs at how I watch even if I dislike it, etc, because really, I don't. Hatewatch is bullshit. Do I think parts of the show are dumb and flawed? Sure. Are the characters unrealistic? Duh. Is the scenario somewhat implausible? Yeah totally. Is it fucking entertaining? Yup. Does the gameplay stuff tickle my gamer bone? Yes yes yes. Are the production values good? Definitely. Is the actual narrative somewhat engaging albeit predictable? I think so, yes.
Wanting to invest time and energy into poking holes into something also shows an investment and interest in it. Sometimes that does not indicate an actual interest in the subject matter, like for example the toilets in Accel World Ep1. That simply showed
But in this case, we are really going out of the way to argue how plausible the scenario in SAO is, and what holes there are in the story and trying to patch them up or dismiss them. This kinda shows that there is something compelling about the way the narrative is approached, and that either consciously or subconsciously, we wish that it is tighter and more perfect, so we can like it even more.
That's my take on it anyway.
As a totally honest point, I feel that it speaks to how well the show resonates with the demographic on a whole. I'm tired of being snarky about the show, or make jabs at how I watch even if I dislike it, etc, because really, I don't. Hatewatch is bullshit. Do I think parts of the show are dumb and flawed? Sure. Are the characters unrealistic? Duh. Is the scenario somewhat implausible? Yeah totally. Is it fucking entertaining? Yup. Does the gameplay stuff tickle my gamer bone? Yes yes yes. Are the production values good? Definitely. Is the actual narrative somewhat engaging albeit predictable? I think so, yes.
Wanting to invest time and energy into poking holes into something also shows an investment and interest in it. Sometimes that does not indicate an actual interest in the subject matter, like for example the toilets in Accel World Ep1. That simply showedhow bored we were on a weekendthat we are somewhat invested in good consistent background art, and when something looks really off it catches our attention and outrage.
But in this case, we are really going out of the way to argue how plausible the scenario in SAO is, and what holes there are in the story and trying to patch them up or dismiss them. This kinda shows that there is something compelling about the way the narrative is approached, and that either consciously or subconsciously, we wish that it is tighter and more perfect, so we can like it even more.
That's my take on it anyway.
Can't people just be allowed to dislike something (even if only partially) without having to be psychoanalyzed? Like, I don't really care about the plausibility of the scenario because it's fiction and who cares anyway? It's like complaining about
Kyubey's entropy explanation
Well, at least we moved on from the waifu wars.
If you like something surely analysis must follow? Appreciation garners attention and attention leads to consideration of the subject matter.
I do admit that some of the SAO nitpicking bothers me because, quite a few are things that have already been picked over, or are obsessed with taking apart the mechanistic details that are really there as the equivalent of magic, and there's such fertile soil in how the story handles its characters moreso than just how the characters got there.
If you like something surely analysis must follow? Appreciation garners attention and attention leads to consideration of the subject matter.
I do admit that some of the SAO nitpicking bothers me because, quite a few are things that have already been picked over, or are obsessed with taking apart the mechanistic details that are really there as the equivalent of magic, and there's such fertile soil in how the story handles its characters moreso than just how the characters got there.
Sure, but realistically someone who continues to engage in ongoing debate about a specific minor point of a show, is definitely somewhat interested in something in it. That's my point. If everyone is happy to keep debating about SAO, it really does say something about the show. I was responding to the point about popularity. SAO appeals, even when people dislike aspects of it. That's something that should be considered impressive.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Tentacles x Asuna OTP
Asuna sux
Chet Rippo
Member
It's probably because this is a gaming forum.
History will remember Lizbest; not so much the terrible Asuna. No need to fight further.
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