Forum - View topicREVIEW: Sword Art Online episodes 1-7
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Cetais
Posts: 507 |
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There's no plot hole in the original novel, they changed some things and forgot to put some explanation that would take like 30 seconds to make in the anime >_>
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Well, Key said he would be taking our thoughts into account and lo and behold he has.
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Divineking
 Posts: 1299 |
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I more or less agree with everything this review mentioned. I was intitally pretty hyped for this show but the side stories have kinda dragged it down for me. I get that some of these characters are important, and it's more effective to introduce them this way rather than throwing them in randomly, but I still feel like they could have cut down the side stories by at least a couple of episodes.
Of course I get that they have to appease the LN fans who will complain if even a single sentence from the novel is missing so I suppose it's forgivable on some level, and episode 8 has done a good job of renewing my interest. Overall I'm just hoping the main storyline is really worth the wait. |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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Going back further, the little known OVA Exper Zenon in 1991 explored being sucked into a game and having to fight a deadly competition. The mechanics of leveling through defeating opponents is actually quite similar to Accel World, the author of SAO. There's no telling if he's seen it or not, but it sure predates any Dot Hack media, making it hardly the original as far as anime is concerned. If you want to get into computers being malignant to living humans, Digital Devil Story began exploring that in 1987.
Last edited by walw6pK4Alo on Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Chagen46
 Posts: 4377 |
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Actually, from what I've heard from LN readers, a good majority of the side story characters only show up in their respective side stories and then literally never show up EVER AGAIN except for like two paragraphs in SAO's sequel. |
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Keichitsu0305
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My only complaint with the side stories (ep. 3-7) is the fact that we are never going to see these side characters again. Obviously, spoiler[Sachi] died in the very episode she appears in, but what about Yolko, Silica, and Lisbeth? It's mentioned in episode 7 spoiler[that Lisbeth would be Kirito's personal blacksmith] but, if she was only a side character, then what was the point of her saying that? If they were OVAs, instead of part of the main series, then the story probably would not have drag on as it has.
Other than that, Sword Art Online is still an interesting show. I'm just glad Asuna will have more screen time from now on. Judging from the Opening credits, there are other characters that have yet to be introduced. |
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Chagen46
Posts: 4377 |
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One thing I wonder is where the hell Klein is. He's one of the first people Kirito meets in SAO, you'd THINK he'd be like Kirito's friend and show up a lot.
Then he appears in only two episodes, one of which he's in for like 10 seconds. As of now, this show has roughly two reoccurring characters: Kirito and Asuna. It's not like having another reoccurring MC would be stretching the cast. |
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kanechin
Posts: 447 |
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Too much Asuna, not enough nude Silica. Either way it's too cliche and SAO sucks beyond the you die in game you die for real thing.
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Chagen46
Posts: 4377 |
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I fail to see how adding nudity could somehow make up for bad writing.
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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I more or less agree with pretty much all of Theron's review, including the final grade. B- is a very accurate grade for me. It reflects the fact that there is some really great potential for this show, but that up to this point it has been dragged down by lackluster execution. I have been of the opinion for some time that Kirito's personality (or lack of) is the biggest drag on the show right now. He is the main protagonist... the dashing hero... and yet he seems so... bland. I know you can't compare him apples to apples necessarily with other protagonists, but I think we can look at how other protagonists were developed very well early on in a series to see how poor the development of Kirito has been. For example:
Light Yagami in Death Note. His development was SUPERB, right from the get go. One of the best developed protagonist/antagonists I've ever seen in an anime. His development was handled so flawlessly that a good portion of the enjoyment of the show for many fans was simply loving and then hating him. Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell. Perhaps the most fascinating part about the Major is that, for the most part, the writing manages to keep her backstory shrouded in secrecy throughout much of the series. Yet, even though we don't know who she was, we know who and what she is now. Her personality and her relationship with her team is built on with every episode. One of my favorite episodes was episode 17 of 2nd gig, "Mother and Child," where Kusanagi is forced to confront her maternal instincts (if such thing exists in a cyborg) in protecting a kid caught up in some mafia trouble. That is the type of side story that truly makes a character real for the audience. I think Tezuka also always did a fantastic job with early character development. The first few chapters in Astro Boy (particularly as adapted in the 1980s version) do an excellent job of creating sympathy and understanding by the audience to the plight and motivations of the protagonist throughout the series. So those are just a few examples of character development done right. I still do not really have any reason as a viewer to feel connected to Kirito. He seems more like a blank type of character that I am invited to imagine myself filling in for. I always feel like that is such a cop out. I do think episode 8 has improved in this area slightly, but Kirito's development is still far off from where it needs to be in my book. |
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Fencedude5609
 Posts: 5088 |
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>comparing SAO to Death Note, GitS and Astro Boy
Really? |
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eurotrip1986
Posts: 91 |
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This anime fails compared to it's hype. The protagonist doesn't want to "group or team" with others, but he goes out of his way to help random people? It would be better if he had more edge and fulfilled an anti-hero role. The baby romance they throw in is vomit worthy. And lastly zero antagonist what so ever so far. Or is the game itself the antagonist? All in all it's C average grade stuff so far. I'm sure girls love this anime, because that's where it looks like the ideal target is aimed at. Majority of guys will be turned off by this, and so it's average.
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eurotrip1986
Posts: 91 |
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Ah! To Death Note?! Ah that's such a crime. What's next, SAO is better than Hellsing? LOL in it's wet dreams maybe. |
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Exaar
 Posts: 279 Location: Delaware |
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I'm really enjoying this show so far, and for me, at least some of the points mentioned as being negative in the review I actually like quite a bit.
I do agree that Kirito on his own is somewhat bland - however, I enjoy the fact that we really only start to see his interesting traits when he is interacting with other people. This is a character trait in and of itself, and one that I'm really enjoying the execution of. The way his character is stoic and simple - until he meets someone and gets involved, and suddenly you get to see a little bit beneath the exterior. I'm also rather a fan of the quick advancing of time with the sort of 'windows in time' episode structure. I like the fact that he is becoming powerful, but I really like the fact that they are showing us enough to support this (rather than just skipping right to him being super-badass without showing us how he got there) but at the same time not bogging it down with multiple-episode arcs for each incident. It allows them to get to the 'end-game', so to speak, quickly while maintaining a sense of the audience feeling that they know how Kirito got there - we've seen his development, even in a very abbreviated form. As I said, I much prefer this to the two alternatives (skipping straight to the end without showing anything, or showing everything over the course of 100 episodes). It doesn't particularly bother me that characters like Sachi, Silica, or Lisbeth might not show up again - I feel like they have served their purpose. Each of them showed us a side of Kirito we might not get to see, but now that narrative use has been exhausted and they are laid aside in favor of the REAL interesting relationship - Kirito and Asuna. I also rather like Klein, but I feel like we'll be seeing more of him in the future. Who knows, though - Asuna and Kirito are really enough for me. 
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ChibiKangaroo
Posts: 2941 |
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First of all, I was comparing character development in the shows, not the overall shows. And second of all, why not? Are you saying that SAO was just always meant to be a substandard anime? Why wouldn't you expect any new anime with an ambitious story idea to live up to some high standard set by some of the notable successes in the industry? Are you saying that such great hits just aren't made anymore? |
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