Sword Art Online: KiriAsu Authorized ShipCenter®

[Falx]

Final thoughts: It started off as one heck of a ride that slowly kinda petered out towards the end but with some exciting bits here and there to keep me watching. The last episode really hit all the right buttons to give a sense of closure but still having the future seem interesting.

[Vilo159]

So I know I'm jumping on the band wagon really late, but I finally got around to starting. I just finished episode 5. Here are my thoughts so far:

Overall, it's enjoyable and I'm looking forward to watching more. Parts of it are really good, parts of it not so good.

Good: Kirito. He's pretty much awesome, he's the type of guy I always wanted to be when I played games.
Characters in general are surprisingly well done. I like pretty much everyone, they've done a great job so far.
Good story so far. I haven't really gotten to the main plot, but the episode plots are nice. Ep. 4 was really good, as was five.
The relationships between characters. Mostly Kirito just makes everyone better, but still.
Some really touching moments in this show. If was so sweet when Silica said, "I'll tell you about the day I had an older brother."
Pacing: I'm actually a bit split over this. On the good side, I like how the time jumps around, it gives the whole thing scope and depth, makes it seem a bit more serious.

Not so good:
Pacing- On the other hand, its kinda unrealistic. After episode 5, like two years haven gone by. Holy cow. Where did all the time go? How has nothing happened on the outside world to fix this?
Speaking of the outside world, we are given absolutely no information on it. We have no context.
Fanservice- Its not unbearable, but come on. Do you have to ruin characters like Asuna by giving us a close-up of her tensed-up butt every time she bends over? I watched ep. 4 with my dad sitting there, and by the time it was over I was blubbering about "No seriously, I don't watch shows about little girls in their underwear!" I liked Silica, but that was just unnecessary.
It's running really close to the edge of being so sappy that it loses any meaning and urgency.
I don't like how most people don't seem too worried, like at all. They're so casual about it all, but you think there'd be a bit of urgency. The first episode made it sound like a gritty survival game; food is limited, there's only so much EXP, but I guess that wasn't the case.

And on that note, regarding Kirito and Asuna- I haven't seen much of it yet, but it sounds like it turns into a pretty serious thing. In such a serious situation, beat the game or die, how can you have time for that?

Another thing- When a good friend of mine suggested this to me a month ago, he said it was pretty good overall, but "when the game ends, its over. Just stop there." This guy has the same standards as me, I trust his judgement, but what would make him say that? The premise of the show leaves a lot of potential for post-game developments (like the psychological problems all the survivors would probably have, political and social repurcussions, etc.) But that warning makes it sound like they probably just find each other after and have happy relationship full of useless fanservice and everything is just all hunky-dory. I hope that's not the case. So is his warning something worth heeding?

[blkmage]

Food and EXP are not limited in quantity, but rather, (like most MMOs) they're rate-limited. What this means is that it takes time for things to respawn. At the beginning of the game, everyone is going to be going after the same early-game mobs, which will slow down everyone's levelling. Kirito uses his beta-tester knowledge to grind using less well-known spots and he can level faster since he won't deplete the mobs faster than the respawn rate.

The reason why there's no sense of urgency after two years is because the situation's been normalized. Even if you're trapped in a death game, you can't be on edge all the time after weeks or months. Well, you could, but it's counter-productive in terms of mental health. Everyone accepts that there's no easy way to get out of the situation and frenetically rushing things is known to get you killed. At some point, you just have to do the best that you can and roll with it.

The reason why there's a two year gap is because of the way the novels were written beforehand. There's no particularly good reason for it other than publishing circumstances. However, the author is going back and rewriting the first part to fill in that gap in the SAO Progressive novels.

As to whether or not to finish the entire thing, I think people are being babies about the second part. It's not as good or tight as the first part, but if it turns out to be incredibly unenjoyable for you, then whatever, there's no reason to get mad at anime.

[Vilo159]

Food and EXP are not limited in quantity, but rather, (like most MMOs) they're rate-limited. What this means is that it takes time for things to respawn. At the beginning of the game, everyone is going to be going after the same early-game mobs, which will slow down everyone's levelling. Kirito uses his beta-tester knowledge to grind using less well-known spots and he can level faster since he won't deplete the mobs faster than the respawn rate.

The reason why there's no sense of urgency after two years is because the situation's been normalized. Even if you're trapped in a death game, you can't be on edge all the time after weeks or months. Well, you could, but it's counter-productive in terms of mental health. Everyone accepts that there's no easy way to get out of the situation and frenetically rushing things is known to get you killed. At some point, you just have to do the best that you can and roll with it.

The reason why there's a two year gap is because of the way the novels were written beforehand. There's no particularly good reason for it other than publishing circumstances. However, the author is going back and rewriting the first part to fill in that gap in the SAO Progressive novels.

As to whether or not to finish the entire thing, I think people are being babies about the second part. It's not as good or tight as the first part, but if it turns out to be incredibly unenjoyable for you, then whatever, there's no reason to get mad at anime.

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks.

And for the ending, I was only concerned about sexual content really. That's usually the only stuff he warns me about, because it tends to be what I'm most concerned with, so I got the impression that it devolved into a semi slice-of-life where the plot just goes the opposite direction and they did a bunch of weird stuff. I don't know, I had heard something abut marriage and then something about two characters sleeping together at a different part, so I guess my imagination took that and ran with it. But if it just suffers from a weak plot, I'll probably watch it anyway.

[ClaecElric4God]

And for the ending, I was only concerned about sexual content really.

If this is your concern, the second part of the show is basically free of fanservice and such. There are a couple short scenes that I would have preferred the show to lack, involving the main antagonist and his unhealthy infatuation with a female character. Of course, it's frowned upon and he gets his just deserts and all that good stuff, but the point is - it's there, and for those of us who dislike that kind of thing, it's unenjoyable. For me personally, I'd still watch the show, but I'm also more lenient than I could be. So it's really up to your judgment. It doesn't dominate the plot or have a main focus (other than the "I hate this guy and I want Kirito to beat 'im up" feeling they're trying to get across).
And there's also the inevitable and somewhat awkward love triangle (for whatever reason you can't have a good story without a love triangle, apparently). There's no actual content, but the awkwardness of the relationship could be considered iffy. (basically a girl falling in love with her cousin) That of course also depends on your standards, so I don't know if that's a concern for you or not.
To sum it up, I'd say, I can see why your friend would recommend you not finish it, but there's enough good story that it would be hard to not finish it without being confused and missing out. *shrug* I don't know what else to tell you.

[Vilo159]

As long as it doesn't show anything, I'm fine. Thanks for the info!

[LastLfan]

Just finished episode 1 and dang it im watching subbed anime again, havent done a subbed series all the ways through except one outs.

[KazeShiki]

Speaking of SAO, I'm surprised they haven't announced another season yet. Between the sales, popularity, and additional source material, it should be inevitable.

[ClaecElric4God]

Just finished episode 1 and dang it im watching subbed anime again, havent done a subbed series all the ways through except one outs.

Speaking of which, does anyone know a release date for the dub?

[LastLfan]

So far the fanservice isnt too bad, cecila was more funny than anything "save me... Dont look at me but save me" it doesnt get too bad does it

[Oddood198]

Well, I noticed there was a little more fanservice (skimpier outfits, etc.) after episode 14, but even then it was nothing too unbearable. Now, there was one particular scene in episode 24 that I really could have done without, but aside from that, from what I remember, it's not too bad.

Speaking of which, does anyone know a release date for the dub?

I don't know of any specific date, but from the trailer Aniplex put up, the only reason I'm looking forward to the dub is to laugh at it.


Completely unrelated note, but has anyone here read the original light novels?

[KazeShiki]

Completely unrelated note, but has anyone here read the original light novels?

I have read through vol6 (which is through one arc after the anime) and then didn't feel they were worth my time after that. A part of me wants to read just to be informed when discussing the series because of the sheer popularity it has. Additionally, I should get around to reading Progressive to see how much the author has improved.

[LastLfan]

Are the light novels available in english as well as japanese? And if so are these online?(i thought i read someone about it being released as a web novel or something)

[KazeShiki]

Are the light novels available in english as well as japanese? And if so are these online?(i thought i read someone about it being released as a web novel or something)

They are available in English in the sense of being fan translated and available online. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links to it, but they should be very easy to find. It was originally written as a web novel in Japanese, though I don't know where one would find them, or if they even exist anymore since they are now published works. Also, I believe the original web novels were slightly different from what's now available just due to stuff like editors' input. As far as the actually light novels in Japanese, I've never bothered to look since I can't read them anyway but there *might* be raw scans floating around somewhere which is not uncommon with light novels.

[LastLfan]

Thanks KazeShiki
I just finished sao and am totally happy with the way it ended but looking forward to season 2(or 3 depending on how you divide it)

[LastLfan]

Alright, the dub is now airing saturday night/sunday morning at 2AM EST on toonami, also a tv special will be airing in Japan by the end of this year

[ClaecElric4God]

Watched ep. 1 dubbed. Yech. And this is coming from a dubbed anime fan. Maybe it's because I heard it in Japanese first. But I just felt like...it wasn't very well done. None of the voices excited me, some of them made me cringe, too many weird noises. Yeah, I feel like they slaughtered it.

[LastLfan]

I'm going to tune in anyway just to give it a chance( that and this is the fist subbed anime I've watched that then got dubbed) is the theme song the English version of the original, or was the theme song not in ep 1, does anyone know if the show will be censored, things such as the cecila fanservice and that one awkward misplaced bath scene particularly? It never got too bad but its listed as being PG on toonami so how much can they really show

[AngelicTotoro]

Hmm, PG? I dunno if I agree with that rating. :b
Between the cousin 'love' thing (not returned mind you.) and this one horrible part with the villain near the end of the series... I'd give it a PG-13 personally. Oh, and then there's the needless 'tentacle' scene. Yeaaaah, why did they PG it again?

[PandaPop]

Ahhhh you guys are scaring me with this "tentacle" talk, I just started season 2, season 1 was really clean but now I'm afraid. Through a series of extremely unfortunate events I was exposed to a terrible "tentacle" scene like 5 years ago, ohhh how I wish I could wipe that out of my mind , I am officially scarred...

On another note I also wasn't thrilled with the dub either, I watched my first episode dubbed then went on to subs and then caught another episode on toonami and realized how boring the dub sounded, their voices have no umm emotion.

[LastLfan]

I'm primarily watching the dubbed because my friend is watching the show for the first time so i figured i'd watch it as well just to keep up i they change names and stuff, its wierd, I'm fine with watching sao dubbed but can't bring myself to even watch a trailer for No.6 dubbed, maye just because no.6 had so much emotion for me i don't it watered down by the dub. Like the girls voice in ep 3 of sao was the only one that bothered me, they made her seem pathetic while before she just seemed scared. As far tentacles go panda all i can think of is ep 4 which you already saw and ep 24 which i kinda blurred out but A: wasn't that graphic, just uncomfortable and B: didn't think it had tentacles, just a really creepy dude

[PandaPop]

Okay you better be right haha that soothes my mind a bit, I Can Continue On Without Fear!!!

[ClaecElric4God]

can't bring myself to even watch a trailer for No.6 dubbed, maye just because no.6 had so much emotion for me i don't it watered down by the dub.

Well, I haven't seen the sub, so take my opinion for what it's worth, but I thought the dub was good. Nezumi especially was very well done I thought. But again, I've only seen the dub, so I don't have a comparison. Plus I love Kalob Martinez, so I'm sure I'm biased.