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Post by Dataman on Jan 13, 2015 13:36:53 GMT -5
The Aincrad arc was the best. After that, everything just felt rushed and thrown together. I don't even dislike this show, it just feels wrong.
In my opinion, the real story is only on the Aincrad Arc, followed by the Gungale Online. That way, the best parts of everything in the series could be there with very few of the problems. Now if these would've been the whole series, it'd be one of my favourites.
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Post by Focal on Jan 14, 2015 23:02:41 GMT -5
Decided to Review Sword Art Online.
So the idea of this anime dragged me into watching. Being trapped in a death game seemed like an interesting topic. The first few episodes were the best. It lost it's touch and feel really fast though. What caught my attention at the beginning was the Death Penalty and how quickly that affected Kirito after his whole guild died. After that the anime started to go down hill a lot for me. 2 years were put in to 12 episodes so there was a lot of time skipping. Then there were still filler episodes even after all this. Then the anime plummeted to the ground as the ALO arc came. It didn't feel like SAO at all. There was no "Death Penalty" so it felt like it lost a lot of what made SAO intense. The Arc felt really pointless and stupid. Don't even let me talk about the characters. Kirito is incredibly plain and boring, he was just a generic "Over Powered" character. Asuna could have been more interesting as a powerful female, but they quickly made her rely on Kirito. There was hardly any plot development for any character in this what so ever. I think SAO is an example of a great concept, but completely wasted potential. Although I do like the animation and battle scenes. I personally rate it a 6.5/10.
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Post by Dataman on Jan 14, 2015 23:16:02 GMT -5
Decided to Review Sword Art Online. So the idea of this anime dragged me into watching. Being trapped in a death game seemed like an interesting topic. The first few episodes were the best. It lost it's touch and feel really fast though. What caught my attention at the beginning was the Death Penalty and how quickly that affected Kirito after his whole guild died. After that the anime started to go down hill a lot for me. 2 years were put in to 12 episodes so there was a lot of time skipping. Then there were still filler episodes even after all this. Then the anime plummeted to the ground as the ALO arc came. It didn't feel like SAO at all. There was no "Death Penalty" so it felt like it lost a lot of what made SAO intense. The Arc felt really pointless and stupid. Don't even let me talk about the characters. Kirito is incredibly plain and boring, he was just a generic "Over Powered" character. Asuna could have been more interesting as a powerful female, but they quickly made her rely on Kirito. There was hardly any plot development for any character in this what so ever. I think SAO is an example of a great concept, but completely wasted potential. Although I do like the animation and battle scenes. I personally rate it a 6.5/10. What'cha think of Sword Art Online II? |
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Post by Focal on Jan 15, 2015 9:31:32 GMT -5
Here is what I think about Sword Art Online II
Starting off the series with the "GGO Arc". It started really slow and honestly seemed really dumb. Kirito's appearances set it off a little for me plus the fact in some scenes he pretended to be a girl and even tricked Sinon for a few episodes. Although this arc started picking up and catching my attention when they revealed Death Gun had a relationship with the original SAO. It seemed like a neat idea I wasn't expecting. So during the BoB Competition what I honestly don't get why the Death Gun in the game had to kill someone in game and the Death Gun outside of game had to kill that player that had been killed in the actual with the drug. Honestly they could have just took revenge on anyone they want to by sneaking up on them while they are playing the game and injecting them with the drug. Seems like a lot of work just to create a little mystery. Also like SAO is known for no character develop or anything as they kill "Dark Wind" so quickly, he could have been an interesting future character or could have actually had a decent fight with Kirito for example. Wish they wouldn't have let that character go away so fast. The final fight wasn't that great between Kirito and the in game Death Gun. It felt like a casual SAO fight at this point. Kirito starts off losing at the beginning making the opponent seem stronger, but then Kirito comes back and takes the win. Basically he did once more against Death Gun. Two players are left in at the end of BoB Sinon and Kirito. Once again I had my hopes a little to high as they decide to both kill each other to make it a tie. Really awful way to end it. So they go to the real world, Sinon is attacked by Shinkawa who reveals to be the other Death Gun (if you couldn't tell by the opening) and Kirito comes in and gets beat up and hit by the drug. Thankfully Shinkawa hits the one spot on Kirito wheres he's not affected by it and Sinon knocks Sinkawa out. Next Arc was the Excalibur arc. Probably the most pointless arc out of all the ones in SAO. It was 3-4 episodes and honestly served no purpose except a little bit of relaxation from the action in GGO and the Mothers Rosario Arc which is a little depressing. They beat a giant and grab a fancy sword. No more no less. Next probably the best Arc in all of SAO out of SAO, ALO, GGO, Excalibur and itself the "Mothers Rosario" Arc. So theres a rumor that a really good new player is beating everyone who challenges this player and even Kirito was defeated (but then we learn he wasn't trying his hard and will never fight up to his max again and basically saying Kirito is the best still). Asuna goes and challenges this player learning it is a female player. They get into an interesting fight which in the end the mysterious player is revealed to be named Yuuki and she takes Asuna to her guild. Asuna learns they want to beat a boss by themselves and decides to help. In the real world Asuna is facing issues between her and her mother at home because her mother wants her to go to a better school than the SAO school with all the survivors and some more pointless conflict. Asuna helps Yuuki's guild the "Sleeping Knights" get to the boss only to be beaten there by another guild. They decide to fight against that other guild until more come and Kirito decides to show up and stall for time. Asuna and Yuuki beat the guilds players lying in front of them and they defeat the boss (no one saw that coming at all). Asuna later learns that Yuuki is in a hospital with AIDS and all the other members from the Sleeping Knights guild are all hospitalized and close to death. She visits Yuuki a few times and eventually Yuuki fights Kirito in-game in witch Yuuki is successful once more in defeating Kirito. Yuuki finally passes as everyone in ALO comes to see her last moments and Yuuki passes her Sword Skill to Asuna. Yuuki honestly had a way more interesting story and character than any out of this anime and the original SAO Anime and she hardly got any episodes so thats kinda sad. Character wise it was about the same as SAO's and hardly had any development. In conclusion I didn't like most of this series. The Mother's Rosario Arc pulled through for me in the end as it was actually pretty good (for SAO that is). Although due to once again no character development and an awful plot this series gets a generous 6.5/10. Maybe the next series will be good, but I doubt that after these last two.
Also sorry about this review. I wish I could have gone into more detail and make it a little better, but I'm in a hurry right now and wanted to post this.
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oneijac
Noob
My life is so much more interesting inside my head
Posts: 92 
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Post by oneijac on Jan 15, 2015 9:58:42 GMT -5
Here is what I think about Sword Art Online II Starting off the series with the "GGO Arc". It started really slow and honestly seemed really dumb. Kirito's appearances set it off a little for me plus the fact in some scenes he pretended to be a girl and even tricked Sinon for a few episodes. Although this arc started picking up and catching my attention when they revealed Death Gun had a relationship with the original SAO. It seemed like a neat idea I wasn't expecting. So during the BoB Competition what I honestly don't get why the Death Gun in the game had to kill someone in game and the Death Gun outside of game had to kill that player that had been killed in the actual with the drug. Honestly they could have just took revenge on anyone they want to by sneaking up on them while they are playing the game and injecting them with the drug. Seems like a lot of work just to create a little mystery. Also like SAO is known for no character develop or anything as they kill "Dark Wind" so quickly, he could have been an interesting future character or could have actually had a decent fight with Kirito for example. Wish they wouldn't have let that character go away so fast. The final fight wasn't that great between Kirito and the in game Death Gun. It felt like a casual SAO fight at this point. Kirito starts off losing at the beginning making the opponent seem stronger, but then Kirito comes back and takes the win. Basically he did once more against Death Gun. Two players are left in at the end of BoB Sinon and Kirito. Once again I had my hopes a little to high as they decide to both kill each other to make it a tie. Really awful way to end it. So they go to the real world, Sinon is attacked by Shinkawa who reveals to be the other Death Gun (if you couldn't tell by the opening) and Kirito comes in and gets beat up and hit by the drug. Thankfully Shinkawa hits the one spot on Kirito wheres he's not affected by it and Sinon knocks Sinkawa out. Next Arc was the Excalibur arc. Probably the most pointless arc out of all the ones in SAO. It was 3-4 episodes and honestly served no purpose except a little bit of relaxation from the action in GGO and the Mothers Rosario Arc which is a little depressing. They beat a giant and grab a fancy sword. No more no less. Next probably the best Arc in all of SAO out of SAO, ALO, GGO, Excalibur and itself the "Mothers Rosario" Arc. So theres a rumor that a really good new player is beating everyone who challenges this player and even Kirito was defeated (but then we learn he wasn't trying his hard and will never fight up to his max again and basically saying Kirito is the best still). Asuna goes and challenges this player learning it is a female player. They get into an interesting fight which in the end the mysterious player is revealed to be named Yuuki and she takes Asuna to her guild. Asuna learns they want to beat a boss by themselves and decides to help. In the real world Asuna is facing issues between her and her mother at home because her mother wants her to go to a better school than the SAO school with all the survivors and some more pointless conflict. Asuna helps Yuuki's guild the "Sleeping Knights" get to the boss only to be beaten there by another guild. They decide to fight against that other guild until more come and Kirito decides to show up and stall for time. Asuna and Yuuki beat the guilds players lying in front of them and they defeat the boss (no one saw that coming at all). Asuna later learns that Yuuki is in a hospital with AIDS and all the other members from the Sleeping Knights guild are all hospitalized and close to death. She visits Yuuki a few times and eventually Yuuki fights Kirito in-game in witch Yuuki is successful once more in defeating Kirito. Yuuki finally passes as everyone in ALO comes to see her last moments and Yuuki passes her Sword Skill to Asuna. Yuuki honestly had a way more interesting story and character than any out of this anime and the original SAO Anime and she hardly got any episodes so thats kinda sad. Character wise it was about the same as SAO's and hardly had any development. In conclusion I didn't like most of this series. The Mother's Rosario Arc pulled through for me in the end as it was actually pretty good (for SAO that is). Although due to once again no character development and an awful plot this series gets a generous 6.5/10. Maybe the next series will be good, but I doubt that after these last two. Also sorry about this review. I wish I could have gone into more detail and make it a little better, but I'm in a hurry right now and wanted to post this. I do agree with he Excaliber and Mothers Rosario story arcs, I found them short relaxing storylines, that while they were enjoyable, they offered no real addition to the characters. I do have one thing to add, Kirito admitted that Yuuki was better than him when he said "if she was in SAO, SHE would have gotten the double wield skill" a skill that was given the single best swordman in the game, which happened to be Kirito at the time. good review overall  I say the show gets a solid 7 though |
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Post by Ne-on on Jan 15, 2015 11:12:39 GMT -5
Focal seems like most of your opinions about certain anime are more or less my own haha I was really excited when it first started because I'm a big fan of the girls with guns genre, but the anime went rapidly downhill and none of the characters really appealed to me. The final two episodes helped redeem the series a little, but that wasn't enough to soften the blow of such a disappointment. Definitely a 6.5, 7 if I'm feeling generous.
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Post by Dataman on Jan 15, 2015 13:57:32 GMT -5
Here is what I think about Sword Art Online II Starting off the series with the "GGO Arc". It started really slow and honestly seemed really dumb. Kirito's appearances set it off a little for me plus the fact in some scenes he pretended to be a girl and even tricked Sinon for a few episodes. Although this arc started picking up and catching my attention when they revealed Death Gun had a relationship with the original SAO. It seemed like a neat idea I wasn't expecting. So during the BoB Competition what I honestly don't get why the Death Gun in the game had to kill someone in game and the Death Gun outside of game had to kill that player that had been killed in the actual with the drug. Honestly they could have just took revenge on anyone they want to by sneaking up on them while they are playing the game and injecting them with the drug. Seems like a lot of work just to create a little mystery. Also like SAO is known for no character develop or anything as they kill "Dark Wind" so quickly, he could have been an interesting future character or could have actually had a decent fight with Kirito for example. Wish they wouldn't have let that character go away so fast. The final fight wasn't that great between Kirito and the in game Death Gun. It felt like a casual SAO fight at this point. Kirito starts off losing at the beginning making the opponent seem stronger, but then Kirito comes back and takes the win. Basically he did once more against Death Gun. Two players are left in at the end of BoB Sinon and Kirito. Once again I had my hopes a little to high as they decide to both kill each other to make it a tie. Really awful way to end it. So they go to the real world, Sinon is attacked by Shinkawa who reveals to be the other Death Gun (if you couldn't tell by the opening) and Kirito comes in and gets beat up and hit by the drug. Thankfully Shinkawa hits the one spot on Kirito wheres he's not affected by it and Sinon knocks Sinkawa out. Next Arc was the Excalibur arc. Probably the most pointless arc out of all the ones in SAO. It was 3-4 episodes and honestly served no purpose except a little bit of relaxation from the action in GGO and the Mothers Rosario Arc which is a little depressing. They beat a giant and grab a fancy sword. No more no less. Next probably the best Arc in all of SAO out of SAO, ALO, GGO, Excalibur and itself the "Mothers Rosario" Arc. So theres a rumor that a really good new player is beating everyone who challenges this player and even Kirito was defeated (but then we learn he wasn't trying his hard and will never fight up to his max again and basically saying Kirito is the best still). Asuna goes and challenges this player learning it is a female player. They get into an interesting fight which in the end the mysterious player is revealed to be named Yuuki and she takes Asuna to her guild. Asuna learns they want to beat a boss by themselves and decides to help. In the real world Asuna is facing issues between her and her mother at home because her mother wants her to go to a better school than the SAO school with all the survivors and some more pointless conflict. Asuna helps Yuuki's guild the "Sleeping Knights" get to the boss only to be beaten there by another guild. They decide to fight against that other guild until more come and Kirito decides to show up and stall for time. Asuna and Yuuki beat the guilds players lying in front of them and they defeat the boss (no one saw that coming at all). Asuna later learns that Yuuki is in a hospital with AIDS and all the other members from the Sleeping Knights guild are all hospitalized and close to death. She visits Yuuki a few times and eventually Yuuki fights Kirito in-game in witch Yuuki is successful once more in defeating Kirito. Yuuki finally passes as everyone in ALO comes to see her last moments and Yuuki passes her Sword Skill to Asuna. Yuuki honestly had a way more interesting story and character than any out of this anime and the original SAO Anime and she hardly got any episodes so thats kinda sad. Character wise it was about the same as SAO's and hardly had any development. In conclusion I didn't like most of this series. The Mother's Rosario Arc pulled through for me in the end as it was actually pretty good (for SAO that is). Although due to once again no character development and an awful plot this series gets a generous 6.5/10. Maybe the next series will be good, but I doubt that after these last two. Also sorry about this review. I wish I could have gone into more detail and make it a little better, but I'm in a hurry right now and wanted to post this. Reading this was pretty heavy experience. Maybe use enter once in a while? Anyway, I agree with your points. I really disliked the way the story handled Sinon's character. Her phobia was introduced as a heavy, super effective thing that was ruining her whole life. Then it was wiped away as meaningless when she won a tournament. Then she just SHOT A GUN herself without any negative reaction! I'd have wished that this arc which had some very nice scenes and interesting morals to it would have handled that better, and introduced some other elements as well. The GGO world was barely explored with whopping lot of FIVE action scenes (over one hand if you count the cowboy). The guns were nice looking but there was only few ocassions to see them at all. And lightsaber was pointless. I like the medusa-mammoth-thing in the next arc, and the Aincrad expansion was neat. Though what game engine would randomly DESTROY ITSELF? The Mother Rosario arc was at start very sloppy and I strongly disliked the mom. Then it became a tragic all the sudden. It was very sad but I couldn't help asking... why? Why make this plot choice? The GGO arc would've been very well as the finale, and Asuna's mom was otherwordly annoying. That woman didn't even care that Kirito saved her only daughter from rape and suffering with amazing amount of effort. (Yes, I do like Kirito's determination) Actually, no-one addresses that. It's like ALO didn't even happen. And Mother Rosario didn't add that much to the story, except for some more death and sadness. This series doesn't really know what to do with itself. |
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Post by Focal on Jan 15, 2015 15:58:12 GMT -5
I am really sorry that my post looked like a big block of mess Dataman. If I make another long review I'll try to separate the text better. Looking on that post now it looks so sloppy so I do apologize.
Yeah the show has so much wasted potential, so much more they could have done with the GGO Arc.
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Post by Dataman on Jan 16, 2015 0:53:50 GMT -5
I am really sorry that my post looked like a big block of mess Dataman. If I make another long review I'll try to separate the text better. Looking on that post now it looks so sloppy so I do apologize. Yeah the show has so much wasted potential, so much more they could have done with the GGO Arc. The problem is not the cyberpunk-gun environment. Just that we just got one sight into it. After that, they went straight back to fantasy again, instead of going through other genres too. |
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I say the show gets a solid 7 though
