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Sword Art Online II |OT| Two Years Worth of Anticipation

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Hexa

Member
I'm kinda scared now yall mention the next arc is serious and deep.

Wasn't that what the guy was trying to do with GGO?

Even the animators were bored that they just kept the camera on sinon's ass the whole time.

Nah. GGO was supposed to be more edgy but was still overall like the other arcs for the most part. Mother's Rosario is... different. Like in the arcs so far everything serious has to revolve around Kirito. The end result solution of everything so far is Kirito being awesome and essentially solving it. In MR Kirito isn't the focus. He still has points of awesomeness where he magically is able to solve problems, but they're minor and more to support the rest of the plot rather than vice versa. Its weird to describe. I think he managed it really well though. Best LN with a full arc I've read since The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Maybe that's the case in the light novels, but the anime here seemed to completely ignore that when presenting those events already. Nothing was said about that taking place during the previous arc, so I don't see why it couldn't have been a story placed right before this.

In the anime they can put it wherever they want I suppose. They didn't really provide an explanation for why Kirito didn't immediately go and get the blade as soon as he saw it though, so I guess they would have to do that.
 

-Horizon-

Member
Nah. GGO was supposed to be more edgy but was still overall like the other arcs for the most part. Mother's Rosario is... different. Like in the arcs so far everything serious has to revolve around Kirito. The end result solution of everything so far is Kirito being awesome and essentially solving it. In MR Kirito isn't the focus. He still has points of awesomeness where he magically is able to solve problems, but they're minor and more to support the rest of the plot rather than vice versa. Its weird to describe. I think he managed it really well though. Best LN with a full arc I've read since The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Really excited now :)
 
Really excited now :)

I really don't want to hype up Mother's Rosario because then peoples expectations are going to go insane but its by far the best book of the series. Kirito plays a minor role overall and Asuna is the lead of the story, it starts with her and ends with her. It also helps my overall enjoyment of the series that...

Spoiler for Mother's Rosario but not a plot point...
It humbles both Kirito and Asuna, more so the former then the latter (I never thought Asuna needed to be humbled) and shows there is always someone better.

And its really a great story and its unlikely that you'll really get where the story is going until after it happens.

I can't wait to see it animated.
 
I liked SAO I, but I felt SAO II seemed a bit too 'forced' in terms of emotions (the GGO part)
Do you feel that it's worth to continue watching?
 

TUSR

Banned
Nah. GGO was supposed to be more edgy but was still overall like the other arcs for the most part. Mother's Rosario is... different. Like in the arcs so far everything serious has to revolve around Kirito. The end result solution of everything so far is Kirito being awesome and essentially solving it. In MR Kirito isn't the focus. He still has points of awesomeness where he magically is able to solve problems, but they're minor and more to support the rest of the plot rather than vice versa. Its weird to describe. I think he managed it really well though. Best LN with a full arc I've read since The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

If A1 manages to pull off the equivalent of an adaptation of The Disappearance I will genuinely be impressed.
 

-Horizon-

Member
I really don't want to hype up Mother's Rosario because then peoples expectations are going to go insane but its by far the best book of the series. Kirito plays a minor role overall and Asuna is the lead of the story, it starts with her and ends with her. It also helps my overall enjoyment of the series that...

Spoiler for Mother's Rosario but not a plot point...
It humbles both Kirito and Asuna, more so the former then the latter (I never thought Asuna needed to be humbled) and shows there is always someone better.

And its really a great story and its unlikely that you'll really get where the story is going until after it happens.

I can't wait to see it animated.
I'm fine with everything you said. Consider my hyped even though you don't want me to lol.

I liked SAO I, but I felt SAO II seemed a bit too 'forced' in terms of emotions (the GGO part)
Do you feel that it's worth to continue watching?
I mean, if you have the time, sure, keep watching. I like the new arc so far based on one episode because it just seems like fun and Klein (aka best waifu) shenanigans.

If A1 manages to pull off the equivalent of an adaptation of The Disappearance I will genuinely be impressed.
I see those pumpkins are full of life. Nice.
 

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
Mothers Rosario starts on October 8th. They're obviously not going to do a flashback episode with such a short arc (hopefully) so two more episodes of the current arc, Calibur.
It starts in the past!? That's impressive, but Kirito is an impressive person so I don't doubt it.

Two more episodes? Almost makes changing the OP for it not worthwhile.
 

Hexa

Member
It starts in the past!? That's impressive, but Kirito is an impressive person so I don't doubt it.

Two more episodes? Almost makes changing the OP for it not worthwhile.

To be fair, I caught my mistake and got my edit in before your post. :p
 
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Mothers Rosario starts on November 8th. They're obviously not going to do a flashback episode with such a short arc (hopefully) so two more episodes of the current arc, Calibur.

Thanks for the info, only 2 episodes, I thought after that long set-up with the NPC last episode it was gonna be a much longer arc. Hopefully there's lots of action in these next 2 episodes then.
 

JulianImp

Member
I just noticed that we're now being treated to Silica's plant rape footage at the end of every episode thanks to it being part of the ED. Then for Sinon they chose the scene when she was changing in-game...
I can't wait for an episode with a really serious tone to end with this blatant fanservice.
 

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
13-14

Wow. That ending was abrupt. The shittastic pacing makes me not want to buy this when it comes out on Blu-Ray.... I guess I'm skipping this like I did for vol 3 and 4.

15

This was much better. That was a lot of exposition but I liked how the pacing was and stuff was happening. Plus the designs of the characters are cool. Also OP2 >>>>>>>>>>>> OP1. Like it shits all over it. If Mother's Rosary is good then this arc is so bought.
 

Mendrox

Member
I just noticed that we're now being treated to Silica's plant rape footage at the end of every episode thanks to it being part of the ED. Then for Sinon they chose the scene when she was changing in-game...
I can't wait for an episode with a really serious tone to end with this blatant fanservice.

Well there won't be rape anymore till the end - so have fun! Pure despair will come to us.
 

JulianImp

Member
Well there won't be rape anymore till the end - so have fun! Pure despair will come to us.

I meant that last part more as in "here's this dead-serious episode... and now here's the plant grabbing Silica upside-down with its tentacles, as per the ED".
 
I really don't want to hype up Mother's Rosario because then peoples expectations are going to go insane but its by far the best book of the series. Kirito plays a minor role overall and Asuna is the lead of the story, it starts with her and ends with her. It also helps my overall enjoyment of the series that...

Spoiler for Mother's Rosario but not a plot point...
It humbles both Kirito and Asuna, more so the former then the latter (I never thought Asuna needed to be humbled) and shows there is always someone better.

And its really a great story and its unlikely that you'll really get where the story is going until after it happens.

I can't wait to see it animated.

Gah. Its so annoying that Kirito isn't the lead anymore. That's like running away from the problem.
 

Hexa

Member
Gah. Its so annoying that Kirito isn't the lead anymore. That's like running away from the problem.

Depends on what you consider the shows problems. I felt changing perspective off of Kirito really allowed the author to really pull out and develop characters other than Kirito, which is pretty much my only issue with the show. It adds and drops new characters way too much.
That is however how I feel about the arc after that, except the focus is still on Kirito in that one.
 

JulianImp

Member
Episode 16

I just don't get how the whole plot basically amounts to "Kirito is awesome" to the point that the setting, world rules and even the supporting characters are basically elaborated as little as possible in order to change them on a whim and make deus ex machina moments more believable, and the plot suffers horribly as a result. What happened to the fairy clans and their struggle for dominance? What happened to the spriggan's trademark illusion magic (that Kirigod only used twice)? Why does every arc ultimately end on a battle against a deranged rapist (so much for Mendrox's comment...)?

At first I felt like SAO had its merits basically on the back of being so bad it was good, but it being so much of a one-trick pony is starting to wear me out.
 

Hexa

Member
So far so good.
Next episode is going to be amazing. :D

I am still really liking this arc. Its just a fun watch right now. Come on Klein. Get that elf waifu.

For the people that already know what's going to happen:
No one fucking spoil this. No one. Not at all. Not in spoiler tags. No hints. Nothing. Seriously. I want to see the reactions pending them actually managing to do this properly.

Episode 16

I just don't get how the whole plot basically amounts to "Kirito is awesome" to the point that the setting, world rules and even the supporting characters are basically elaborated as little as possible in order to change them on a whim and make deus ex machina moments more believable, and the plot suffers horribly as a result. What happened to the fairy clans and their struggle for dominance? What happened to the spriggan's trademark illusion magic (that Kirigod only used twice)? Why does every arc ultimately end on a battle against a deranged rapist (so much for Mendrox's comment...)?

Fairy clan struggle for dominance ended with the introduction of Aincrad, which is the ultimate goal for all. Influx of SAO people who didn't want to use magic but realized that magic was OP compared to just sword attacks and thus pretty much required led the admins to incorporate a more powerful sword system. This led to more separation between magic based and sword based characters as it makes more sense stat wise for sword people to use sword skills than magic now. Some characters such as Asuna multi-spec though and switch between them.

Also this is the end so Mendrox was right.
 

JulianImp

Member
Fairy clan struggle for dominance ended with the introduction of Aincrad, which is the ultimate goal for all. Influx of SAO people who didn't want to use magic but realized that magic was OP compared to just sword attacks and thus pretty much required led the admins to incorporate a more powerful sword system. This led to more separation between magic based and sword based characters as it makes more sense stat wise for sword people to use sword skills than magic now. Some characters such as Asuna multi-spec though and switch between them.

Also this is the end so Mendrox was right.

Was all that explained in the novels or something? If that's the case, then it feels like the anime is focusing too much on Kirito alone, so everything that happens around him seems like ass-pulls when they're actually justified in the source material.

Also, it was weird that Mendrox stated "don't worry, no more rape until the end" when we actually were a single episode away from it... <_<
 

Hexa

Member
Was all that explained in the novels or something? If that's the case, then it feels like the anime is focusing too much on Kirito alone, so everything that happens around him seems like ass-pulls when they're actually justified in the source material.

Also, it was weird that Mendrox stated "don't worry, no more rape until the end" when we actually were a single episode away from it... <_<

Just in passing super quickly though for most stuff (so I might be misremembering stuff as its minor), which is sort of hard to do in animation. Plus they're going sort of out of order. In the novels Mother's Rosario was published before Calibur. Not entirely sure which is chronologically first. Sword Skills and the changes are explained much more in depth there as they're more of a focus. So that leaves the anime in the weird position where they're kind of explaining stuff, but they can't properly explain it because its based on information that hasn't been conveyed yet, and considering they only budgeted 3 episodes for Calibur they don't really have time to explain. Plus they probably just don't translate that well to animation.
For example, the explanation of how Kirito pulled off the dual wield is much more complex than just "It's a skill outside the system. I call it <<Skill Connect>>". Like it involves the nuances of the <<Original Sword Skill System>> which is essentially using sword skills not system defined and taking manual control, and how Kirito is able to leave one half of his body under the systems control and manually control the other, and quickly switch between in the slight delay between the sword skill hitting and doing damage and the move actually ending so that another sword skill starts right when the first sword skill ends which overrules the stun that comes at the end of a sword skill. Honestly, I wrote that out mostly because I'm disappointed that they skipped over it and no one will appreciate how cool it was, but anyway I personally can't see of an awesome way to convey that animated. Better to just gloss over it I guess.
This does leave them in the weird position where they can't really talk about some of this stuff next arc either as it'll be strange since they've already shown a bunch of stuff involving it. They do seem to be ignoring some stuff such as <<Original Sword Skills>>, so those will maybe get explained as another new update.

He was just messing with y'all I guess.
Related from the novel:
As Þrym patted his moustache with his massive hand while issuing his speech, I wondered if this was really the plot written by the automatic quest generator, as the speech was really testing the limits permitted in a game for all ages.


Are Asuna and Kirito still together?

Yes
 

Einbroch

Banned
Watching episode 14 right now.

"These are my friends from SAO."

If I introduced my female friend to my fiance like that she'd be super pissed, but Asuna gives no fucks. This show is so fucking stupid.
 
The GGO arc was lolworthy but I'm liking this new arc in ALO. I always thought this series was at its best when it was just fantasy MMO doing quests and stuff and no raping in sight.

I wonder how Asuna feels about going from a badass swordswoman in the front lines to a support character. It was nice to see her finish that monster off in the last episode.

Dat Yuki Kajiura OST too. That music as they were going down the stairs into the icy land area and then when they got there felt so Metroidy. Loved it.
 
The GGO arc was lolworthy but I'm liking this new arc in ALO. I always thought this series was at its best when it was just fantasy MMO doing quests and stuff and no raping in sight.

I wonder how Asuna feels about going from a badass swordswoman in the front lines to a support character. It was nice to see her finish that monster off in the last episode.

Dat Yuki Kajiura OST too. That music as they were going down the stairs into the icy land area and then when they got there felt so Metroidy. Loved it.

Honestly SAO is finally embracing what it always should have been, male fantasy harem action. The first season goes out of it's way to introduce potential waifu... only to then ditch them until the final episode. The girls should have joined up with Kirito and basically formed an unofficial clan vying for his love while they worked together to survive the game.
 

Hexa

Member
The GGO arc was lolworthy but I'm liking this new arc in ALO. I always thought this series was at its best when it was just fantasy MMO doing quests and stuff and no raping in sight.

Then make sure to enjoy this arc and the next one. :)

Honestly SAO is finally embracing what it always should have been, male fantasy harem action. The first season goes out of it's way to introduce potential waifu... only to then ditch them until the final episode. The girls should have joined up with Kirito and basically formed an unofficial clan vying for his love while they worked together to survive the game.

The harem stuff is unfortunately pretty much over completely after this arc. :(
 
I'm not sure if it's the harem exactly, but I do like the whole friends travelling together to fight bad guys element of this current arc. Even my boy Klein is getting some action!
 

Corgi

Banned
whats with the animation quality? It's near deen level.

Why is elizabeth equipped with mace and shield and not in the front line tanking?
 

Mendrox

Member
whats with the animation quality? It's near deen level.

Why is elizabeth equipped with mace and shield and not in the front line tanking?

Cause Reki hasn't played MMOs for shit. He even said that he tried MMOs but didn't like them that much.

Rather than a good MMO story we got boobs and asses. I don't mind because Log Horizon has all that typical MMO stuff.

Edit: Also you should watch a Deen Anime again... SAOs animation/art isn't nearly as bad...
 

-Horizon-

Member
But Freyja was supposed to be

I mean

She was

But
Thor can turn back into Freyja at anytime right? So elf waifu still good. Right? RIGHT??

At least there's Skuld-chan waifu...unless...oh god I don't want think about it anymore!
 
I had forgotten...

Klein gets the legendary hammer but he never leveled up hammer skills, god that was funny poor guy has his crush taken away, turned into a guy, then that guy gives him an awesome legendary weapon he can't use XD

Mother's Rosario starts next week!
 

TUSR

Banned
But Freyja was supposed to be

I mean

She was

But
Thor can turn back into Freyja at anytime right? So elf waifu still good. Right? RIGHT??

At least there's Skuld-chan waifu...unless...oh god I don't want think about it anymore!


The poem Þrymskviða features Loki borrowing Freyja's cloak of feathers and Thor dressing up as Freyja to fool the lusty jötunn Þrymr. In the poem, Thor wakes up to find that his powerful hammer, Mjöllnir, is missing.

Þrymskviða is what was adapted for the show, which features Þrymr

In Norse mythology, Þrymr (Thrymr, Thrym; "uproar") was king of the jotnar. In one legend, he stole Mjollnir, Thor's hammer, to extort the gods into giving him Freyja as his wife.
 

Corgi

Banned
Cause Reki hasn't played MMOs for shit. He even said that he tried MMOs but didn't like them that much.

Rather than a good MMO story we got boobs and asses. I don't mind because Log Horizon has all that typical MMO stuff.

Edit: Also you should watch a Deen Anime again... SAOs animation/art isn't nearly as bad...

near deen!

things were so much better animated last season too.


and the lack of mmo knowledge makes sense where asuna is burst heal aoe spamming without getting any aggro lmao.

curious if the show would have gained any popularity if there wasn't the first arc. ALO GGO and current excaliber arc feels and plays out like your typical c tier fantasy anime that pads a season out that sales poorly.
 

Hexa

Member
Best episode. This arc was awesome. It looked great. It was hilarious. And just overall made me smile. A-1 did really well.

lolololol Thor. And Klein seriously asked an NPC for its number. loooooooool

A-1 also did a good job linking this arc to next arc. The battle system stuff is a bit rough, but they did some good set up for the plot.
Major tone shift next week. But it'll be great. :)

near deen!

things were so much better animated last season too.


and the lack of mmo knowledge makes sense where asuna is burst heal aoe spamming without getting any aggro lmao.

curious if the show would have gained any popularity if there wasn't the first arc. ALO GGO and current excaliber arc feels and plays out like your typical c tier fantasy anime that pads a season out that sales poorly.

Asuna has an attack spec and a heal spec and it seems that you can switch between specs on the fly. This is conveyed more clearly next arc. Also kiting.
 

Hexa

Member
oh yeah, why couldn't they fly in this arc?

Can't fly in Jotunheimr as the source of flight powers is sunlight or moonlight, and it doesn't reach underground. Same reason as why they couldn't fly in the Legrue Corridor that Kirito and Leafa went through in the first season.
Also can't fly in Aincrad dungeons and a bunch of other places in Aincrad either just because as its essentially just a copy from a game that wasn't made for flight and it would break the game.
 
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