Sword Art Online - Light Novel Discussion

[ronelm2000]

Originally Posted by tomtkp

Chapter 1 is in Volume 9. Check Baka-Tsuki's SAO page.

I've been confusing the Chapter 1 of Vol. 10 to the Chapter 1 of the Alicization Arc and vice versa recently.

Originally Posted by Awrya

I thought Vol. 7 said that while Kirito has a playtime of 2 years, Yuuki&co have been playing different games for 3 years?
Kirito also noted she didn't play VR games, she lived in them.

Spoiler for The Quote:

"Just as I said. Yuuki-kun almost never returned to the real world. Or rather, she couldn't. During a hospice treatment, we would use morphine to ease the patient's pain. For Yuuki-kun, we used the Medicuboid's sense removal function to replace morphine…she has been in all sorts of virtual worlds travelling, other than a few hours a day where data was collected. Of course, I talked to her in that world."
"In other words…she dived in for 24 hours a day…? How long has that been…?"
"About three years."

She has been playing VR games longer than Kirito, it's just that she recently transferred to ALO, but since it is very likely she played some flight simulations in the past, so she didn't have that much trouble in aerial fights.

Originally Posted by Teh_Ping

Let's put it this way, if it were Yuuki who was the one in SAO, it would be likely that she would be the one having Dual-wield instead of Kirito. Yuuki's reaction speed was superior to Kirito, so in a one on one, Yuuki>Kirito (without dual wield)

Well Yuuki was living the life she couldn't do in the RL, so it DOES strike me curious what would have happened if Kirito dual-wielded against Yuuki. Also, did he use Excalibur in her fight with him? (I forget that)

[sky black swordman]

Originally Posted by ronelm2000

I've been confusing the Chapter 1 of Vol. 10 to the Chapter 1 of the Alicization Arc and vice versa recently.





Well Yuuki was living the life she couldn't do in the RL, so it DOES strike me curious what would have happened if Kirito dual-wielded against Yuuki. Also, did he use Excalibur in her fight with him? (I forget that)

It happens dont worry.

Al I dont think so. I think he use the other sword on his back.

I remember that during the fight he said something to Yuuki and stopped fight seriously.

[ronelm2000]

Originally Posted by sky black swordman

I remember that during the fight he said something to Yuuki and stopped fight seriously.

lol if only Kirito took her seriously *clicks tongue*


...Kirito x Yuuki anyone? (I'm a hopeless shipper. )

[M.A.D]

Kirito is a competitive type when it comes to games, so it stood to reason that he really had gone all out against her, and he was well and truly lost, dual wield or otherwise. Of course, if someone says that Kirito gets stronger when he's fighting to protect someone, then I can say that Yuuki wasn't fighting with her loved one's lives on the line either, so let's not go that far. Kirito's lost here simply demolished his title as a Marty Stu, so it's not a bad thing either.

Originally Posted by sky black swordman

It happens dont worry.

Al I dont think so. I think he use the other sword on his back.

I remember that during the fight he said something to Yuuki and stopped fight seriously.

What he said to her was something like "Are you also a resident of this world?", which referred to her Full Diving 24/7. However, he said it after he had lost, and he really was seriously fighting her to the finish.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by M.A.D

Kirito's lost here simply demolished his title as a Marty Stu

For what is worth, when people complaint about a character being too perfect or too competent, is usually about more than just never losing a fight.

[Rayrah]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

For what is worth, when people complaint about a character being too perfect or too competent, is usually about more than just never losing a fight.

Ehhh, there's a lot to more a Gary Stu than just being too perfect or too competent.. The majority of people who use the term, and do so for dregatory purposes, usually have no idea what it actually means, don't even realise that it has no precise definition, and that it's rarely seen outside of fan fiction. But of course, this is the Internet, and being ignorant is something we're all good at. Not saying that this is the case for you, though.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Aphrah

Ehhh, there's a lot to more a Gary Stu than just being too perfect or too competent..

The term (Gary Stu or whatever) doesn't really matter. People usually use that term for lack of a better one to name whatever they're concerned about. I don't see the point in arguing whether they're using it properly or not when what's matter is whatever criticism they might have about the character.

And although I wouldn't use that term myself, I do have some issues with Kirito's characterization. No, not only Kirito, but how Kawahara handles characters in general actually.

[EnigmaticAxiom]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

The term (Gary Stu or whatever) doesn't really matter. People usually use that term for lack of a better one to name whatever they're concerned about. I don't see the point in arguing whether they're using it properly or not when what's matter is whatever criticism they might have on the character.

And although I wouldn't use that term myself, I do have some issues with Kirito's characterization. No, not only Kirito, but how Kawahara handle characters in general actually.

What's wrong with Kirito's characterization, I'm curious? I rather like SAO characters, though I admit there is something in them that I dislike, I just can't put my finger on it. I definitely don't like AW characters (I just want to jab porky in the eye for no particular reason), so you're probably right on it being a Kawahara thing. I wish I could put my finger on it, though.

And when did the term "Gary Stu" come up? I had to google it because I thought I missed something, but it seems to be some idiotic phrase I've never heard of before seeing it in this thread.

[Rayrah]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

The term (Gary Stu or whatever) doesn't really matter. People usually use that term for lack of a better one to name whatever they're concerned about. I don't see the point in arguing whether they're using it properly or not when what's matter is whatever criticism they might have on the character.

Hm, yes, there's an air of truth to your words. However, whatever criticism they may have about a character, using that label/trope/whatever the hell it is as a basis for deciding whether a character is good, well-written, and etc or not is not only a sign of one not being able to express themselves well, but also (usually) makes for a piss poor argument. In my experience, anyway.

Originally Posted by EnigmaticAxiom

And when did the term "Gary Stu" come up? I had to google it because I thought I missed something, but it seems to be some idiotic phrase I've never heard of before seeing it in this thread.

Gary Stu is the male version of a "Mary Sue". It first came up in 1973, and was coined by Paula Smith who wrote somewhat of a parody of Star Trek called "A Trekkie's Tale", I believe. 4chan, and especially /a/ seem to absolutely love the term. But eh, it's /a/.

[lightbringer]

We have no concrete indication of whether he was fighting seriously, but I think the fact that he did not dual wield, and him realizing the opponent's unique condition halfway through the fight, and that the girls around him believe and discuss that he wasn't going all out is indicative of the author's intentions. He's trying really hard to say that Kirito was only defeated because he wasn't fighting seriously. It's certainly in line with how he always paints Kirito as the Ultimate Swordsman. The outcome doesn't really matter, though, since that was not an important fight for Kirito.

[sky black swordman]

Originally Posted by ronelm2000

lol if only Kirito took her seriously *clicks tongue*

...Kirito x Yuuki anyone? (I'm a hopeless shipper. )

Yeah.
I think Asuna was a Kirito x Yuuki anyone shipper.
She did feel a bit jealousy because they had a bit in common.

Originally Posted by M.A.D

What he said to her was something like "Are you also a resident of this world?", which referred to her Full Diving 24/7. However, he said it after he had lost, and he really was seriously fighting her to the finish.

"Even though I'm not sure, but shortly before the duel was concluded, when their blades are locked together, my brother seemed to have said something to Absolute Sword... Immediately after that, the distance between the two widened and my brother wasn't able to avoid Absolute Sword's charge and lost..."

[endarion88]

i have a question about the warmith of heart side story, i read that the original web version had a big difference compared to the published one (the one on b-t) anyone know if there is a translation of the original web version somewhere?

[noobita]

I guess, expecting a great fighting scene from SAO is a great mistake? I just re-watch Accel World, and the actions and fighting scenes in Accel World were abundance, and not to mention, it was freaking epic. SAO fight is just simply incomparable.

So, tell me, will there going to be a lot of fighting scene as good as Accel World later in the novel? Because at this rate, I may lose interest on SAO. The dragon fight is just ok.

[Rayrah]

... eh, I thought the fights in Accel World have been pretty lackluster except for a select few thus far. I know knowledge of source material, so I'll just keep quiet..

Wait. I thought you read the novels? But yes, there will be quite a few awesome fight scenes.

[lightbringer]

There are a few important and cool duels coming as well as two floor boss battles which are both quite epic imho. Right up next week should be one duel (albeit a boring one) and possibly the start of a boss battle but expect the majority of it (74th floor boss) in two weeks. Right after that (probably around episode 10) should be the first good duel, with another one to follow in about two weeks after that.

Accel World fights really drag on and on IMHO, I find them quite boring. So I might not be the best reference for you

[Znail]

Originally Posted by noobita

I guess, expecting a great fighting scene from SAO is a great mistake? I just re-watch Accel World, and the actions and fighting scenes in Accel World were abundance, and not to mention, it was freaking epic. SAO fight is just simply incomparable.

So, tell me, will there going to be a lot of fighting scene as good as Accel World later in the novel? Because at this rate, I may lose interest on SAO. The dragon fight is just ok.

We don't know how well they will do them in the anime, but there are several fighting scenes that actually take up time in the novel. The dragon fight wasn't really a major battle as Kirito was basically just beating it up, until Lisbeth goofed up.

There will be a couple of important fights in 2-3 episodes.

[M1sFyr3]

I like the SAO design, though fighting would be cool, the world of SAO is probably mostly generic MMO grind (in my opinion), other than boss fights and special events. It makes sense to have less action scenes, and to be more of other things. Another reason could be that they've mostly been doing side stories, with mysteries or Kirito meeting new people. I do think they will have more fighting later on, considering the couple of bosses.

[Znail]

They also skipped a fair bit of normal adventuring so far as well. In the novel version of episode 2 so did Kirito actually meet Asuna inside a dungeon before the boss meeting and observed her fighting style, that is why he got interested in the first place.

[XxSleepyxX]

Originally Posted by Znail

They also skipped a fair bit of normal adventuring so far as well. In the novel version of episode 2 so did Kirito actually meet Asuna inside a dungeon before the boss meeting and observed her fighting style, that is why he got interested in the first place.

Actually that dungeon meeting shouldn't be aired until next weeks episode. I don't get why they used it so early.

The pacing of SAO is good. SAO is completely different Accel World. Its true Accel World has more fights, but in SAO character development is more important. Thats the reason why they've been using the side stories to develop characters. I admit changing the way Asuna and Kirito met is a lowblow to novel readers but anime does that all the time. Like I've mentioned time and time again a anime is to draw the attention of anime watchers not exactly novel readers. Its to gain attention for the original source material.

[ronelm2000]

Originally Posted by XxSleepyxX

Actually that dungeon meeting shouldn't be aired until next weeks episode. I don't get why they used it so early.

The pacing of SAO is good. SAO is completely different Accel World. Its true Accel World has more fights, but in SAO character development is more important. Thats the reason why they've been using the side stories to develop characters. I admit changing the way Asuna and Kirito met is a lowblow to novel readers but anime does that all the time. Like I've mentioned time and time again a anime is to draw the attention of anime watchers not exactly novel readers. Its to gain attention for the original source material.

I'm gonna agrue and say the pacing of Aincrad Arc is technically bad if you look at it from a technical and chronological perspective, mostly because of the large time-skips. It's saved from such judgement because Vol. 1 starts at the near end of the whole thing. (I mean... if the author really pumps it up and starts Progressive 1 year per floor... we'll be done in around 2080!)