(L) Sword Art Online - Light Novel Discussion

[Ray]

Originally Posted by com_gwp

Wait, what's this I'm reading about Alicization being the final arc? Is it true?

I could've sworn I read somewhere that there was going to be one more arc after it. No, I can't remember the source of that though.

Well, it was the final arc of the web version. I'm pretty sure I remember another poster here telling me that the author said there'd be another bit of story after Alicization. I just doubt it'll be half as long, and/or half as important. *shrug*

[Fallen3dge]

Wonder when BT will pick up v10

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Clarste

...it's a pretty easy sell. As long as they're aware that there's a possibility of death that should be enough. They don't have to believe its true or even think it's likely. The fact that it's in a computer is basically irrelevant. If a man tells you that someone is tied up in the next room and that by pushing a button you'll electrocute them or whatever, then pushing the button is reckless. The fact that you have no proof that there's someone else in the other room is irrelevant.

Good luck trying to argue that in court. It has to rise to the level of actual unlawful recklessness and negligence to be considered for manslaughter, not what you consider to be reckless and negligence.

Example, if you receive a phone call before you leave for work today saying that if you step outside your home, the caller will kill someone. You ignore it as a prank call and leaves for work anyway, next thing you know your neighbor's house blows up.

You realize that by your definition, you would be guilty of of killing your neighbor?

[Rovert10]

Originally Posted by Fallen3dge

Wonder when BT will pick up v10

It only came out recently. Judging by the fact they have the pictures, I assume they have the raws

[Fallen3dge]

Is it just me or that the sword in 331 and the one he's holding in frot cover not match

[tomtkp]

Originally Posted by Fallen3dge

Is it just me or that the sword in 331 and the one he's holding in frot cover not match

How is it not match? They both looked same to me.

[Esebian]

^ they do match but in 331 the sheath is over the sword, so u cant see the form of the sword really well, also the angle of the picture in 331 is quite bad for comparing the swords

[Awrya]

Originally Posted by Fallen3dge

Is it just me or that the sword in 331 and the one he's holding in frot cover not match

You forget that the sword is inside its scabbard, of course the scabbard doesn't look like the sword in the cover.

Judging the pictures, Kirito and Eugeo arrived at the capital, were attacked by one guy and enrolled into a sword style academy?
Meanwhile in the real world they are wondering what happened to Kirito and Asuna is told the truth at his part time place.
Wonder if the novel is going to end with Asuna diving into UW?

Edit: The last picture, at first I thought the branch Kirito got turned into two swords for him to dual wield, but the right one is probably Eugeo's Blue Rose(?) sword.

[Qilin]

After watching the first episode of the anime, I decided to give the translated novels a try since it looked promising. So far, I've only read novels 1, 3, and 4, and I just want to put in some of my comments on it that I just want to get off my chest.

Spoiler for reaction:

First of all, I was quite impressed. It's not often that I encounter a romance that actually manages to engage me on an emotional level. It probably has much to do with the main couple being down-to-earth and generally likable, as well as the fact that it's rather straightforward in its progression. Though I guess it also helps that we have a female lead that is capable but at the same time does not overshadow the male lead. Seeing a nearly even relationship is actually quite refreshing.

Of course, my praise is mostly for the initial arc. On the other hand, the Fairy Dance arc struck me as unnecessary. While I read it dutifully for some long overdue closure in Kazuto and Asuna's relationship, I didn't enjoy it quite as much. For one thing, the entire arc reduces Asuna into a mere prize for Kazuto to struggle for, as opposed to her her more proactive role in the previous arc.

Next, the entire thing just felt like an unnecessary obstruction in the way of resolving the previous arc with Asuna's fiance just conveniently being the big bad of the arc. On a more personal level, the looming threat of NTR over the entire arc felt so very wrong to me. Why does the villain have to be so utterly unlikable?

I guess the entire arc was meant to focus on Suguha's feelings toward Kazuto, but it really did feel somewhat intrusive given the forced conflict that the Fairy Dance arc imposed upon me all of a sudden, especially with the hanging conflict involving Asuna.

In short, I'm not a fan of the Fairy Dance arc.

In any case, does anyone know if the anime will move past the first two novels?

Also, do any of the following novels live up to the standard left by the first arc, or have I already seen the best of this series?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Qilin

In any case, does anyone know if the anime will move past the first two novels?

Also, do any of the following novels live up to the standard left by the first arc, or have I already seen the best of this series?

We're expecting it to cover up to and including volume 4. So yeah, we'll more than likely see Fairy Dance in anime form this season.

Hm. I guess it depends on what you considered the best points of the first arc. Romantic moments become much fewer, but they remain very emotional and engaging. The action and badass moments stay more or less the same. The final arc, Alicization, is considered to be on-par, if not better than the first arc.

[kyp275]

Not sure why you skipped vol.2, but...

Originally Posted by Qilin

For one thing, the entire arc reduces Asuna into a mere prize for Kazuto to struggle for, as opposed to her her more proactive role in the previous arc.

/shrug, it's not as if Asuna just sat there idly and didn't do anything. Personally I had no issue with her less active role, as there was a limit as to what she could've done within the setting of the story.

Originally Posted by Qilin

Next, the entire thing just felt like an unnecessary obstruction in the way of resolving the previous arc with Asuna's fiance just conveniently being the big bad of the arc. On a more personal level, the looming threat of NTR over the entire arc felt so very wrong to me. Why does the villain have to be so utterly unlikable?

another /shrug, SAO isn't exactly supposed to be a literary masterpiece, Fairy Dance is basically Kirito and Lyfa's show. As for the villain... since when did it becomes a bad thing when they're unlikable?

What really irks me though is this whole NTR business. Could someone please explain to me how did a hentai sub-genre become so pervasive and dominant in people's mind that even your age old classic kidnap-the-damsel scenario becomes NTR-in-the-making? It's as if anything bad happens/is about to happen to a female character and the villain is a male, it's automatically stamped with the NTR flag.

[Qilin]

Originally Posted by Aphrah

We're expecting it to cover up to and including volume 4. So yeah, we'll more than likely see Fairy Dance in anime form this season.

Fairy Dance, huh?

I'm not exactly thrilled, but anything that will resolve the main romance is fine with me.

Originally Posted by Aphrah

Hm. I guess it depends on what you considered the best points of the first arc. Romantic moments become much fewer, but they remain very emotional and engaging. The action and badass moments stay more or less the same. The final arc, Alicization, is considered to be on-par, if not better than the first arc.

Well, I'm not really expecting the romance elements to match the first arc, but I just hope that the recurring characters and the overarching plot develop at a decent pace with each passing arc.

I mean, I browsed a bit of Phantom Bullet only to find that the story focused on some entirely new characters, with the older characters (apart from Kazuto) being reduced to appearing in short scenes. If my observation is indeed reliable, I do hope it doesn't signify a trend in the later arcs.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by kyp275

/shrug, it's not as if Asuna just sat there idly and didn't do anything. Personally I had no issue with her less active role, as there was a limit as to what she could've done within the setting of the story.

It's the fact that it was set up that way in the first place that bothered me.

Originally Posted by kyp275

another /shrug, SAO isn't exactly supposed to be a literary masterpiece, Fairy Dance is basically Kirito and Lyfa's show. As for the villain... since when did it becomes a bad thing when they're unlikable?

I kinda found the subplot intrusive since the resolution from the main one was just snatched right from under my nose. A personal thing for me, perhaps?

Also, is it wrong that I enjoy having likable villains? Or at least a villain that I can genuinely respect (or be in awe of), even in a begrudging sort of way?

[Shinji103]

Originally Posted by Qilin

Of course, my praise is mostly for the initial arc. On the other hand, the Fairy Dance arc struck me as unnecessary. While I read it dutifully for some long overdue closure in Kazuto and Asuna's relationship, I didn't enjoy it quite as much. For one thing, the entire arc reduces Asuna into a mere prize for Kazuto to struggle for, as opposed to her her more proactive role in the previous arc.

All so, so true.

Originally Posted by Qilin

It's the fact that it was set up that way in the first place that bothered me.

Exactly.

[maelstormCaT]

Originally Posted by Qilin

Fairy Dance, huh?


I mean, I browsed a bit of Phantom Bullet only to find that the story focused on some entirely new characters, with the older characters (apart from Kazuto) being reduced to appearing in short scenes. If my observation is indeed reliable, I do hope it doesn't signify a trend in the later arcs.

Wow, talk about jumping to conclusion.
Now I have to ask, what kind of LN did you like? You sounded overly criticizing... (Honestly kinda pissed me off too...) The LN is mostly based from Kirito/Kazuto's point of view. So what if the others didn't have much appearance? Forcing them in would just break the story telling.

But back to the LN stuff. I'm guessing that Eugeo is an AI based on Kazuto/Kirito brain pattern? those two seemed similar to me, but the hammering point is that his weapon of choice is a sword.

That's just a far shot, but the possibility is not zero.

[Qilin]

Originally Posted by maelstormCaT

Wow, talk about jumping to conclusion.
Now I have to ask, what kind of LN did you like? You sounded overly criticizing... (Honestly kinda pissed me off too...)

Take note that I just browsed through the fifth novel, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

I wasn't claiming anything as fact, I just wanted someone to tell to dispel my doubts.

[novalysis]

Originally Posted by maelstormCaT

But back to the LN stuff. I'm guessing that Eugeo is an AI based on Kazuto/Kirito brain pattern? those two seemed similar to me, but the hammering point is that his weapon of choice is a sword.

That's just a far shot, but the possibility is not zero.

That's an interesting theory. I'd have gone on to speculate that Alice is based on Asuna's brain patterns, only that there doesn't seem to be a way for the Underworld's designers to get their hands on her brain patterns.

[Esebian]

Originally Posted by novalysis

That's an interesting theory. I'd have gone on to speculate that Alice is based on Asuna's brain patterns, only that there doesn't seem to be a way for the Underworld's designers to get their hands on her brain patterns.

Well they dont need them, they could just use Kirito's memories of her and model Alice out of that. That shouldnt be impossible, imo

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Qilin

It's the fact that it was set up that way in the first place that bothered me.

Some people like Shinji feels the same way you do, which is fine, personally I couldn't care less, as it was story was executed decently well.

Originally Posted by Qilin

I kinda found the subplot intrusive since the resolution from the main one was just snatched right from under my nose. A personal thing for me, perhaps?

Fairy Dance is no more of a "subplot" than GGO or even the SAO arc itself.

Originally Posted by Qilin

Also, is it wrong that I enjoy having likable villains? Or at least a villain that I can genuinely respect (or be in awe of), even in a begrudging sort of way?

Of course not, but neither should a genuinely hate-able villain somehow become a minus IMO.

[novalysis]

It's quite amusing to note that romantically speaking, Kirito and Asuna's relationship has been far beyond the point of 90+% of Romantic couples in anime, manga, LN or VN ever since Volume 2.

[Kirito]

Well between the side stories and current stories there was plenty of time for their relationship to develop before the Aincrad arc ended.