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View Poll Results: Critique of Episode 09 | |||
10 out of 10: Near Perfect... | 113 | 61.08% | |
9 out of 10 : Excellent... | 44 | 23.78% | |
8 out of 10 : Very Good... | 13 | 7.03% | |
7 out of 10 : Good... | 7 | 3.78% | |
6 out of 10 : Average... | 4 | 2.16% | |
5 out of 10 : Below Average... | 1 | 0.54% | |
4 out of 10 : Poor... | 0 | 0% | |
3 out of 10 : Bad... | 0 | 0% | |
2 out of 10 : Very Bad... | 1 | 0.54% | |
1 out of 10: Torturous... | 2 | 1.08% | |
Voters: 185. You may not vote on this poll |
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2012-09-01, 17:52 | Link #61 |
NOM
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Outside the Asylum
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That is one badass boss; Gleam Eyes is now my favorite character in SAO. Well, maybe after Asuna.
Great fight. The thing I love the most about these boss battles is that it requires some serious reflexes/tactics and not just skill spamming. This game loves its trolling.
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2012-09-01, 17:55 | Link #62 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
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alrite epsiode.
The fight wasn't as flashy as I expected it be, but that's normal. The fight choreography in this anime was never that high a level. I know Kirito only asked for 10secs while he switched around his equipment, but wish the buildup was a little better. He asked for 10secs, and it only took him 1 second, usually anime increases the sense of time in battles, not fastforward it... >_< Liked that Lizbeth got some more screentime, go get him! As much as there was much complaining about the sidestories, they gonna show their value in the main story now so we can skip a lot of the long-winded game mechanics explanations because the sidestories already did it for us. The Army guys were totally dumb fools, especially the commander. He deserved to get killed there.
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2012-09-01, 18:23 | Link #68 |
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
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I guess the main thing I want to say is that, despite the fact that there were some things in my mind that went by when I saw the way they setup the fight (like how convenient it is that Kirito has this magical unique skill to save the day, and how everyone else just sort of stood there and watched as Kirito slaughtered him by himself and nearly got killed), my overall reaction was: hoooooly sh*t, he just soloed a floor boss. It was incredibly satisfying to watch in that sort of childish wonder sort of way; couldn't take my eyes away.
Some of the conversation in this thread was talking about whether Kirito or Asuna were heroes for what they did. I think it's probably more to point that they were heroes together. Asuna was able to make the move when Kirito was paralysed from fear, and Kirito was able to make the move when he realized that Asuna couldn't handle this alone. If it weren't for both of them together, the day would not have been saved. Hence the whole reason why they need each other. Speaking of Kirito being paralysed... the post-traumatic stress has already been discussed was a really good way of, again, showing why they put those side stories first in the anime. I thought it was very effective to make that sort of callback now as the situation had so many parallels. I think the overall story is really starting to come together as the pieces fall into place, and it makes me appreciate all the more why they took the time to setup all the pieces beforehand. It's paying-off now. Now as for the dual challenge at the end. Kirito just beat soloed a floor boss, and now the guild leader is going to ask him for a duel? With Kuradeel Asuna had already told him that there was at least a ten-level gap, but why would that guy think he has a better chance knowing he has this skill? Well, truth is, it doesn't really matter if he wins or loses; either way he could stay with Asuna, it's just a matter of whether it's in the guild or by themselves. I think that's basically why the guild leader set it up that way; I'm sure he realized that splitting the two up wasn't going to work. I was definitely wrong last week when I thought the door would close behind them, but the transportation crystal not working was a good middle-ground that setup what actually ended up happening. I agree with HandofFate above the army guild leader was so stupid -- why would the guild members follow that sort of crazy guy? Indeed, he probably did deserve to die because he was putting everyone else at risk. The last thing I'll say in this disjointed post is that I'm a bit torn on Asuna's overall characterization, continuing some of our conversations from last week. I'm not sure that her progression of falling further in love with Kirito had to necessarily involve her becoming weaker, and Kirito becoming stronger. Though Kirito soloing the boss was cool, I sort of would have liked to see them both fight along side each other as they did in the OP. I would also have thought that a vice-commander of a huge guild probably would have had a bit more experience with death -- but I guess seeing people die in front of you should never be a comfortable thing. And while her long hug and "I was so scared" thing at the end was romantic... this, combined with last episode, suggests that she's much weaker than she appears. Other than taking the first strike on the boss and playing backup to buy Kirito time, she really got moved to the backseat so that Kirito could take the lead. I'm not saying that this is necessarily a big crime or even out of character (perhaps we're still getting to know the "real Asuna" as it were)... but I'm hoping that she'll snap out of it a bit and they can really fight side-by-side going forward.
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2012-09-01, 18:34 | Link #70 | |
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
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You know, they ran away scared when they first saw it, but it actually went down like a bitch. A normal boss party is 48 players (eight parties of six). The Army sent, what, a dozen inexperienced, possibly underleveled and underequipped guys, plus Kirito, Asuna and Klein's guild (who mainly stayed back anyway...). And that was enough. |
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2012-09-01, 18:35 | Link #71 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Portugal
Age: 28
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And even more in this game, I don't think there would be a Leader who isn't better than everyone else. I am quite sure he is atleast at Kirito's level. |
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2012-09-01, 18:36 | Link #72 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Age: 30
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2012-09-01, 18:41 | Link #73 |
Garnet
Join Date: Dec 2011
Age: 29
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I also imagine that trying to help Kirito while he was soloing wouldn't have been a very good idea. His Star Burst Stream Sword Skill seemed to have a very wide range, so I imagine there was a pretty big chance of getting hit by his skill(s) (and that's where Switch comes in, I guess). Asuna, Klein, and co. could've flanked the boss, but that might've not only might have distracted Kirito (who seemed to be in a sort of zone/trance), but it also could've transferred the aggro from him to them.. and that wouldn't have worked out too well..
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2012-09-01, 18:42 | Link #74 | ||
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
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2012-09-01, 18:42 | Link #75 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
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This targets the sort of audience that wants to see the strong guy saving his woman, so Asuna can be "strong" only until it's time for Kirito to show off, then she reverts back to damsel. I did want to see them fight the boss side be side, and it would have been way cooler than this IMO, but yeah.... [mod edit: removed comment about rep]
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Last edited by relentlessflame; 2012-09-01 at 18:57. |
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2012-09-01, 18:44 | Link #76 |
Ramen Hunter
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Superb. Well worth the 1 week wait. This episode reminded me that the series is ultimately more of a relationship drama than an action series and it is a good thing.
Plus, Asuna has one of the cutest smiles of any anime character.
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2012-09-01, 18:51 | Link #77 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
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I don't really see Asuna falling more in love with Kirito as a sign of being weaker.
What girls can't fall in love now without being seen as weak? Even though she is the Vice Commander of one of the best guilds in the game, she is still a 14 year old girl. While death might still be a commoner sight on the frontlines, its still something that's harsh to see in front of you. And judging from the pre-boss conversations about trying to figure out how to beat it, it seems all the boss-fights were handled in very cautious manner of repeatedly going in just to test the damage/attack patterns, then fleeing whenever one would get below 50% HP. Plus, as said before in earlier episodes, everyone overlevels for boss fights. So its not typical mmo fashion where everyone is just at the very bare minimum for boss fights, boss fights is like everyone is in full Tier3 Gear, against a boss in a Tier2 dungeon. Kirito is suppose to be the strong soloer, but he's still has issues from seeing his guild members getting killed for over a year ago which made him cut himself off even more as a soloer just so he didn't have to experience a death in front of him ever again.
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