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View Poll Results: Critique of Episode 08
10 out of 10: Near Perfect... 56 38.62%
9 out of 10: Excellent... 52 35.86%
8 out of 10: Very Good... 24 16.55%
7 out of 10: Good... 9 6.21%
6 out of 10: Average... 1 0.69%
5 out of 10: Below Average... 1 0.69%
4 out of 10: Poor... 0 0%
3 out of 10: Bad... 0 0%
2 out of 10: Very Bad... 0 0%
1 out of 10: Torturous... 2 1.38%
Voters: 145. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 2012-08-25, 18:26   Link #81
Iron Maw
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Most solid episode since the 2nd one, and I generally agree with Enzo's views on the show on a whole.

I liked a lot of the game related detail such the small rabbit suddenly turning a large lump of meat big enough to feeding a family for three days. The interactions between cast were fairly amusing except for one scene which I will get into a bit. Breast grab was silly and added nothing to the show. The production values are decent if nothing else, but fights are underwhelming so far, largely thanks to the crap ton of "still" shots. The animation was barely episode 2 levels, scenery is still great, such as the forest early on in the episode.

One thing that really, bothered me (aside from Asuna somehow interfering with the duel) was the beginning of the "Kuradeel confrontation scene", specifically Asuna's reaction. Why the hell she is so scared/nervous of him? She's "second in command" of KoB and his superior not to mention stronger than him. We are talking about the same person who had no problem threatening Kirito (a much high levelled player) with a knife twice just the other day. She should have just ordered him back from the very beginning like at the end of the fight. It's a weird inconsistently given what we seen of her up till now.

On another note, Kuradeel must be a really crappy guard for a frontliner, for his sword to break that easily.

7/10
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Old 2012-08-25, 18:28   Link #82
Marower
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I'm quite surprised that all it took for the show to actually be interesting and good again was to get back to the main storyline. This just shows that inserting the sidestories was a bad idea (for some reason, I thought they didn't fit considering what happened this episode).

Main Arc Online>Side Arc Online.
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Old 2012-08-25, 18:29   Link #83
jpwong
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I really don't like how the 74th floor dungeon looks, to me it just really feels like it isn't a dungeon.
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Old 2012-08-25, 18:33   Link #84
Adigard
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron Maw View Post
I liked a lot of the game related detail such the small rabbit sudden turning a large lump bigger to feeding a family for three days.
Which, in true MMO fashion, two people were able to demolish in a single sitting


Quote:
Originally Posted by Iron Maw View Post
One thing that really, bothered me (aside from Asuna somehow interfering with the duel) was the beginning of the "Kuradeel confrontation scene", specifically Asuna's reaction. Why the hell she is so scared/nervous of him? She's "second in command" of KoB and his superior not to mention stronger than him. We are talking about the same person who had no problem threatening Kirito (a much high levelled player) with a knife twice just the other day. She should have just ordered him back from the very beginning like at the end of the fight. It's a weird inconsistently given what we seen of her up till now.
To be fair we know nothing of the drama in Asuna's guild. Having played MMO's for a fair chunk of time the drama levels tends to be rather... high. Often higher than they had any right to be over a mere game. In a MMO turned real, turned death trap, and dragged out for two years you should probably expect some pretty grand drama.

Doubly so when you consider Asuna's statements that she's brought it all on herself. Likely she's regretting some earlier actions she's made in the guild (obviously off-screen) and is now forced to live with them. Add the fact that people are apparently less interested in clearing the game... could potentially be taken to mean that her guild mates (who we've only seen in a few eps now) could possibly be looking to spend less time clearing the latest dungeon, and more time on their own. An activity she's suddenly interested in. If she makes a big stink of spending time on her own doing her own thing NOW, it'd look rather terrible for her, no?

And you can't exactly threaten the people who work for you with a knife, it sends the wrong message to the grunts ^^;;.

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Originally Posted by Marower View Post
I'm quite surprised that all it took for the show to actually be interesting and good again was to get back to the main storyline. This just shows that inserting the sidestories was a bad idea (for some reason, I thought they didn't fit considering what happened this episode).

Main Arc Online>Side Arc Online.
If the anime had skipped from Ep 1 to Ep 8 we'd have a TON of very confused anime viewers... I don't agree that adapting the side stories was such a bad idea. If nothing else (ignoring character growth) they gave us a very solid and strong understanding of the game's 'system' so we don't need things explained now.
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Old 2012-08-25, 18:34   Link #85
Bombo
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Finally it's started and i can't wait for next week .
Btw asuna rule in this episode she take items and join party as she like .
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Old 2012-08-25, 18:51   Link #86
Iron Maw
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Originally Posted by Adigard View Post
Which, in true MMO fashion, two people were able to demolish in a single sitting
Honesty, I'm surprised a window with the word "Success!" didn't popup right after to complete the whole thing.

Quote:
To be fair we know nothing of the drama in Asuna's guild. Having played MMO's for a fair chunk of time the drama levels tends to be rather... high. Often higher than they had any right to be over a mere game. In a MMO turned real, turned death trap, and dragged out for two years you should probably expect some pretty grand drama.

Doubly so when you consider Asuna's statements that she's brought it all on herself. Likely she's regretting some earlier actions she's made in the guild (obviously off-screen) and is now forced to live with them.

And you can't exactly threaten the people who work for you with a knife, it sends the wrong message to the grunts ^^;;.
What you say maybe true, but Asuna's been a leadership position long enough to know there's only so much leeway you should give your subordinates. Kuradeel was crossing line and forgetting who she is and it was her responsibility to remind him just she does Kirito.

Really, I would given this episode an "8" if weren't for that bit.
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Old 2012-08-25, 18:54   Link #87
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Originally Posted by Iron Maw View Post
Honesty, I'm surprised a window with the word "Success!" didn't popup right after to complete the whole thing.



What you say maybe true, but Asuna's been a leadership position long enough to know there's only so much leeway you should give your subordinates. Kuradeel was crossing line and forgetting who she is and it was her responsibility to remind him just she does Kirito.
The problem is there's some politics involved here. And she's not the highest authority.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:02   Link #88
Iron Maw
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She's the second highest, unless title of "Vice Commander" is just for show, it carries weight, moreso than anything else outside "Guildmaster". Besides she obviously doesn't care much for the politics of her guild considering she just dismissed Kuradeel in the end.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:10   Link #89
Kazu-kun
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The problem is there's some politics involved here. And she's not the highest authority.
But if that's the case I think it would be even more problematic to have someone from outside the guild involved.

Anyway, I agree with Iron Maw that it doesn't make sense for Asuna not to take care of this guy on her own. This whole scene seems to be shoehorned just to have Kirito play the knight for Asuna IMO.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:11   Link #90
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Out of curiosity...

Is Kiroto currently on a higher level than Asuna? She looked pretty surprised about how easily her guard got beaten.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:11   Link #91
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But if that's the case I think it would be even more problematic to have someone from outside the guild involved.
Kirito actually did express this concern, and Asuna appears to not care.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:14   Link #92
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Kirito actually did express this concern, and Asuna appears to not care.
Yeah, but they never explain why. Probably because it doesn't make sense to begin with, and that's the problem.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:18   Link #93
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a lot of SAKUGA scenes in this episode, i love it!!!
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:19   Link #94
Marower
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Originally Posted by Adigard View Post
If the anime had skipped from Ep 1 to Ep 8 we'd have a TON of very confused anime viewers... I don't agree that adapting the side stories was such a bad idea. If nothing else (ignoring character growth) they gave us a very solid and strong understanding of the game's 'system' so we don't need things explained now.
Really? I didn't feel there were anything I had gained from watching the earlier episodes. Another sword? Teleportation crystals? The series doesn't really explain how the game itself works anyway. Watching episode 1 and 2, to then jump to episode 8, wouldn't be much of a problem. As for episode 2, while a side story, it introduced Asuna and a few other characters.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:21   Link #95
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This weeks' episode 9/10
Mainly due to some things being left out like Kiritos' thoughts on why Asuna maxed out her cooking skill, and the still pictures.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:26   Link #96
Kamui04
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Originally Posted by Adigard View Post
If the anime had skipped from Ep 1 to Ep 8 we'd have a TON of very confused anime viewers... I don't agree that adapting the side stories was such a bad idea. If nothing else (ignoring character growth) they gave us a very solid and strong understanding of the game's 'system' so we don't need things explained now.
I agree with Adigard. I think that having Ep. 2-7 side stories introduced us to certain aspects of the game world and state of affairs in the game. With prior knowledge of this details Ep. 8 didn't need to be interrupted with different explanations. If it followed the LN this ep wouldn't be as smooth.

Hopefully what I'm going to write isn't considered againts the rules, but what if this was placed as Ep. 2 instead of Ep. 8 and followed the LN which interrupts a lot of scenes with explanations. How would you feel if for this ep we would be witness to a lengthy explanation to the game world and current state before the intro. The Ragout rabbit kill would be interrupted by an explanation of the scan/track skill and throwing skill. The shop scene was interrupted by some explanation of the economy and items. And don't forget the duel where we had an idea of them from ep 5-6, here it would have consumed time too. Also the item durability/breakage was shown as part of the plot during previous episodes where as in the LN Kirito explain those things in the middle of the duel while doing his sword skill moves! On the other hand if didn't explain anything a lot of anime viewers would be left with a lot of questions or start poking plotholes everywhere...

I preferred how we were sublty introduced or witnessed parts of the game mechanics as part of the plot during previous episodes rather than being shoved all of them here. I think this episode pace was quite fluid with us viewer having previous knowledge of things, just like a MMO player at higher levels has knowledge of the game world and mechanics.

Last edited by Kamui04; 2012-08-25 at 19:37.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:43   Link #97
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Originally Posted by Iron Maw View Post
She's the second highest, unless title of "Vice Commander" is just for show, it carries weight, moreso than anything else outside "Guildmaster". Besides she obviously doesn't care much for the politics of her guild considering she just dismissed Kuradeel in the end.
She said the guildmaster order Kuradeel to accompany her. So his orders to follow her were above her authority. In the end she dismissed him, but said she'd talk to the guildmaster about it later. So in the middle of the episode she decided to challenge his authority, hoping that he'd understand why.

Kirito beating Kuradeel was necessary to prove to the guildmaster that she'll be fine.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:45   Link #98
Adigard
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Really? I didn't feel there were anything I had gained from watching the earlier episodes. Another sword? Teleportation crystals? The series doesn't really explain how the game itself works anyway.
The show is using that old adage of 'show, don't tell'. I argue that it's using it well, others argue the other way... but because we've been introduced to these notions multiple times and we've seen them used repeatably they're perfectly in place... otherwise some of these things would be massive deus ex machina.

Oh... they can just flee a fight with teleport crystals... wow... gg author for introducing some random element when they magically need it. Kirito needs to defeat one of Asuna's guild members without 'hurting' him while showing the difference in power levels dramatically? Item durability and broken swords ftw.

We've seen these things before, so they're not out of place when we see them now.

For that matter we 'see' why it's becoming important for Kirito to no longer be a solo'er. He had trouble with that single monster earlier in the episode, where as Kirito x Asuna took care of it very easily. Monsters using sword skills implies that Kirito has to be much more careful solo'ing. It gives him a real reason to think about no longer solo'ing.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:45   Link #99
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marower View Post
Really? I didn't feel there were anything I had gained from watching the earlier episodes. Another sword? Teleportation crystals? The series doesn't really explain how the game itself works anyway. Watching episode 1 and 2, to then jump to episode 8, wouldn't be much of a problem. As for episode 2, while a side story, it introduced Asuna and a few other characters.
I'm thankful they added the other episodes inbetween, even if they could have been done better. It fleshed out the world a bit more, and gave Kirito some depth. I don't believe going from episode 2, straight to episode 8, would have produced anywhere near as good a transition. Infact, I would say, it would hurt it greatly.
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Old 2012-08-25, 19:49   Link #100
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Plus the episodes were actually fun to some of us. And I don't know about what other people are seeing, but to me this episode is no different from the previous ones.

It's still about "People being trapped in a game and showing how they deal with it."
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