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View Poll Results: Critique of Episode 14 | |||
10 out of 10: Near Perfect... | 103 | 45.98% | |
9 out of 10 : Excellent... | 58 | 25.89% | |
8 out of 10 : Very Good... | 19 | 8.48% | |
7 out of 10 : Good... | 16 | 7.14% | |
6 out of 10 : Average... | 10 | 4.46% | |
5 out of 10 : Below Average... | 1 | 0.45% | |
4 out of 10 : Poor... | 5 | 2.23% | |
3 out of 10 : Bad... | 3 | 1.34% | |
2 out of 10 : Very Bad... | 1 | 0.45% | |
1 out of 10 : Tortuous... | 8 | 3.57% | |
Voters: 224. You may not vote on this poll |
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2012-10-13, 07:26 | Link #461 | |
18782+18782=37564
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But yeah, it's best you don't think too much about it.
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Last edited by erneiz_hyde; 2012-10-13 at 12:28. |
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2012-10-13, 08:16 | Link #462 | |
Moe Kyun~!
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Philippines
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2012-10-14, 01:58 | Link #464 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
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but than again, it looks like their were going for some symbolic meaning of him being alone
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2012-10-21, 23:13 | Link #466 | |
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2012-10-21, 23:58 | Link #467 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
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Heathcliff was clearly suspicious all along, but it was just when he as the only one that just looked serenly around observing how chocked everyone else were that it clicked who he were for Kirito. This isn't easy to spot and far from obvious, but then a mystery everyone can solve is hardly a challange. |
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2012-10-22, 03:09 | Link #468 |
18782+18782=37564
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Kayaba=Heathcliff reveal and events that lead to the conclusion of the arc does feel a bit abrupt. This guy has a point of perhaps making Kayaba retreat to the higher level (maybe kill someone important to create some dramatic effect). At which point, they can probably add in a few drama episodes to explore the other players' reactions to Kayaba's betrayal and then lead to their renewed convictions to end the game. Maybe add in a boss mode avatar Heathcliff for more epic points.
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2012-10-22, 03:52 | Link #469 |
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
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I think the critique author has missed the forest for the trees in terms of what is actually going on in the SAO plot. SAO is not an action story with an RPG game premise. The whole potential plot about the boss being revealed, retreating, and people banding together to fight him -- that's a completely different story. SAO has never been telling that sort of story at all. The key question was: how can the story further develop Kirito and Asuna's relationship at that point, when they were already married, perfectly bonded, and back on the battlefield fighting side-by-side in perfect harmony? The answer is, of course, what we went on to see: you have to give them a brand new challenge. From a narrative perspective, SAO only exists because it allowed Kirito and Asuna to meet, fall in love, and get into a committed relationship. And the story only continues because there are more hurdles to their relationship. Everything else that goes on is just setting and mechanics (which, granted, I find quite fun and interesting).
So it's funny to call it "Trainwreck Art Online" -- the critic's understanding of what's really going on in the story was, in fact, completely off the rails, and thus their preferred plot direction is completely incongruent to the narrative. It wasn't possible to just append this to the plot we got and somehow it would "make more sense" or whatever. It wouldn't fit at all with the prior 13 episodes that were never really focused on clearing the game, except indirectly. That wasn't by accident or just because of "poor writing" or whatever -- it was telling a different story than the one the critic apparently thought it was telling (or wanted it to tell).
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2012-10-22, 04:13 | Link #470 | ||
18782+18782=37564
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2012-10-22, 04:22 | Link #471 |
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Age: 41
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Well, if they did that, I think they'd basically have to start over and re-build the story from scratch -- which, as I understand it, is apparently what the author is doing (though I don't know how much he'll change/expand the central premise to include things beyond that narrow scope). I don't think it's something they could just tack on to the end of the previous 13 episode arc, because it'd break the sense of momentum and focus. (But I suppose that the focus of the audience is part of the problem -- it's like some people were more interested in the scenery than what was happening on stage. I'm not necessarily blaming them for that either, at least not at first. But having seen the whole arc now (and where it goes next), I think people should be able to recognize what was the main plot thread and what was just a supporting plot thread. Whether they like/prefer that is another question.)
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2012-10-22, 04:43 | Link #473 | |
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The anime is trying to keep the story very personal for Kirito so you can follow clearly his motivation as it branches into the second arc. That's why it makes sense for it to happen so quickly after their relationship appears to settle. The whole "interrupted" nature of the ending is being played on multiple levels (as they keep saying, it's like SAO hasn't really ended yet). So yeah, it may work for a spin-off, but would require a lot more build-up before it makes sense to be simply appended at the end. Plus, not to mention, the proposed plot is still pretty cliché, and I'm not sure what there really is to be gained by it. I think, again, it just takes the focus away off of what really matters to the story going forward, by shifting it temporarily onto the "World of SAO" -- but that's not what the story is about.
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2012-10-22, 04:58 | Link #474 | ||
18782+18782=37564
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Spoiler for future episode content, just in case:
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2012-10-22, 05:59 | Link #475 | |
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The only way I can think of to tack on the proposed plot and fit into the existing narrative is basically to do the same thing as what the anime is doing now: split Asuna and Kirito up, and make one of them rescue the other. Because at the point where the story was, there's no where else for the couple to go in SAO -- as a team, they're basically invincible. So the timing was right for a twist that split them up. Anyway, the only reason I wanted to try to explain myself one more time is because you kind of made it sound like I didn't want the other elements to be explored, and that isn't the case. The issue is just about the structure of the narrative and the development of the plot threads. As much as people say the show is poorly written for various reasons, the structure of it all -- including the timing and sequencing of events -- is very deliberate.
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2012-10-22, 11:02 | Link #476 | |||
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The way it's handled in SAO is basically the author going "Uhhh I'm bored writing about Aincrad. What convoluted sequence of events could I use to instantly resolve the current conflict and get them in this new gimmicky Matrix setting I have some ideas for?" I think it's kind of funny you guys put so much importance on how SAO is allegedly avoiding cliches and subverting tropes with how it deals with the Heathcliff thing, when the entire justification for continuing the story after that is literally "Your princess is in another castle." You have absolutely no ground to stand on when you say having Kirito prevent the fakeout final boss was groundbreaking storytelling that took the plot in a clever new direction. Last edited by Hagoshod; 2012-10-22 at 11:46. |
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2012-10-22, 14:23 | Link #478 |
18782+18782=37564
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A clicle is a cliche because it works. And keep in mind that avoiding cliches/tropes simply for the sake of avoiding them is not a sign of good story-telling either. Besides, SAO is already full of cliches anyway, it really depends on how well they're executed.
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2012-10-22, 19:18 | Link #480 | ||
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Age: 41
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I do think the proposed plot is cliché as well, and is potentially taking the story on a tangent that doesn't really matter to what is shown to be central to the narrative. So I think the proposed change is really changing something much more broad about what the story of SAO is all about. That's why I don't think appending it as proposed is an improvement, because it eliminates the good aspect of the flow we did have in terms of the development of Kirito and Asuna's relationship. If you could spread the relationship out more, and embed this element in the middle of the story as part of the road to the climax, then maybe you can do both. But a more major rewrite is needed. If you consider SAO just the first arc in an on-going story (as it is), then I think the need for total finality in Aincrad is lessened. Although Aincrad is important as a setup, in the long term it's not that important. This isn't a story of "fighting for freedom from a death game" -- that's only the starting point.
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Last edited by relentlessflame; 2012-10-22 at 20:03. Reason: fix typo |
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