Sword Art Online - Episode 15 Discussion / Poll

[Kirroha]

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

Scorpios do always take things too seriously.

Oh, and I'm unsure on something; when Fiancee guy says that Asuna would reject him because she 'never liked' him, did he mean that she never liked him romantically, or that she just flat-out never liked him at all?

My version of the fansubs said that she outright hates him.

[Znail]

Originally Posted by Kirroha

I suppose that makes sense, but still in this episode, Suguha and Sugou's existence made me want to facepalm. The first one is an imouto who is in love with the MC, like all his other harem girls. The second is a disgusting love rival to the MC whose existence is just to show how noble and awesome the MC is while how disgusting and foul his love rivals are. That's also the reason why this show has no good-looking guys other than Kirito - of course Kirito has to look the most awesome!

Not that SAO isn't good, mind you. I'm still watching it for a reason. But sometimes things like that should be brought to light, after all.

That's assuming that you are into girly looking guys of course. Kirito himself isn't that fond of his looks if you remember back in episode 1 so did he have a more male looking avatar before the mirror changed it.

Personlly so do I find it nice that they show off Kirito's girly looks by not giving everyone else the same look despite it being the generic anime look for male characters.

[GundamZZ]

Originally Posted by Kirroha

[mod edit: removed novel hint]

But one other thing I also liked was how Kazuto really treated Sugu like a little sister. No love-love-blush-blush-incestuous unrealistic crap they tend to show in other anime when a little sister has her shirt half-unbuttoned.

Your model doesn't apply to flat chest Akiha and her relationship with a certain playboy.

This episode is only a pretext of inevitable gaming. For sure, they are not going spend all their in game tokens on some real estate or community development.

[Kirroha]

Still, I cringe at Sugou's character - yes, Sugou himself is a creep, we all know that, but I don't like the fact that his character even exists and beyond that, holds the high place of being the antagonist. We've had enough with Kuradeel and his sick obsession with Asuna as well. Bringing in Sugou just to serve as a foil to Kazuto again doesn't seem to have any point other than to further degrade Asuna into a damsel in distress. I actually preferred Kayaba Akihiko as the antagonist, one who didn't have a direct relation to Kirito or Asuna and was at least more morally ambiguous and sympathetic. So unless in the future Sugou does turn out to have some empathetic motives, I think he's a poorer villain than Kayaba.

[Zeriand]

What part of Sugou doesn't make you think that he's worse than Kayaba lol? Heathcliff seat as the coolest villain in this anime STICK even though he has so little screen time, and that's something.

EDIT: Swordstar, wtf, edit edit edit edit that shit.

[Clarste]

Well, didn't the episode imply that Kayaba was still out there somewhere? Supposedly he's suspected of being behind the remaining 300 victims. So it's not like he suddenly stopped being a villain.

[Swordstriker21]

Originally Posted by Kirroha

Still, I cringe at Sugou's character - yes, Sugou himself is a creep, we all know that, but I don't like the fact that his character even exists and beyond that, holds the high place of being the antagonist. We've had enough with Kuradeel and his sick obsession with Asuna as well. Bringing in Sugou just to serve as a foil to Kazuto again doesn't seem to have any point other than to further degrade Asuna into a damsel in distress. I actually preferred Kayaba Akihiko as the antagonist, one who didn't have a direct relation to Kirito or Asuna and was at least more morally ambiguous and sympathetic. So unless in the future Sugou does turn out to have some empathetic motives, I think he's a poorer villain than Kayaba.

Hmmm. That might be what was intended after all. Kawahara does have the predilection to create characters people absolutely love to hate. It might be a cheap move but why don't we see how it goes from here. Even series w/ crappy villains can be good because of other factors. Though a likeable antagonist certainly is a plus.

[Seihai]

Ok so 3 monitors aren't as uncommon as I thought. I'm still amazed by it. I started using dual screens myself not too long ago and boy I can't explain how cool I thought that was.

As for the sibling's relationship I don't see a problem. They could have done away with Suguha's feelings for Kirito but I don't find them unreasonable either so for the hell of it, let the wincest shippers rejoice or something. And for those who see a love triangle, I don't see one unless Kirito comes to consider Suguha's feelings which I doubt he ever will. To me, Suguha is the first girl besides Asuna to fall in love with Kirito (others were just crushes imo) but that aspect might just shapen her up to be the best sister he could ever have, in a non-romantic way, as kinda seen in the OP assuming that's Suguha.

[Rising Dragon]

Y'know... I haven't seen the episode yet, but I'm rather confused as to why you're all comparing this Sugou guy to Kayaba as an antagonist... because as far as antagonists go, Kayaba wasn't much one of one, because he was hardly ever THERE. One appearance at the start, then a couple as decidedly less-than-evil Heathcliff, and then episode 14 when the truth's revealed. He barely even qualifies as an antagonist, all things considered, so I think the comparison between him and Sugou is rather unfair.

[Seihai]

I see Kayaba as some kind of antihero with an antagonistic status considering the in-anime hatred he generated in SAO players. I can see why people would think that Sugou is a cheap villain though.

[Kirroha]

Originally Posted by Zeriand

What part of Sugou doesn't make you think that he's worse than Kayaba lol? Heathcliff seat as the coolest villain in this anime STICK even though he has so little screen time, and that's something.

EDIT: Swordstar, wtf, edit edit edit edit that shit.

Um, I don't quite get it. What I mean to say is not about the villain's "badness" per se, it's the villain's character. Nowadays, we all know that the world is beyond black and white. Thus, having a purely good hero and a purely evil hero just won't cut it as a good show. Sugou currently seems like a completely appalling person, while Kayaba did bad things but was sympathetic at the end, and wasn't truly "purely evil", unlike what Sugou seems to me. Of course, like I said, Sugou might turn out to have redeeming features. We never know. But I think that's not very likely, because so far, people don't tend to have male characters act lusciously and disgustingly perverted towards a girl like a creeper and still be redeemable. (With the exception of Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni, funnily enough) Still, there's a possibility that he really does like Asuna, just that he doesn't know how to express it and so enforced his love for her in creepy ways. We shall see.

Hmmm. That might be what was intended after all. Kawahara does have the predilection to create characters people absolutely love to hate. It might be a cheap move but why don't we see how it goes from here. Even series w/ crappy villains can be good because of other factors. Though a likeable antagonist certainly is a plus.

Yes, exactly. A poor antagonist won't ruin a whole show, but in all senses a villain is almost as important a character to a story as a hero is. If Sugou really is going to be the villain from now, it will be better for him to be at least slightly empathetic to give the story more depth.

[Swordstriker21]

Originally Posted by Kirroha

Yes, exactly. A poor antagonist won't ruin a whole show, but in all senses a villain is almost as important a character to a story as a hero is. If Sugou really is going to be the villain from now, it will be better for him to be at least slightly empathetic to give the story more depth.

Ahahaha. Well yeah lot's of antagonists these days have moved on from "black and white" to that ambiguous gray zone in terms of motives and whatnot. But strangely enough I find it a bit refreshing to have a really "evil" villain in a show. I mean every time they introduce these ambigous "anti-heroes" they almost always turn out an ally of the protagonist because of "the power of love and friendship" (I'm looking at you shounen genre). It's kinda nice that we finally get an antagonist we can actually strangle to death and feel good about it. Or maybe I'm just weird...

[maelstormCaT]

wooo, thats a damn nice episode.
As a Light Novel reader, I have absolutely no gripe about it.

easy 10/10
in fact, I would give it a 11/10 if during the kendo match it was made clear that he tries to reach for an imaginary second sword from his back, habit from SoA.

cant wait for next episode!

[Kirroha]

Originally Posted by Swordstriker21

Ahahaha. Well yeah lot's of antagonists these days have moved on from "black and white" to that ambiguous gray zone in terms of motives and whatnot. But strangely enough I find it a bit refreshing to have a really "evil" villain in a show. I mean every time they introduce these ambigous "anti-heroes" they almost always turn out an ally of the protagonist because of "the power of love and friendship" (I'm looking at you shounen genre). It's kinda nice that we finally get an antagonist we can actually strangle to death and feel good about it. Or maybe I'm just weird...

Yes, strangling the crap out of an evil antagonist DOES make people feel good, which is why it is present in most fairytales and stories aimed for children. It is because it appeals to the most primal of our desires, to want to destroy evil (aka people who oppose us), and to see the world in the most simplistic form possible. But we are all getting civilized and we realize that nothing is black and white. Thus, no matter how fun it is to destroy evil, there is still the fact that nobody is completely evil. Thus, to show otherwise is just going to be unrealistic and to some extent, immature, as it shows a childish perception of the world.

So it all boils down to whether or not SAO should be watched for wish fulfillment, or as an actually good piece of work.

[shakeofinfinity]

dammit i hope the new game's last boss will be the fiance and Kazuto will own his ass upside down

[eiyuu99]

probably so. when the fiance reveals his true colors so early...

[shakeofinfinity]

Originally Posted by Peanutbutter

Wow, Suguha or Asuna....that's a tough choice.

That Suguha fanservice. My goodness.

I swear they picked Taketatsu Ayana for this role because they know the fans wanna see what an ideal Kirino looks like.

LOL, derederedere kirino + bigger chest ftw

[Swordstriker21]

Originally Posted by shakeofinfinity

LOL, derederedere kirino + bigger chest ftw

Suguha the ideal Kirino? Now why didn't I think of that?

[Haruyasha]

Not to pick at egos, since I know people are entitled to their opinion, but..

Spoiler for Seriously?:

Episode 15: A nicely balanced episode with decent animation and good pacing (seems to be a rare thing in this series), along with the nice development of two characters... This is in contrast to the disasters that were episodes 13 and 14... running through 4 chapters each, with a lot of missing details and sub-par quality.

And yet this episode is voted lower? This leads me to believe that quite a few people have either short attention spans, or a poor taste.

[shakeofinfinity]

Originally Posted by Swordstriker21

Suguha the ideal Kirino? Now why didn't I think of that?

who needs asuna when u have suguha
hope kazuto changes his mind