(L) Sword Art Online - Light Novel Discussion

[Shinji103]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

I salute Kawahara. He actually had the balls to not only resolve the relationship in the first volume, but actually has his protaganist be loyal to one girl and ignorenthe hints and advances of other girls. Plus, Asuna is a lot more mature about her relationship with Kirito compared to your average anime love interest (tsundere optional).

Originally Posted by Aphrah

But yes, agreed on all accounts. Kirito and Asuna's adorable relationship is the reason I'm love this series as much as I do. I was so sick of awkward romances where nothing happens until the very end, so this was a godsend for me.

Word. It's nice to see this guy break away from the ages-old, used-almost-every-time romance recipe and be one of the handfull of creators/authors/directors who starts his series with a cemented relationship and builds the characters from there. That's something we rarely see.

[Awrya]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

I salute Kawahara. He actually had the balls to not only resolve the relationship in the first volume, but actually has his protaganist be loyal to one girl and ignorenthe hints and advances of other girls. Plus, Asuna is a lot more mature about her relationship with Kirito compared to your average anime love interest (tsundere optional).

It depends on what you mean by ignore.
If ignore as in not knowing; he did get Liz's subtle hint about how she wanted to be his 'personal blacksmith' (repairing armour, sharpening his sword).
If ignore as in knowing but staying loyal to Asuna, yes he is awesome. There are too many main characters who attract girls like a magnet but still stay oblivious to their advances.

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

Also, A Murder Case is hilarious in hindsight if they animate SAO chronologically. Kirito suggests to Asuna that they get married to test a theory of his, Asuna is embarrassed and pissed off. Contrast with chapter 17 of volume 1.

In the side stories 'Aria in the Starless Night', ME8 and ME9 it is hinted her interest her interest in Kirito started one month after they were trapped in SAO, though not sure if they are accepted as canon.
'A Murder Case' takes place in April, with Liz forging Dark Repulsor in June, where at the end it is revealed Asuna is in love with Kirito.
There is a 2-3 month gap, which is more than enough to fall in love with someone.

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

Ah... This is probably going to be one of the best anime of this decade. To someone who grew up seeing mostly unhealthy relationships in anime, this gives me some hope.

Also, i do wonder just how closely SAO and Accel World are connected, given the various implications that Kuroyukihime is Kirito and Asuna's daughter...

As far as I know KYH parents are not mentioned yet in AW, or did I miss something?

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by Aphrah

Oh yay, another romance buff! There don't seem to be a lot of us in this thread.

But yes, agreed on all accounts. Kirito and Asuna's adorable relationship is the reason I'm love this series as much as I do. I was so sick of awkward romances where nothing happens until the very end, so this was a godsend for me.

Not really a romance person myself (heck, I skipped the romances in Mass Effect and played my Shep as a Bro with no time for romance), and I usually roll my eyes at what passes for romance in anime (accidental groping, shouting, fists thrown right and left, tsundere overreactions). But as said above, Kirito and Asuna's relationship is adorable. I make an exception for them. The average anime love interest either watches from afar or is too tsundere to admit her feelings - there aren't many who're honest enough to realise that yes, they love this boy, and yes, they want to win him over. The other thing I like is that it's very much a pairing of equals, of partners, and the culmination of two years of friendship.

Also, they're not jerks to each other, unlike say the violence-prone harem of Infinite Stratos, to the point that most viewers, and the author himself prefer Charlotte Dunois to win, because DAT FRANCE is the nicest girl of the bunch.

...also, Asuna isn't the jealous type, which is a plus in her favor - other girls would have flown into a rage upon learning that Kirito was regular penpals with another girl.

Mhm, Indeed. We still don't know how it ends, and need to know that as the ending is what we take away with us at the end of it all. So as long as the ending is a happy one for Kirito and Asuna, and isn't very open ended, I imagine the majority of the fan base will be overjoyed with that.

I think I wouldn't mind an open-ended ending that would lead into Phantom Bullet and Mother's Rosario, etc. The ending of Fairy Dance really is the best point to end this season, because it has the happy ending fully earned, and Kirito and Lyfa come to terms with the emotional baggage they've been carrying throughout the arc, Kirito in particular reaching a measure of peace re: Sachi, and Suguha coming to terms with her feelings and confessing to Kirito, and them managing to move forward. And then it's time for a rematch with Aincrad, with the SAO survivors who migrated to ALO showing up, along with the ALO factions calling a temporary truce. Honestly that's the best place to end, because it brings everything to a close, but there's the promise of all sorts of adventures to continue.

Which allows Phantom Bullet, Mother's Rosario and Early And Late to be animated as a 12-13 ep interquel series, and gives enough time for Alicization to be completed and then animated as another full series.

Eh. Kawahara said that there is no clear connection between the two worlds. Huh? What implications..?

Just that looking at Kuroyukihime, she's obviously rich, she's got Asuna's hairstyle but Kirito's hair color, wears tights like Asuna, is a dual blade swordswoman...

That said, while Kirito and Asuna may have been inspirations, the fact of the matter is that Accel World is thus, due to confirmed Word of God, a different series with no connection. It's just that it did seem as though Accel World was a stealth sequel-ish thing.

I suppose it's kinda like Dance in the Vampire Bund, where the three main characters - Male lead, female lead, male lead's female childhood friend - are clearly inspired from the male lead, female lead and their daughter, from an older h-manga of the same author (Ne-to-ge: Lovers in Cyberspace). *shrugs*

Originally Posted by Shinji103

Word. It's nice to see this guy break away from the ages-old, used-almost-every-time romance recipe and be one of the handfull of creators/authors/directors who starts his series with a cemented relationship and builds the characters from there. That's something we rarely see.

Off the top of my head, the last time I saw any romance that was already in place from the get-go was Lord of the Rings (Aragon & Arwen). The movies made that more clear, though in the books it's relegated to an appendix.

In anime...uh, Sousuke and Kaname from Full Metal Panic, maybe? The relationship is more or less clear cut after Continuing On My Own...There's also Yuu and Hime from Brain Powered, who start off antagonistic (particularly Yuu, who has practically no social skills and keeps kissing Hime to make her shut up, without realising said significance of said kiss - though Hime doesn't really mind too much) but significantly develop throughout the series...

Actually, I think this is probably why the SAO fandom on Asuki is so enthusiastic, in addition to the genuinely good action, the fact that Asuna is definately not a Faux Action Girl, and the excellent writing. The romance that is cemented and forms the foundation of the relationship.

... 1 hour 12 minutes to go. It's too bad Malaysians can't access Crunchyroll. x___x

Originally Posted by Awrya

It depends on what you mean by ignore.
If ignore as in not knowing; he did get Liz's subtle hint about how she wanted to be his 'personal blacksmith' (repairing armour, sharpening his sword).
If ignore as in knowing but staying loyal to Asuna, yes he is awesome. There are too many main characters who attract girls like a magnet but still stay oblivious to their advances.

Kirito actually seems to be a mix of 1 and 2; he appears completely unaware of Scilica's crush on him, and Suguha had to flat out confess to him, and until then he wasn't aware that Lyfa had feelings for him. (Although to be fair, at the time he was focused on freeing Asuna.)

At the same time, he also realised Lizbeth's feelings for him, and let her down gently, and Caliber implies that he's aware of Shino's feelings for him, thanks to her Megawatt Smile of Doom: "Whenever you draw this sword, please think of me." XD <3

"Oh crap."

So yeah, mix of 1 and 2.

In the side stories 'Aria in the Starless Night', ME8 and ME9 it is hinted her interest her interest in Kirito started one month after they were trapped in SAO, though not sure if they are accepted as canon.
'A Murder Case' takes place in April, with Liz forging Dark Repulsor in June, where at the end it is revealed Asuna is in love with Kirito.
There is a 2-3 month gap, which is more than enough to fall in love with someone.

Ugh, I'd gotten the timeline a bit messed up in my head, but yes, that's more than enough time, and fits with what she told Nishida - that it was after that when she realised that she truly did love him.

...would like to see that duel she fought with him, in which she meant to use to cast aside her feelings, but instead said duel revealed the truth to her.

As far as I know KYH parents are not mentioned yet in AW, or did I miss something?

Refer above. Just some speculation that I've been doing, though it's more of a cracklulz idea and I'm happy with this being two seperate verses.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

Not really a romance person myself (heck, I skipped the romances in Mass Effect and played my Shep as a Bro with no time for romance), and I usually roll my eyes at what passes for romance in anime (accidental groping, shouting, fists thrown right and left, tsundere overreactions). But as said above, Kirito and Asuna's relationship is adorable. I make an exception for them. The average anime love interest either watches from afar or is too tsundere to admit her feelings - there aren't many who're honest enough to realise that yes, they love this boy, and yes, they want to win him over. The other thing I like is that it's very much a pairing of equals, of partners, and the culmination of two years of friendship.

Also, they're not jerks to each other, unlike say the violence-prone harem of Infinite Stratos, to the point that most viewers, and the author himself prefer Charlotte Dunois to win, because DAT FRANCE is the nicest girl of the bunch.

...also, Asuna isn't the jealous type, which is a plus in her favor - other girls would have flown into a rage upon learning that Kirito was regular penpals with another girl.

That's what I refer to as 'awkward' romance; but in all honesty, it doesn't even deserve to be called romance. Oh look, that guy grabbed her boob, he must be into her!

Harem romances, or 'harem-ances', are generally horrible, but there are a few exceptions (Mashiro iro Symphony). I guess some people just love the idea of the MC being surrounded by hoards of beautiful women. *shrug*

Indeed. I'm glad that she's a very understanding woman; Kirito is surrounded by girls, but she doesn't worry about any of them stealing him away because she knows his heart belongs to her.

I think I wouldn't mind an open-ended ending that would lead into Phantom Bullet and Mother's Rosario, etc. The ending of Fairy Dance really is the best point to end this season, because it has the happy ending fully earned, and Kirito and Lyfa come to terms with the emotional baggage they've been carrying throughout the arc, Kirito in particular reaching a measure of peace re: Sachi, and Suguha coming to terms with her feelings and confessing to Kirito, and them managing to move forward. And then it's time for a rematch with Aincrad, with the SAO survivors who migrated to ALO showing up, along with the ALO factions calling a temporary truce. Honestly that's the best place to end, because it brings everything to a close, but there's the promise of all sorts of adventures to continue.

Which allows Phantom Bullet, Mother's Rosario and Early And Late to be animated as a 12-13 ep interquel series, and gives enough time for Alicization to be completed and then animated as another full series.

My apologies, I was talking about the ending of series, and not ending of the first season. I should've made that clearer.

As for the ending of the first season, yeah, I wouldn't mind an open-ended ending, as that'd likely mean we'd get a second season. As much as I'd love to expand, you seem to have already done that, so I'll just say that I completely agree. ;p

Hm. One cour season for those arcs, hm? Maybe. I think an OVA series would be more likely, but the problem is that a lot of content would have to get cut.

Just that looking at Kuroyukihime, she's obviously rich, she's got Asuna's hairstyle but Kirito's hair color, wears tights like Asuna, is a dual blade swordswoman...

That said, while Kirito and Asuna may have been inspirations, the fact of the matter is that Accel World is thus, due to confirmed Word of God, a different series with no connection. It's just that it did seem as though Accel World was a stealth sequel-ish thing.

I suppose it's kinda like Dance in the Vampire Bund, where the three main characters - Male lead, female lead, male lead's female childhood friend - are clearly inspired from the male lead, female lead and their daughter, from an older h-manga of the same author (Ne-to-ge: Lovers in Cyberspace). *shrugs*

Haha, I see where you're coming from now. ;p

Sure, that's all fine, but what about the time..

Spoiler for Accel World episode 3 or 4 (i forget):

..she took the hit for Haruyuki and had to stay in the hospital. Her parents didn't once show up to see their daughter, which was barely clinging on to dear life. Asuna and Kirito wouldn't let her suffer alone like that. At least I hope not, anyway.

Well, I can't say I blame you; the concepts are very similar, they're by the same author, and AW's world is supposedly around 20 years ahead of SAO's world.

Hm. I guess it depends on which story was created first. I think it may've been SAO, but I'm not completely sure. But if it was, then yeah, you're most definitely right.

[lansglenn]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

[...] Accel World is thus, due to confirmed Word of God, a different series with no connection. [...]

Where did you read this?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by lansglenn

Where did you read this?

Not in those exact words, but Accel World Volume 10 Afterwords.

[com_gwp]

Aw, liking SAO is now no longer gonna be the cool thing to do since it's becoming so mainstream. Oh well

In all seriousness, it's honestly great to see the franchise getting all this recognition it rightly deserves.

[lansglenn]

Originally Posted by com_gwp

In all seriousness, it's honestly great to see the franchise getting all this recognition it rightly deserves.

Agreed!

Extra points to Kawahara Reki for envisioning this back in 2002, even before WoW became mainstream.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by com_gwp

Aw, liking SAO is now no longer gonna be the cool thing to do since it's becoming so mainstream. Oh well

In all seriousness, it's honestly great to see the franchise getting all this recognition it rightly deserves.

Goddamn hipsters!

Indeed! I'd love to see some SAO figures..

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by Aphrah

That's what I refer to as 'awkward' romance; but in all honesty, it doesn't even deserve to be called romance. Oh look, that guy grabbed her boob, he must be into her!

Harem romances, or 'harem-ances', are generally horrible, but there are a few exceptions (Mashiro iro Symphony). I guess some people just love the idea of the MC being surrounded by hoards of beautiful women. *shrug*

Indeed. I'm glad that she's a very understanding woman; Kirito is surrounded by girls, but she doesn't worry about any of them stealing him away because she knows his heart belongs to her.

TO an extent, I think the harem genre exists primarily because it allows a wider net to cheer "their" girl and hope for a miracle, even though the general convention is first girl wins, which even SAO isn't immune from. (Mind you, when it's done well, the problems are forgivable.) And also, there's more eye candy.

But generally, I think the only harem series I've actually not disliked with utmost strength has been Negima... and only because Akamatsu slowly turned it from harem into an action series. (Plus, KonoSetsu FTW.)

...actually, one could argue that Aria (the gondolier series, not the Scarlet Ammo) is a harem series, if you consider the pairing as: Neo-Venezia canals + all the undines ;P Afterall, given the amount of time they spend on the water, and how the canals have the perfect angle to appreciate their fully-clothed fanservice... yes, truly this is th-

*CRACK*
Wild Goose is Oared by Akira! Sneak Damage Bonus! Critical Hit Bonus!
"Ecchi serifuru kinshi!!!"

M...medic....

My apologies, I was talking about the ending of series, and not ending of the first season. I should've made that clearer.

As for the ending of the first season, yeah, I wouldn't mind an open-ended ending, as that'd likely mean we'd get a second season. As much as I'd love to expand, you seem to have already done that, so I'll just say that I completely agree. ;p

Hm. One cour season for those arcs, hm? Maybe. I think an OVA series would be more likely, but the problem is that a lot of content would have to get cut.

Hmmm. Might be an S2 devoted to some sidestories then... I'm using KyoAni's precedent with Full Metal Panic, once GONZO lost that series. The first KyoAni season, for 12 eps, was the humorous Fumoffu?, then they did another 13 eps of BSOD-laden awesome that was The Second Raid. Now that the novels are finished, whole legions of FMP fans pray each night for KyoAni to animate and finish FMP. T___T

But yes, animate Phantom Bullet and Mother's Rosario. Totally awesome. And I'd like to see the Beserk Healer in action XD

"Sorry, this area is currently sealed."

Haha, I see where you're coming from now. ;p

Sure, that's all fine, but what about the time..

Spoiler for Accel World episode 3 or 4 (i forget):

..she took the hit for Haruyuki and had to stay in the hospital. Her parents didn't once show up to see their daughter, which was barely clinging on to dear life. Asuna and Kirito wouldn't let her suffer alone like that. At least I hope not, anyway.

*facepalm* Completely forgot about that. You're right, they wouldn't have left her in the hospital alone like that, they'd have been there, and would have been taking turns at the very least.

Well, I can't say I blame you; the concepts are very similar, they're by the same author, and AW's world is supposedly around 20 years ahead of SAO's world.

Hm. I guess it depends on which story was created first. I think it may've been SAO, but I'm not completely sure. But if it was, then yeah, you're most definitely right.

THere was also the sidestory in which Kirito went up against Silver Crow and almost won before the game timed out. Haru was quite relieved to have survived, and described Kirito as having the same aura as KYH-sempai, who was quite interested in his description of a black-clad swordsman with dual blades.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

TO an extent, I think the harem genre exists primarily because it allows a wider net to cheer "their" girl and hope for a miracle, even though the general convention is first girl wins, which even SAO isn't immune from. (Mind you, when it's done well, the problems are forgivable.) And also, there's more eye candy.

But generally, I think the only harem series I've actually not disliked with utmost strength has been Negima... and only because Akamatsu slowly turned it from harem into an action series. (Plus, KonoSetsu FTW.)

...actually, one could argue that Aria (the gondolier series, not the Scarlet Ammo) is a harem series, if you consider the pairing as: Neo-Venezia canals + all the undines ;P Afterall, given the amount of time they spend on the water, and how the canals have the perfect angle to appreciate their fully-clothed fanservice... yes, truly this is th-

*CRACK*
Wild Goose is Oared by Akira! Sneak Damage Bonus! Critical Hit Bonus!
"Ecchi serifuru kinshi!!!"

M...medic....

Most definitely. There's also the whole 'otaku pandering' element a lot of harem shows have. There is some romantic development between the characters in harems, but it cannot hold a light to series with proper romance and romantic developments. Basically, one should never watch a harem for the romance. It's the same as watching an action film for the comedy; sure, there might be some there, but it certainly will be drowned out by the action. One of my main reasons for enjoying the series is because of its ability to mix fantasy, action, and romance so well.

Oh, you.

Hmmm. Might be an S2 devoted to some sidestories then... I'm using KyoAni's precedent with Full Metal Panic, once GONZO lost that series. The first KyoAni season, for 12 eps, was the humorous Fumoffu?, then they did another 13 eps of BSOD-laden awesome that was The Second Raid. Now that the novels are finished, whole legions of FMP fans pray each night for KyoAni to animate and finish FMP. T___T

But yes, animate Phantom Bullet and Mother's Rosario. Totally awesome. And I'd like to see the Beserk Healer in action XD

"Sorry, this area is currently sealed."

They also may adapt the side stories as they go along in the first season. That'd be nice enough, I think. Ah. I was using SHAFT's plan to animate the rest of Monogatari series as mine, since they're both light novels series that are quite popular. Only time will tell, I suppose.

*facepalm* Completely forgot about that. You're right, they wouldn't have left her in the hospital alone like that, they'd have been there, and would have been taking turns at the very least.

THere was also the sidestory in which Kirito went up against Silver Crow and almost won before the game timed out. Haru was quite relieved to have survived, and described Kirito as having the same aura as KYH-sempai, who was quite interested in his description of a black-clad swordsman with dual blades.

It happens to the best of us. ;p

I'm sure Kirito was interested in the black-clad swords(wo)man with dual blade, because he saw her as someone trying to mimic his fighting style.

[Miraluka]

When it comes to serious romance element only SAO and Campione! hooked me up in that regard.
HnA, ZnT, etc make go from AYS? to LOL to facepalming various times .

[Nihgthawk]

You know I think we are all forgetting something. *Looks at the SAO Wikipedia page.* Oh right three days until Sword Art Online 10: Alicization Running comes out. So much to do, so much to do. *Goes and grabs the tranquilizer gun and the extra large suitcase* So who usually translates SAO again?

[Miraluka]

Don't tempt karma there is a reaso why Teh_Ping vanished.

[Awrya]

Originally Posted by Nihgthawk

You know I think we are all forgetting something. *Looks at the SAO Wikipedia page.* Oh right three days until Sword Art Online 10: Alicization Running comes out. So much to do, so much to do. *Goes and grabs the tranquilizer gun and the extra large suitcase* So who usually translates SAO again?

What? 3 days until SAO Vol. 10 comes out and I just know it now?
This is a deja vu, I didn't know To aru NT4 came out until I saw the entry and translation

[Shinji103]

Originally Posted by Awrya

What? 3 days until SAO Vol. 10 comes out and I just know it now?
This is a deja vu, I didn't know To aru NT4 came out until I saw the entry and translation

Hey, at least that means you didn't end up agonizing over each and every day of waiting for its release over the last 5 months since volume 9 was released in Feberuary.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Wilfriback

When it comes to serious romance element only SAO and Campione! hooked me up in that regard.
HnA, ZnT, etc make go from AYS? to LOL to facepalming various times .

Campione! has a serious romance element in it? I thought it was more of a harem-romance series?

@Nihgthawk: Don't worry; you still have plenty of time to do what you need to do, as there are 3 days left until the novel only releases, Teh_Ping does have a life of his own, so it'll take him however long to translate that volume.

[Nihgthawk]

Originally Posted by Aphrah

@Nihgthawk: Don't worry; you still have plenty of time to do what you need to do, as there are 3 days left until the novel only releases, Teh_Ping does have a life of his own, so it'll take him however long to translate that volume.

Yes plenty of time. *looks into the pit* It translates the next chapter or it gets the hose again.

All joking aside I want to thank who ever translates vol 10 ahead of time. I know its not easy to translate something especially something like SAO that at times can have a lot of complicated words and descriptions that are a pain to do.

[Miraluka]

Originally Posted by Aphrah

Campione! has a serious romance element in it? I thought it was more of a harem-romance series?

@Nihgthawk: Don't worry; you still have plenty of time to do what you need to do, as there are 3 days left until the novel only releases, Teh_Ping does have a life of his own, so it'll take him however long to translate that volume.

Yes, it is, you won't find your female character bitching around because the male character is wishy washy or just a plain pervert like Saito, or dumb like Ichika, etc....

Actually, the MC has a good relationship with the girls and the girls are comprehensive with each other.

Spoiler:

Its a real harem series because the characters openly acepts that there can't be somone left out with the feelings hurt .
Its weird but I don't hate the characters be it male or female.

For more details ask Campione! LN thread there people with a better vision of the series.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Wilfriback

Yes, it is, you won't find your female character bitching around because the male character is wishy washy or just a plain pervert like Saito, or dumb like Ichika, etc....

Actually, the MC has a good relationship with the girls and the girls are comprehensive with each other.

Spoiler:

Its a real harem series because the characters openly acepts that there can't be somone left out with the feelings hurt .
Its weird but I don't hate the characters be it male or female.

For more details ask Campione! LN thread there people with a better vision of the series.

Ah, that's good to hear.

Oh, I see, I see. I still think I'd prefer SAO's approach to romance.

Will do. :3