Sword Art Online - Anime Spoilers & Speculation (for SAO Novel Readers only)

[Swordstriker21]

Originally Posted by kyp275

it's Skuld, not Urd :P

Sorry. Pulled out an all-nighter waiting for ep. 2 to air LOL I seriously need to sleep now but nah... I'll fix that up right away.

And she was an employee? I thought she was an A.I.?

[Wild Goose]

In-universe speculation by Kirito - it's mentioned that some ALO employees roleplay as the NPCs/quest givers. Note that she gives Klein what seems to be a mail address, which an AI cannot have.

...unless she is an AI with an email address...

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

In-universe speculation by Kirito - it's mentioned that some ALO employees roleplay as the NPCs/quest givers. Note that she gives Klein what seems to be a mail address, which an AI cannot have.

...unless she is an AI with an email address...

which makes her, and subsequently Klein, even more awesome

[Swordstriker21]

Originally Posted by kyp275

which makes her, and subsequently Klein, even more awesome

Agreed on all counts

[Flere821]

Beater episode was lack-lustre IMO. Kirito wasn't stated to take on the role of Beater to let other Beta players off the hook, and Diabel's last selfish attempt to try and get the last attack came completely at odds with his leadership of trying to clear the 1st floor, when we don't have the build-up given in Aria.

Asuna, well I'll admit not portraying her as the newb as in Aria probably isn't important in the long run, when later on she's the 2nd-in-command of KoB. But IMO this made her lack of knowledge about the system/gameplay (eg, where to see your teammate's name, and 'switch') jarring. Right now Asuna with what we have in the anime is 'a swordswoman who's kinda a loner and has potential', without the build-up in Aria that gives her a bit more depth. As it is now I'm not quite satisfied, but this can change later on.

[Rovert10]

Originally Posted by Flere821

Beater episode was lack-lustre IMO. Kirito wasn't stated to take on the role of Beater to let other Beta players off the hook, and Diabel's last selfish attempt to try and get the last attack came completely at odds with his leadership of trying to clear the 1st floor, when we don't have the build-up given in Aria.

Asuna, well I'll admit not portraying her as the newb as in Aria probably isn't important in the long run, when later on she's the 2nd-in-command of KoB. But IMO this made her lack of knowledge about the system/gameplay (eg, where to see your teammate's name, and 'switch') jarring. Right now Asuna with what we have in the anime is 'a swordswoman who's kinda a loner and has potential', without the build-up in Aria that gives her a bit more depth. As it is now I'm not quite satisfied, but this can change later on.

To be honest, I have issues with the Aria side story in general.

[Flere821]

Originally Posted by Rovert10

To be honest, I have issues with the Aria side story in general.

*shrug* we all have our opinions, let's leave it at that. I just wanted to say my own 2 cents

[novalysis]

I think with this pacing, we are definitely going to see ALO too.

Also, if Red Nose Reindeer can't make me feel for Kirito like the LN did, I'd say this anime flubbed the next episode.

There's going to be a horde of critics walking in next week proclaiming: who cares about Sachi anyway? Why should we care?

[Flere821]

Originally Posted by novalysis

I think with this pacing, we are definitely going to see ALO too.

Also, if Red Nose Reindeer can't make me feel for Kirito like the LN did, I'd say this anime flubbed the next episode.

There's going to be a horde of critics walking in next week proclaiming: who cares about Sachi anyway? Why should we care?

*winces* yeah, I can see that happening. Can they really portray Kirito's guilt of letting people die because he 'selfishly' wanted to have some friends, or his despair in how the fact people don't come back after they die sinking in, within maybe 10 minutes? The rest of it will probably be him level-grinding or solo the boss.

Judging from the PVs though, Klein's bit looks like it'll be as impacting as in the LNs, so that's a plus

[lansglenn]

Originally Posted by Flere821

*winces* yeah, I can see that happening. Can they really portray Kirito's guilt of letting people die because he 'selfishly' wanted to have some friends, or his despair in how the fact people don't come back after they die sinking in, within maybe 10 minutes? The rest of it will probably be him level-grinding or solo the boss.

Judging from the PVs though, Klein's bit looks like it'll be as impacting as in the LNs, so that's a plus

The most we'll feel for any character within the span of 1 episode is about as much as we feel for Diabel in ep2.

[novalysis]

Write off Red Nose Reindeer then? If RNR fails, the rest of the entire arc, up till Asuna and Kirito forms a permanent team or Kirito joining the KoB is going to flop . Hard. Black Swordsman and Warmth of the Heart makes the most sense only when you consider Kirito's state of mind by Red Nose Reindeer.

[com_gwp]

Originally Posted by novalysis

I think with this pacing, we are definitely going to see ALO too.

Also, if Red Nose Reindeer can't make me feel for Kirito like the LN did, I'd say this anime flubbed the next episode.

There's going to be a horde of critics walking in next week proclaiming: who cares about Sachi anyway? Why should we care?

Oh man, you've summed up my fears pretty well. I honestly don't see how the anime can convincingly convey Kirito's and Sachi's loneliness and the impact of her death to the audience if it's a one parter, especially when we're this early in. And RNR is an event that has longstanding consequences reaching even into the ALO arc. They really should kick down the pacing a notch. Aria would've done more good as a two parter as well to better establish the concept of the beaters and Asuna's initial suicidal character.

It almost feels like they're aiming for a 50-50 break between SAO and ALO at this rate, which I honestly don't think should be the case. ALO can be covered in less episodes than SAO without even leaving out much, since the scope and number of characters are much smaller than SAO.

[Hmm....]

Originally Posted by novalysis

Write off Red Nose Reindeer then? If RNR fails, the rest of the entire arc, up till Asuna and Kirito forms a permanent team or Kirito joining the KoB is going to flop . Hard. Black Swordsman and Warmth of the Heart makes the most sense only when you consider Kirito's state of mind by Red Nose Reindeer.

My predictation is RNR will be the same as Aria, fail for LN novel, quite good for anime viewer.
It won't harm the upcoming story. We will get a typical solo main lead wander from floor to floor helping girls he found and add them to his harem.
(Did he ever help any male player ?? )



EDIT: It seem ppl still love Asuna enough with the introduction she had in this episode. So it's not that fail I guess

[Swordstriker21]

Originally Posted by Hmm....

My predictation is RNR will be the same as Aria, fail for LN novel, quite good for anime viewer.
It won't harm the upcoming story. We will get a typical solo main lead wander from floor to floor helping girls he found and add them to his harem.
(Did he ever help any male player ?? )



EDIT: It seem ppl still love Asuna enough with the introduction she had in this episode. So it's not that fail I guess

Actually he did help... no that's not... Oh how bout... nah not that too... well maybe that guy... nope not really............

Nevermind

[Awrya]

Looks like all the rushing through side stories is to allow the actual story in Vol. 1 to progress. For anime-only viewers it is pretty entertaining, but for LN readers the studio just butchered it up

RNR will probably be in the timeline where Kirito has just joined with the guild, so we won't get a cameo of evil Santa Claus
On a more serious note, he caused the guild to wipe+suicide, he lived with that guild for a long time, even pushing himself to get that resurrection item during the Christmas event. Can one episode really convey all the feeling Kirito experienced like the LN did?

[com_gwp]

Originally Posted by Awrya

Looks like all the rushing through side stories is to allow the actual story in Vol. 1 to progress. For anime-only viewers it is pretty entertaining, but for LN readers the studio just butchered it up

RNR will probably be in the timeline where Kirito has just joined with the guild, so we won't get a cameo of evil Santa Claus
On a more serious note, he caused the guild to wipe+suicide, he lived with that guild for a long time, even pushing himself to get that resurrection item during the Christmas event. Can one episode really convey all the feeling Kirito experienced like the LN did?

It'll still follow the LNs I believe, the PV already showed some parts of the christmas scene. Or they probably wouldn't have called it RNR anyways

[maelstormCaT]

I have no problem with the pacing.
Sure they rush Aria, but all the important point is still there, so it's all good.
Shame about no Argo, but it's a good episode nonetheless.

I gave this ep an 8.5 out of 10.
The boss fight scene is very good.

[Fallen3dge]

Hope they do the actual v1 better then aria considering they have about 6/7 eps to do so. Warmth of the heart is included lol

[balu01]

I hope this is the right place to ask this:
Could someone summarize what was left out from the LN in the 2nd anime episode? Or which parts of the LN should I read if I'm interested in these missing parts? Thanks in advance!

[Swordstriker21]

Originally Posted by balu01

I hope this is the right place to ask this:
Could someone summarize what was left out from the LN in the 2nd anime episode? Or which parts of the LN should I read if I'm interested in these missing parts? Thanks in advance!

Actually to get the entire feel you need to read the entirety of the side story Aria in the Starless Night. Things play out very differently. So as not to spoil the rest of the anime I suggest only reading this SS for now.