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View Poll Results: Critique of Episode 09
10 out of 10: Near Perfect... 113 61.08%
9 out of 10 : Excellent... 44 23.78%
8 out of 10 : Very Good... 13 7.03%
7 out of 10 : Good... 7 3.78%
6 out of 10 : Average... 4 2.16%
5 out of 10 : Below Average... 1 0.54%
4 out of 10 : Poor... 0 0%
3 out of 10 : Bad... 0 0%
2 out of 10 : Very Bad... 1 0.54%
1 out of 10: Torturous... 2 1.08%
Voters: 185. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 2012-09-02, 00:49   Link #181
lordblazer
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kirito just pushes and pushes himself omg soo awesome!!! the action the music the action the music. It's hard to hate this episode.. Just soo much happens!! These guys on the front lines are too 1337. Loved this episode. Very excited for episode 10.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Krono View Post
In addition you have to remember, they've all been going out, and fighting life or death battles on a daily basis for the last two years. That sort of thing takes it's toll even on trained soldiers, much less untrained people in their mid teens that never expected to be fighting life or death battles.
People tend to ignore this, but even this took a toll on me IRL, but my work always puts me in harms way. I understand I can't maintain the lifestyle that I currently have for too long. But unlike these guys. I get to live stateside and take a hiatus from it all. SAO player's. Not so much.
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Old 2012-09-02, 00:56   Link #182
SilverSyko
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Quote:
I first thought it was his sister, but it's been pointed out that she has a mole under her eye like Sachi, so it's probably Sachi. And therefore probably his imagination.
Ah okay. Her hair looked longer than it was when I watched the episode without pausing so I didn't think it was Sachi at first, but I just did a quick double check and it's relatively the same length as hers on closer examination.

I don't see a mole beneath her eye though. I think some of you are seeing things.
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Old 2012-09-02, 00:58   Link #183
Kazu-kun
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Originally Posted by SilverSyko View Post
This episode is finally starting to give me .hack vibes from this series. I approve.~
Which .hack exactly do you have in mind?

I know it's nothing like .hack//SIGN at least, and not only because of the action (which SIGN totally lacked), but also because the themes SIGN explored are basically the very opposite of what SAO (and AW) stands for.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:00   Link #184
FlareKnight
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Personally I thought the episode was damn enjoyable. The fight against that boss might have only taken a few minutes, but once the dual wielding began those were some intense minutes . I focused more on how badass it was having Kirito just charge into the boss and start trading blows there. It really was a race against time to do enough damage to bring him down before he was taken down. Defeating the boss in that kind of situation was a kind of revenge for the death of Sachi and her guild. He may not have saved everyone there, but he saved most of them and that's not bad at all.

In terms of Asuna I just appreciated her being that up front about her feelings and worries. Hinting that she partied up with him in the first place because she was worried. Apparently good reason to be with how it all turned out. Think we're starting to get a look at her true thoughts a bit more as well. Has stayed strong as a pillar of those who are pushing forward to clear this game, but saw hints that there is more to her than that from episode 2. I'm sure the real Asuna is somewhere in-between, but at least it feels like when it comes to Kirito she's more up front. Sure she's not outright confessing here, but close enough. I'm glad she's the one who charged in there first.

Of course always good to see Klein again. That guy just brings a positive attitude to the series. There are times where he can just get through to Kirito and it doesn't feel like Kirito is holding back. Asking Asuna (who could actually force him to party with her) to take care of Kirito really made sense. Wants someone to look out for his friend.

Who knows though how Kirito gained that dual wielding ability. Maybe because he's played so long with a one sword shield-less style? Most would take the shield if only using one sword unless like Asuna it'd affect her weapons speed. Well however he did it, that skill came in handy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clarste View Post
He also soloed the dragon on the mountain. Point is, those were on lower floors. It's unclear exactly what level a seasonal boss is supposed to be, but it's unlikely it was as strong as something on the front lines.
I don't see any reason to assume that. For all we know a seasonal event boss could be stronger than what they were dealing with at the front lines. When we have nothing to base it on it can go either way. At the very least Kirito thought it was entirely possible that he'd die soloing that boss so it wasn't expected to be some kind of pushover.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:05   Link #185
SilverSyko
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kazu-kun View Post
Which .hack exactly do you have in mind?

I know it's nothing like .hack//SIGN at least, and not only because of the action (which SIGN totally lacked), but also because the themes SIGN explored are basically the very opposite of what SAO (and AW) stands for.
The games mostly. .hack//INFECTION, MUTATION, OUTBREAK, QUARANTINE and the G.U. trilogy.

I'm mainly referring to Kirito's acquisition of an ability that lays outside the parameters of the game like both .hack protagonists had. Kite obtains the Twilight Bracelet that can allow him to decrypt and reformat the game's data at will, and Haseo obtains a "hacked" 3rd job upgrade which allows him to wield dual pistols which aren't a normally usable weapon in the game by any class since it's a fantasy game.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:16   Link #186
Wandering_Youth
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Dual Wielding...

A pure offensive skill with emphasis on speed and damage while totally forgoing defenses. A reckless, but powerful ability for people who dances with death.

Fits Kirito just fine.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:26   Link #187
Tokkan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shinji103 View Post
Shounen has way more fighting, lots more standing around in the middle of fights talking and posing, etc.
Just as Toaru Majutsu no Index isn't shounen, but seinen; SAO is clearly much more Toaru Index than DBZ/Bleach.
... LOL. Off-topic but demographics don't work that way. Index is a light novel, which is basically the Japanese subcultural equivalent to "young adult fiction" (fiction aimed at ages 14-21). Its manga adaptations are published in shounen-aimed magazines so shounen seems to be more plausible than seinen. The type of content (fighting or talking) largely has nothing to do with what demographic it is aimed at as there are always niches within demographics that might enjoy one more than the other.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:36   Link #188
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shinji103 View Post
Spoiler for Response to spoiler:
I'd forgotten that the Aria bits weren't animated, save for her hiding in her room in the OP. derp. -_- Still, even by following animated Murder Case, you can see that Asuna is a clearing monster, and she even tells kirito after the duel with Kuradeel that she's been too strict with the KoB members.

But yeah,goddamnit Aria shoulda been two eps. Then again, looks like the next arc is gonna be 12 eps or so...

[mod edit: removed confirmation that hints at novel spoilers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Krono View Post
In addition you have to remember, they've all been going out, and fighting life or death battles on a daily basis for the last two years. That sort of thing takes it's toll even on trained soldiers, much less untrained people in their mid teens that never expected to be fighting life or death battles.
Exactly. Now, while I wouldn't say that everyone has PTSD - a term that gets bandied about too much, IMO - they've been gping through life or death struggles in a daily basis. Being in Aincrad, while still a place where you can find fun, happiness and even love, is still fraught with danger. Every combat session is a tarumatic experience, and it's not as if there are counselors to help the players deal with all this stress.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:40   Link #189
erneiz_hyde
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I still don't get why Dual Wielding has to be a special skill. Considering the game have no focus on magic and serious ranged weaponry, you would expect they would support all sorts of melee fighting style right from the get go. I mean, isn't it common-sense in an RPG nowadays? If you don't go Sword&Board, you go Dual Wield or 2H-Mastery, with 1H-Mastery largely exclusive to a Duelist/Swashbuckler kind of build.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:45   Link #190
Clarste
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Dual Wielding is a classic video game technique, but when it comes to actual swordfighting it's, well, really hard to do. Supposedly the way it's looked at in professional fencing is that to be a novice with two swords you have to already be a master with one. Games like to make it looks like you just slash really fast, but actually parrying with two swords and keeping track of their momentum and all that is mentally taxing. So maybe the game designers just thought that for a game where you feel like you're moving you're body around it was just too much to ask of a gamer.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:46   Link #191
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde View Post
I still don't get why Dual Wielding has to be a special skill.
I'm under the impression that it's only considered a special skill because people haven't figured out the required steps to get it. Perhaps it's very difficult, perhaps it has a random element, or perhaps it just depends on a certain combination of things that you're not likely to do unless you play solo like Kirito has. But I don't think it's necessarily, in and of itself, a special skill. I guess the real question is why they'd make this skill so hard to get, but I suppose the answer -- based on this episode at least -- is that it can give you a pretty big advantage if you use it properly.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:58   Link #192
erneiz_hyde
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Clarste View Post
Dual Wielding is a classic video game technique, but when it comes to actual swordfighting it's, well, really hard to do. Supposedly the way it's looked at in professional fencing is that to be a novice with two swords you have to already be a master with one. Games like to make it looks like you just slash really fast, but actually parrying with two swords and keeping track of their momentum and all that is mentally taxing. So maybe the game designers just thought that for a game where you feel like you're moving you're body around it was just too much to ask of a gamer.
But it exists anyway, Kirito did it. A "sword skill" will let you do the skills without fail anyways if you can manage to activate them. And most game with dual-wielding that allows parry do so with a chance-based occurence. Real-time games like Skyrim disables blocking/parry altogether when dual-wielding, but comes with potentially more than double the damage.

Quote:
Originally Posted by relentlessflame
I guess the real question is why they'd make this skill so hard to get, but I suppose the answer -- based on this episode at least -- is that it can give you a pretty big advantage if you use it properly.
I guess, but shouldn't that stand true to all kinds of fighting style? If Dual Wield is such an obscure skill which offers a really big advantage like you said, then it is clearly a superior build, which makes it not so much "fair" anymore.
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Old 2012-09-02, 01:59   Link #193
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde View Post
I still don't get why Dual Wielding has to be a special skill.
It seems its existence was never mentioned nor appeared in the players skill options, so its a special skill.

Special Skills in the actual online games are often called to skills unique to a particular character/clan/unit/etc that seems to have special effects/abilities...
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Old 2012-09-02, 02:05   Link #194
Archon_Wing
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Lol@ the first part. That summaraizes my last month playing Diablo 3. Running your ass away from some insanely retarded overpowered monster that will require you to back out and do more grinding/gearing, but such a task would prove insanely difficult without plot abilities. There's also Asuna's suspicions over Kirito's gameplay style that became important and that was nicely put into the story.

This is also why you don't just run ahead with poor coordination and not tell people what you're gonna do. You end up with a party wipe because "you think you can handle it" but apparently the boss room doesn't allow TPs, so whoever designed this game is either an asshole throwing in an arbitrary mechanic or they're just noobs. Man they should have been more vocal with those warnings.

Fight was good, and Kirito apparently is god mode, though even he almost got owned anyways. Sometimes there's no point in holding back and we'll have an other epic duel soon enough. Hopefully it's not those lame one attack decides everything battles. 8/10 You can really tell the author understands gaming.
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Old 2012-09-02, 02:06   Link #195
erneiz_hyde
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Originally Posted by GenjiChan View Post
It seems its existence was never mentioned nor appeared in the players skill options, so its a special skill.

Special Skills in the actual online games are often called to skills unique to a particular character/clan/unit/etc that seems to have special effects/abilities...
Yes. But why make the Dual Wielding itself a special skill? If they make that flashy skill Kirito did THE special skill but Dual Wielding Skills itself exists normally in-game, then I wouldn't be having this complain really.
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Old 2012-09-02, 02:06   Link #196
SilverSyko
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I'm a bit more skeptical about it being an actual skill anyone in the game could have access to. If it is, then I seriously doubt that Kirito would be the only one in the entire game who has it. Not to mention all he said was that it just "suddenly appeared" in his skill list without any particular reason. That's very suspicious.

Sure it isn't exactly the most game breaking power like being able to use ranged weapons would be, but I'm going to be rather disappointed if it's just an "ultra-rare skill". Where's the fun in that?
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Old 2012-09-02, 02:09   Link #197
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Never have I been so riled up by an episode of any anime but holy crap Kirito went beast mode....
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Old 2012-09-02, 02:11   Link #198
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde View Post
Yes. But why make the Dual Wielding itself a special skill? If they make that flashy skill Kirito did THE special skill but Dual Wielding Skills itself exists normally in-game, then I wouldn't be having this complain really.
Guess Dual Wielding wasn't made for "all players".....
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Old 2012-09-02, 02:15   Link #199
Krono
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde View Post
I still don't get why Dual Wielding has to be a special skill. Considering the game have no focus on magic and serious ranged weaponry, you would expect they would support all sorts of melee fighting style right from the get go. I mean, isn't it common-sense in an RPG nowadays? If you don't go Sword&Board, you go Dual Wield or 2H-Mastery, with 1H-Mastery largely exclusive to a Duelist/Swashbuckler kind of build.
This is still a video game, even though it's a virtual reality one. Combat is still heavily dependent on the various sword skills that they system helps automate, and the associated rules. A two-handed sword user can't simply grab a mace, and be good to go with all mace-skills. They would have to first meet the prerequisites for picking maces as one of their skills, set maces as their active skill, and then train their proficiency in maces to unlock more than basic skills. A two-handed sword user couldn't even switch to one-handed swords without changing their skill set up.

So a one handed sword user could put a sword in their second hand, but it wouldn't do them any good. They don't have the dual blade skill equiped and active, so no dual blade skills will activate. One-handed sword skills assume a shield, or nothing in the offhand, and since that isn't true, they won't activate. So you could dual wield, only at the cost of not being able to use any system assisted skills. The use of said skills being more or less required at various points to survive.
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Old 2012-09-02, 02:20   Link #200
Clarste
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde View Post
But it exists anyway, Kirito did it. A "sword skill" will let you do the skills without fail anyways if you can manage to activate them. And most game with dual-wielding that allows parry do so with a chance-based occurence. Real-time games like Skyrim disables blocking/parry altogether when dual-wielding, but comes with potentially more than double the damage.
If the designers think it's too hard for most players, make it a hard-to-get skill. What's so weird about that?

And there's no auto-parry in this game. You have to move your sword into the path of the enemy attack.
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