Sword Art Online - Episode 7 Discussion / Poll

[Triple_R]

A few points on recent posts...

At the end of day, SAO is entertainment, as pretty much all anime is. Now, with many pieces of entertainment, a certain degree of realism helps the overall entertainment value (by making the show more immersive, by making it easier to suspend our disbelief, etc...). On the other hand, you can have too much realism, if it gets in the way of basic entertainment value.

So anime should, generally speaking, seek to balance realism with what's most entertaining in the moment. Not enough realism, and we'd have clearers acting like Leeroy Jenkins. Sure, that might be flashier and "more fun" in the moment, but it would be incredibly unrealistic given the circumstances. It would take a lot of viewers out of the story.

On the other hand, I don't accept "realism" as an excuse for being downright boring. At that point, too much emphasis is being put on realism.

I think there's a happy medium between the clearers acting like Leeroy Jenkins, and the clearers all being super-prepared and winning easily. There's a happy medium where it's realistic enough but it's also entertaining enough.


Now, I never had a problem with this episode's action scenes, and I thought they were very nice. Sometimes you can make up for an one-sided fight with sheer spectacle, and I think that happened here (was I honestly the only one on this thread that loved that "sky full of sunlight" shot of Kirito and Liz in mid-flight?)

On the other hand, I hope that any future boss battles are as interesting as the one from Episode 2. I want them to be actual struggles, and not glorified mop-up operations. And there's no good reason why they shouldn't be actual struggles, imo.

[jpwong]

Originally Posted by kujoe

Considering that Kirito's current sword in this episode is the same one featured in the opening, I would've liked to see how he got it. Lizbeth's description of the sword seems to hint at its status (a demon sword) as a special drop from a special monster of sorts, and I think it's unfortunate that this sword suddenly appears out of the blue in Kirito's hand, at the begining of this episode. Hopefully, a flashback one day...?

If you're interested in knowing where it's from, you can probably get an answer in the QA thread. I've heard that the sword's origin was revealed the yet to be translated volume 10 of the light novel.

[KleenexGhost]

This was a good episode. I'm glad to see them not falling into the usual harem setup with girls that are attracted to Kirito.

The shot of the of the landscape when Kirito and Liz were airborne was beautiful.

Poor Liz. I like her character, but the girl never really had a chance. Oh well, glad they got it out of the way instead of dragging it on. Hope to see more of her.

I'm guessing we're gonna be in for an action heavy episode next week judging by the title.

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

On the other hand, I don't accept "realism" as an excuse for being downright boring. At that point, too much emphasis is being put on realism.

I think there's a happy medium between the clearers acting like Leeroy Jenkins, and the clearers all being super-prepared and winning easily. There's a happy medium where it's realistic enough but it's also entertaining enough.

Being super-prepared isn't the same thing as winning easily. And I know you just said you didn't care about realism, but realistically speaking they can't be super-prepared because they don't know what's going to happen until they fight since they have no more beta knowledge and can't afford to wipe, ever. It just means that it's sense of long tension and hoping the boss doesn't go berserk in critical or something and kill everyone.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

On the other hand, I hope that any future boss battles are as interesting as the one from Episode 2. I want them to be actual struggles, and not glorified mop-up operations. And there's no good reason why they shouldn't be actual struggles, imo.

The tension would be mental more than anything else. Honestly, video games don't translate into action series very well.

[Eratas123]

If only making a sword was that easy in real life I wonder if this is a 12 or 24 episode anime.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Eratas123

If only making a sword was that easy in real life I wonder if this is a 12 or 24 episode anime.

Just carefully hit the ingot a few times, and poof, you've got yourself a nice looking sword. :>

SAO is a 2-cour anime (24 episodes).

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Eratas123

If only making a sword was that easy in real life I wonder if this is a 12 or 24 episode anime.

It could be shortened in one flash back...

[germanturkey]

man, you could feel the effects of Sachi all over this ep. entertaining episode!

[Irenicus]

My, my, Kirito pulled a spectacular Morning Glory skydive.

If Asuna knows Lizbeth had the privilege instead of her, she'd PK her best friend in a heartbeat. "What do you mean you confessed to him right then, sister?"


I've got to admit though, her crush developed -- and fell apart -- awkwardly quick. Warm hands -> epic confession -> belated rejection, all in the span of approximately ten minutes of viewing time. I also had a bit of a problem over Kirito's "I learned the value of living" response because it wasn't foreshadowed properly, or, well, at all.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

(was I honestly the only one on this thread that loved that "sky full of sunlight" shot of Kirito and Liz in mid-flight?)

Count me in.

[Sixth]

If Asuna knows Lizbeth had the privilege instead of her, she'd PK her best friend in a heartbeat. "What do you mean you confessed to him right then, sister?"

Asuna definitely will use her knowledge of pking that she learned from murder case wisely on Lisbeth. LOL

[M1sFyr3]

Originally Posted by noobita

Asuna definitely will use her knowledge of pking that she learned from murder case wisely on Lisbeth. LOL

Lol, fake suicide along with Kirito, make her go crazy and visit grave, dress up like ghosts, then PK her.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Jerseykid

Stupid anime rules preventing Kirito from getting both Liz and Asuna

He plays MMOs, not VNs.

Originally Posted by M1sFyr3

I am confused how Kirito's and Liz's health bars were both at about the same level despite Kirito's level being a lot higher, including his healing and health, as seen from him surviving the yellow group gank in a previous episode.

As others have noted, he actually was in the red when he drank the potion, but also notice that he placed himself under Liz as they fell so he'd take the brunt of the impact.

[relentlessflame]

So Japanese blog Yaraon compiled a collection of Tweets from the original author about the current episode, and two minor but interesting points related to some of the previous discussion in the thread:

Spoiler for Information from Author's Twitter account, no future event spoilers:

• Some people had asked previously how much progress they've made to this point in clearing the game, and per the author they were currently on Floor 63.
• Some people were discussing previously about the way Kirito was searching for Lisbeth, even though he so easily found Sachi in episode 3. Per the author, that's because the skill he used to find Sachi was limited to Guildmates and Party Members (and one assumes friends based on what we saw last episode). Of course, as some said, perhaps he could have asked Asuna, but then again she might have been still on the move when he left.
• The author also pointed out a lot of the little adjustments to the characters' equipment that happened since the previous episode. He also went into detail about the various attributes of the equipment, and why the "sword against sword" test worked from a gameplay mechanics perspective. All these little details! You can tell he's played a lot of MMORPGs.

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

As others have noted, he actually was in the red when he drank the potion, but also notice that he placed himself under Liz as they fell so he'd take the brunt of the impact.

Yeah, that was my interpretation of the scene as well -- he took the brunt of the impact, hence took more damage. Since it brought him to the red (and he's a higher level), we can assume that she may not have been able to survive the fall otherwise.

[larethian]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

So Japanese blog Yaraon compiled a collection of Tweets from the original author about the current episode, and two minor but interesting points related to some of the previous discussion in the thread:

Spoiler for Information from Author's Twitter account, no future event spoilers:

• Some people had asked previously how much progress they've made to this point in clearing the game, and per the author they were currently on Floor 63.
• Some people were discussing previously about the way Kirito was searching for Lisbeth, even though he so easily found Sachi in episode 3. Per the author, that's because the skill he used to find Sachi was limited to Guildmates and Party Members (and one assumes friends based on what we saw last episode). Of course, as some said, perhaps he could have asked Asuna, but then again she might have been still on the move when he left.
• The author also pointed out a lot of the little adjustments to the characters' equipment that happened since the previous episode. He also went into detail about the various attributes of the equipment, and why the "sword against sword" test worked from a gameplay mechanics perspective. All these little details! You can tell he's played a lot of MMORPGs.

Yeah, that was my interpretation of the scene as well -- he took the brunt of the impact, hence took more damage. Since it brought him to the red (and he's a higher level), we can assume that she may not have been able to survive the fall otherwise.

nice! I just give it a quick glance and found a few other relevant stuff. there's not really that much future spoilers except for one which won't make any sense to non-novel readers anyway.

Spoilers

Spoiler for other relevant stuff in blog which shouldn't be future events

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Eratas123]

What's up with the pic Lizbeth keeps looking at? Is that supposed be an old guild or something?

[Deltaray]

Originally Posted by Eratas123

What's up with the pic Lizbeth keeps looking at? Is that supposed be an old guild or something?

It mainly there as a memory to reflect upon before she had enough money to buy her shop.

[supermegasonic]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

A few points on recent posts...

At the end of day, SAO is entertainment, as pretty much all anime is. Now, with many pieces of entertainment, a certain degree of realism helps the overall entertainment value (by making the show more immersive, by making it easier to suspend our disbelief, etc...). On the other hand, you can have too much realism, if it gets in the way of basic entertainment value.

So anime should, generally speaking, seek to balance realism with what's most entertaining in the moment. Not enough realism, and we'd have clearers acting like Leeroy Jenkins. Sure, that might be flashier and "more fun" in the moment, but it would be incredibly unrealistic given the circumstances. It would take a lot of viewers out of the story.

On the other hand, I don't accept "realism" as an excuse for being downright boring. At that point, too much emphasis is being put on realism.

I think there's a happy medium between the clearers acting like Leeroy Jenkins, and the clearers all being super-prepared and winning easily. There's a happy medium where it's realistic enough but it's also entertaining enough.


Now, I never had a problem with this episode's action scenes, and I thought they were very nice. Sometimes you can make up for an one-sided fight with sheer spectacle, and I think that happened here (was I honestly the only one on this thread that loved that "sky full of sunlight" shot of Kirito and Liz in mid-flight?)

On the other hand, I hope that any future boss battles are as interesting as the one from Episode 2. I want them to be actual struggles, and not glorified mop-up operations. And there's no good reason why they shouldn't be actual struggles, imo.

i agree, for a anime thats based on a game, we havnet seen that much action. and that skyshot was just slendid, glad i DL'ed the episode for this.

[Trajan]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

So Japanese blog Yaraon compiled a collection of Tweets from the original author about the current episode, and two minor but interesting points related to some of the previous discussion in the thread:

Spoiler for Information from Author's Twitter account, no future event spoilers:

Some people were discussing previously about the way Kirito was searching for Lisbeth, even though he so easily found Sachi in episode 3. Per the author, that's because the skill he used to find Sachi was limited to Guildmates and Party Members (and one assumes friends based on what we saw last episode). Of course, as some said, perhaps he could have asked Asuna, but then again she might have been still on the move when he left.

Spoiler for response to author explanation:

It's nice to see the author is offering up explanations for the mechanics of the game, but I think this is just another example (among many) of the mechanics of Aincrad changing to serve the needs of the plot, rather than a story written in a fully-realized world.

Because if you stop to think about it, a "tracking" ability that only works on people who will presumably want to be found is fairly useless. And even if such a skill does exist, why would a solo player who rarely groups spend points to train in it to a high level?

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Trajan

Spoiler for response to author explanation:

It's nice to see the author is offering up explanations for the mechanics of the game, but I think this is just another example (among many) of the mechanics of Aincrad changing to serve the needs of the plot, rather than a story written in a fully-realized world.

Because if you stop to think about it, a "tracking" ability that only works on people who will presumably want to be found is fairly useless. And even if such a skill does exist, why would a solo player who rarely groups spend points to train in it to a high level?

Spoiler for Continuing conversation about author's notes:

I'm confused... what training? The ability he used to find Sachi is not something he trained, it's just an inherent skill available to all guild/party members and friends. If there is a special skill you have to train for, it would be a skill to search for monsters, but that isn't how he found Sachi in Episode 3. It may, however, have been something that helped him find Silica in Episode 4, and perhaps helped him find Lisbeth in Episode 7.

So... I'm not sure what the issue is. "Friend Finder" and "Tracking" would be two different game systems.

[Anh_Minh]

Spoiler for answer:

Because the ability to track is a side-effect of having many points in the "Searching" skill, which is very useful for a Solo?

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Spoiler for Continuing conversation about author's notes:

I'm confused... what training? The ability he used to find Sachi is not something he trained, it's just an inherent skill available to all guild/party members and friends.

Spoiler for answer:

No, it's not. Her other guildmates couldn't find her because she was hiding from the "guildmates' location is known" feature.