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Sword Art Online [spoilers]
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By Fairy.Ghaleon 2014-01-15 03:54:58
I agree SAO had it's problems, I think they could have done a better job spacing out Aincrad? and make multiple seasons of that first intial story arc, and just extend the length of it to provide better story and character development.
would have made for a better show imo than jumping mmo's.
Overall though i still enjoyed it D:
<3'd the *** out of accel world though (in most cases i thought it was better tbh)
Ragnarok.Tarage
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By Ragnarok.Tarage 2014-01-15 06:10:48
Like I said before, the reason the first half of the series is generally considered to be better than the second is because it had supplementary material shoved in it. Ask yourself if you would have enjoyed it as much if the only episodes that aired were the ones that directly related to Kirito and Asuna. No side characters. Even the first episode was from material written well after the story was published.
Accel World is a better series because the author had time to learn from his mistakes in SAO. It's a fine anime, but please don't build it to be this masterpiece that is clearly is not.
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By Yomisha Belmont 2014-01-15 17:42:25
It's amusing how angry you seem to be about people building up this show. I didn't read all of the thread, but no one recently has boasted this anime being the best or a masterpiece. However, what is trash to you, may be a treasure to some one else. Take a deep breath, it's going to be okay! :p
Would like an example of a good anime from you two. The complaints there essentially described almost anything animated that you would watch... ever. To each their own, but I really am baffled, lol. The problem is the degree. Lots of words to follow.
A Mary Sue character is almost never forgivable in professional fiction and that it shows up from time to time is no excuse. Kirito has almost no redeeming qualities (most of his "I'll never give up!" crap, especially in ALO, is done at the expense of someone whose life is genuinely in danger, so it's clearly just glory-seeking), is never shown having to struggle, and got so tedious that I kept screaming for his opponent to beat him. Trying to solo raid content and finally getting killed was even ruined because it took far too long for several hundred mobs to take him down.
Deus ex machina I can forgive (it's almost literally as old as time), but I don't appreciate my suspension of disbelief being ruined by nonsense. Why does the little ***win in SAO? There's literally no way he should have. His duel with General Eugene is a good example of how the rules (where most folks are getting wiped after a strong hit or two) get pummeled by narrative, and it's not even compelling narrative since Eugene was a monster-of-the-week and the fight was, again, at the expense of a real objective. The real icing was when he pulled out a small fortune immediately thereafter. He'd logged maybe 12 hours of gametime. Oh, and let's not forget that he was basically made the strongest player on the server immediately on login for no reason that is ever mentioned.
The total lack of character is something I might consider forgiving. Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, if you prefer) is boring and intolerable, but he's a standard audience avatar. Bella Swan and he are virtually identical by design. But the villains having almost no motivation was deplorable. As was the treatment of practically every female character, especially after the midway mark. A long history of treating women as objects doesn't make it somehow permissible in 2012. The way that Asuna was turned from a tough leader into a submissive *** into a plot element was criminal.
Speaking of objectifying women, ye gods, but the harem genre is irritating. The lolicon crap is hardly what I'd consider to be normal, even if it shows up in way too much anime. Given it is a show about MMOs, I expected it to be a sausage fest, but apparently a large majority of MMO players in Japan 202X are not only women girls, but also stacked. 14-year-old girls, especially Asian girls, do not have bodies like these and, even if they did, it is disgusting to have them prancing around in their underwear.
I'm told that the squicky squicky incest thing is common in a certain kind of anime. I'm not impressed. Let's not even start on the fact that children raised together will not be attracted to one another, regardless of their familial relationship (this has actually been studied), outside of serious psychological illness.
The predictable plot is the only thing that I'll forgive. Actually, it wasn't totally predictable since what should have been the season finale happened on episode 14 and then an inexplicable second season got tacked on, resulting in both major arcs being rushed (and yet ALO still plodded like a blind elephant with terminal alcohol poisoning). But it was really apparent what the end result was going to be to virtually every plot point. As I said, though, I'll forgive it because this wasn't trying to be innovative in that respect and generic does mean "representative of genre."
Seriously, you want to tell me that most of those objections are just things I'll find in any old piece of media? Crap storytelling, vague motivation, and awful characters are symptoms of bad stories, not all stories, and the loli/incest squick is emphatically not commonplace (praise merciful heaven).
There was so much more that could have been done to examine the premise and the first couple episodes looked like they would. The whole reason I watched the series was because someone claimed that it went into the kinds of conflicts that would arise from living in a death-game MMO (e.g., is it morally justifiable to sit around leveling up a craft skill all day while people struggle and die to escape?), but clearly they were lying their face off. If nothing else, a few episodes showing, say, actual character development for Kirito (he started at age 14 and ended at 16 -- those are huge years and it is rare for a story to cover that kind of span, making it all the more ridiculous that he doesn't change one iota) or, at the very least, doing the usual shounen thing of showing him actually work to get strong, would have helped flesh out what is a terribly bare-bones plot.
Seriously, what do you call a show that has almost no character and almost no plot? The animation isn't even impressive -- it's very middle-of-the-road with some glaring shortcuts taken for the action scenes that seem to be the only thing that keeps the show from falling over dead in a ditch. About the only thing worth the money was the soundtrack. That was alright, but the 90-second opening theme was a clear attempt to pad the running time.
You ask a question that is self-contradictory. You want to know what I consider to be good anime and then you follow it up with pointing out that animated things have certain problems in common. I'm an aficionado of Western animation, so I want to point out that a lot of the problems with anime are problems of the industry, not of the medium (anime is the industry, animation is the medium -- I don't consider anime to be a medium).
Good anime:
Ghost in the Shell
Cowboy Bebop
FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (this is a really good example of how to make a Mary Sue character tolerable, in part because Edward is a long way from perfect by in-universe standards)
most work by Studio Ghibli
Madoka Magica
There are some other examples that at least show how to do things better. For basic shounen stuff, the original bits of Naruto (before the onslaught of filler) were actually fairly good. It was generic and predictable, yes, and the villains were rather one-dimensional, but the characters had character, the women were people, and practically everyone had to actually grow and change on some level. The only other harem anime I can remember watching was Tenchi Muyo and while it isn't a great show by any stretch, it was nowhere near as execrable in its treatment of all the women. It was still stupid that they were chasing after a largely oblivious male (this stuff is blatant wank fantasy, which makes it weird that the audience-insert male lead seems to survive just fine in spite of having the world's most throbbingly blue balls ever), but the girls were active participants. Seriously, Kirito consistently told his women to sit in the back in spite of Asuna and Leafa being extremely competent swordswomen -- is that supposed to be laudable? AKIRA famously has a rushed and poorly-explained plot but makes up for it with a visual style that is still arresting 20 years later.
Or we could look at Western animation. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a clear homage to anime (while still using Western episodic storytelling) and it falls into almost none of the usual traps. The Venture Brothers shows how to make despicable characters entertaining and, in spite of that, still has coherent character arcs and plot development despite being ostensibly episodic. I'd sooner watch reruns of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than suffer Sword Art Online again if only because the former doesn't involve incest. Ugh.
Same goes for you. Thanks for giving an extremely long winded, yet detailed, wall-o'-text to read on the reasons you dislike SAO. I can appreciate some of the reasoning you gave. But like I say with people who go insane over movies, it's meant for entertainment. Enjoy it. Or don't! But you just sound really upset over fictional entertainment that is meant to be taken more lightly. To each their own.
I'd also like to point out that I never said they were "problems" and I didn't contradict myself either, lol. Perception is interesting. Anyway. They have similar content. Yes, there can be too much of this content, I understand that. Also, that while many other animes have the same elements, some have something to redeem themselves. To you, this one didn't. Which is really all you had to say.
From a girls point of view, I wasn't bothered with how they were treated. Sure, they were competent swords...women. But it's pretty clear that he's trying to protect them rather than make a sexist statement here. It actually made me laugh a bit when Leafa was healing rather than fighting. Often times I will be healing rather than fighting in games, even though competent at both. Usually by choice, but either way, it made me giggle. [insert girlfriend/healer meme here]! Anyway...
Thanks for explaining. I rather enjoyed SAO and recommend people to give it a try. Especially those who MMO it up. Not everyone will like it, but that's a given. :p
Valefor.Sehachan
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By Valefor.Sehachan 2014-01-15 17:55:15
Onorgul I enjoyed Madoka, but how was that any less predictable? You could tell what was up with Homura very soon honestly.
Speaking of mmo anime anyway, Log Horizon despite a slow start has picked up nicely, I'd check it out if you enjoy the genre. No masterpiece there either, but it's cool.
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 18:00:57
Which is really all you had to say. That is all I said. Then you decided to make a brain-dead comment that all stories are as atrociously bad as this one and that is what set me off.
In the meantime, though, the objectification of underage girls and the promotion of an incest plot for literally masturbatory purposes are things that will upset me. I notice you keep skipping past those elements while defending this bit of tripe. The story would still fail if they'd removed the rampant sexism and catering to perversion, but I would merely write it off as dull instead of wanting to see it burn.
By Heimdel 2014-01-15 18:02:43
It's amusing how angry you seem to be about people building up this show. I didn't read all of the thread, but no one recently has boasted this anime being the best or a masterpiece. However, what is trash to you, may be a treasure to some one else. Take a deep breath, it's going to be okay! :p
Would like an example of a good anime from you two. The complaints there essentially described almost anything animated that you would watch... ever. To each their own, but I really am baffled, lol. The problem is the degree. Lots of words to follow.
A Mary Sue character is almost never forgivable in professional fiction and that it shows up from time to time is no excuse. Kirito has almost no redeeming qualities (most of his "I'll never give up!" crap, especially in ALO, is done at the expense of someone whose life is genuinely in danger, so it's clearly just glory-seeking), is never shown having to struggle, and got so tedious that I kept screaming for his opponent to beat him. Trying to solo raid content and finally getting killed was even ruined because it took far too long for several hundred mobs to take him down.
Deus ex machina I can forgive (it's almost literally as old as time), but I don't appreciate my suspension of disbelief being ruined by nonsense. Why does the little ***win in SAO? There's literally no way he should have. His duel with General Eugene is a good example of how the rules (where most folks are getting wiped after a strong hit or two) get pummeled by narrative, and it's not even compelling narrative since Eugene was a monster-of-the-week and the fight was, again, at the expense of a real objective. The real icing was when he pulled out a small fortune immediately thereafter. He'd logged maybe 12 hours of gametime. Oh, and let's not forget that he was basically made the strongest player on the server immediately on login for no reason that is ever mentioned.
The total lack of character is something I might consider forgiving. Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, if you prefer) is boring and intolerable, but he's a standard audience avatar. Bella Swan and he are virtually identical by design. But the villains having almost no motivation was deplorable. As was the treatment of practically every female character, especially after the midway mark. A long history of treating women as objects doesn't make it somehow permissible in 2012. The way that Asuna was turned from a tough leader into a submissive *** into a plot element was criminal.
Speaking of objectifying women, ye gods, but the harem genre is irritating. The lolicon crap is hardly what I'd consider to be normal, even if it shows up in way too much anime. Given it is a show about MMOs, I expected it to be a sausage fest, but apparently a large majority of MMO players in Japan 202X are not only women girls, but also stacked. 14-year-old girls, especially Asian girls, do not have bodies like these and, even if they did, it is disgusting to have them prancing around in their underwear.
I'm told that the squicky squicky incest thing is common in a certain kind of anime. I'm not impressed. Let's not even start on the fact that children raised together will not be attracted to one another, regardless of their familial relationship (this has actually been studied), outside of serious psychological illness.
The predictable plot is the only thing that I'll forgive. Actually, it wasn't totally predictable since what should have been the season finale happened on episode 14 and then an inexplicable second season got tacked on, resulting in both major arcs being rushed (and yet ALO still plodded like a blind elephant with terminal alcohol poisoning). But it was really apparent what the end result was going to be to virtually every plot point. As I said, though, I'll forgive it because this wasn't trying to be innovative in that respect and generic does mean "representative of genre."
Seriously, you want to tell me that most of those objections are just things I'll find in any old piece of media? Crap storytelling, vague motivation, and awful characters are symptoms of bad stories, not all stories, and the loli/incest squick is emphatically not commonplace (praise merciful heaven).
There was so much more that could have been done to examine the premise and the first couple episodes looked like they would. The whole reason I watched the series was because someone claimed that it went into the kinds of conflicts that would arise from living in a death-game MMO (e.g., is it morally justifiable to sit around leveling up a craft skill all day while people struggle and die to escape?), but clearly they were lying their face off. If nothing else, a few episodes showing, say, actual character development for Kirito (he started at age 14 and ended at 16 -- those are huge years and it is rare for a story to cover that kind of span, making it all the more ridiculous that he doesn't change one iota) or, at the very least, doing the usual shounen thing of showing him actually work to get strong, would have helped flesh out what is a terribly bare-bones plot.
Seriously, what do you call a show that has almost no character and almost no plot? The animation isn't even impressive -- it's very middle-of-the-road with some glaring shortcuts taken for the action scenes that seem to be the only thing that keeps the show from falling over dead in a ditch. About the only thing worth the money was the soundtrack. That was alright, but the 90-second opening theme was a clear attempt to pad the running time.
You ask a question that is self-contradictory. You want to know what I consider to be good anime and then you follow it up with pointing out that animated things have certain problems in common. I'm an aficionado of Western animation, so I want to point out that a lot of the problems with anime are problems of the industry, not of the medium (anime is the industry, animation is the medium -- I don't consider anime to be a medium).
Good anime:
Ghost in the Shell
Cowboy Bebop
FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (this is a really good example of how to make a Mary Sue character tolerable, in part because Edward is a long way from perfect by in-universe standards)
most work by Studio Ghibli
Madoka Magica
There are some other examples that at least show how to do things better. For basic shounen stuff, the original bits of Naruto (before the onslaught of filler) were actually fairly good. It was generic and predictable, yes, and the villains were rather one-dimensional, but the characters had character, the women were people, and practically everyone had to actually grow and change on some level. The only other harem anime I can remember watching was Tenchi Muyo and while it isn't a great show by any stretch, it was nowhere near as execrable in its treatment of all the women. It was still stupid that they were chasing after a largely oblivious male (this stuff is blatant wank fantasy, which makes it weird that the audience-insert male lead seems to survive just fine in spite of having the world's most throbbingly blue balls ever), but the girls were active participants. Seriously, Kirito consistently told his women to sit in the back in spite of Asuna and Leafa being extremely competent swordswomen -- is that supposed to be laudable? AKIRA famously has a rushed and poorly-explained plot but makes up for it with a visual style that is still arresting 20 years later.
Or we could look at Western animation. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a clear homage to anime (while still using Western episodic storytelling) and it falls into almost none of the usual traps. The Venture Brothers shows how to make despicable characters entertaining and, in spite of that, still has coherent character arcs and plot development despite being ostensibly episodic. I'd sooner watch reruns of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than suffer Sword Art Online again if only because the former doesn't involve incest. Ugh.
Same goes for you. Thanks for giving an extremely long winded, yet detailed, wall-o'-text to read on the reasons you dislike SAO. I can appreciate some of the reasoning you gave. But like I say with people who go insane over movies, it's meant for entertainment. Enjoy it. Or don't! But you just sound really upset over fictional entertainment that is meant to be taken more lightly. To each their own.
I'd also like to point out that I never said they were "problems" and I didn't contradict myself either, lol. Perception is interesting. Anyway. They have similar content. Yes, there can be too much of this content, I understand that. Also, that while many other animes have the same elements, some have something to redeem themselves. To you, this one didn't. Which is really all you had to say.
From a girls point of view, I wasn't bothered with how they were treated. Sure, they were competent swords...women. But it's pretty clear that he's trying to protect them rather than make a sexist statement here. It actually made me laugh a bit when Leafa was healing rather than fighting. Often times I will be healing rather than fighting in games, even though competent at both. Usually by choice, but either way, it made me giggle. [insert girlfriend/healer meme here]! Anyway...
Thanks for explaining. I rather enjoyed SAO and recommend people to give it a try. Especially those who MMO it up. Not everyone will like it, but that's a given. :p
Just finished watching this and loved it. But there were both girls and guys healing. The salamanders fight on the bridge had several guys healing the shield men and in the final battle the nerdy kid was healing along with the girl. Also both main female characters did plenty of fighting. The one playing equal with him as worked as a team with combos.
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 18:10:56
Onorgul I enjoyed Madoka, but how was that any less predictable? You could tell what was up with Homura very soon honestly. I didn't say Madoka Magica was unpredictable (I can't comment on that, to be honest, because the plot was spoiled for me before I watched it), I just said it was good. To contrast it with Sword Art Online, Madoka had a point to make and spent its time exploring that. It also had developed characters that grow, a "villain" with clear motivations (albeit inhuman ones), and ridiculous production values. It was polished and tight, even if it wasn't some revolutionary new thought.
That said, I don't know of any other straight-faced subversions of the magical girl genre. I'm sure they must exist because the premise is too silly not to make fun of, but what few examples I've seen have been straight comedy.
By volkom 2014-01-15 18:13:31
Which is really all you had to say. That is all I said. Then you decided to make a brain-dead comment that all stories are as atrociously bad as this one and that is what set me off.
In the meantime, though, the objectification of underage girls and the promotion of an incest plot for literally masturbatory purposes are things that will upset me. I notice you keep skipping past those elements while defending this bit of tripe. The story would still fail if they'd removed the rampant sexism and catering to perversion, but I would merely write it off as dull instead of wanting to see it burn.
think you should read up on japanese culture more and stop being offended so easily. If you want to get technical with stuff, nearly everything can be used for masturbatory purposes. grow a pair and stop being a whiny baby about things.
clearly you have problems with sexual provocations in anime. and it may not appease you. Go watch something more innocent then like scoobydoo
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 18:17:39
Just finished watching this and loved it. But there were both girls and guys healing. The salamanders fight on the bridge had several guys healing the shield men and in the final battle the nerdy kid was healing along with the girl. Also both main female characters did plenty of fighting. The one playing equal with him as worked as a team with combos. Did I say that only women healed? I said that Kirito has a nasty habit of pushing his partners (who are all girls because this is a harem anime) into the shadows. Asuna did start off very strong, too, and I commented on that. Part of my annoyance is with how her character got thrown into a literal birdcage where she got to sit wimpering. But, no, Leafa definitely did not do "plenty of fighting." The only time she drew her sword to attack anything was during the World Tree raid (where, ironically, she got in the way of another clearly strong female who never got shown employing her skills -- unless cleavage is a skill).
Oh, hey, the problem of Kirito shoving his partners aside, that ought to have become a character moment. He spends the entire runtime, barring the incident with the Moonlit Black Cats, playing the lone wolf and on two major occasions gets completely spanked for it. In a story that was worth two puffs of methane, he would have learned to value teamwork and treat his friends and e-wife as equals. Instead, deus ex machina to the rescue and he never learns a single lesson ever. What a hero. I swear the only reason he didn't kill Sugou the second time is because no one was watching.
Valefor.Sehachan
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By Valefor.Sehachan 2014-01-15 18:22:46
I would say this is an anime aimed at a young audience. It has dramatic moments but it overall keeps a very soft tone. In these kind of works the hero will always be the one doing everything, cause they want the viewer to identify with him and so side-characters end up just giving the hero "the feels" to win the battles.
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 18:30:54
I'm not sure I buy the "soft tone" claim when it features graphic depictions of torture, attempted rape, and murder. I'm pretty sure that's not normal viewing stuff for 10-year-olds.
That said, the tone is kind of culturally weird. Japan and East Asia tend to emphasize teamwork over solo endeavors. For heaven's sake, that's why FFXI made it virtually impossible to solo things that were even "Decent Challenge" until rather recently. Other shounen anime that I've watched may have the same "the hero gets to do the heavy lifting" stuff, I'll grant you, but they generally have to work for that. Naruto may have a built-in iWin button by way of the Kyuubi, but he still got his *** handed to him regularly and had to rely on his friends with some frequency. SAO actually had that element, too, with Asuna being about as strong as Kirito, but then her character got neutered for no adequately explainable reason.
By volkom 2014-01-15 18:31:56
hrrrghh sexism in anime
ghost in the shell:
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cowboy bebop:
FMA brotherhood:
OH BABY 2 buff guys flexing at each other then having a gay moment totally turns me on (totally masturbatory material)
YouTube Video Placeholder
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 18:42:09
I suppose I was unclear: the wank-fantasy aspect of harem anime is just eye-rolling. It's like reading the mind of a 13-year-old boy. My objection is to the pedophilia of this particular harem wank-fantasy. The objectification in Ghost in the Shell was kinda pointless and thus a bit tasteless, but the Major is an adult.
As for the muscle bears in FMA... sorry, what was your point? It doesn't turn you on, so... what? I always read that as the author (who is a woman) specifically commenting on the pointless fanservice stupidity that clogs up manga and anime.
By Enuyasha 2014-01-15 18:45:39
I suppose I was unclear: the wank-fantasy aspect of harem anime is just eye-rolling. It's like reading the mind of a 13-year-old boy. My objection is to the pedophilia of this particular harem wank-fantasy. The objectification in Ghost in the Shell was kinda pointless and thus a bit tasteless, but the Major is an adult.
As for the muscle bears in FMA... sorry, what was your point? It doesn't turn you on, so... what? I always read that as the author (who is a woman) specifically commenting on the pointless fanservice stupidity that clogs up manga and anime. The Majors nudity and scantily cladism had a reason other than fap fuel. >_> Most everything in GiTS had a reason for being there.
The only thing i can honestly say im disappointed with SAO over is the english DUB....so much emotion turned into just garbage regurgitated nonsense.
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By Fairy.Ghaleon 2014-01-15 18:48:43
I suppose I was unclear: the wank-fantasy aspect of harem anime is just eye-rolling. It's like reading the mind of a 13-year-old boy. My objection is to the pedophilia of this particular harem wank-fantasy. The objectification in Ghost in the Shell was kinda pointless and thus a bit tasteless, but the Major is an adult.
As for the muscle bears in FMA... sorry, what was your point? It doesn't turn you on, so... what? I always read that as the author (who is a woman) specifically commenting on the pointless fanservice stupidity that clogs up manga and anime. The Majors nudity and scantily cladism had a reason other than fap fuel. >_> Most everything in GiTS had a reason for being there.
The only thing i can honestly say im disappointed with SAO over is the english DUB....so much emotion turned into just garbage regurgitated nonsense.
that tends to be the pattern with most english dubs, which is why i avoid them D:
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By Cerberus.Conagh 2014-01-15 18:50:51
You and I will be sharing the same plane, I will play this even if it ends up with a Psycho saying "you die in game, you die in the real world"
Challenge Accepted!
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 18:53:39
Do you speak Japanese? I mean fluently. I don't, but I have a sneaking suspicion that most anime seiyuu are over-acting like crazy and would sound ridiculous in real life. That's certainly how native English voice acting tends to work for animation. For some reason, though, voice actors who are dubbing a foreign language work try to act more naturalistically, which doesn't work with the subject matter. I can only assume that American voice actors (or their directors, anyhow) are unaware of the difference because they don't speak Japanese.
By Enuyasha 2014-01-15 19:25:42
Do you speak Japanese? I mean fluently. I don't, but I have a sneaking suspicion that most anime seiyuu are over-acting like crazy and would sound ridiculous in real life. That's certainly how native English voice acting tends to work for animation. For some reason, though, voice actors who are dubbing a foreign language work try to act more naturalistically, which doesn't work with the subject matter. I can only assume that American voice actors (or their directors, anyhow) are unaware of the difference because they don't speak Japanese. but do actual actors speak in a flat tone...
I see the situations in Anime to be ridiculous anyway so "overacting" is sometimes called for. But when youre supposed to sound sincere and you sound like you are talking in times new roman...its kinda noticeable.
like in the scene where Kirito was talking to Lyfa before the sylph and cait meeting...that brought a tear to my eye...english, i was wondering what i was supposed to feel there. And thats not the only part, there's complete episodes that just dont feel right the way its read (they also changed entire lines [kliens homosexual interest in kirito]).
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 19:32:03
I watched it subbed because I distrust the quality of dubbing studios. If you can point to a video on YouTube that shows what you mean, I'll certainly give it a look. There was a moderate amount of emotional weird in the original Japanese, after all. Kirito has a bad habit of having no emotional response to most stimulus and it was clearly scripted that way even though it makes no sense in context.
By Enuyasha 2014-01-15 20:05:44
I watched it subbed because I distrust the quality of dubbing studios. If you can point to a video on YouTube that shows what you mean, I'll certainly give it a look. There was a moderate amount of emotional weird in the original Japanese, after all. Kirito has a bad habit of having no emotional response to most stimulus and it was clearly scripted that way even though it makes no sense in context. yea, there are definitely times where theres "no emotion" but then theres intense feels all over the place the next episode or the next couple episodes.
Ill find something here in a minute, but i might just have to link you to crunchyroll st dpecific times :|
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By Yomisha Belmont 2014-01-15 20:23:57
I was going to reply more directly*(!), but I guess I'll leave it alone. Putting words into my mouth over an anime. Really interesting. Some mad cannot be calmed!
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 20:31:03
If you have nothing to say, then don't say anything. If you want to explain to me why this puddle of tripe was good, then do it. It's not complicated. Spare me the fake condescension and passive-aggressive posturing.
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By Ciri Zireael 2014-01-15 20:31:50
All of a sudden, people feel like their detailed, heartfelt opinions about something over the internet means something.
Nope.
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 20:54:14
All of a sudden, people feel like their detailed, heartfelt opinions about something over the internet means something.
Nope. Oh, hey, your comment did remind me of one of the things Sword Art Online actually did get right: real life or online, people are still people. It could have explored it a little more since Kirito learns the lesson in a kind of one-sided way, but credit where it's due. Shame that lesson must've gone straight over your head.
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By Ciri Zireael 2014-01-15 21:18:30
Man, shame I've never even watched the anime. But being a condescending *** in every single one of your posts responding to someone sure earns you a lot of internet cool points.
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2014-01-15 21:29:50
Every single one? That's not even remotely true. For that matter, most of the time I just return back the way that people speak to me.
I'm guessing you're playing white knight for Yomisha and her passive-aggressive stance of saying, "Gee, 'thanks' for taking the time to provide a full response, but I'm just going to be dismissive and snotty." Or are you standing up for Volkom who actually raised a good point about Ghost in the Shell but has disappointingly decided not to follow up? Of course, that was after telling me to "grow a pair," but I guess that doesn't count as condescending dickery because of reasons.
Or were you just talking about your own interruption?
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By Ciri Zireael 2014-01-15 21:59:49
I believe my first post covered everything and now you're just trying to save face when being called out about being passive aggressive over your own opinions and trying to say that they are facts.
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By volkom 2014-01-15 22:04:29
Volkom who actually raised a good point about Ghost in the Shell but has disappointingly decided not to follow up?
waiting for your opinions about the sexual nature of the shows you listed as
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By Yomisha Belmont 2014-01-15 22:16:57
LOL I wasn't dismissive and snotty. Oh boy. There's just no need to keep going on. Why I thought it was good will not change your mind. I realize it is my opinion and that is why. Which is fine. No need for all of this. Chill.
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By Fairy.Ghaleon 2014-01-15 23:39:45
Do you speak Japanese? I mean fluently. I don't, but I have a sneaking suspicion that most anime seiyuu are over-acting like crazy and would sound ridiculous in real life. That's certainly how native English voice acting tends to work for animation. For some reason, though, voice actors who are dubbing a foreign language work try to act more naturalistically, which doesn't work with the subject matter. I can only assume that American voice actors (or their directors, anyhow) are unaware of the difference because they don't speak Japanese.
they definitely do "over act" at times, but a lot of the time it's for a purpose. gives more meaning to what's being said.
the english dub crap sounds more HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE than anything i've ever heard but that's actually not the issue i have with it.
a good sub actually gives out more information on what they say, than an english dub.
english dub's usually shorten or paraphrase what's said, and i think overall it drops the quality of the story. also for some reason they make characters sound like they are 12 and it's pretty bleh overall imo.
Genre
Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Harem, Romance, Science Fantasy, Science Fiction
In the year 2022, the Virtual reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) Sword Art Online (SAO) is released. With the Nerve Gear, a virtual reality Helmet that stimulates the user's five senses via their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds.
On November 6, 2022, all the players log in for the first time, and discover that they are unable to log out. They are then teleported to a place where Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of SAO, issues them a challenge; if they wish to be free and log out of the game, they must reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if their avatars die in game, their bodies will also die in the real world. The story follows Kirito, a skilled player who is determined to beat the game. |
Setting • Light Novels • Side Stories • SAO Material Editions • Anime • Characters
Setting
The light novel series spans several virtual MMORPGs, not exclusively the titular world of Sword Art Online.
Sword Art Online
| The first virtual game world, and the setting of the first and second novels of the series. It consists of a giant floating castle called Aincrad, with 100 floors in it, each of which contains a slightly different medieval setting and dungeon with a boss. If the boss is killed the players can proceed to the next floor. It is turned into a death game by its creator Kayaba Akihiko in hopes of creating a true virtual reality. It implements a level based system. Thus, in cases where players with an overwhelming difference in levels face off, one side could very well be invincible compared to the other side. |
Alfheim Online
| The setting for the second arc of the story. It implements the first unique flight system that allows players to fly via wings. Players must choose out of nine different races, known races are: Spriggan, Sylph, Undine, Gnome, Salamander, Cait Sith, Leprechaun, Imp and Puca, each possessing their own strengths and weaknesses. ALO implements a skill based system as opposed to a level based system, in other words all experience is used to increase the skill level with only small health increases. Thus, even lower level players have a chance to win against higher level players. |
Gun Gale Online
| The setting for the third arc of the story. It is a virtual game world with its main focus on guns, although melee weapons like lightsabers and knives also exist. |
UnderWorld
| The setting for the fourth arc of the story. According to Kirito it is, graphically, the most realistic of all VRMMOs to date. The flow of time in UW is faster than the real world (probably a prototype of the accelerated world). Even so, it seems that even Kirito was mislead as to the actual rate of the flow of time so an accurate ratio of the flow of time is, as of yet unknown, or whether the rate changes during the Alicization Arc. However, in the "There is but one ultimate way" side story, the rate is said to be 10000 times that of the real world. |
Light Novels
Reki Kawahara wrote the first volume in 2002 as a contribution for ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Game Novel Prize (電撃ゲーム小説大賞 Dengeki Game Shōsetsu Taishō, now Dengeki Novel Prize), but refrained from sending it in due to exceeding the page limit. Thus he published it as a web novel using the pseudonym Fumio Kunori. Over time he added three further volumes and several short stories. In 2008, he tried again for the prize by writing Accel World and this time won the Grand Prize. Aside from Accel World he was also asked to get his prior work Sword Art Online published by ASCII Media Works. Kawahara agreed and withdrew his web novel versions. The republication as a paper novel began on April 10, 2009. The paper novel excluded chapter 16.5 of the web novel, due to its explicit scene.
| Side Stories
Note: Please be advised that these stories might or might not be canon and might also have details that are slightly different than the volumes above.
Sword Art Online: Material Editions
The Material Edition (ME) series is a series of doujinshis created by Kawahara Reki himself using the pen name "Kunori Fumio" (the same pen name he used when he wrote the web novel of SAO).
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AnimeEpisode Links: Crunchyroll | Links within brackets: Torrent Links |
Characters
I'll write more later~
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