Sword Art Online

Strictly speaking Kayaba didn't make the Medicuboid per se, it really was his colleague who spun off the NervGear into its medical applications (or at least that's what the translation I read implied). But they did mutually colloborate (and she did help him evade the authorities for two years) so take it as you will.

Honestly, the NerveGear and Medicuboid probably have roughly the same basic structure, except that the latter can afford to have higher specs and better safety features, etc. because it's not meant to be sold to regular consumers.

edited 20th Dec '14 11:36:22 PM by HanabiraKage

Mother's Rosario really was a great arc to finish off the second season. That scene where tons of ALO players pay respect to a dying Yuuki was cheesy but it's something I could totally see happening in real life. Rock on, Alfheim's strongest swordsman.

Overall assessment of S2:

• GGO: Introduced Sinon, who's now my favorite SAO girl. There were also some wicked action scenes, which I thought made up for the lackluster Death Gun plot and survivor wangst.
• Caliber: The type of filler I wouldn't mind seeing more of. Let the others show off more!
• Mother's Rosario: Probably the best arc in the entire series so far. Yuuki was just so likable that it was easy to be less cynical about the "dying cancer patient" plot. The Asuna focus was great too! Nothing to complain about actionwise, except maybe they could have shown more of Kirito vs Yuuki because who doesn't want to see that. I did chuckle when I heard the title drop. That was random.

Turns out, the same thing happened in real life the same weekend the episode aired.

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/22/multiple-servers-in-final-fantasy-xiv-pay-tribute-to-a-dying-player/

So today I finally reached the end of season 2.

Yes, I'll admit I nearly cried.

I just got around to the last episode too. The feels, I can't hold them. The scene of Yuuki's send-off was amazing...so many players coming to pay their respects. It felt a little medieval-archaic, but there was something really cool about the background concept of sending the strongest warrior off with honour, overlaid against the timeless tragedy of watching a friend die.

The Sleeping Knights' last conversation with her was heartbreaking, too.

The montage was not bad, if a little abbreviated. Little funny tidbits like Recon raging when Leafa gets hit on. Yuuki and Kirito's fight felt cheapened unfortunately - they seem to have reused the choreography and even the sounds from Yuuki vs Asuna. Also goddammit stop making Kirito so OP, let someone have a clear-cut victory against him for once.

I do feel rather sad that (spoilers for MUCH later in the novels, towards the end of the entire Alicisation saga) Shi En apparently makes a reappearance in the final arcs (to try to broker peace between some Korean and Japanese players), but basically gets ignored and stomped on.

edited 29th Dec '14 9:59:52 AM by ashnazg

What makes that scene even more interesting is that it happened for real (in as much as that's possible) in Final Fantasy XIV not long after broadcast.

Yeah, it was linked above. Impressive coincidence...

So, I finished season 2.

The "Mother's Rosario" arc was definitely nice (easily the best part of the series) but this second series as a whole was just "meh" to me. I've heard the light novels do expand on Kirito's character a bit, but I haven't really seen enough to make me think I should go out of my way to purchase or even read online.

However, I will be buying the first volume of the Progressive series being released in the US March of 2015. Really, REALLY hoping that's good.

All the chapters in Progressive 1 have actually been released before. Not in a volume though, just standalone sidestories.

• Aria in the Starless Night (yes, season 1 ep 2, but the superior version)
• The Reason for the Whiskers (funny story which continues where Aria leaves off)
• Rondo of the Transient Sword

Have they been released through official outlets online, or do you have to buy them?

If the latter, I'll probably just wait to buy the compilation volume I previously mentioned.

I think they were on Kawahara's site at some point (in Japanese, of course), but I'm not sure if they're still there considering that Progressive 1 has already been released in Japan.

They may be. It's a shame I can't read Japanese though.

Sounds realistic to me.

I was wondering where all the racism was. "Is this even Japan? The food certainly does not support this."

This SAO Abridged series is pretty good. It plays Kirito as an unfeeling monster in the Silica episode. Although he realizes at the end of the episode that he misses the feeling of sweet, sweet revenge.

Edit: I'm a real fan of the unusually thoughtful Mook.

edited 2nd Jan '15 6:29:21 PM by 32ndfreeze

Okay, that was actually pretty damn amazing.

So I went and watched all five episodes and it is truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever watched. Jerkass Kirito is so amazing and it seems that he and Asuna are going to fall in love due to both of them being total douchebags (Asuna just hides it better). Seriously, it's just... so amazing.

Any highlights? I've only seen episode 4, plus the first 3 minutes of five before I had to leave my computer.

edited 2nd Jan '15 9:29:18 PM by 32ndfreeze

Everything, basically. They're all one long string of CMOFs. I'll list a few scenes anyway.

Asuna spent the first month not even knowing how to open her menu, Kirito wrote the guidebook and it contains some amazingly dickish advice, Egil's name is Tiffany and he has some amazing nicknames, Kuradeel tries to pass the torch to Kirito only for him to piss the fire out, three of the members of the Black Cats are actually NP Cs meant to aid in quests, Sacchi gets killed by lag (and causes a lag spike which leads to a fire that kills four people), there's a cat that learned how to play the game and later becomes a mob boss, Asuna almost starts a race war, and Kirito is basically Alucard.

Oh, and Kleinn's handle is BallsDeep69.

And that's not even half of it.

Wahahahaha. That's great.

I watched episode 5 and it is just as great as the other I watched. I really like it when Asuna's amiable facade starts to crack.

edited 2nd Jan '15 10:35:14 PM by 32ndfreeze

Abridged Kirito's so insane. Couldn't stop laughing at his antics.

Especially loved when he lost it against Titan's Hand. And his insane laughter when he carved "Gary" into pieces.

Yo, Yuuki.

I don't purchase any physical anime merchandise because other people enter my house relatively often.

you asshole do you have any idea how hard it was for me to just resist buying the nendoroid

So? It's not like enjoying anime is a sin or something. If someone has a negative reaction just because you like anime, well, screw them. They're ignorant and likely not worth your time anyway.

I'm someone that isn't worth others' time. It's why I keep up the facade that people do want in real life.

I wonder how I would behave in VRMMOs, given how Sword Art Online loves to put emphasis on how much less detached it is from reality in comparison to the social functions of the internet we use today. I would probably have problems dehumanizing others enough to care about interactions with them that are beyond making them as convenient to deal with as possible, but the whole anonymity thing would still apply so...

edited 4th Jan '15 10:24:56 PM by YuukiAsuna