Sword Art Online

It was noted that the players are adapting to SAO, to the point of getting comfortable. So it's not a big deal to them at this point.

Well, it's considered taboo to talk about the real world (as mentioned by Silica) so I'd imagine we're supposed to to assume that they're just trying not to think about it.

Which event is that(floor 67)?

Also, about the real world stuff, police ARE useless, because Kayaba basically had a "few" hostages. Would you want them all die?

edited 2nd Sep '12 2:28:22 AM by Pryun

Latter on, you find out that the creator has just hidden himself that well, though the hostages are probably part of it.

And there are a couple reasons Kirito probably didn't use his two swords during that boss fight:

• Everything looked under control, but someone made a mistake and got one-hit killed (no time to bring it out)
• It was over 6 months ago. I would think that the players would slow down after that fight and each floor would take more time to complete.
• He simply wasn't there. It is not like he is part of every floor-boss fight.

edited 2nd Sep '12 6:27:09 AM by Belian

Great, he finally uses two LOL.

Which is what I always do in RP Gs (when applicable).

edited 2nd Sep '12 6:45:28 AM by entropy13

... ok, is that event on 67 referring to the one heathcliff held off the floor boss alone?

I don't think so... I believe that was during one of the "increased difficulty" boss fights that occur every 25 floors.

The event that everyone here is talking about is the one mentioned in the episode: "we haven't lost anyone during a floor-boss fight since the 67th floor." People are just wondering why Kirito would have kept his skills hidden at that time.

edited 2nd Sep '12 8:27:19 AM by Belian

Then again this still means he's been deliberately holding back each time he fights in a clearing raid. Even though it would make dungeons and boss fights all the easier since he's fighting at 100% and thus further ensure the safety of others, all because he doesn't want to get harrassed by other players despite proudly declaring himself a solo player. What a douche.

edited 2nd Sep '12 10:55:31 AM by Spirit

I can't exactly argue about those points from a logical stand-point, but I also just can't see why it is so hard to understand. He has an ability no-one else has and there is only one other (known) person in the game who is in a similar position. He had two choices: ether become a celebrity or hide it. He chose to hide it because he doesn't want to be a celebrity. Not exactly a "logical" choice, but one that makes sense to me.

He also brought it out when it was necessary. Here are his thoughts in the (translated) book:

No last-second thoughts or hesitation that showed up in the anime.

I suspect he also might have thought that people might try to kill him for having a skill. Tall Poppy Syndrome and all that.

edited 3rd Sep '12 9:33:09 AM by Deboss

I think that was mentioned in the manga. People were already trying to kill him before (simply because as a solo player he's automatically a target), and not only did revealing his skill attract more, but he doesn't have a secret weapon any more.

What is it with Japan and Tall Poppy Syndrome?

Well, our page for it currently has zero anime/manga examples, so I'm having a little trouble remembering specific instances.

But it's definitely not just Japan. The Legend Of Korra, for example.

For some reason, Heathcliff's voice doesn't sound fitting, based on his appearance, to me.

Kirito honestly seemed kind of slow with his slashes there.

Lizbeth mentioning dual wielding being their little secret? Since when? At least in the anime, that doesn't really make sense...or at least I was expecting a flashback or something, anyway.

I wonder how much Klein has to deal with durability issues. His weapon looks like a piece of crap by video game standards.

Are the menus in English most of the time or do subbers just have pro photoshoppers or something?

And most of all, why did Kirito and Asuna get scared of The Gleameyes? I mean, they faced plenty of big and imposing bosses before...though we haven't actually been shown most of them, so I could be wrong on that.

@Dual wield hiding thing: Tall Poppy Syndrome as a storytelling device isn't as relevant here I think, so much as "realism." Because what they said about MMO gamers being an envious bunch is true, even without unique skills that people obtain through luck, there are account hackers rampant trying to get their hands on particularly well boosted items. MM Oers have a tendency to go kind of insane when there is a particular person with a particular advantage over them, especially when it was not obtained through means generally available to everyone to some extent. If I was ever in SAO and got my hands on something as crazy as that, I may not even try to save people in fear of wasting resources (potions carried, durability of items, whatev) which will make me vulnerable to the people that I saved the lives of, it isn't unlikely for those people saved to try to mug you right there or something, and there isn't much of a chance of other people not close buddies saving you from such a situation either.

edited 22nd Sep '12 9:09:01 PM by HinanawiTenshi

And most of all, why did Kirito and Asuna get scared of The Gleameyes? I mean, they faced plenty of big and imposing bosses before...though we haven't actually been shown most of them, so I could be wrong on that.

This was better done in the light novel. Basically all the bosses are scary, but when going into a boss fight they're too focused on beating it to let it get to them. Since Kirito and Asuna weren't planning on even seeing the boss it got to them. All about being mentally prepared.

(everything is in reply to HT)

Yeah, it is a 15-hit combo (for comparison, Asuna's "high-level sword skill named «Star Splash»." is an 8-hit combo and she focuses on long, fast combo attacks). I can see why you would expect it to be faster. But then they probably would have lost some of the accuracy of the fight.

In the books, Lizbeth specifically asks him why he needs a 2nd sword if his first one is that good. And he shows her. She also didn't show up after the fight, but that is because she only appeared in the side-stories in the first place. So they decided not to let him show her his skills on-screen and then have her appear after the fight in order to keep the surprise and yet also match the books.

They must be in English, though I'm not going to search the source material for that one.

Here is the explanation for their fright (highlighted the most important part):

Thank you for putting all that into words. I couldn't. Though with those feelings, you probably would have had a hard time leaving the starter city. Though we will (probably) be going back there in a future episode and you can judge how those people feel/act for yourself.

edited 4th Sep '12 6:06:59 AM by Belian

Having played MMO's, going up against a boss you have no info on is always scary: And that's when your life *isn't* on the line.

I'm not sure I buy the comparison between a regular MMO and people who actually die when their character dies doing so. I'd think that the difference would at least reduce it.

We've already seen people pull the "lol there's no proof so killing people is okay!!" card, and even before then there's how gamers are rather desensitized to death in games, so petty desire takes priority here.

Do any of you read the 4koma? It's hilarious!

? No idea what you're talking about, actually. Link?

Hi, first forum post (been editing the main SAO page for a bit). Read all the novels, including all the web novels & most of Kawahara's doujin works (ME stuff).

Regarding the anime vs. novels, of course things have to be cut out, and there's a ton of stuff I wanted to see (like Kirito & Asuna's first real meeting). Hell, even the novels aren't consistent w/themselves, esp the speed of Asuna falling for Kirito, *especially* if you include their 2nd & 3rd floor exploits that Kawahara starts to write about.

All that aside, I'm really enjoying the anime adaptation, and actually appreciate the rather brisk pace, even at the cost of skipping content, to see more of it animated. I figure at the current pace, we'll see:

ep 10: Vs Heathcliff battle. Didn't see any of it in the trailer, but likely Kirito's training mission w/Ko B, and prolly a cliffhanger ending w/Cradill

ep 11: Married life & Yui, they'll likely skip the fishing episode

ep 12-13: Wrap up Ainclad. Start up Fairy Dance.

I'm hoping the show is popular enough to get a 3rd season for GGO. It's prolly way too much of a dream to hope for Alicialization to be animated, though it would be epic beyond words (but also way too long—they'd have to trim it down a ton to fit into even 26 eps).

edited 7th Sep '12 6:28:45 PM by grwanderer

I haven't read Alicialization. Can't find a complete translation.

The newest volume came out, what, 4 months ago? I've been keeping up with the translation and they haven't finished the that one yet. Add in that it is the second volume of that arc and ends with "Interlude II" and I don't think it is finished yet.

edited 7th Sep '12 10:18:48 AM by Belian

If I were to be perfectly honest, popular light novels seem to show strong sales when turned into anime form (Gee, I wonder why). Sword Art Online, needless to say, is popular. Of course it'll sell well enough for a season 2.

The question is whether or not they want to do a season 2.

edited 7th Sep '12 11:23:56 AM by burnpsy