Sword Art Online Abridged

I imagine they'll actually bond over bullying Kirito, but it'll be something like how Asuna threatens Lisbeth. And Suguha either doesn't recognize it, or fires it back.

So it was confirmed at Sakura-con that Something Witty Entertainment is working on abridging My Hero Academia. Also, part of Episode 13 was previewed there.

That'll be interesting. I wonder how they can improve on something as popular as My Hero Academia.

So I finally finished the video of their con Q&A, and they confirmed that they axed SAO's incest subplot.

Goddammit, does this mean I have to go and watch MHA now?

Good.

Rather neutral on that plot point to be honest. It really could have been solved with communication on the part of the primary and secondary protagonist of the arc.

To be honest with Suguha being a bigger fish and just as snarky as Kirito, I was looking forward to how they interpreted the incest thing.

The reasoning (which I don't really expect to be convincing) being...? (Hopefully not "Because we have a personal distaste for incest, even between cousins, rather than us finding it too bad/silly/uninteresting as a subplot to bother acknowledging.")

edited 30th Apr '18 4:51:52 PM by MarqFJA

You say that like it'd not a valid reason to dislike incest plots.

They also changed a great deal in the first season like adding a mafia to the game and coming up with a ghost story Kirito and Asuna refuse to discuss ever again, so I trust they've warped the story well enough that the incest subplot won't be missed.

But "we're too grossed out by incest to make fun of it," does come off as a weak reason to get rid of it entirely. Grossed out enough you can't parody it but you stomach'd it long enough to review the source material, yes?

edited 30th Apr '18 5:31:08 PM by Soble

Be that as it may, the incest plot is not a hill to die on. I'd be weirded out if anyone here cared enough to question its removal.

Disappointed because I wanted to see how they spin it, but considering how irrelevant to everything it was in the original, it's really not worth complaining about.

Suguha's amplified cantankerousness was leading to an awkward subplot.

I guess I'll have to settle for the humor of Suguha being vitriolic purely for kicks.

Guess her cantankerousness may be cover for normal sisterly affection, rather than abnormal, unhealthy sisterly affection.

Still hope they at least keep "Leafa" falling for "Kirito" until the inevitable reveal. Though if they do cut it, I can understand why - it's not like his avatar looks drastically different from his real-life appearance, so the confusion might be hard to justify. Not as hard as a Charisma-boosting hat being able to mind-control another player, mind you.

It's one of those things where its exclusion just makes sense. It's not like it's the heart and soul of the series, it's just normal weeb-pandering with additional levels of squick that is precisely the kind of thing that either gets removed entirely or exaggerated to ridiculous parody and, frankly, at this point I don't think it's possible to satirize it anymore because straight examples have gone so far.

edited 1st May '18 5:58:46 AM by Larkmarn

... You guys do remember that they're not really siblings, just cousins who were raised by Kirito's parents after Suguha's died, right? And that they know their actual relationship by the time SAO's ALO arc starts?

"Weeb-pandering"? Seriously, is that how you see it?

<raises hand without hesitation> Yeah, I seriously question its removal.

edited 1st May '18 6:09:09 AM by MarqFJA

Some people think a relationship with your cousin counts as incest, others don't. Just the way it is. It's also an opinion that's basically impossible to change. Best just accept it and move on. Not really a hill worth dying on, Marq.

As for me, I'm a little disappointed since I think the basic idea is fine and it would be easy enough to make it a lot better but I don't terribly care if they decide to skip it entirely. Suguha getting character development is the only thing that really matters here.

edited 1st May '18 6:12:38 AM by Zelenal

I know how incest standards can vary. It's just the way people here are who are glad the incest angle is gone come across as if the characters in question were siblings.

And I question the way you're equating "seriously question its removal" with "think it's a hill worth dying on".

Lastly, I consider Suguha's unrequited attraction to Kirito in both his identities to be an important part of her character development. And it would've been interesting to see her sociopathic bullying of Kirito being explained as an extreme, nigh-pathological form of Tsundere behavior, and Abridged!Asuna's reaction to her as yet another girl trying to "steal what's rightfully [hers]" (or however you want to put it).

edited 1st May '18 6:28:36 AM by MarqFJA

"It's the non gross kind of incest!"

Considering they have outright changed characters to the point where they share little with the source material (See Kirito, Kayaba), that it's part of the original's character development (Such as it has any) really means nothing if you've watched this show.

There's not much sense in removing it beyond the creators being uncomfortable.

The actual subplot isn't very squicky at all, but I'm pretty sure most heard "incest" and that little alarm went off in their heads. It's not pornography, calm down. You already got through the 'underage teenagers sleeping together' portion of the story and you probably laughed at that too.

This parody takes this show's premise and most of the character interactions, and makes them more nuanced. Suguha "being in love with" Kirito was probably the most awkward point of the story, and Abridged series practically live for making fun of the awkwardness of the material they're parodying.

By making Suguha such an asshole it seemed like they were setting her up for a karmic comeuppance when she reveals her feelings to Kirito, which he would probably find squicky instead of not reacting like his canon self did. But if they're just dropping the subplot entirely then the only place I see them going with it is Suguha "masking her normal, perfectly healthy sisterly affection" or something.

Now if this were the tentacle monster scene, I wouldn't be arguing this.

edited 1st May '18 7:00:05 AM by Soble

I'd argue it's taking the female lead (and most interesting character) and sidelining her for an arc in the villain's creepy rape dungeon (To do nothing to free herself) as the most awkward point in the story.

edited 1st May '18 6:47:03 AM by Ghilz

Well I'd say that was awkward and uncomfortable and probably a little sexist through a feminist lens. But see they'll probably keep that in because that's a lot of footage they'd have to write around. They did rewrite Kayaba's entire speech but... I'm conflicted.

I've never been so conflicted about whether Kissing Cousins should remain in a story. Truly this is a dilemma.

edited 1st May '18 7:00:54 AM by Soble

"little"?

...Sexist?

The hell?

I'm not sure if there's something beyond extremely sexist but the entire Asuna portion of ALO is it.