40 pages into Volume 20, I'm wondering if Kawahara has played Final Fantasy X-2, because the intrigue spawned by the Axiom Church is coming to a head in Final Fantasy X fashion. I can only assume that Yanai was responsible for introducing the trappings of Catholicism to Quinella, because there is no other logical explanation for where she got the idea for the hierarchy and titles of the Axiom Church.
As for the Renly X Tiese side plot, I find it interesting that nobody has brought up the Mayfly–December Romance aspect: while Tiese is training to be an Integrity Knight, she won't gain eternal youth like the Integrity Knights synthesized by Quinella, including Renly.
Amazingly, every time I think Kikuoka and Rath can't get any worse, they surprise me. Turns out the founding of the Axiom Church considerably improved the morality of the people, who had previously been given over to the worship of divine beasts. Apparently, Rath never instructed the first generation not to engage in superstition.
The Moon Cradle arc ends with And the Adventure Continues, with Kawahara suggesting that someday he'll write the (Star King?) arc about Kirito's battle against the surviving antagonists that will last for over a century. Personally, I think Kawahara's taking way too much on, and it would make more sense for him to let the anime team write said arc as a filler arc while they wait for him to finish Unital Ring. Obviously, Kawahara would give them parameters they have to stick to, but it's something the anime team could produce in the Fall 2021 to Fall 2022 timeframe.
Gently wrap up this world like the night sky.
I've been continually impressed with the Kentaro Waki has done as the anime's Director of Photography.
He and Yoshihiro Kanno have been a great team to have.
The pettiness of the kidnapping attempt is that the Emperors' primary goal was revenge against Kirito for stripping them of their power and lands. Leazetta was just a pawn to them, though certainly, Iskahn supporting peace between the Dark Territory and the human realm doesn't serve their goals. Even so, kidnapping Leazetta (and clearly not intending to return her alive even if their demands were met) wasn't about hurting Iskahn emotionally so much as it was about hurting him politically. How can a man who can't even protect his daughter call himself the strongest?
New floor unlocked in Integral Factor, and Morte appears. Obviously, he's a member of Laughing Coffin now, but for some reason Asuna doesn't get suspicious of him at any point. At least they did have the sense to leave Kirito out of this scenario until Morte reveals himself, and ironically, his plan is thwarted by information that ultimately came from Kyouji.
PROGRESSIVE IS GETTING A ANIME!
Yuri fanfiction writer! http://www.fanfiction.net/~shanejayell
CHADhan Player.
Joy
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.
Gently wrap up this world like the night sky.
What if Kirito's Cold-Blooded Torture of Sugou/Oberon was even worse than we've actually seen? Like say instead of cutting off his arm and stabbing him in the eye, he slashes him up for a good few minutes before killing him.
And then in real life, when Sugou is overpowered and tries to flee in a panic, Kirito catches up to him, stabs him with his own knife a few times, and beats him to a bloody pulp. All until Sugou breaks down in tears out of despair and agony.
Kirito of course lets Sugou live and be sent off to prison.
In Volume 20, Asuna brings up the Orphaned Etymology of certain things in the Underworld, but there were several things she failed to mention, like the weekly day of rest.
I was VERY amused to hit the bit where Underworlders don't poop. 
![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
That got me wondering, "What other bodily functions are streamlined?" Is childbirth painful? Is there such a thing as cancer in this world?
Alycization Lycoris takes the game series' penchant for endless cutscenes Up To Eleven. No sooner does one end than the next begins.
Where did this notion of the Alicization Epilogue being a pro-atheism and pro-Creating Life Is Awesome Author Tract come from? At no point is Project Alicization ever presented in a favorable light, and Alice herself invokes Natural Law as her justification for why it's wrong for the real-worlders to enslave the Underworlders. Calling it pro-AI is arguable, but you can't remotely call it pro-atheist when Alice basically tells the press to have some fear of God when considering how to interact with A.I.s. Now, false religion is quite clearly presented in a negative light, and Asuna makes it abundantly clear that she isn't a goddess, despite her appearance and powers, but the belief that the real world has a Creator who establishes an absolute morality binding on all is something clearly endorsed.
Likewise, Kikuoka is unambiguously presented as evil, a victim of He Who Fights Monsters. He's only tolerated by the protagonists on account of Evil Versus Oblivion. That Kikuoka and Higa now want to protect the Underworld is merely their duty to the victims of their experiments. It was wrong to create them, but now that they exist, they have rights, and the people responsible for creating them have a duty of care toward them, and far from being a Space Whale Aesop, this is a metaphor for the real life issues of in vitro fertilization and human cloning.
If the intention of the post was that it was an Author Tract against atheism and Creating Life Is Awesome, then the main page should clearly say that.
Edited by mythbuster on Sep 21st 2020 at 7:08:40 AM
It sure was satisfying to see Raios and Humbert get their comeuppance without an over-the-top rape scene in Lycoris. That said, I was hoping I'd be able to play out Kirito's fight with Raios. The Catharsis Factor just isn't as great when it's limited to a cutscene. Still, it really managed to drive home how much of a Mook Horror Show this is for Humbert: All his life, he's felt invincible because of his noble rank, and then one day he encounters something that makes him feel true fear- a man who shows contempt for his judgments, spits on the Taboo Index, and won't hesitate to kill. He could grab a one-handed sword and attack, but he knows that would be suicidal, because he doesn't stand a chance even if Eugeo stays out of the fight, and Kirito's in no mood to show mercy to an attacker. He has to feel like he just came face-to-face with Vecta, and the whole incident is probably something that nobles would tell their misbehaving children, not to mention give Humbert nightmares for years.
Edited by mythbuster on Sep 22nd 2020 at 10:08:14 AM
Gently wrap up this world like the night sky.
So there was an interview with Dengeki Online in which Kawahara revealed that Argo full name is Hosaka Carina Tomo and that she's half-Japanese. But what I found most interesting from it was that the anime has made it easier for Kawahara to imagine what the characters would say in a given situation, as he now imagines their V As talking. It was also interesting to to see that if Kawahara would be given a week of free time, he'd like to spend it travelling. Preferably, abroad.
Edited by RussellStar5641 on Sep 24th 2020 at 4:07:05 AM
Blog - Tumblr
If I understand correctly how Japanese holidays work, next year's Golden Week is going to be one continuous week of holidays and weekends. Assuming that the pandemic has declined enough that travel makes sense, that would be a reasonable time to do it. It's not like the publishers will be working then, anyway.
Well, Lycoris comes up with a very convenient way to thwart GDS's schemes: Don't leave them any ST Ls to use.
Despite the original story, Lycoris seems connected to the Moon Cradle Arc, what with the resurrection plotline.
In Lyrocis, Bercouli says he never had any kids, but given what Quinella did to his memory, I'm highly skeptical. I take it as a given that all of Rulid is descended from him, though he can't remember anything about his life before becoming an Integrity Knight.
If you haven't gotten the LN, this is actually cheaper....
https://yenpress.com/9781975318550/sword-art-online-platinum-collectors-edition/
So where is the plot of Sword Art Online now? The last thing I was aware of was the movie, but now it's still on the story arc where Kirito is trapped inside of a Norse MMO simulation, right?
Akira Toriyama (April 5 1955 - March 1, 2024).
Book or animated?
The novels just ended Alicization, with a final pair of books called Moon Cradle. The next thing is Unital Ring, I think.
The anime just finished Alicization too, but the next thing will be a adaption of the SAO Progressive books.
Yuri fanfiction writer! http://www.fanfiction.net/~shanejayell
So turns out that Siune's recovery despite not responding to chemotherapy actually makes sense. A few years back, an experimental treatment was developed for acute lymphoblastic leukemia that wasn't responding to chemotherapy (i.e. Siune's exact condition) using genetically modified HIV to reprogram the immune system. Of course, Mother's Rosario was written before this experiment was done.
Edited by mythbuster on May 29th 2020 at 7:33:45 AM