Sword Art Online

[Olo401]

Was rewatching SAO and unbeknownst to me Crunchyroll updated with the dubbed versions, which started to play after I finished S1 in subs.

What. The. Fuck. I've come to accept bad dubbing jobs, because let's face it they're common, but good fucking lord the Aniplex dub is atrocious.

[Waraji]

Here I was hoping for S3 announcement. -.-

[The Stig]

There's an incoming movie, that's all you'll get!

Was rewatching SAO and unbeknownst to me Crunchyroll updated with the dubbed versions, which started to play after I finished S1 in subs.

What. The. Fuck. I've come to accept bad dubbing jobs, because let's face it they're common, but good fucking lord the Aniplex dub is atrocious.

What's wrong with it? It didn't feel or stuck out to be particularly bad to me, it just works.

[killerx]

Here I was hoping for S3 announcement. -.-

Fuck I got all excited

[Olo401]

What's wrong with it? It didn't feel or stuck out to be particularly bad to me, it just works.

The voices didn't seem to match the characters, especially Kirito and Asuna. And the pacing just seemed way off. Maybe it's because I'm used to watching subs a lot more now, I dunno.

[Eanae]

New episode of SAO Abridged! This series is so good. Far better than the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TNF9YRTKlg

[Kaslo]

New episode of SAO Abridged! This series is so good. Far better than the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TNF9YRTKlg

I'll check it out, I've seen so many bad attempts at Abridged series...

[Eanae]

I'll check it out, I've seen so many bad attempts at Abridged series...

It's one of the better ones. I actually like it better than actual SAO.

[DrClout]

Well done.

[Kaslo]

[The Stig]

I'll watch it when I get home, seems funny/controversial.

But SAO in general is:

First 2 eps = brilliant premise
Ep3 = was alright, highlights the cruel scenario they are put in
Ep4 = ignoring the loli here, this was alright too highlighting some common online player behaviours
Ep5 & 6 = dragged a bit, but again exploring player behaviour was fun
Ep7 = yawn, pointless
Ep8,9,10 = the growing romance between the 2 main chars was quite nice i thought
Ep11 = fuck yui
Ep12 = fuck yui

At its core, it's a fine anime, but for some reason the fans become extremely annoying/defensive over it over anything negative said. I like the anime, I just dislike the general fanbase who praise it for all its worth and won't take any criticism. I like the anime and accept its flaws.

Second half of season 1 took the good premise away and replaced it with a rescue adventure, but it was exciting/colorful all around. Care levels drop as the element of danger has been removed.

Season 2, besides some melodrama, was a very fine season especially the focus to Asuna in the latter half for further development, and the exploration of VR in health was interesting to me, though eliminating Shino from the second half was a bit annoying after so much exposure in the first. Kirito's development in the first half was also rather nice as it highlighted the after effects of Aincrad.

The progressive manga aims to fix the first half of season 1 into something rather full blown, though I wonder how much MMORPG stuff they can write and vomit into it before it gets repetitive/boring.

note: I've not read any of the Alicization novels, or any of the novels except Volume 1 due to laziness (prefer manga) so my opinion might be a bit skewed

[Ayn]

It's one of the better ones. I actually like it better than actual SAO.

Seriously. So many good moments in this abridged series I'd just take up the whole page quoting it.

But the Liz episode. Oh my god. Or the fact that this Kirito is such a gigantic asshole.

Ep11 = fuck yui
Ep12 = fuck yui

Yep.

I liked the first season at all. Just felt..abrupt.

[DrClout]

Got amp'd thinking a new abridged popped. You bastards.

[dasva]

It's one of the better ones. I actually like it better than actual SAO.

Oddly despite being abridged it seems to give the characters well more character or at least more believable character. That and it actually seems to pay attention to the things that already happened and build on it while the real anime seems to treat half of what happens as filler that is to never be brought up again. Like the whole dual wielding thing

The progressive manga aims to fix the first half of season 1 into something rather full blown, though I wonder how much MMORPG stuff they can write and vomit into it before it gets repetitive/boring.

I feel it depends on how they do it. I think too many of the whole stuck in a game shows seem to basically use the game as a backdrop for a story about some sort of outside conflict with some filler about the actual game here and there and it does get boring. But say a show that more focuses on the people stuck in the game playing the game and actually talking about strategies and mechanics dealing with events and leveling and the politics that come dealing with people in mmo etc could be more interesting if only cause it's not as common

[Katlan]

Wait is crunchyroll forcing the dubbed version? Please say you can choose. I was gonna rewatch some of it soon and I'll be bitter if its now dubbed

[DrClout]

I don't see an option to choose but the few that I clicked were still subbed. Not dubbed.

[The Stig]

I feel it depends on how they do it. I think too many of the whole stuck in a game shows seem to basically use the game as a backdrop for a story about some sort of outside conflict with some filler about the actual game here and there and it does get boring. But say a show that more focuses on the people stuck in the game playing the game and actually talking about strategies and mechanics dealing with events and leveling and the politics that come dealing with people in mmo etc could be more interesting if only cause it's not as common

Log Horizon did the quoted red bit. Was nice, especially in season 2. Overlord too went down this route with an interesting flavour.

But more interestingly, the bolded quoted bit is what I wanted to talk about. This is precisely the reason why I am glad the anime only had 14 eps in Aincrad. There is only so much you can do before it gets boring, because main chars cannot die. I read the 2 volumes of the progressive manga, and while it was interesting as it fleshes out bits here and there, I am somewhat concerned about how much it will flesh out for before I stop looking forward to it (though I would still read it).

The video was correct about the fans (in general, all of them are faggots, especially the loud ones). The intelligent ones don't QQ over it that much and are reasonable, and I too am in the middle (I accept the flaws, I enjoy it regardless). In fact, hop over to Reddit and every other thread is "why is SAO hated" "i love SAO" "if SAO is a game..." in between fanart and whatnot.

And also it mentioned the sense of dread it creates in the first 14 episodes (minus some), it's very there, and it's a very sticking factor to why the first half is good (and it tickles our MMORPG inner selves especially on here). Attack on Titan manages maintain the dread throughout, topped with mysteries. Both factors I think make for a really good anime.

It's also weird how the review discusses Asuna and the uncomfortable scenes but skips Kirito and his sister, which from what I read was also a massive turn off for some.

[Charismatic]

Maybe the creator of the video knows deep in their heart of hearts that Sugu is best girl

[Wulfgang]

I thought SAO was fantastic through the first few episodes; it felt so familiar (all former-MMO addicts) and interesting. Then it just gets progressively worse after the awesome Skull Reaper fight for me. The Yui shit just kills me as well; Japan seems to have this obsession with pseudo-"The Blue Lagoon" type juvenile fantasies with some obvious proxy for a child.

[Deadgye]

Alicization is best SAO arc. :3