C&C - Sword Art Online - "Crimson Killing Intent" [10/5]

[Lord Dalek]

AND WE'RE ONLY TEN EPISODES IN?!!!!!!

Yeah! And next week it turns into an even crappier version of Clannad!

You have nooooo idea how long I've been waiting for this week. You thought those earlier episodes were bad, oh no those were the good ones. From here on out, its the long, long march to hell and back with...

Spoiler

in-game e-daughters, and fairies, and incest, and would-be psychopath rapists, and tentacles and etc. etc.

 

[army128]

They were asked in one of the previous Q&A about "the incident". They said they didn't care about episode 21...or 24 for that matter.

Really? They don't care about Episode 24? I thought that would be alarming to the executives or something. At least with scenes like this, it was "implied" within television context. Episode 24 wasn't so subtle.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Oh btw... say hello to our Gary Stu-protagonist who hit a grand slam home run of getting the girl, shagging the girl, and now marrying the girl...all in the span of one episode.

I WARNED YOU! YOU'RE ALL DOOMED!!!!

NEXT WEEK:

Spoiler

Everybody's favorite pro-abortion commercial finally arrives! Can this show get more and more uncomfortably awkward and stupid?!? Yes yes it can.

Spoiler

They have a KID, TOO?! Damn, Kirito works fast.

 

[Gatomon41]

I'm think about skipping the next episode. Not out of fear of how bad it is... but rather that I may lack the self-control to not "rage" it.

I have a feeling it could be Bad Voyager Episode Bad.

Or Worse - Torchwood quality.

 

[Hypeathon]

Really? They don't care about Episode 24? I thought that would be alarming to the executives or something.

People really need to stop and analyze for a moment what worries people working in these networks and what doesn't.

This is Adult Swim we're talking about. The same network that shows Metalocalypse where it makes accidental homicide an art form, and the Boondocks where Martin Luther King Jr. calls out on his own kind by calling them the N word. Hell, this is the same network that airs the Seth MacFarlane cartoons where over the years he has become 5 times as raunchy, violent and offensive as he was before. I mean look at this scene! Mike Lazzo doesn't give a damn if it airs!

I'm think about skipping the next episode. Not out of fear of how bad it is... but rather that I may lack the self-control to not "rage" it.

Stephanie Sheh (aka: K-ON's Yui Hirasawa) will play a role in the next episode.

 

[Gatomon41]

(snip)

Stephanie Sheh (aka: K-ON's Yui Hirasawa) will play a role in the next episode.

I'm not even sure if K-On can save the day

...I need some tea.

On the bright side, at least is isn't Blue Gender.

 

[Hypeathon]

I'm not even sure if K-On can save the day

Her character in this show is also named Yui?

That's all I got man.

 

[Rynnec]

I'm think about skipping the next episode. Not out of fear of how bad it is... but rather that I may lack the self-control to not "rage" it.

I have a feeling it could be Bad Voyager Episode Bad.

Or Worse - Torchwood quality.

If it's Torchwood quality, then it'd be gay, which would make things slightly more interesting.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I'm think about skipping the next episode. Not out of fear of how bad it is... but rather that I may lack the self-control to not "rage" it.

Next week's is part one of a two-parter....which gets to be "you gotta be frackin kidding me." levels of atrocious in its second half.

 

[Gatomon41]

Oh wait - I have a Wedding to go next week! I actually have a decent excuse to avoid next week!

Sorry for you guys though.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Your commentary for this week. This is the YouTube version because I made it EXTRA SPECIAL just for you! :trollface:

[video=youtube;twz8rzwy2Ec]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twz8rzwy2Ec[/video]

Oh wait - I have a Wedding to go next week! I actually have a decent excuse to avoid next week!

NOONE ESCAPES FROM YUI-CHAN!!!

 

[TheGunheart]

To be honest, outside the scene where Asuna undresses (which could actually be removed with absolutely no effect on the episode), I didn't find this one all that bad, really.

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this episode was pretty weak. The animation for the duel looked pretty good though, but the episode went downhill after that for me. The flashback to the third episode just reminded me of how contrived and emotionally manipulative that episode was. The bodyguard actually being evil wasn't too surprising. It probably should have been more obvious to me in retrospect given how he was following Asuna so much. I'm sure that his facial expressions while killing Kirito and the other guy whose name I don't care to look up was suppose to be scary, but it looked so ridiculously over the top evil that I couldn't help but laugh at it.

Asuna actually protecting Kirito was at least something I didn't expect since I thought she would be the weak damsel in distress. Kirito did end up saving her at the end, but she actually was able to do something besides cry over Kirito. I thought that losing his hand would be more permanent for some reason. The bodyguard saying that Kirito murdered him was a bit odd since I think it would technically be manslaughter due to being out of self-defense.

So I guess Kirito and Asuna are officially a couple. If their relationship had any good buildup, passion or if they were actually interesting characters, I'd care, but as it is, I'm struggling to see why I should be invested in their relationship. They care about each other, but their interactions haven't conveyed much more emotion beyond typical male and female lead interactions. Kirito's declaration of his feelings for Asuna also just felt a bit too sudden for me because of the lack of buildup and passion. Asuna stripping down to her underwear was just uncomfortable. I thought that they were going that route, but I kept thinking that they wouldn't and then they did. I also guess that Kirito watching Asuna sleep implies that they did have relations. I immensely dislike the fact that this show makes me question how sex in a virtual world works. Asuna saying that these last two years have been wonderful, or something along those lines, made me wonder if she forgot that she's in a death trap. And now they're going to be married, which also makes me question if that counts in the real world, but I still couldn't care about their relationship.

 

[WickedChild]

Yeah! And next week it turns into an even crappier version of Clannad!

You have nooooo idea how long I've been waiting for this week. You thought those earlier episodes were bad, oh no those were the good ones. From here on out, its the long, long march to hell and back with...

Spoiler

in-game e-daughters, and fairies, and incest, and would-be psychopath rapists, and tentacles and etc. etc.

This, seriously, was your big "I told you so" moment? Wow, you people are bigger prudes than the Parents Television Council. Seriously, someone needs to explain to me how the addition of a sexual relationship between two characters who are obviously in love is somehow the worst thing in the world, or even a bad thing for that matter. As for their relationship not having any buildup, I guess knowing each other for 2 years and fighting on the front lines risking their lives together doesn't count. As for this episode's "infamous" scene - my god, they showed her in her underwear for 5 seconds. South Park and Family Guy do worse than that on a weekly basis and nobody cares.

Just out of curiosity, since this is apparently, unbeknownst to myself, a bad example of a sexual relationship in anime, can someone point me to a good example? Because apparently I know nothing.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

I'm with GunHeart and WickedChild; I don't get it either. I only caught the second half, but I saw a couple nearly sacrifice themselves for each other, spend an evening together and talk about getting married. The way Dalek's been hollering, I expected something much worse.

 

[Lord Dalek]

This, seriously, was your big "I told you so" moment? Wow, you people are bigger prudes than the Parents Television Council. Seriously, someone needs to explain to me how the addition of a sexual relationship between two characters who are obviously in love is somehow the worst thing in the world, or even a bad thing for that matter. As for their relationship not having any buildup, I guess knowing each other for 2 years and fighting on the front lines risking their lives together doesn't count. As for this episode's "infamous" scene - my god, they showed her in her underwear for 5 seconds. South Park and Family Guy do worse than that on a weekly basis and nobody cares.

Since they basically whitewashed any and all trace of 16.5 out (and yes I've read the H-doujin) the content doesn't matter. Its just really badly written self-insertion pap designed by the author to give him not only a hot waifu with a egg shaped head and warm chestnut colored locks but also the idea of raising a family which he will do next week.

Now by comparison, what happens 11 episodes from now, now that's gonna be a problem.

Because apparently I know nothing.

[video=youtube;ULo3QPtLQHI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULo3QPtLQHI[/video]

Class is in session.

 

[WickedChild]

Since they basically whitewashed any and all trace of 16.5 out (and yes I've read the H-doujin) the content doesn't matter. Its just really badly written self-insertion pap designed by the author to give him not only a hot waifu with a egg shaped head and warm chestnut colored locks but also the idea of raising a family which he will do next week.

Now by comparison, what happens 11 episodes from now, now that's gonna be a problem.

So, you're upset by just the fact that they had sex? OK, I don't agree but I'll go with that. Why is it so upsetting that they consummate their relationship? Their feelings had been clear for several episodes now, and while it's unusual in a fantasy/action anime to actually have main characters get together like that, I still don't understand why I'm supposed to be so upset by the fact that it would ruin everything that happened before.

This is why normal people don't like anime. Because when anime fans talk about it they use words like "waifu" and have to try to fit everything into some preexisting trope. If a character is powerful, he's a Gary-Stu. If he gets a hot girl, it's self-insertion. Can't these things just happen in the course of a story without you assigning to it some anime glossary term? Why or how would any regular viewer possibly know or care that SAO is self-insertion? Maybe I haven't seen all the multitudes of self-insertion anime/manga/fanfiction/etc that leads someone like you to conclude that it's derivative schlock. Can't I just enjoy it for what it is?

Class is in session.

Isn't comparing Kare Kano to SAO kind of like comparing something like...I don't know Annie Hall to The Matrix? I'm saying it's kind of a strange comparison. KK is specifically a romance show, in SAO it's part of the story but not the main crux of it, at least not to this point (to say nothing of the fact that the KK anime was made by one of the great masters). I guess I should have been more specific. How about a action/fantasy anime where something you consider a good sexual relationship is a part of the show.

 

[Rynnec]

Gary Stu's can be good, fun, and compelling characters.

Dante of Devil May Cry is an example of a good, fun character, despite being a stu. Kirito...isn't

 

[Light Lucario]

Taiki from Digimon Xros Wars is also a Gary Stu, but he's still a fun and likable character in spite of practically being a perfect leader. Kirito really isn't. He doesn't have much of a personality or interesting interactions with other characters, although the fact that the characters in this series are pretty boring in general doesn't help with that. He is just an overpowered lead character with a bland personality that girls keep falling for just because.

 

[TheGunheart]

I'm with GunHeart and WickedChild; I don't get it either. I only caught the second half, but I saw a couple nearly sacrifice themselves for each other, spend an evening together and talk about getting married. The way Dalek's been hollering, I expected something much worse.

Yeah, and I knew what 16.5 was about in advance (though I've heard that even the author apparently considers it more fan fiction than anything). I'm just not seeing why I should take a psuedo-canon sequence of the light novels out on an anime adaptation that pretty much removed all trace of it. Hell, this has probably been one of the few half-way decent episodes, what with the nicely animated duel at the start and a sequence that Kirito couldn't just power through and gave Asuna the chance to save the day.

Taiki from Digimon Xros Wars is also a Gary Stu, but he's still a fun and likable character in spite of practically being a perfect leader. Kirito really isn't. He doesn't have much of a personality or interesting interactions with other characters, although the fact that the characters in this series are pretty boring in general doesn't help with that. He is just an overpowered lead character with a bland personality that girls keep falling for just because.

He hasn't gotten any less bland, but I do think he's gotten to be a bit less of a Stu lately. I mean, even getting a new superpower out of nowhere, he still had only a sliver of health left when the fight was over, he lost his duel to Heathcliff, and he needed Asuna to bail him out after getting poisoned. Not trying to defend him, just giving a little credit there.

The difference with Dante is that he's, well, fun. He gets his ass kicked, some of his attempts to be cool fall flat on their face, and his personality tends to cause potential allies to distrust him on sight. (Meanwhile, DmC Dante gets everything handed to him on a silver platter and his personality flaws cause him no problems whatsoever).