Sword Art Online

[AhnYS]

WAHH I PUT SPOILERS AND IT'S LIKE 10 NOVELS AHEAD OF GGO D:
couldn't you just split off the second half....ah oh well w.e I'll do it myself
Episode 24

Even after reading LN's it was so satisfying to see scum like that get stabbed in the face. Looking forward to next weeks episode Unfortunately(actually maybe fortunately) SAO has changed from my guilty pleasure to one of my favorite series this season. Kudos for making me get emotionally involved and then give me completely fulfilling resolutions; the obvious example being Sugou getting what was coming to him. although this said I wonder how far they will be able to animate this I guess it all depends on how well BD's do...

[valondar]

Episode 24
Mechanics:

Not a lot to say here, other than to observe that when Kayaba says NPC women can't make the face Asuna makes it's presumably just because that expression hadn't been programmed in, since obviously her face would be as detailed a CGI model as theirs, but theirs lack any instinctive expressiveness and so fall back on whatever recorded emotions the developers got, possibly by mo-cap or whatever.

Also, Kirito, dude, when you got administration privileges you could have ordered Asuna some clothes, and freed her. As opposed to wasting your whole time with that indulgent swordfight while she's still chained.

The rest:

'You never did make much sense.' Kirito tells Kayaba Akihiko at one point, perfectly summing up that character's vague motivations and decisions. When you get down to it Kayaba Akihiko is not a character so much as he is a plot device; he was the conceit that drove the first arc of SAO, and now he's the conceit that allows Kirito to win through blind favouritism. There's really nothing to this guy, even if Kirito's assumption that he must have died somehow is unfounded (his fate was never revealed, so I'm sure the living one is out there to be used again for another arbitrary purpose).

But where Kayaba is formless, Sugou is transparent. Sugou is pretty much a Villain with a capital V. Get your usual mad scientist who wants to rule the world plot, throw in a bit of rapist posessiveness, dial it up to eleven with the campiest, most over the top histrionic cackling you can imagine, put it in a blender and you've got this guy. He is, at least, someone with an agenda, but as time has worn on he's just become more and more ridiculous. Appropriately, the climax isn't any more climactic than last time.

On one level though, Kirito is right: The game is rigged. Play with allies or without allies, the rules he was fighting against the whole time were the ones that Sugou set up. This is why all our speculation about how Alfs might imbalnace the game turned out to be total bullshit because Sugou had no intention of letting the endgame be remotely winnable or fair. And even if they had been fair and Kirito could have bcome an Alf, there's no way he would have let Kirito 'win' his captive bride away from him. The only way to defeat the guy in charge of all the codes is by code.

But while Kirito realizes this, he never actually has to do anything about it, as Yui provided him the code aid to get him as far as Asuna, and then Kayaba provides him more code aid to win the day. For all the emphasis the show makes on his final duel it's an empty gesture: Yui and Kayaba are the only real victors here, for all Kirito's posturing and their validation of same. Kirtio can't win the way he's playing, so his allies change the rules, and he takes the credit. I'm glad Asuna is out of her arc-long confinement (hopefully next time around they'll find her a less degrading role... which shouldn't be hard) but it doesn't feel any more earned than the way the last game ended.

Originally Posted by TheZippo

But I can't help and wonder - what about the other 299 players trapped? Didn't Kirito feel the duty as hero to free them as well?

I assume this is something the next episode will deal with. It had better, anyhow.

Originally Posted by Dreador

I'm guessing your a LN reader if you know he's still alive. It mentioned that below lvl 3 pain limiter that it affects your real body so thought maybe it might have messed him up IRL possibly enough to kill him though shock of having a sword to the face haha.

I'd also assumed Sugou was dead given the show specifically and - out of the blue - gave us a specific way people could die in Alfheim Online and then had Kirito use it.

[otakuninja]

Episode 24:

10/10 loved the new episode . Was on my seat the whole damn time. Kind of scared for Asuna. What a relief. I have an issue with them making out the man who killed 6,000 people look like a "hero" so to speak.

[vernanonix]

Originally Posted by valondar

Episode 24

I'd also assumed Sugou was dead given the show specifically and - out of the blue - gave us a specific way people could die in Alfheim Online and then had Kirito use it.

They never actually elaborated on how it affects the physical body. It's possible that turning it all the way down can cause permanent brain damage, since this system is basically hijacking the person's brain to give the realism. Though the thing never tells your brain to think you are dead physically. You get pain in all the appropriate areas, but you still have a consciousness after dying in the game, as displayed by Kirito a few episodes ago. However, Sugou might have become paraplegic since his lower half was cut off, with the game telling his brain he has no lower legs. Might have lost his left hand as well.

[SeiyaManG]

Episode 24

We almost had a berserk moment there didn't we?

I won't criticize the ending. We literally had a Deus Ex Machina but eh. I'd rather that than the other possible outcome. I'm happy with it.

[Pidjiken]

Originally Posted by SeiyaManG

Episode 24

We almost had a berserk moment there didn't we?

I won't criticize the ending. We literally had a Deus Ex Machina but eh. I'd rather that than the other possible outcome. I'm happy with it.

It is the only logical outcome afterall.

I've been stressing the ability of someone with Admin privileges for a while now. Only a higher ranked admin can get an admin. Anything else would have been complete bullshit and very likely would have eaten at me. Very happy with this outcome.

Originally Posted by SFAhnYS

WAHH I PUT SPOILERS AND IT'S LIKE 10 CHAPTERS AHEAD OF GGO D:
couldn't you just split off the second half....ah oh well w.e I'll do it myself

Any and all LN discussion past the point of the current episode is banned in this thread by sothis. It constitutes an immediate PERMABAN if it happens to spoil anything for her, by sothis decree. You're lucky I'm the one that caught it, and not her.

[LinkSword]

Originally Posted by SeiyaManG

Episode 24

We almost had a berserk moment there didn't we?

My thoughts exactly.

It's like the shonen, overblown version of you-know-what.

[FireWalker]

Finally picking this up, but the first 3 episodes have left a good impression.
ep1

Interesting premise, ropes you right in.

ep2

OK, like the redhead, and the plot development right up to the end. Why does he have to reject fellowship and head off on his own? Seems as if it's only to prolong the drama. Of course the OP segment shows this is temporary.

ep3

A little disconnected from the first two - why team up after being resolutely solo? But the story was truly poignant. Not sure how anyone could continue if they carried even a sliver of guilt from the deaths IRL of the entire party they were with, but the recorded message might just be enough. And how did his buddies covering for him avoid being slaughtered?

Well, with a break coming up, I might just be caught up before the series ends... if I watch nothing else ...

[KannoFan83]

Ep 24

I dunno. For me, the emotional climax of this show was reached in episode 22. I didn't really get any warm feelings from this one, despite the fact that Asuna is finally free. Maybe it had to do with the way it was approached or resolved - not that I'm particularly dissatisfied with either, or maybe Sugou's way over the top villainy kind of took me out of the moment. Whatever the reason, I just didn't get any emotional impact from this one. Maybe next week, when the two finally meet in the real world - that should be something special.

Although, I doubt Sugou is dead. I would be willing to get on board with the idea of some kind of brain damage - but after all, it's merely painful sensations that they are feeling. They still know and understand that it is a game - so even having his arm cut off, etc - I don't think it would have the effect of paralyzing him. It would simply hurt. A lot. That's my guess anyway. No way to really know right now.

[Aranneas]

e24

at least our last villain was believable as a person. this is just zzzzz meaningless in the level of overblown hamminess it reaches.

also: HAYEOAOAYE. UAAAYE... HAIYA!

also: who needs nipples?

Originally Posted by Pidjiken

It is the only logical outcome afterall.

I've been stressing the ability of someone with Admin privileges for a while now. Only a higher ranked admin can get an admin. Anything else would have been complete bullshit and very likely would have eaten at me. Very happy with this outcome.

the only logical outcome... is one with no actual emotional involvement, realistic growth, or practical achievement by any of the leads. that's called backing yourself into a corner with bad writing.

* I think I'm probably done posting in this thread. I've given up hoping for a satisfying ending to this. I'll still watch to the end because I've come this far, but unless my opinion changes drastically in the denouement I don't think I'll have anything new to say.