SAO: GGO/Phantom Bullet (Novel Review)

Oi, testing is more or less going okay, so I'm going to loosen up a bit.

Today we're going to go over the third arc in the SAO (Sword Art Online) series, called GGO (Gun Gale Online), which spans Volumes 5 - 6. It's also the subject of the second season, and is followed by Mother's Rosario (Volume 7).

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS BELOW

Negative Point of View:

It was interesting, but rather unnecessary and perhaps even disturbing to see Kirito have a feminine avatar in GGO. Many times around, I wonder, "Why? JUST WHY?". TT_TT

Kirito basically decided to be stupid and use a sword in a gun game. I mean, like, it was beyond unconventional. No one did that, but I guess this is Kirito. He broke every single game (SAO, ALO, GGO). Every single one. #Kiritoed

I'm also confused about how, instead of properly shutting down the game and organizing an actual police investigation, they decided to send in your average VRMMO player. Okay, so Kirito is really skilled, but obviously that didn't make up for everything. #Wow

It was also an interesting decision of the author's part to severely (and almost completely) disconnect all other known characters (up to this point) from the main storyline. Even Asuna only got a tiny piece of the spotlight.

Positive Point of View:

I really appreciated the personality of the newly introduced character, Sinon (Asada Shino in real life). She was a very interesting person, whose past and present was haunted by firearms, yet immersed herself in a world of guns as a cold-hearted and efficient killing machine. These layers of her personality was decently well orchestrated, and did wonders in making the story more interesting and gripping.

Also, a change in world mechanics (swords to firearms) was somewhat refreshing, though also a little awkward at the same time.

The action scenes also seemed to be particularly gripping, and many novels and animes do not achieve this level.

Overall Rating:

Congratulations! Although this rating was definitely not one-sided, I suppose this was good enough to make for a thumbs up. ^.^

SAO: Aincrad/ALO (Anime Review)

Heeeeeeyyyy! :3

Since this is a blog, I'm supposed to post stuff (huge surprise TT_TT) and at the moment I've decided to do reviews and start up a database (obviously unfinished) and I'll start with the most popular anime of 2013 (that wasn't mainstream anyways ^.^), SAO, otherwise known as Sword Art Online.

Simple introductory plot: In 2022, 10,000 gamers are trapped in a VR (Virtual Reality) game named SAO that takes place in a massive virtual castle floating in the sky called "Aincrad". The game creator announces that the only way out is to defeat the final boss atop the 100th floor, but that death in-game also means death in real life.

The floating virtual castle, Aincrad in SAO.

Negative Point of View:

Guess I'll try to be generous and not to critical.

You see, the actual light novel series, which the anime is based off from (volumes 1 and 2), jumps from the first floor to the 74th. There was massive potential in that long gap. Because of this, the anime story line team used the side stories as filler episodes to make up for this, which is understandable, but in no way is very satisfying.

(Skipping 73 floors just doesn't work too well, Reki Kawahara. As an author, you should have more respect for the hearts on loyal fans -.-)

Furthermore, there is so much more to the SAO story than just the former and ALO. There is also GGO (Gun Gale Online) and Mother's Rosario, then Alicization, which is still ongoing. With so much popularity, there was absolutely no need for ending the season right there.

Volume 5, Phantom Bullet Arc (GGO)

Volume 6, Phantom Bullet Arc (GGO)

There's also a bit too much fan service. Kirito clearly has a harem going, though I'm glad Kawahara decided that he would mostly just stick with Asuna. However, this particular aspect of it is not very detrimental; it's merely a personal preference.

As with most animes, there was wasted potential, and I do have to say this was very definitively one of those. SAO could have been much more epic and fun to watch, but I do like it nonetheless.

The second arc, ALO, also reduced Asuna to a plot device, which was a little unexpected, and though Kirito is journeying to the World Tree, he goes through events which are not quite necessary at all for the advancement of the story. This was a little confusing, though still enjoyable.

Positive point of View:

I liked how Kirito was a rather rememberable character, and the theme about a death game was quite interesting. The combat was also well-defined, and those scenes held good animation. More accurately, there were a few very epic scenes that were quite likable.

Kirito had a great personality, who fought in the name of protecting what he loves, such as his friends and Asuna.


(Though this is rather short, that basically summarizes all the good aspects of SAO. More may be added later, since I am quite busy at this time :3)

OVERALL RATING:

Not very well thought out, but quite good. Haven't seen one quite like it in a while. Thumbs up, congratulations! ^.^