Sword Art Online is literally a nerd's self insertion fantasy.

>>142661809

literally everyone here agrees with you

Finally, an SAO thread.
What did you guys think of Squad Jam? I think I like this about as much as early Alicization, and it looks like it's only getting better.

Why do people like this anime?

Not his sister but still equally as hot though.

>>142663332
I don't. I hate this anime. I hate the LN. I hate it with every ounce of my being. I hate it because I'm like a gnat attracted to a big, juicy pile of shit. I hate it because I can't escape.

>>142663332
This show is an abomination but something keeps me watching.

I dunno why; its everything with power fantasy bullshit but I must keep watching for the sake of shitting on it.

>>142661809
>derp_commander didn't make the thread for once
I'm being unironic when I say this: excellent thread OP

>>142661809
Are you hoping someone here will disagree with you?

>>142663332
The fights look nice and for people who don't watch a lot of anime, they may not realize how terrible and bland the writing and characters are.

>>142663332
>Why do people like this anime?
You mean why do the Japanese like this. Anyone who likes it outside of japan are children. Or cute girls.

>>142663658
>>142663787
>This show is an abomination but something keeps me watching.

Is an actual thing? I have a friend who says this to me all the time and I thought he was just justifying his autistic love for the anime.

>>142663332
It's bright and colorful, has inoffensively pleasant character designs, action, romance, drama all wrapped up in a high fantasy setting. It follows a perfect algorithm of mass appeal.

>>142661809
>Super nerd main character enters game where he is the strongest person in the world despite being a huge pasty white nerd.

To quote Morpheus:

"Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place? Do you think that's air you're breathing now?"

>>142663332
you only need to put sage in the options field you dumb ape

>>142661809
Kirito is not a "pasty white nerd" by any stretch of the definition, he trained on kendo for years and the game he is playing heavily relies on his reflexes.So that is factually wrong.
Girls falling for him is not surpringly as he is quite charming and handsome. It's not like a Love Hina situation or people riding Shinji's dick on Evangelion.
SAO has plenty of holes but as usual /a/ is terrible at criticizing something.

>>142664465
No. It is very true. It starts with watching it so you can make fun of it. That's when you're screwed, and your only chance is to stop watching if you want to be saved. Then you'll wonder why the hell everyone is talking about Alicization, and want to read that too. You'll read the rest of the LNs and forgive the anime a little, but pick up a few new grievances along the way. Then you'll get to Alicization, and start liking it. Once it gets bad again in Alicization part 2, you'll still like it because you're attached to the first part, then you'll rewatch the anime and even start to enjoy it. At some point if you have a Vita, you're getting the games too, and enjoying those as well. Then you start reading the other parts, like Alternative, or SJ, and by this point you're blissfully enjoying SAO, completely oblivious to your shit taste, or you become aware of your shit taste, and go into despair, because in either scenario, you're completely surrounded by SAO, and you can't break free. Bonus despair if you were interested in VR stuff before you saw the series.

>>142664838
If people are going to bitch that Kirito gets a harem they are ignoring the reality of our world wherein attractive men do actually get most of the girls.

>>142664908
Gee, it's almost like if SAO has some redeeming aspects despite Kawahara's fucks up and general amateurishness.

>>142664838
>>142664937
It was always my assumption that Kirito ended up with his harem because he looks so feminine. Personally, if I were a waifu, I'd follow him around because he does look very cute.
Especially in GGO.

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>>142661809
We knew that since the LNs started being fan translated

Don't kid yourselves faggot.

SAO arc wasn't the best, but it was decent.
It should have ended with him walking out of the hospital, because the rest was shit.

>>142665060
Look man, I gave it a chance, I read it. It's average at best. Just my honest opinion. But Japan treats it like the third coming of Christ.

>>142664838
That's not the point. Kirito is still relatable to the average pasty white nerd and that's the basis of his character design. The whole Kendo thing is shoved into his backstory in order to make things slightly more believable but it in no way defines his character. People say Yang Wenli is relatable despite the fact his a fleet admiral. Most people view Kirito as a loner gamer, which was almost certainly the author intention considering how well it has done the LN/Anime.

Also:

In my opinion Kirito is awkward (although I'll let that one slide)

Nobody even mentions how handsome Kirito is.

+ I don't agree with this Shinji harem meme, especially in comparison with SAO.

>>142665060
>>142665125
Not on your life kiddo. The SAO arc's only redeeming quality was that it's mandatory for Alicization.
For the most part, all the bad is balanced by the good. For SAO, we have Alicization to come of it. For GGO, we have Squad Jam to come of it. In the LNs, Fairy Dance was much better, as was Excalibur, yet it still had Mother's Rosario to balance it out.

>>142664908
Oh fuck it. I was already planning to watch S2 to make fun out of it. Ever since I watched a review for it's being in my mind a lot. Wish me luck anon.

>>142661809
You realize this now?

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>>142665060

Thought it became much better after that as it abandons the .//hack tripe and goes full haram.

A self insert is a character that is a projection of the author himself, as he / she would realistically act (or would have acted in the past) in the world that they create. All faucets of the character are the author's own personality rather than be mended to fit the purpose of the story / narrative. This is not Sword Art Online. Anime like GATE or Netoge or 90% of LNs are actual self insert fantasies.

4chan is too quick to hate on something purely because it doesn't like the fanbase elsewhere rather than the merits of the show itself (but will deny this and strawman about why it's supposedly bad in defense)

Summoning Jake:
Do you happen to know if YP is planning on doing anything about SJ? Also, is Argo as influential a character as I hope in Alternative so far?

we 2012 now

>>142665530
There are plenty of things I don't like about SAO. First there's the lack of continuity: until you get to Alicization, everything volume 1-8 you don't know WHERE the hell you're gonna go, except the general area. The only exception is GGO, which was fully self contained (and unfortunately, left quite a bit to be desired). The entire second volume is a collection of waifu substories, Early and Late in Volume 8 was a fuccboi substory and getting the legendary sword of cliche. The 'late' fit in quite nicely in the LN, and I'll give it that, but in the anime it was done HORRIBLY. We knew absolutely nothing about Tonkii other than that "This is a character that Leafa apparently cares about" Little did the anime only folk know that Tonkii had a whole exposition section, and Kirito needed to make a choice (albeit a simple one) whether to challenge the fortress then (And with his SAO stats, it may have been doable even with all the extra mobs) or chase Asuna.
Even more, in the anime the 'late' section comes BEFORE Rosario. You even see Kiririn fend off the hordes with his speshul sord. Once Reki got his ass on straight, this wasn't a problem, but it really torked me off. Especially the 'early' part of early and late, by that point I was so sick and tired of bouncing back to Aincrad it was as if I were actually trapped there. Little did I know that Alicization is about how Kirito's still trapped there, and just as sick of it.

>>142664239
>The fights look nice
The fights look terrible with the exception of Mother's Rosario, actually. Speed lines and laser lights are not good animation.

>>142665558
I have no clue. I don't actually keep up with YP news and get most updates from y'all. Sorry to disappoint.

>Alternative
Uhhh, quite honestly, I'm behind on following the translations on SAOA:GGO. I don't image she'd be influential in Alternative. Is she even IN it? I have no clue. Or did you mean Progressive?

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>>>>142667263
Progressive. That's the one.

>>142661809
no shit sherlock

i liked the first 14 episodes but everything after was shit

>>142667701
Argo so far has been pretty important. She pretty much shows up in every volume I think. She has a lot bigger presence than she did in the main storyline. Someone OCR'd the Progressive novels and it should be on Nyaa, so you should check them out.

Read the manga for more qt Argo.

The OPs were pretty good, and the first seaspn was decent

GGO onwards was a steaming pile of shit and should have never been made

>>142661894
Haven't really started reading. Guess I want the translations to get further before investing myself in it.

>>142665558
YP hasn't announced anything outright, but seeing as Kadokawa acquired them, I would assume we might get a Squad Jam translation Eventually™
But why bother? The first volume has already been fan translated, and I think the second one is coming along.
On another note, anyone else think Kawahara's naming sense is terribly haliarious?
>Alicization Lasting

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This is now a .hack//SIGN thread. Yes op I agree .hack is much better then SAO.

>>142661809
Same thing with :

Overlord
Monster Musume
Gate

>>142663332
I only watch it so i can make informed shitposts about it

>>142661809
This was apparent since episode 2 OP.

>>142670001
>Gate
I hate that show. It starts out with a great premise and then it becomes obvious that the main character is a Gary Stu.

I can't.

>>142663332
The same reason people like Stephen King.
They don't know any better.

>>142661809
What a shocking revelation. You're only 4 years late.

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>Clover's Regret spin-off preview

Fuck, I really thought we were going to get more Argo.

Thanks OP, sometimes I need to be reminded that /a/ doesn't always have shit taste.

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>>142664826
>has never seen "sage goes in all fields" type of posts
Is it summer already?

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Oh look, Kirito isn't brain dead anymore.

>>142663332
>Why do people like this anime?
One thing it does have going for it is a unique and interesting premise. Which it loses after the first arc...

Who here /quinella/?

>>142674366
I'd like to think Quinella is Reki's take on all those pyscho princesses on those web novels.

And he actually made her good. Best SAO villain.

>>142674366
>>142674388
>tfw no quinella fanart on Pixiv

>>142674388
Funnily enough, SAO ends up being better than 80% of those WNs.

>>142661809
>>142663332
>it's a "newfag successfully fits in with his first SAO trash-talking thread" episode
At least you didn't make a Fate thread

just make klein the MC and gender bend kirito.
F I X E D

>>142674525
>implying SAO doesn't deserve all the hate it gets.
Stay mad kiritofag

>>142664018
Why hello there.
>>142664771
I don't think Mr. Fishburne couldn't have said it any better himself.
>>142672192
Summer in the US pretty much begins on Memorial Day.
>>142674425
STURGEON'S
____LAW____

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>>142674874
>hating Kirito
Why?

>>142675542
my dick is diamonds more?

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>>142675749
I don't have very much, but here's what I do have.

>>142670838
>SAO Alternative
>ninjas
Eh? I thought SAOA was GGO. Is it not?

>>142673438
>SK Kirito
Lord help us.

>>142674366
Who /cardinal/ here?

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>>142675866
Oh fuck, I somehow download this image at very crap quality.

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>>142676050
Would you?

>>142676050
>>142676115
ah man this is some mighty fine masturbatory material before lunch.

If I understand Alicization plot properly, Soul Translator can be used to cure coma patients with brain damage? This is a major scientific breakthrough, right?

>>142675939
>Eh? I thought SAOA was GGO. Is it not?
It's a new Spin-off by someone else entirely.

The cover doesn't even mention Alt—
>オルタナティブ
Huh. I guess all of their Spin-Offs not involving the main cast will be titled "SAO Alternative"

Anyone have the cap of the guy who came either from MAL or ANN to seriously defend SAO on /a/?

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>>142676115
There should seriously be more Kiriko lewd.

>>142676296
>seriously defend SAO
No way anyone would ever seriously defend SAO r-right?

>>142661809
What do you expect from a story written by a sixteen year old faggot? He has just had the good fortune that someone has taken into account the shit that he wrote and turned them into a cultural case.

Something similar had happened with Paolini and his Eragon.

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>>142676289
It might very well be Argo on the cover, though. You know how anime character design goes.
>blonde
>yellow eyes
>ninja

>>142677310
I forgot about that poster.
You might be right, but I somehow doubt it. Could be great.

On another note, Alicization manga was announced. By the same artist that's doing Phantom Bullet manga (which isn't over yet, by the way)
Gonna take forever to finish.

Why wasn't the Ocean Turtle guarded by a proper JSDF contingent?

>>142667863
Yen Press may be releasing it digitally soon, too. Log Horizon, Accel World, and SAO and SAOP have been added to the digital schedule.

http://yenpress.com/digital/

>>142677677
Because the JSDF were the ones that tipped off the NSA about their little project. Something about large parts of the JSDF just not liking RATH.

>>142677722
>literal treason
Japan really hates the military, don't they?

>>142664658
You're not wrong. And that's what scares me.

>>142677736
I didn't make that connection, but that looks to be the case.
On top of that, Volume 15-18 would just not exist if the JSDF actually decided to enter the Ocean Turtle to stop the terrorists, but instead pretended that there was a hostage situation, to give the intruders more time to take Alice.

Thinking about it, the whole thing does seem a lot more Anti-Military when I take into account Japan's general views on that.

>>142673535
I agree, they threw any little bits of good they had out the window after the first 14 episodes.

>>142677720
Neato. I'm glad they're moving towards digital because it'll tap reach more readers. I'll still get the deadtree version but that's just because I'd rather not read on the computer if I don't have to.

>>142677785
It paints the Japanese and American militaries in a bad light while still maintaining a healthy dose of obligatory East Asian /pol/ shitflinging.

>>142661809
Why are you so serious? It's anime made for kids and teenagers which shouldn't be taken too seriously.

>>142664988
underrated post

>>142677841
I'm somewhat relieved that Kadokawa isn't pulling any Bookwalker-exclusive crap with Yen Press.

>>142677785
The anti-military undertones were there from the start of Alicization with the whole "cloning the souls of human babies and locking them in a machine to use as guinea pigs" thing probably violating at least an international law or two against human experimentation yet being run by the Defense Ministry for the purpose of being able to create a slave army of clone souls trapped inside UAVs because they got envious of Obama's drone fleet.

>>142669934
.hack//SIGN is an anime about talking, done poorly. I seriously don't see the appeal. The series wasn't leading the pack in it's time and has aged like milk

Just imagine /a/ reacting to animated Alicization.
>Gabriel's backstory episode
>muh drones
>all the Frodos about the Ocean Turtle and RATH

>>142678159
>armchair doctors who got their medical degree from WebMD shitposting about how succinylcholine and hypoxic brain injury works

>>142678231
Oh yeah, a whole new round of succhinylcholine derping. I forgot about that.

I haven't been keeping up with the LN translations, last I read was when the NSA goons cut the power. How far into the spoiler shitpost pasta are they?

>>142673438
Copy and pasting (and editing) translation of the PV.

Spoiler warning. (Duh)
>"------ It's Kirito-kun. My Kirito-kun is back......"
>"I definitely wouldn't abandon everyone's hope, blood and tears. Let's go save them. Can you help me, Asuna?"

>On the second day of the Final Tolerance Experiment, the entire Underworld has plunged into chaos.
>Led by Dark God Vector, The Dark Territory Army are the users from the <<real world>>......
>Deceiving VRMMO players from America, China and Korea, he summons tens of thousands of <<Dark Knights>> into the <<Underworld>> as reinforcements.
>Since Integrity Knight Bercouli, the highest commander of the <<Human Empire Army>> has fallen, Alice, his beloved apprentice, rushes towards the <<World End Altar>> on her own.
>Losing the Super Account <<Dark God Vector>>, Gabriel logs in again as <<Subtlizer>>, defeats Sinon in their duel, and pursues Alice.
>Meanwhile, in the battlefield where the <<Human Empire Army>> are trapped by the <<Dark Knights>> whom overwhelmingly outnumbering them, Asuna's desperate fight and the air of Lisbeth, Sakuya and others turn out to be in vain. Kirito is eventually captured by the enemy in his state of self-loss.
>His rival since the SAO era, the villain <<PoH>>, one of the remaining members of Laughing Coffin.
>As though releasing his grudge which has accumulated for years, <<PoH>> is about to sink his fangs into Kirito---!!
>Suddenly, from Kirito's heart, a voice resonates.
>It belongs to his best friend whom he has lived with, fought alongside and laughed together with. The voice of his one and only, best friend---.
>Finally, Kirito revives,
>In order to save Alice, who determines the fate of the world, Asuna, who is his greatest love, everyone who rushed in to help, and <<everything>> living in the Underworld.

I went to bed at 50 posts, not expecting the thread to last the night. Thanks guys.

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>>142679400
You're welcome.
Have some Kiriko.

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Is there anyone who can beat Star King Onii-sama?

>>142679600
Star King Kirito within the context of his own world, is a god for all intents and purposes.
Even if you have nigh-invincibility, he can literally kill you with love.

>>142679660
A lot of people don't like where Alicization went with the whole incarnation and mind powers thing, but I like it because I have a massive hardon for badass MCs.

>>142661809
I swear, for a series written around the MMO(RPG) genre, it does such a poor job at explaining mechanics and fleshing out the world. This, on top of the horrible writing and awful characters, makes for one of the more baffling surges in popularity I've seen in regards to anime.

At least Log Horizon exists, and can fulfill my desire for the "trapped in an MMO" premise.

>>142680023
SAO isn't really about the MMO though. It's about the virtual world itself, and how it connects to the real world.
As such, the mechanics are just background details, that are usually only explained in the novels.

Wow that's a revolutionary view you have there.

>>142680091
I can't imagine wanting to read a book that's actually about the action and mechanics of playing a videogame and nothing else. It would read like Re: Monster in its dryness.

>>142680091
Then why have it set in one? Why establish MMO and game mechanics/conventions only to ignore them in favor of contrivances aimed at making characters and things look and sound cool. Also, I doubt the novels are much better, as it seems the author has a limited understanding of MMOs and an even poorer grasp of how to utilize narrative logic, characterization, and story structure.

>>142680398
How many fantasy stories have an exclusive focus on the inner-workings of how magic operates, and the various intricacies of how they interact with natural phenomena at the quantum level?

>Why establish MMO and game mechanics/conventions
Because the story is about "the virtual"? Didn't you read my post? What other setting would be better for asking about the boundaries between "virtual" and "real", when you're entering/have entered an age of information, where the virtual has become a large part of our lives, and Video Games are an increasing part of that?

How SAO handles the setting may not be perfect, but it's not like it's completely useless.

>>142680563
The intricacies and workings of magic are things that can be easily glossed over in regards to suspension of disbelief, because magic is something that does not exist. Video games, even futuristic virtual ones, are based off technology and are heavily understood by many that play them. You are literally treating SciFi as if it were Fantasy.

Also, there are plenty of shows and books out there that handle the blurring of the "virtual" and the "real," or the cerebral and corporeal, in infinitely better and in more meaningful, engaging, and creative ways than SAO.

>>142680933
>You are literally treating SciFi as if it were Fantasy
Welcome to the Science Fantasy genre. Every SciFi does this.

>there are plenty of shows and books out there
Yes, and there will be plenty more that will do it in both better and worst ways.
Is SAO not allowed to exist because it's not a 100% unique special snowflake?

>>142681020
SciFi is not as loose as Fantasy, and must remain within the confines of science, a realm where concepts need to at least be explored if not explained. Ignoring this generally creates contradictions and plot holes within the narrative.

I never said SAO should not exist, just that it fails in nearly everything it sets out to do, other than entertain idiots.

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>this arrives in the mail Soon™.
Can I just say, that if KYH happens to be related to Kirito and Asuna in some way, they have some great genes?