Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Brofist I really enjoyed it. It's for sure in my top 10.

Prepare for a long read.

Yeah, the second arc wasn't as good, but still enjoyable. I liked how they really brought in so many elements and terms from RPGs, and created a story that was very unique. While it is a concept that has been done many times before (dying in a game world means dying for real), SAO still managed to make it fresh. I liked how over the course of two years in real life, the human players went from utter chaos and confusion to adjusting to the game world and organizing themselves, working to methodically clear all 100 floors of the tower and achive the impossible: escape back home. It is very difficult, and the characters experience grief and loss along the way. The world they inhabit is also very aestheticly pleasing, and while the characters are imprisioned within the virtual world, it doesn't feel that way, as the evironments within are so radically different that is seems the characters have the freedom to travel and do as they please.

From there though, the main thing that kept me watching was the relationship between Kirito and Asuna. It felt very genuine, and their devotion to each other was very heartwarming. Their feelings for each other transcended the "fakeness" of the virtual world and became real, and you end up wanting to root for them. This is evident in episodes 10 & 11, and also in the 2nd arc, where Kirito went to great lengths to infiltrate the World Tree. 

That also delves into another part of why I like this series: The character's motivations. Some characters are looking out only for themselves, some feel obligated to help because they are high leveled, some want to live in the virtual world instead, some want to kill other players for the sheer fun of it, and Kirito and Asuna are driven be the desire to protect each other, placing their parner's needs first, and their own needs and those of others second, something that has not been  mirrored by any of the other characters, and with so many reasons to press on in the face of dispair, the series is essentially asking the viewer "why". What drives someone to fight? Power? Love? Friendship? Home? Entrapment? EXP? Loot? The list goes on and on.

This does not limit itself to the players, but to the gamemaster, Kayaba Akihiko, as well. He had no reason to do this to these people, no ulterior motive, other than the sole reason that he enjoyed doing so. To create a world that he could manipulate at will and have the power to do anything to it. While this isn't as complex or intricate as other anime plots, it doesn't need to be, as it is perfectly believeable, and while this means that there isn't as much emphasis on plot, it does not by any means mean that the story suffers. In fact, this only adds to the mystery in the story, as the player characters view him as a mad man and try to understand why he did this to them. The series likes to focus on the psychology of people a lot, and that only adds to make it a deeper experience.

There are a few things that bother me about the series, but they are few and far between, and hardly hamper the experience. This would be that Kirito relies on physical force and brute strengh a little too much, and that they don't spend as much time showing or dealing with the real world. The real world is very dark and drab, and I feel that was done on purpose to contrast the vibrant environment within SOA. Some more backstory and a better look at their world would be nice, and I think that is being addressed as the series moves on.

I did not intend, when I first started to write this, to make it as long and in-depth as it became, but this only goes to demonstrate how much I came to like the series, and I would recommend it to anyone who has not given it a chance. At this point there are only 25 episodes, but you don't need to watch the 2nd story arc if you don't want. Episodes 1-14 is sufficient, but those who end up liking it may want to continue watching to see the characters reunite in the real world.
So those are my thoughts. Anyone who has seen it who agrees or has a differing opinion I would like to hear, and to those who havent, you should give it a chance. It is a wonderful series.

Detective Conan Movie 16 was fun. Kinda ridiculous at points but fun.

It's sad what's happened to the series for American fans though. And continues to happen for any American fans.

@Interpred

Thanks for the long explanation, though I'll admit it took me all day to read. I'll definitely get to Sword Art Online some time soon, though I'll probably stop at episode 14. No offense, but even you couldn't make the second half sound that appealing.

That's fine. I wouldn't try to convince you to watch the second arc, as even I didn't find it as enjoyable, but maybe watch ep 25. At this point in time it is assumed to be the finale (even though there is still a lot of source material from the light novels), so it brings a lot of closure to the series. For those characters that you don't recognize, it is pretty easy to figure out who the villan is and who the allies were.

well i started watching mayo chiki seems good so far anyone seen it?

I've heard nothing but bad things about it, so no.

Didn't you say that you didn't like fanservice? hahaha

Anyway there's nothing wrong with watching a fluff series once in a while, if that's what makes you happy ^^
_{reminds me of that time I watched Shuffle!, although I was mostly laughing at it rather than with it. Also, tell no one that I watched Shuffle.}

well yes and no i hate the ones that over do it and its just that for that for 24/26 episodes(girls bravo -_-) this one seems ok not passing the line i guess

lol nothing wrong with shuffle

There's plenty wrong with Shuffle. You should be ashamed, Magikarp. J/k...about the ashamed part. It's still a pretty bad show, but I guess it'd be fun to laugh at.

When it comes to fluffy junkfood shows, I find there are better options than harem shows. Ben-To (watched this raw at first and had as good a grasp of the plot as when I switched to subtitles), Dragonauts (it's so bad, yet so fun), Highschool of the Dead (I MAED A ANIMU W1TH Z0MB13S IN IT!!!1!), and Strike Witches (The entire fate of the Earth is in the hands of bubbly school girls with Jets on their legs. BRILLIANT), all at least have some kind of plot to it, silliness that's more varied (to some degree), and they have over-the-top action scenes (that are actually fun to watch) in case you get bored with all that. Most harem shows I've seen lack any interesting action, not much plot, little action, and comedy that relies heavily on the Harem elements (odd character dynamics, main man's shyness, thinly vailed sex jokes, etc.) and kinda becomes one-note rather quickly. Honestly, I can't see myself ever watching another one anytime soon, no matter how bored I get.

Not to say I'm an expert on the subject. I think I've only seen 5 or 6 harem shows in my lifetime that weren't Tenchi, and I've never seen any of them through to the end. If fact, I can't say I've ever stayed with one long enough to see whether or not the characters develop, which I hear from Harem fans is the best part of those types of shows. Not that I'd ever find these characters believeable or relateable, nor would it be enough to keep me watching...

People of the UK.
Dragon Ball Z Kai airing on Kix.
Sky: 267
Free sat: 606.

If you can watch it (or sky+) and support anime airing in the UK.

And so Sword Art Online has ended. While free users (myself included) can't see the last episode, it's a safe bet that nothing redefining happens in episode 25 because the main story has essentially ended. So yeah, that means it's time to reflect on the journey and give the final thoughts.

Disappointing.

That is what SAO was to me; disappointing. The first few episodes were close to being great; they dealt with the problems and concepts of the setting and really did give the impression that the series knew what it was doing and talking about.

And then the show turned into a generic Shounen romance empowerment fantasy.

Admittedly, the romance between Kirito and Asuna started off as decent. The strength of the relationship came out of nowhere, but there were arguments against that particular claim. This was the first disappointment, but it was a disappointment of near-total tonal shift rather than a major drop in quality.

And then the ALfheim Online arc rolled around.

At the start of the arc, I was almost rejoiced; we finally got to see the post-SAO real world, a world that experienced a deadly game where people had to entirely rewire their brain if they wanted the best possible chance of survival. "This was it," I thought. We were finally getting to the masterful piece of the show; the part where we see the near-irreversible affects SAO had on the life of its champion.

But no; it went into another direction, a far worse direction, one that would shame the show's main goal of being a romance.

Almost everyone became one-dimensional. The main villain filled the most bare and bland of evil archetypes, Asuna became the maiden to be saved, and the rest of the supporting cast failed at being more than one-note. The series even stopped caring about the logistics of its created worlds, with inconsistencies and impossibilities being stated and implied.

It really does anger me to see a show set itself for something great and then willingly jump off of the tracks right over a raven.

@V8_Ninja I actually agree with everything you are saying about Alfheim Online. The villain was too generic, Asuna did not play a big role, and the supporting characters were just simply there. I think that they could have focused on SAO for a long time if they wanted to, but instead it went by too fast. They could have spent a hundred episodes exploring the game, mechanics, relationship, and the main villain, but oh well. It would have strayed from the light novels it was using as source material, and people would have labeled them as filler. Lose-lose situation it seems.

About episode 25, though, nothing redefining does happen, but I don't see that as necessarily bad. I thought it was nice ending. It is available on YouTube by the way.

Regarding Kirito and Asuna’s relationship, we are talking about an anime whose story arc lasts 14 episodes. In such a short amount of time, it is hard to make that gradual. The fact that it occurred late (episode 10) means that they allotted plenty of time to allow the relationship to evolve to where it is now before the end of the arc. I do agree that they should have shown more of the buildup so it didn't look like it came from out of nowhere, but they spent two years in game inside SAO, and we saw plenty of interaction between the two, as well as anything else that happened behind the scenes within those two years. Besides, if they made the relationship happen sooner or show more of the buildup, people probably would have complained that the show isn't focusing on the fighting, the game world, other characters, etc.

I also noticed the shift in tone that occurred because of their relationship, but here’s how I see it: Asuna was very afraid of being trapped and possibly dying in the game, so she masked her emotions and hid behind a tough exterior to hide her emotions from other people. Then she met Kirito and opened up to him, allowing us to see her true self. Not only would this justify the shift, but it makes her less one-dimensional.

I agree that I also felt that they should have shown more of the real world. The consequences resulting from SAO and the impact it had on the players and society as a whole would have been an interesting point of discussion.

As for the series being disappointing, I agree that there was so much more the series could have done, but for what it did I think it did well. I personally enjoyed the finale and I think the scene at the hospital was a nice touch, especially the reflection in the window.

At least half of this post is me agreeing with you, lol. I still don’t think this is a bad show; I think it is great, and I would still recommend it to people, but you have raised some good points about the show that should definitely be taken into consideration.

It sounds like it's one of those series (well more likely what this anime is based off of rather than the anime itself), decided to do more to appeal to a larger audience after a while. But unfortunately is one of those cases where they sacrificed what they had instead of being the same series but done in a more "mainstream" way. And you can do that, my favorite anime has kinda sorta done that, FMA Brotherhood apparently does that. Hayate the Combat Butler should be studied by people who want to do stuff like this, since it did a brilliant job at this in the manga.

I have seen it and I very much enjoyed it.

Actually, from what I'm told by someone who imported the original novels, it may have been that they tried to cram too many books in one season, especially when the first one was really the best. They skipped over or rushed some important stuff while including stuff they could've easily have left out, too. Chances are they should've focused more on the first book, and fleshed that out to the full 25 episodes, before they moved on to later material. Whatever happened to shows being 50+ episodes long, anyways?

But yeah, the book series probably tried to appeal to a broader audience and failed in that regard, hence why the first book is considered the best, and why it started with such potential.

least now i know im not the only one felt like i was the only one standing out

but do you know any others that are similar or that you liked as well?(doesnt need to be that genre either)

almost forgot to catch up with the Thundercats and Symbionic Titan episodes

this is relevant because TOONAMI!1!!

@DarkNinja9

Any chance you've seen Tenchi Muyo (any series) or perhaps even Martian Successor Nadesico?
Or Bombshells From The Sky, Negima?!, Infinite Stratos, Ichigo 100% (Strawberry 100%), or Tears to Tiara?
Or He is My Master, Love Hina, or Rosaio + Vampire?

And has anyone else here seen Irresponsible Captain Tylor? It's one of the best anime comedies I've seen, with enough story to keep me going, and a lot of humor I actually found funny (though still some cringe-worthy idiocy to keep it from being perfect). 'Course, I also liked the characters, especially Tylor. I couldn't tell if that guy was a complete idiot or a total genius. Loved it.

Watched Gundam UC episode 5, finally. While I greatly enjoyed it, it felt very rushed this time. A lot of things felt like they could've been fleshed out more, like the Argama's dislike of the Vist Foundation, Bright's decision to help out a kid he just met, and work with Neo-Zeons. Also could've used some more downtime between the last three major events. They also needed to explain that glowing light and the "resonance shock"(?) for fans who aren't super in depth with the series. I understood it, but seriously, no explanation at all? Other than that, though, great plot twists, lots of fun battles that didn't quite feel overblown. I don't think they introduced more than 2 Mobile Suits that we hadn't seen before in this show, but one of them was the Banshee, so that makes up for it. Not like we really need that much more, anyways.