Light Novel Confussion

Jan 1, 2015 8:38 PM

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Jan 2015

So... i just finished the last episode of sao2 and couldn't wait for the next season, so i started reading the prologue of book 9. I'm really confused; at first I thought it might be Kazuto's past, but he's like 17 at present time during the show, so if its his past, it would be like 2019, but the setup appears to be like medieval times, can somebody explain what's going on without too many spoilers?

Jan 19, 2015 9:27 PM

-Lukz

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May 2014

478

Keep reading.
Future in the book all will be explained.

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Jan 19, 2015 11:26 PM

-Karoshi-

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Mar 2012

12938

The first few volumes of Alicization will be confusing, but everything will be explained in due time. I strongly recommend though not starting at volume 9, but volume 1. The anime skipped just way too much that there will be continuity issues since Kazuto does reference things that did not appear or get explained in the anime. It will also provide you with a completely new experience since in all honesty, the anime was a pretty crappy adaption with unreasonable amounts of skipping and omission of details.

To give a detailed illustration of how much the anime skipped, here is a comparison between episode 2 of season 1 and the light novel: http://i.imgur.com/5KaFpfU.png

Sword Art Online is one of those few series where one MUST read the light novel in its entirety due to the amount of details and stories never animated. And if you believe there is no need, you might as well just read summaries on the wiki instead of wasting your time reading the novel.

Jan 24, 2015 3:23 AM

dsw2bi

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Jan 2014

LastChapter said:
Sword Art Online is one of those few series where one MUST read the light novel in its entirety due to the amount of details and stories never animated. And if you believe there is no need, you might as well just read summaries on the wiki instead of wasting your time reading the novel.

I'd say everyone should go straight to SAO novels because anime adaptation is crap (only the first 12 or so episodes is somewhat good thx to the music) but as far as details go I don't see a point in reading the stories you already know. Especially when you can start with the best arc there is.

Alicization is very confusing at first but for the exception of long and tiring sword fights it is a masterpiece of young-adult fiction.

Jan 24, 2015 3:28 AM

Insertanamehere

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Aug 2014

10796

As everyone else said, it will clear up within the volume or so.

Jan 24, 2015 3:41 AM

koinzell_

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Dec 2014

1094

Keep reading. I also was confused, I even thought of droping it.
Thank god I didn't! The awesomness that came after that it's way above the anime

Jan 29, 2015 5:15 PM

-Karoshi-

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Mar 2012

12938

l3eifong said:
but as far as details go I don't see a point in reading the stories you already know. Especially when you can start with the best arc there is.

So pretty much just read summaries then to know the story and you can be done with the series in 5 minutes.

Why start with the best arc when you should read the foundations first for the best impact?

A reminder that the anime didn't fully adapt the novel, you pretty much just got the general overview. Who was Argo, Nezha, and Kizmel? How did meeting Coper the first day of getting stuck in SAO help change Kirito's outlook on life? How did Heathcliff play a part in the murder case in SAO? What happened during the two year time skip in the anime?

Jan 31, 2015 1:34 AM

dsw2bi

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Jan 2014

LastChapter said:

l3eifong said:
but as far as details go I don't see a point in reading the stories you already know. Especially when you can start with the best arc there is.

So pretty much just read summaries then to know the story and you can be done with the series in 5 minutes.

I'm just saying that watching anime would spoil the joy of reading light novel anyway so why bother? At least people still have a chance to read Alicization before some crappy adaptaion will come out. :)

Jan 31, 2015 7:28 PM

-Karoshi-

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Mar 2012

12938

l3eifong said:
I'm just saying that watching anime would spoil the joy of reading light novel anyway so why bother? At least people still have a chance to read Alicization before some crappy adaptaion will come out. :)

How can watching a crappy adaption spoil the joy of reading the light novel? If anything, it would make the light novel so much better seeing that the people reading it know there's a better way of portraying the series. Rather than knowing only a shitty version of the arcs, it's better to re-experience Aincrad, etc. in a much better light.

And like you said, they might as well read Alicization before a crappy adaption comes out. So what if they don't read it in time and the Alicization arc gets animated? Does that mean they should just stick with the crappy adaption and not read the light novel? And if they read the novel, does that mean they shouldn't watch the anime because they know the story?

I understand reading light novels is a commitment, but it's time worth investing. If you're going to shortcut and not completely read the original work that brought the anime adaption in the first place, might as well shortcut as much as you can. I can give links to summaries about Alicization so you guys know why the arc is hyped so much. If you don't have time to read the first 8 volumes, I'm sure reading the summaries would be a great timesaver so you guys can do something else.

Feb 24, 2015 1:59 AM

#10

whatcaniuseman

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Jan 2015

Well i guess i'm gonna start reading from the beginning then, but even though you guys say that the show is a crappy adaptation, it's still one of the best anime shows I've ever seen. Thanks for your help.

Feb 24, 2015 2:15 AM

#11

StevenHu

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Aug 2013

1929

l3eifong said:

The soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura was one of the more generic parts of the show in my opinion, so it's hardly worth the praise.

Mar 4, 2015 4:09 PM

#12

whatcaniuseman

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Jan 2015

I started reading the first novel today. I remember seeing someone say the novels cover the two year gap in the show. Do they do this in later books, because the gap is still in the first novel. Actually I remember seeing stuff in the show that wasn't described in the novel.

Mar 4, 2015 6:14 PM

#13

-Karoshi-

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Mar 2012

12938

whatcaniuseman said:
I started reading the first novel today. I remember seeing someone say the novels cover the two year gap in the show. Do they do this in later books, because the gap is still in the first novel. Actually I remember seeing stuff in the show that wasn't described in the novel.

The novel is not written in chronological order so whatever gaps you read now will be filled in later. For example, events in volume 8 fall directly after chapter 3 of volume 1. You must also take note that there are a myriad of side stories, material editions, and reboots that explain the series in much more detail. For example, Progressive retells the Aincrad arc floor by floor, Girls Ops follows the female characters in ALfeim Online, Alternative explores more of Gun Gale Online with a new set of characters, etc.

Mar 4, 2015 7:31 PM

#14

whatcaniuseman

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Jan 2015

LastChapter said:
For example, Progressive retells the Aincrad arc floor by floor.

so, if i read progressive instead of the first novel, i would still get all of the story from the first novel plus all the gaps?

Mar 4, 2015 11:08 PM

#15

-Karoshi-

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Mar 2012

12938

whatcaniuseman said:

LastChapter said:
For example, Progressive retells the Aincrad arc floor by floor.

so, if i read progressive instead of the first novel, i would still get all of the story from the first novel plus all the gaps?

Nope, because Progressive assumes you already read the main series. It only fills in the gaps of the main story so you need to read the original to receive the complete story. For example, Progressive has the first floor boss fight, but the original series doesn't. The original series shows Kirito's adventure with Coper (never appeared in the anime) immediately after he abandoned Klein on Floor 1, but Progressive doesn't. Reading the main novel series is a must, you can't skip it and there's no way of shortcutting it.

I posted this earlier, but since we are on the topic of the first floor boss fight, this image shows how much episode two of the anime skipped: http://i.imgur.com/5KaFpfU.png

Mar 5, 2015 2:38 AM

#16

TapuTapuu

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Jan 2014

1386

whatcaniuseman said:

LastChapter said:
For example, Progressive retells the Aincrad arc floor by floor.

so, if i read progressive instead of the first novel, i would still get all of the story from the first novel plus all the gaps?

well if you are interested in chronological order, here it is: myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1152949
However, the book is meant to be read in release order, as LastChapter claims. But can be read in chronological order also, if you prefer consistency.

Mar 5, 2015 3:10 AM

#17

-Karoshi-

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Mar 2012

12938

Yohimo_asakura said:
well if you are interested in chronological order, here it is: myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1152949
However, the book is meant to be read in release order, as LastChapter claims. But can be read in chronological order also, if you prefer consistency.

Like I stated in the other thread, you can read SAO in chronological order, but then that just means reading parts of volume 1, skip to parts volume 8, read Progressive volume 1, then skip to parts of volume 2, then go back to volume 1 of the main series again, etc. causing too much of a hassle. If reading in chronological order is a must, it's best to do it as a reread. Reading in chronological order means losing allusions and development among many other things. Reki wrote the series in the order he did for a reason.

I'll copy and paste what I said in the other thread:

You would be pretty much trading progressiveness over development.

Reading SAO in chronological order is like reading/watching the Monogatari Series or Suzumiya Haruhi Series in chronological order, no one does that because it just brings confusion on the way.

Mar 5, 2015 7:24 AM

#18

TapuTapuu

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Jan 2014

1386

LastChapter said:
Reading SAO in chronological order is like reading/watching the Monogatari Series or Suzumiya Haruhi Series in chronological order, no one does that because it just brings confusion on the way.

Well, watching Haruhi in chronological order was more pleasing for me as well as read SAO in chronological order. I would argue that it brings confusion on the way, because i think inconsistency and dispersion of the story makes everything much more confusing.
Not to mention, we all know that at the beginning Reki haven't planed to make such long story, even more with such amount of side stories at all, afterwards he did it to fill the gaps (mostly), to explain and to broaden/develop the current world better, and also to make more material/history for the upcoming stories.
Well, and now we are just making the conversation we did few times already... Everything is only matter of preference.

TapuTapuuMar 5, 2015 7:39 AM

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