Sword Art Online: Alicization Episode 8 Discussion

TodAboT said:
Another bad episode to add to the pile.

Did anybody else notice that Liena's mouth was too high for 15 seconds when she grabbed Kirito's shoulders?
The fighting choreography is the worst one in SAO so far.
Kirito can see what Uolo is feeling? Hilarious.
If Kirito imagines the bland characters he's met, he can go up to Uolo. Has he never done that before? He could have defeated Liena with that.
Most background characters' designs were goofy as hell.
Gorgolosso has done NOTHING. Even though he's "important" he hasn't even talked.
We somehow spend 6 minutes in the garden.
The two cliché characters show up and do bad stuff.
The flowers burst? Ok...
Kirito crying over dead flowers. Um... And not about anything else that has happened to him?
Kirito is still as generic as ever. Slightly more gay with the flower scene.
Deus Ex Machina voice appears.
Kirito explains what he was literally explained two seconds ago.
Liena just had to believe in herself to win. That still sounds stupid as hell; actually, even more stupid in the context we are given.
We are introduced to two bland characters.
The End.

shigatsuno87bira said:
Tiese and Ronnie have just come out for a single minute and you call them bland right off the bat. Whether or not they’re bland that ain’t fair.
Additionally, flowers have meaning to Kirito. They symbolize his attempt to understand his new world, and he says that the flowers are a metaphor of a life trying to grow in a different environment, mirroring Kirito’s situation in the Underworld.
Gorgolosso wasn’t that important.
I also don’t see why Kirito seeing Volo’s ancestors behind him is hilarious. The Underworld is built off a medium constructed of fluctuating data. These images came bursting from the sword.
Wait till you see that Dues Machina voice plays its role. That Dues Machina voice is more developed than you think. :)
Thanks for joining the discussion!

Mattinator95 said:


It would have only been one epiosde. And the time skip would have still happend

Windman said:


Why do you people always find reasons to cry over lost content while not looking at the content provided? They skipped minor events compared to what is about to unfold. Thats like saying LotR is bad because its not showing the MCs bath during their daily lives. You are not supposed to be shown everything, learn to think for yourself for once and stop being a force-fed baby.

Short_Circut said:
Have to say didn't really like how this LN was adapted. The first one had good pacing and really set up the atmosphere, but this one felt quite rushed in classic A1-Pictures fashion, especially over how they skipped pretty much the entire part of the Zakkaria tournament thing and the importance of the flowers in identifying the bounds of the Taboo Index and stuff





This season is confirmed to adapt the entirety of Alicization

TodAboT said:

...
I did look at the content provided.
It was shit.
Because there is still no character development for Kirito (crying over flowers doesn't count), a lot of the world still doesn't make sense (The bad guys can damage property? What about the Taboo Index?), etc.
Magybe if they didn't skip stuff, it would have been better.

Who am I kidding? The entire writing is garbage.

Mattinator95 said:



Skip what 1.5 years of the same thing everyday .hence why there's a timeskipb

They can't adapt everything or even every small detail

Mattinator95 said:



Skip what 1.5 years of the same unevenful thing everyday .hence why there's a timeskip

If people are moaning that the last few epiosdes have been a school drama what would 1.5 years of school content change anything


They can't adapt everything or even every small detail


There are such things called loopholes

WordIsBond said:


Lmao



Yeah, gay is also used to describe something lame. People are so quick to get PC these days.

TodAboT said:

So this is the best part of the light novels?
Wow. That's sad.

Turtles_Hunter said:
See you in 4 episodes for the next half episode of action. I still think there is a problem with the pacing, and and they make everything last an eternity (except for the action scenes). It's funny, because after the TV special, I rewatched some Yuu Yuu Hakusho, and there is a lot of narrative content, to the point that after watching a YYH just after the SAO episode, when the eyecatch appear half-way through the episode.

But more seriously, was the pacing always that awful, or is it me that just always overlooked that. Story is kinda nice by itself, but the narration could be far better. As I already said, it looks more like a CD drama with animation over it (except for the few action scenes) than a real anime that make use of its medium. It's sad. Even GGO (the worse part to me) was more entertaining and less frustrating. It's not downright bad, but it could be a lot better. And when I see how some people defend it too be great, I can see why SAO has been that much hated (I watch the previous seasons without ever watching what the community was telling about them).

I'm still thinking there is hope, but it would be time to launch your show. 8 episodes of introduction is too much.

WordIsBond said:


Actually, it is. It doesn't seem like English is your first language so why argue? If you like bad shows then more power to you, I have no problem with it.

Mattinator95 said:



Cleary not as sad as mionority who waste thier time on something they dislike each weekend just for attention and a point /criticism and opinion that has no weight on the series as a whole

Never really understood why people bother to waist time on something then proceed to write reviews and comments that no one will take seriously anyway. And has no effect on the series overall . And all the bad reviews and the hate etc arent really doing anything either instead of making people stray away form something it's doing the opposite effect and overall adding to the popularity of the series .

And givin that the people that hate the series and are still watching it are not really helping themselves they are still contributing to overall ratings outside of a series demographic and country even though I doubt.it makes any difference what ratings outside Japan get.


Anyway Did I say I read the LN . I Don't even read the LN it's all based on assumption that the 1.5 years (minus the thing I heard was cut) was uneventful as the world as been set up to show that there's no crime,bandits or monsters which clearly only exist in the dark place .

Just becouse something hasn't been adapted dosnt mean it's not there. Like not crying or feeling homesick etc which was assuming was cut. Even then when a human character shows emotion people just wipe it off as a pussy anyway so what's the point. (Which is always the case when adapting from a sourse to anime)


And the last few epiosdes have shown that there are loopholes . Even epiosde 1 hinted at loopholes.

idontknowsarcasm said:

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saying that gay is another of saying lame it's the gayest thing i read.

TodAboT said:

You're implying that people shouldn't give an opinion on a series, EVEN THOUGH this season is supposed to be "such an improvement". That's the reason why I'm still watching (and I'm also a closet masochist I guess).

You are defending the show based on ASSUMPTIONS. Completely meaningless.
And we are discussing the anime, not the [also bad] light novels. It actualy makes the adaptation worse for not adapting correctly.

"Just because something hasn't been adapted doesn't mean it's not there"
So what? You want me to read the light novel DLC to appreciate the story completely? Come on.

bhaizett said:
Unpopular Opinion:The Sword Fight between Kirito and that baldie senior is terrible.
The entire scene is just servicable at best, it's at its worst when you look at it realistically. This is why the entire fight is bad. Why?
1. The telegraphing and over-swinging. I don't know why that Baldie has to go with one big swoop, normal people would've just dodge to the sides. And if baldie senior fights like a normal people, he would response by swinging the Sword to the position his opponent, in this case kirito, moves to. But I guess the staffs are just too lazy to animate them.
2. How kirito responses to the Baldie Senpai attack. This derives from the first points, instead of dodging to the side from the obvious front attack, what did Kirito do? He tries to parry it, his first two attempts doesn't work, the 3rd time he tries to parry the baldie hit, he exposes his back by spinning, and did it helps at all? Of course it didn't. IRL doing it so blalantly can get you killed, but since it's not real life, we can ignore how risky it would be to use it in an actual Sword fight. But if you're gonna animate a spin, don't make it so slow because it's gonna make the spin looks terrible. Ofc after that both Kiri2 and the Baldie senior swords ended up in a bind, which brings me to my next point.
3. The Sword Binding. This is not only the problem for SAO but in many Swords fight scene in media. If it's not a static image it's just gonna looks awkward, irl normal ppl wouldn't have stayed in the bind that long, they would tries to get out of that situation ASAP or uses it to their advantages but what did Kiri2 and the baldie senior do? They just looks at each other and stays in the bind, and it just looks awkward. Is this what ppl calls a great fight?
4. How Kirito gets out of that situation. Power of Friendship. Of course that rules would come into play, that "Willpower can overcome anythings" shenanigan, it's really just an excuse for Kirito to do his typical deus-ex machina moment.
In conclusion, instead of Portraying Kirito and the baldie senior as a competent Swordsman that they proclaimed themselves to be, we got this. How is this a great fight? I really don't get it at all.
The rest of the episode is just...meh, the flower scene are super melodramatic, the timeskip is still plaguing the series.
But at least liena fight against the baldie senior is decent I guess.
2/5

Mattinator95 said:


I'm not saying people shouldn't have an opinion on anything. Overall it's just someone's opinion dosnt change anything


How do you know the light novel of this arc is bad when you have never Read it.

well you try and adapt 10 vols into 48 episodes with each vol only getting 4 epiosdes each.


It's not really a assumption consriding it's not hard to figure it out

bhaizett said:
Unpopular Opinion:The Sword Fight between Kirito and that baldie senior is terrible.

ronelm2000 said:

FYI you can't cancel a skill once it's activated. Also, I don't think Kirito even HAS the capacity to completely dodge what's essentially a trump card right from the get go (He correctly identified the skill as Avalanche, one of the best Two-Handed Sword Skills in SAO)

Thus, he concluded that one of the best ways he could get the win was using Vertical Square (aka his shiny skill last episode) since he'd have a roughly half a second of "delay" if he can successfully parry his skill. Which he did. He would have won then and there if that Tree Sword had more length imho.

It also explains the "Sword Locking". If you noticed the other fights in Alicization, there's no such thing if there are no Sword Skills being tossed between each other. That's because if both are using Sword Skills, suddenly cancelling it is impossible. Unless you're forced to by an outside force.

chriskor022 said:
@Mattinator95 its pointless to argue that alt account.

idontknowsarcasm said:

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i agree with your points but the 4 one.
it's a power that you see that volo also used it, not just kirito and it's not at all friendship powers, it's about telling yourself you're the best, never giving up, have onfidence in yourselve and in your victory.

ronelm2000 said:

FYI you can't cancel a skill once it's activated. Also, I don't think Kirito even HAS the capacity to completely dodge what's essentially a trump card right from the get go (He correctly identified the skill as Avalanche, one of the best Two-Handed Sword Skills in SAO)

Thus, he concluded that one of the best ways he could get the win was using Vertical Square (aka his shiny skill last episode) since he'd have a roughly half a second of "delay" if he can successfully parry his skill. Which he did. He would have won then and there if that Tree Sword had more length imho.

It also explains the "Sword Locking". If you noticed the other fights in Alicization, there's no such thing if there are no Sword Skills being tossed between each other. That's because if both are using Sword Skills, suddenly cancelling it is impossible. Unless you're forced to by an outside force.

idontknowsarcasm said:

-
i agree with your points but the 4 one.
it's a power that you see that volo also used it, not just kirito and it's not at all friendship powers, it's about telling yourself you're the best, never giving up, have onfidence in yourselve and in your victory.

redcobra said:
This anime already bad when the studio already deside to time skip and more skip cut cut cut cut stuff.

Well don't hope so much, we can clearly see where this will going then what will happen next or future episode.

Even the studio it self apologies for skipping the content, At least they respond and admit it.

-Riptide- said:
TTGL with Fighting Spirit being the only reason they beat beings clearly more powerful than them: Oh sure that makes sense.


SAO Alicization with the Inhabitant's image of reality actually changing the VIRTUAL world they live in: Haxx fucking piece of shit asspull outta nowhere.

bhaizett said:

I've been re-watching the fight, I think the big problem is not in the rules itself, moreso how it was animated in the anime. I'm not gonna repeat why the way it looks are terrible, but I'm just gonna leave it at that. Arts wise everything looks good as always but how the character moves and such are the problem here.

ibraheem234 said:
Liena looked so much similar to asuna...so maybe it was just me..hmm well I guess I am still concerned whether the kirito ni the game is the actual kirito or the copy like everyone else in the world

immortaluchiha said:
What a fucking great episode it was.
As always as always as always SAO never fails to impress, as expected of a masterpiece, such a well written story.
I now see, why it's the best selling light novel in Japan.
Japan's ranked top 3 on list of countries with highest average IQ, no wonder they know what good writing and story is.
Truly a spectacular episode, damn that cliff hanger in the end though.
Well can't wait for next episode.

Kitsu-nee said:
The best part of this ep was when Kirito's sword grew longer after he thought about Asuna xD You can't make this shit up.

Other than that, has it really been like ~2 years for Kirito? He's acting like it's been two weeks or so, not worried that much about himself, Asuna, or real life in general. Or at least it's not delivered clearly.