~reality
or reality~
In my
personal opinion, one of the main reasons that grants SAO its popularity is its
exploration of virtual reality, the wonders, the vices, and its effects on the
human condition; an important aspect and theme that overlies the entire series.
The messages that are conveyed ring close to home and provide us with truth
beyond the world of anime as there is no doubt that sometime in the near
future, virtual reality will become reality. Heck, today’s OculusRift may become
a NerveGear tomorrow or an AmuSphere the following day. And then there are the
big questions that is focused more so in SAO II than the first season. What do
we consider as reality? With technologies that enable one to actually feel and
sense within the virtual, and the application of VR into projects such as
Medicuboid, the line that divides the virtual world from real-life really
begins to blur. SAO likes to pull our finger and does exaggerate this idea a
tad bit, introducing the Cardinal system that continually adapts without the
need of human maintenance, and the very human-like Yui who I still don’t
understand for the life of me how she came to be the AI she is at present. But whether
or not we will see a genius like Kayaba Akihiko outside the anime be born and
make this possible, with the advent of virtual reality, our world and the world
depicted by SAO will nonetheless converge.
~the
secret sauce~
Something
to tease the mental awareness is not enough to appease the hungry appetite of
entertainment. The main meal must always come along with entrée and dessert. Add
action, fantastic visuals, fun slice-of-life-moments, romance, and a decent
soundtrack, and you have the secret sauce that makes SAO such a great watch. In
fact, the overall premise behind the majority of the SAO arcs is actually
fairly simple in its design, following the classic good triumphs over evil
troupe that is characterized by obvious overarching villains (Kayaba Akihiko,
Sugou Nobuyuki, Death Gun) and a nonchalant hero (Kirito). That simplicity blended
with the seriousness and intensity of the show’s recurring life-death themes
complement well with each other into what I would like to call a ‘satisfying
symbiosis’. There are exceptions of course, being Calibur which stands as a
filler, and Mother’s Rosario which is something special altogether.
~kirito
x asuna~
No
doubt one of the best anime couples of all time. The development and portrayal
of their relationship throughout the series was done so well that I was
completely sold by the end of the Aincrad arc. Kudos to the 2-3 episodes that
were spent dedicated on building the two together – one of my favorite parts of
the series. If Aincrad wasn’t enough, then Alfheim Online did the job in
exploring their relationship with a plot that is centered on Kirito rescuing
Asuna, the damsel in distress. Although the harem element is still present
throughout the series, Kirito and Asuna’s relationship has completely
overshadowed that idea. It really is a breath of fresh air to see a main male protagonist
get the right girl with their relationship being forthright, instead venturing
into the world of indecisive polygamy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sword
Art Online (ie. Aincrad) (Season I: Episodes 1-14)
Ten
thousand people log in to Sword Art Online. They find themselves trapped within
the VRMMORPG, unable to log out in a death game orchestrated by the creator,
Kayaba Akihiko. If one gets killed in Sword Art Online, they die in real life.
Players find themselves either joining the clearing squad to clear the game or
settling to life in Aincrad. Two years pass and Sword Art Online is cleared,
ending the death game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alfheim Online (Season I: Episodes 15-24)
Sword
Art Online is cleared and a majority of the remaining survivors wake up into
the real world after two years of being in a comatose state, however Asuna and
300 other players are still trapped, their consciousness elsewhere. A new
villain, Sugou Nobuyuki, emerges and takes advantage of coma-Asuna to form an arranged
marriage in real-life. Kirito finds out that Sugou is responsible for trapping
Asuna’s consciousness within the VRMMORPG, Alfheim Online. Kirito enlists the help
of Suguha, his younger sister, and sets out to rescue Asuna before the arranged
marriage occurs.
In my
opinion, this was the weakest arc out of both seasons of SAO. The pacing was a
bit awkward and there were a few plot details that lacked exposition. Other
than that, the secret sauce was still there and ALO was just as enjoyable to
watch. We were finally able to see the real world outside of Aincrad, and delve
into the real Kirito (Kirigaya Kazuto) and Asuna (albeit in a coma). Suguha,
the main heroine and her incestial circumstances was interesting. But in comparison
to Asuna in Aincrad and Mother’s Rosario, and Sinon in GGO, I felt like her
character was a bit underwhelming. Characters aside, the plot was linear and
very definitive in following the ‘hero rescuing the damsel in distress’ route,
with an obnoxious, over-the-top villain to boot. Yes. Every time I see that
bastard (Sugou) on screen, I just want to punch his face to the ground. What he
does to Asuna is utterly unforgivable and it was sheer joy to see Kirito finally
whip out the punishment he deserves.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gun Gale Online (Season II: Episodes 1-14)
Asada
Shino is introduced as the main heroine. She plays GGO as a form of
self-therapy for her traumatic fear of guns. Deaths occur in the real world
coinciding with player deaths in GGO by a player calling himself Death Gun. Investigator
Seijirou Kikuoka convinces Kirito to enter GGO and investigate Death Gun. Kirito
befriends Sinon (Shino’s avatar) in GGO and they both enter the BoB tournament together
where, after extensive competition, they eventually qualify for the finals of
the tournament. Kirito meets Death Gun and remembers his traumatic experience
of PKing in SAO. Kirito and Sinon decide to take out Death Gun in the finals.
Death Gun’s ultimate target is Sinon. Kirito solves the mystery of Death Gun
and saves Shino in real life.
Given
that Sword Art Online (Aincrad) and Alfheim Online were both full-on
fantasy-based, Gun Gale Online being the steam-punk first-person-shooter VRMMO
it is, brought upon a nice change-of
pace along with a darker, robust, and more dynamic feel to it. And then there
are the guns. And the united cries of joy from
fanboys alike. FPS in virtual reality is every man’s dream and that
really goes to show with the GGO populace equating to a testosterone-filled
sausage-fest minus Sinon, the almost-trap Kirito, and the white-haired-beauty Jyuushi
X. Stereotypes aside, the GGO arc felt more approachable, probably because of
its slower place and greater focus on the events, backstory and character
development in real life with which we can relate upon, as opposed to that
in-game – this is especially true with the arc’s spotlight on Shino, her PTSD,
and how she handles her life. Speaking of Shino, I would like to give props to
the Sinon fan-service A-1 Pictures has kindly provided for us. SAO surprisingly
doesn’t have a lot of fan-service (except for that one episode during the
Aincrad arc) so this is probably the most we will get.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Calibur
(Season II: Episodes 15-17)
Kirito
and Suguha trigger a quest to obtain the legendary sword Excalibur. Kirito and
co. (now with Sinon) venture down into Jotunheimr to defeat Thrym, the frost
giant king, and retrieve Excalibur. A giant trap awaits! (literally!).
This
arc was all about fun, probably to help us recuperate from the climatic GGO
ending, and give us time to buy tissues for Mother’s Rosario. Given that
Mother’s Rosario is seven episodes long, Calibur does its job in filling up the
remaining three episodes to cater for SAO II’s 24 episode journey. But don’t
get me wrong as Calibur is actually canon (a side story to be exact, detailing
how Kirito obtains Excalibur which is present in Mother’s Rosario and undoubtedly
in future arcs). What I found most enjoyable about this arc aside from the
refreshing change of pace is the focus on all the other characters that we know
so well (they finally get some screen-time!). Out of all the characters, Klein
takes the cake in being my favorite from this arc. Bringing the comedy-relief
and personality, what is not to like about him? On another note, Klein x Skuld!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mother’s
Rosario (Season II: Episodes 18-24)
Asuna
hears about the undefeatable Zekken and decides to challenges her. Asuna loses
but impresses Zekken who introduces herself as Konno Yuuki. Yuuki convinces
Asuna to join her party composed of Sleeping Knights members to clear a boss
room and have their names engraved on the Swordmen’s Monument. After
accomplishing that feat, Yuuki suddenly disappears. Asuna searches and finds
Yuuki in real life and discovers that Yuuki is actually a terminally-ill
patient using Medicuboid and virtual reality as means of living. Asuna takes
Yuuki to experience school-life. Eventually, Yuuki passes away and a lot of
tears are shed.
Mother’s
Rosario is without doubt one of the strongest arcs out of both seasons of SAO,
with the Aincrad arc outclassing it just a little, purely because of Aincrad’s
entertainment value as opposed to the emotional journey of Mother’s Rosario’s. Unlike
previous arcs, the main protagonist this time isn’t Kirito, but Asuna, and it
was great to see her develop as a character in the real world. With that being
said, the main star of the arc has to be Yuuki. Sympathizing with the
circumstances that led to her struggles, seeing her courage and warmth despite
being terminally ill, and watching her experience her last moments with all her
friends, is truly heart-wrenching. It got the best of me even when I was
expecting it, with manly tears being shed. To accomplish such a feat, I can
confirm that the adaptation of Mother’s Rosario was greatly executed – kudos to
A-1 Pictures.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
~looking
ahead~
With
season two of Sword Art Online done, I am looking forward to hopefully a third
season. I still haven’t read the light novels, but I heard that there is a lot
more content that has yet to be adapted. If my fanboy prayers do come true,
and a third season is in the green, then it is most likely that the Alicization
arc will be animated, which I have been told is absolutely fantastic.
No comments:
Post a Comment