Let’s not do anything, girls! Let’s just stand here and watch!
Plot summary: Kirito and Leafa arrive just in time to save Sakuya from being assassinated by the Salamander army. Nah, I’m just shittin’ ya ’cause Leafa doesn’t do a damn thing. Kirito asserts his alpha male dominance by kicking the opposing general’s ass, then all of the girls fight over him. Meanwhile, Asuna gets fed up with waiting for her savior, so she breaks out of her cage all by her lonesome.
Notes:
• It appears that MMOs like SAO and Alfheim Online emphasize realism over fun.
In order to crash the all-important meeting and prevent Sigurd from backstabbing his own people, it seems Kirito and Leafa will literally have to fly all the way there instead of using some form of fast-travel (for those unfamiliar with MMO mechanics, fast travel basically means you can warp to designated areas). Hell, I doubt fast-travel even exists! Last week, Marow asked if I’d play this MMO. Haha, no fucking way. When I log into an MMO, I want to immediately start playing, not fly in one direction for nearly half an hour before I arrive at some dungeon or a quest hub.
But hey, some MMOs don’t have fast travel. Some MMO players cry that fast travel (and other quality-of-life enhancements) ruins the immersion of playing an MMO. Others complain that the world is empty when players can simply fast travel all over the place. Sure, fast travel probably isn’t as necessary in a game like Eve Online, but that’s because skills in that game are trained over time, i.e. you can even train when you’re logged off and asleep. This mitigates the timesink of having to literally travel all over the place, because you’d be training your skills at the same time. For a game like Alfheim Online, however, the lack of fast travel just seems like an unfun game mechanic, much like the whole “your avatar persists in-game for 20 minutes even after you’ve logged out” deal.
• Kirito: “Running away isn’t my style.” Yeah, but the last time you didn’t run away, your e-waifu had to sacrifice her life to save you. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all about it already! Let me remind you:
And surely as a Gary Stu, prioritizing the rescue of your damsel-in-distress should be your style. No, I won’t let it go, man. Even Leafa’s telling him to go back to his main quest, because this just isn’t that important not just to him but to those of us in the audience as well. Whether or not Alfheim Online more resembles Eve Online or World of Warcraft, Kirito has no personal stake here. I mean, he only started playing this game a few days ago, right? He doesn’t even know these people, it’s not even his business — he’s a Spriggan so it’s not like he’s going to suffer if the Salamanders take over the Sylphs — and most of all, he has a more important person to save.
But hey, it sure does sound badass to say, “Running away isn’t my style.”
• Oh my God, Kirito even has to have a fancy entrance. BOOM, dust everywhere… a shadow emerges from the chaos…
…the mysterious emo black swordsman!
• Groan: “But the one thing I can say is that our fates depend on him.” You’re not even going to be the heroine? You’re not even going to cast healing magic and play the support this week?
• They couldn’t even give the enemy a cool-sounding name. He’s just General Eugene. And over here, we have Commander Bob!
• Heh, right before Kirito kicks this guy’s ass — and he’s the Gary Stu so we know he’ll win — we’ll just quickly drop a big ol’ exposition bomb on this General Eugene even though it’s highly improbable that we’ll ever see this dude again after this episode!
• Really? The clouds literally part right before they engage in combat?
• “Now you have to survive until I kill you.” A-…
…are you serious, bro?
• Hey look, Kirito just cast a spell that caused black smoke to appear all over the place, thereby buying himself time from General Eugene‘s onslaught! B-but I thought illusion magic was useless in combat! 
• Way to flash Leafa’s butt not once but twice in the middle of a fight, SAO.
• Good ol’ dual-wielding saves the day. Question: why wasn’t Kirito dual-wielding from the start of Alfheim Online?
• W…why does the guy explode?! Somewhere, Michael Bay sheds a tear.
• Then afterward, the three ladies shake their bouncing boobs and cheer for Kirito. Holy shit, at least Asuna was sort of the heroine for half of the SAO arc. In Alfheim Online, the female characters don’t get to do anything but stand on the sidelines and look pretty. Passive skill: gratuitous cleavage.
• Our badass Gary Stu now simply floats there and stares off into the distance for no reason whatsoever. Then all of a sudden, Leafa blushes and gapes. This storytelling simply blows my mind.
• Why revive a dangerous character? Why not continue negotiating with him through private messages or something?
• Why is the underling lying about having seen an Undine with Kirito the other day? Also, wouldn’t it be super easy for any one of them to quickly message either a Spriggan or an Undine player and ask if he or she has ever even seen or heard of Kirito?
• What the fuck? Sigurd has half-naked women draped all over him?
Are there people who log into this game just to play a harem chick? I hope they’re all guys in real life.
• I wonder how long it takes for spilt wine to eventually despawn.
• The haremettes flock. Oh how they flock:
None of the ambassadors are male just so they can all rub up against Kirito after the fight. Meanwhile, a caged bird somewhere out there is just days away from being NTR’d.
• Oh no! Leafa’s boobs are starting to meld into one uberboob:
• …
…no comment, haha.
• So no one even asks why Kirito is so strong? No one even asks why he has so much money on him? No one even asks why he shares the same name as the hero who saved SAO?
• Kirito: “Because you don’t really seem like a girl. … I mean you’re easy to get along with… In a good way… Yeah.” In a good way! You’re not like all the other bitches! You’re like a bro! You can’t be friends with girls, man! But wait! Asuna’s a girl… and he gets along with her. Oh shit, is she a trap?!
• Asuna’s done more to save herself than Kirito has in the last five or six episodes alone. God, why can’t you just be a bro and stay in the cage though? How is this rescue mission going to look when Kirito climbs the World Tree and finds no damsel!
Moe Sucks 
E Minor, i think these days I only watch SAO so I can hear you complain about the same things I had problems with. Now let’s see:
-My virtual waifu is within days of being married to this creepy dude and to save her i have to climb a tree noone has managed yet. Last time I had t clear a set of dungeons like this it took me 2 years. Maybe I hould hurry and go there immediately. What’s that? Chicks need help taking care of some virtual land that doesn’t affect their day-to-day life? Screw waifu, bitches here I come!
-It feels as if SAO was written by someone that never played any MMORPG games. No portals, 20min logging out, people thinking illusion magic=bad for fighting and instant message between players, what is that?
-It’s hard to take the anime seriously because they take themselves too seriously. “Our fates depend on him” uh no, some patch of land and maybe some money you have on a virtual game might depend on him. But if that’s so serious to you why not stop putting your dainty hand on your chest and go kick ass like what you were doing before he came along? How about you two chicks, you’re the strongest in your classes so why not lend a hand? No as well, ah screw it then.
-I ‘like’ how noone asks obvious and very normal human questions like “if you’re not going to the tree for the king, who do you want to meet?”
-Why are the ambassadors women? So that Kirito would save them of course. Seriously, he only acts heroic if you’re the opposite gender. Look at the first episode, he left his only friend behind and went to go get stronger, do you think he’d done that if it had been a woman? Of course not!
-Asuna finally did something! hooray! bets on how many episode it will take till she needs to be saved again? I bet half an episode. I mean, she gets out of the cell and instead of running away at full speed, she feels the need to stop, make a determined face, flick her hair and slowly walk forward. Ugh.
…sorry about this, couldn’t help it.
E-taxes, bro. E-taxes!
Man, I wonder if Recon is still stuck in some sewer, waiting to be rescued.
As we are on the EVE Online topic, about logout mechanics in MMO, in EVE, when you delog in space, your ship stays 1 min in space, 15 min if you got into PVP actions in the last 15 min (preventing the oh sh- let’s logout tactics)
Recently, a patch made that your ship stay in space after the 15min timer as long as somebody is hitting you, because for the biggest ships, 15 min is not enough time to kill them (so they just logoffski cf http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Logoffski ) This solution has been very well received by the players because it nicely solved the problem and balanced the risks for the bigger ship to engage in combat (they were nearly invulnerable to everything but the biggest fleets before)
About instant travel, there are jump bridges and jump drives in EVE which need fuel. They have been subject to nerf discussions because it makes easier to project power and makes big alliances with big numbers to be able to defend more space. Normal travel in EVE can be quite boring, but having to travel, means you can be ambushed by others on your way, so it’s a necessary evil in the EVE gameplay.
Well EVE is generally a quite hardcore game because depending on the activity you’re engaging, it can take time to get to the real fun. Rarity is the key here. For 10 times you get to fight nothing, you’ll get a bloodrushing amazing fight on the 11th time. Quite different from farming battlegrounds or arenas in WoW were you just queue up and wait your turn.
This thing with Eve though, is that when you logout – combat aside – you warp in a random direction. This makes it impossible for anyone to stumble on you and kill you, unless they’re actively searching (and the 1 min timer is so short that someone searching for you should start immediately, presumably ready with a scanning ship etc, otherwise they won’t make it).
I prefer comparing to UO – not because there was a similarly stupid logout mechanic that I know of, but because they could implement any gameplay they wanted, and players would still play it and love it because it was the only game out there.
At some point in the episode, it was mentioned that the game was in patch 5.0. Assuming the subs are true, this is silly – four expansions in a year, and nobody has reached the world tree nor seems to be trying to? Really?
The game might not have the same naming convention for patches that most MMO players are used to.
I’m not watching SAO anymore, but:
…I see that nothing has changed since Alfheim Online started.
I lol’d.
I hate this show now.
Good, good. Let the hate flow through you.
Hate leads to awesome powers, a cool black suit and a seat on the galactic council. Keep watching.
What’s wrong with Kirito being popular, he’s cool, he uses twin swords, and he’s handsome
You’re just jealous are you ? Admit it , you’re a ugly fatass
Why is your website not closed down yet ?
It’s not closed because your opinion means nothing. Honestly the fact that you get so butthurt by E having a opinion that isn’t yours means you have some issues to take care of.
No no no, don’t scare him away. I want to pet him and dangle a fancy treat with a dainty silk bowtie over his head for all the hard work he’s putting into these quality posts.
Haha, I wouldn’t waste your breath.
^trolling hard, trying to spark a flame war, but failed miserably
Wait, it was probably mentioned already, but what the hell does Asuna’s cage have a keypad on the INSIDE for?
Anyway, I’m fully convinced now that Kirito is like the protagonist from KOTOR 2, but instead of changing the morality/alliance of those traveling with him he just irradiates this aura of powerlessness to all females that feel romantically inclined towards him: the Kirito Effect.
-The Kirito Effect is an insipid thing, as it will turn even a hardened warrior into a moeblob, hence why Leafa has become nothing more than cheering tits and why Asuna has actually done -something- in this episode.
You see the Kirito Effect also creates a lingering poison that persists within the victim even when they are beyond the source’s radius. However, this poison escapes the body over a period of time, leaving the victim to regain their independence and gradually regain their competence.
-If Asuna stayed away from Kirito she could see a full recovery in a few days tops. However, she has fallen for a Gary Stu, and therefore is bound to return to Kirito. It is not because it’s in her best interest or because she really has any reason to actually love him whatsoever, but because it is her -destiny-…
Anyway, I think those leaders are women because they are women, as in they became the leaders because the other gamers thought they were so hot they decided to put them on their thrones, so to speak. I’ve actually seen that happen before.
And haha~! I’ll consider those haremettes to be sweaty dudes on the other side, too. That’s a hilarious possibility.
“Wait, it was probably mentioned already, but what the hell does Asuna’s cage have a keypad on the INSIDE for?”
As much as I hate SAO, I didn’t see too much flaw in that. I think it’s to be safe. see, if the keypad was only outside, then the creep (can’t remember the name) would have to leave the cage open when he is inside, and Asuna could try to hurt him/knock him out and make a run for it. Although it was inside, the anime (for once) managed to show us that the numbers become blurry when Asuna looks at it directly, the only way to see the numbers he was pressing was by looking through the reflection in the glass.
…Huh. That’s actually kind of clever.
Though the fact that such a thing exists in a fantasy medieval fairy land is pretty stupid, unless there’s high tech stuff elsewhere that I’m just not remembering, but even so-
Thanks for the explanation, man!
Well, this isn’t really that much of a problem. The bad guy could simply have guards stationed on the outside and have them open the door for him whenever he wants to leave. Or — and this might sound crazy — he could take advantage of the fact that he pretty much controls this game, so why would you even program the prison so that it can be opened by a virtual keypad? Just deny Asuna’s character any sort of permission, i.e. this character can only inhabit this area. If this character so much as leaves, she’ll automatically warp back to the designated area. Y’know, like how NPCs in MMOs will despawn and return to their roaming area. Hell, he already went to such lengths to create a silly birdcage for her…
And then the clever idea was torn apart by better alternatives. Haha~!
Well, it was fun while it lasted, right SAO?
This is SAO, you think the creator was smart enough to realize characters could be locked in an area?
I’m not talking about whether or not the villain is smart enough. I’m saying that having the keypad on the inside is dumb no matter what.
I’ve played the first KOTOR as well as a bit of SWTOR, but I haven’t touched the second game.
I’m more amazed at the fact that the keypad has the number 11 on it!
SAO should get its own special version of the Bechdel test.
SAO should get its own special version of the Bechdel test.
I’d write that version. It’s pretty easy. :P
Pingback: Sword Art Online: Episode 20- More Meandering and Dick Waving | Standing On My Neck
Wow, seeing the gist of the episode makes the feminist in me burn myself alive,
Let me guess, the two girls clinging to Kirito insult the female sex, right? Or the fanservice?
If you think so, you’re a retard, by the way.
Let me guess, the two girls clinging to Kirito insult the female sex, right? Or the fanservice? If you think so, you’re a retard, by the way.
How about the leaders of two powerful races didn’t do anything but watch and wet their virtual pantsu as the mysterious Gamer Jesus take care of the (totally not involved and totally not important to their real lives whatsoever) territorial battles for them?
It’s sexist to me because have you seen a female character in SAO who is capable of fighting and thinking for herself and not let a man (Especially Kirito) decide things for her? Those female characters ended up defeated. Or dead.
No, no, burn SAO instead.
I would, but Gamer Jesus stared into my soul the moment I tried to burn it.
“It’s sexist to me because have you seen a female character in SAO who is capable of fighting and thinking for herself and not let a man (Especially Kirito) decide things for her? Those female characters ended up defeated. Or dead.”
ehmm Asuna..?
Anyway, it wasn’t feminist, the writer/studio was wanking Kirito like usual
Or they didn’t fight because they didn’t stand a chance, wasn’t that guy like one of the most powerful?
I mean it wasn’t *sexist
It was more about Kirito alone then it had anything to do with gender
Anyway, it wasn’t sexist the writer/studio was wanking Kirito like usual
Or they didn’t fight because they didn’t stand a chance, wasn’t that guy like one of the most powerful? It was more about Kirito alone then it had anything to do with gender
Bro, not sure if trolling me or you are just writing your own contradictions…
If you think me saying they didn’t stand a chance is a contradiction then you’re the sexist one
It has nothing to do with gender but the people themselves,
It’s like making a white character win the fight while an asian and a black do nothing,]
would they do that because of they’re racist, in other words they looked at the skin or simply because the person the writer wanted to fight happened to be white?
So you are saying that I’m sexist because I pointed out things that are sexist in an anime that is obviously sexist.
Nope
No, no, burn SAO instead.
I feel like I’m following this now just to see if it’ll do something other than try make everyone want to grind for Kirito’s drops.
That is disgusting!
Sorry, I meant farm for his materials.
Kirito’s not a leader though. I’ve seen leaders exploit their guilds for drop. Kirito doesn’t seem like that guy because despite being portrayed as a ladies’ man, he has no charisma with his own sex.
I was just making another innuendo, but yeah, it does seem odd that he has like 2 male friends while every other guy in the show is evil. All I know is that the writing has been unbearably boring and predictable despite what all they try and throw in there to make it interesting. In fact, what am I saying? What part of this is even interesting anymore? This could’ve been ended already so the rest of this seems arbitrary even if there’s more to the novels….
The “how much worse can this get?” part.
Hah. You guys are tricked because you don’t read the source material.
Golden rule : women in this story can’t do shit without relying on Gary Stu and his manhood.
Seeing how fast paced this anime is, Asuna will be put back into her cage in less than half an episode.
She is hopeless. As a last resort, she can only throw out her handkerchief and pray “Please… reach him. Reach my love.”
WAT? Ok. It’s not actually not handkerchief, but some kind of card.
:-D
Well, c’mon, I don’t think anyone’s under the impression that Asuna will actually save herself. I’m just taking the piss out of the fact that Kirito is taking his sweet ass time again. In the first half of the series, you could at least argue that he was subconsciously dragging his feet because he loved SAO too much. No such excuse here.
But he loved all MMORPGs all the same. :-D
Furthermore this has the same engine as Sexy Ass Online.
There are a lot of waifus in stock, no prob if one or two get NTR’d.
But can any of the other ones make awesome sandwiches or rabbit ragu?!
At least the sense of urgency was apparent in SAO. There’s nothing at stake for murdering those bouncing girls in ALO. Does Kirito love Asuna or not? And I literally face palmed at Sakuya’s boobs bouncing all over the place with one flick of her fan. She’s supposed to be a leader, but can’t even use powerful skills to save herself. Oh god, and I bet Silica and Lisbeth are coming back to join the harem…
She put all her skill points into charm. That’s why her breasts bounced so easily.
The minor flaws eMinor mentions about SAO don’t really change my opinion of it but this kinda disturbs me:
If Sugou Nobuyuki is a system admin, thus he can do anything inside the game, why the fuck is Kirito even bothering to save Asuna, how the hell will he, and why is Asuna even bothering to get out if when he logs in he can just bring her back?
Yeah. No matter how hard a player struggles, he can’t possibly win against a system administrator.
Impossible. Unless another plot hax happens once again.
*wink, wink*
Ah, got it.
I actually think playing a virtual MMO with focus on realism would be fun, but that just seems to be me…
Classy.
Have at it bro: http://www.mortalonline.com/
Looks horrible, dude.
B-but realism!
No people playing ;-;
‘Cause realism isn’t as fun as you think. I mean, spawning naked with your polygonal dong flopping about? C’mon, man.
That’s what happened in Guild Wars 2!
Pingback: Entering onto the Grand Stage | Chromatic Aberration Everywhere
I haven’t been watching this show even though it’s fun to mock, due to lack of time so I just read blogs now. Can you explain to me what’s bad about the map? Thanks.
Penis joke.
The reason why kirito strong and had lots of money is because it was his character from SAO, some shit was mix up because kirito used the old nerve gear that somehow had his char personality, item, all the stuff that belongs at SAO transfer to ALO.
All the question are basically were answered on the light novel, like the keypad thing, etc.