Sword Art Online 2

[brianycpht]

My wife just blew through season 1 and really enjoyed it , particularly the relationship love story stuff. A friend of hers said to not watch the second season as it "ruins" the story and she wouldn't like it. Is this accurate ? is the second season universally loathed like that?

[mochi]

My wife just blew through season 1 and really enjoyed it , particularly the relationship love story stuff. A friend of hers said to not watch the second season as it "ruins" the story and she wouldn't like it. Is this accurate ? is the second season universally loathed like that?

nobody should watch ANY seasons of SAO, they're all equally horrid

[Jman]

My wife just blew through season 1 and really enjoyed it , particularly the relationship love story stuff. A friend of hers said to not watch the second season as it "ruins" the story and she wouldn't like it. Is this accurate ? is the second season universally loathed like that?

 

Wait, the first SAO arc, episodes 1-13, or the first season in general?  I found the first arc fine but everything afterwards tumbles and the last arc of Season 2 is genuinely offensive.

[brianycpht]

Wait, the first SAO arc, episodes 1-13, or the first season in general?  I found the first arc fine but everything afterwards tumbles and the last arc of Season 2 is genuinely offensive.

 

The first season. The first 2 arcs where he met the girl, then she was trapped in the game and he had to go rescue her. It ended with him meeting her in the hospital. She watched the whole thing over 2 days. I've seen bits of it on Toonami (season 2) and it seemed pretty cool. Just don't know why people hate the second season (not arc although the sister thing was weird)

[PokeNirvash]

I'd just warn her about the particulars (read: the AIDS plot) and see how it goes from there.

[CaptainStarwind]

I wasn't really a big fan of SAO Season 2, so personally I would say no.  Objectively, though, I'd agree with Poke: give her a heads up of the more, "controversial" moments of the season and just play it by ear.

[brianycpht]

I honestly think she hopes the rest of the show are those 2 going on dates and getting married. ?

 

But she's a sucker for emotional character moments (she liked the Yui stuff) so the AIDS thing might get her (I actually forgot about that whole thing to just now)

[Daos]

If she liked the first season she'll probably like the second.

 

The mothers rosario plot line is divisive. Some people feel it corrects a lot of flaws that SAO has and gives badly needed character development to Asuna.

 

The Excalibur arc is by far the worst and totally pointless.

[PokeNirvash]

I wouldn't say it was totally pointless. Thanks to that, we got Richard Epcar screaming "HAMMER TIME" during the dub outtakes.

[Top Gun]

Honestly the Excalibur arc was pretty much the only time the series resembled an actual MMO.

[Daos]

Honestly the Excalibur arc was pretty much the only time the series resembled an actual MMO.

 

Hah maybe, but with absolutely zero stakes. And seeing the already OP Kirito get the most powerful weapon in the game really cheesed a lot of people off.

 

It's literally the only arc where they could have all logged out and nothing bad would have happened.

[StarPanda]

If she likes it she likes it

It's got some nice animated fights

[The1gairon]

While I consider Season 2 to be better, it's still not saying a whole lot.

 

Season 2 actually tells 3 arcs, the middle one which only lasts for like 2 episodes.  The last of these stories I found to be tear-jerking, while everyone else in the Faithful fandom 60000000% disagreed with me.

[The1gairon]

Well maybe SAO's writer CAN'T write stakes well, dammit. Maybe the Excalibur Arc WAS the best arc because of that.

[Top Gun]

Oh he most certainly can't.  I mean the entire premise of Sword Art Online the "death game" completely breaks down if you stop and think about it for more than 30 seconds.

[OwlChemist81]

I actually thought Sword Art Online II was a little better than Sword Art Online 1. Granted, it was mostly "side stories" and no real high stakes, but the Phantom Bullet arc was a little different because it was sort of a mystery and it involved guns instead of swords. Both Ex-Calibur and Mother's Rosario arcs have some decent action, especially episodes 16-21, but the conclusion of the Mother's Rosario arc is REALLY heavy.

 

I'd say you've got little to lose, so it's worth a try. I enjoyed the showdowns with Death Gun in the Phantom Bullet/Gun Gale Online arc, and the boss battles in the Ex-Calibur and Mother's Rosario arcs, which highlight each of the character's special moves. All in all, I would say it was worthy to be shown on Toonami, and averaged just under a million people watching!

[brianycpht]

I actually thought Sword Art Online II was a little better than Sword Art Online 1. Granted, it was mostly "side stories" and no real high stakes, but the Phantom Bullet arc was a little different because it was sort of a mystery and it involved guns instead of swords. Both Ex-Calibur and Mother's Rosario arcs have some decent action, especially episodes 16-21, but the conclusion of the Mother's Rosario arc is REALLY heavy.

 

I'd say you've got little to lose, so it's worth a try. I enjoyed the showdowns with Death Gun in the Phantom Bullet/Gun Gale Online arc, and the boss battles in the Ex-Calibur and Mother's Rosario arcs, which highlight each of the character's special moves. All in all, I would say it was worthy to be shown on Toonami, and averaged just under a million people watching!

 

Thanks, its good to get other peoples perspectives on an entire series.  I never sat down and watched it they way she is watching it as I mostly saw it here and there on Toonami but a never straight through binge of it. She basically thinks right now the show reached its natural conclusion and had a perfect "ending" and didn't really see where they could possibly go from there besides the further "what do we do now that we are both back in the real world" stuff.

 

One thing she hates is people telling her anything about what is going to happen in a show or knowing anything. For that reason she skips OPs because the show too much of the plot before the show gets to it. So for that reason I basically showed her the Toonami trailer for season 2 and that's it. A few people at her job also told her that there were "controversial" parts in season 1 but literally went right past them without batting an eye.

 

Main problem currently is that she doesn't do subtitles and there is no season 2 dubbed on Hulu which is strange because Toonami already lost the rights to it so you think it would be on there by now.  Same with Kill la Kill.

[Master-Debater131]

Just watch SAO Abridged.

 

 

[Chapinator_X]

If she was able to enjoy the second half of Season 1, I'd imagine she'd be into Season 2.

[Daos]

Well maybe SAO's writer CAN'T write stakes well, dammit. Maybe the Excalibur Arc WAS the best arc because of that.

 

If you want to see not being able to write stakes, wait till you see Ordinal Scale.

[CaptainStarwind]

I'm sorry, but I can't agree that SAO II was better than SAO I.  SAO II seemed more gimmicky to me than SAO, if that makes any sense.  I really didn't enjoy GunGale all that much.  It was okay, but it kind of bored me, to be honest.  I guess "MMO but with guns and crossdressing Kirito" doesn't really strike my fancy.  Excalibur was decent fun and was over the top enough to be enjoyable.  Mother's Rosario was better than GunGale for me, but overdid it with the AIDS plot.

 

SAO I had it's faults too, but I thought it was better overall.  I genuinely think that the Aincrad Arc was a great arc, and honestly I think it wraps up well enough that you can consider it a little show in itself.  Alfheim wasn't as good, but made up for it by having Oberon the Fairy King become one of my favorite villains. 

[ben0119]

SAO II I think is actually better than SAO I.  A lot of the issues we had in the first season are corrected, as the writer seems to have "leveled up," heh.  I think others have summed it up pretty well.  Gun Gale is a great change of scenery and has some good mystery, suspense, etc. going on, and wraps up a neat subplot from Aincrad.  The middle arc is some harmless adventuring fun, and a nice addition to the show.  Mother's Rosario is great and a nice showcase of Asuna, and Yuuki... she's the best ever, haha.

[ben0119]

While I consider Season 2 to be better, it's still not saying a whole lot.

 

Season 2 actually tells 3 arcs, the middle one which only lasts for like 2 episodes.  The last of these stories I found to be tear-jerking, while everyone else in the Faithful fandom 60000000% disagreed with me.

 

You might be exaggerating a bit there.  Plenty of other people enjoyed that arc, aside from you (and me), even some people that had issues with other stuff in the show previously.  Of course the people who really hated it have always hated SAO from the beginning, so no big surprise there.

[ben0119]

Thanks, its good to get other peoples perspectives on an entire series.  I never sat down and watched it they way she is watching it as I mostly saw it here and there on Toonami but a never straight through binge of it. She basically thinks right now the show reached its natural conclusion and had a perfect "ending" and didn't really see where they could possibly go from there besides the further "what do we do now that we are both back in the real world" stuff.

 

One thing she hates is people telling her anything about what is going to happen in a show or knowing anything. For that reason she skips OPs because the show too much of the plot before the show gets to it. So for that reason I basically showed her the Toonami trailer for season 2 and that's it. A few people at her job also told her that there were "controversial" parts in season 1 but literally went right past them without batting an eye.

 

Main problem currently is that she doesn't do subtitles and there is no season 2 dubbed on Hulu which is strange because Toonami already lost the rights to it so you think it would be on there by now.  Same with Kill la Kill.

 

Yeah I would say if someone still liked a show after watching the first season they'd probably like season 2.  I mean there's actually a contingent of people that can't stand that second arc and think the first arc could have been a show on its own.  So if she liked the first arc and the second arc, it only gets better from there, the way I see it.

 

Wow skipping OPs!  And I thought I hated spoilers! OPs usually are just there to look cool and give you an impression of the show.  Most "spoilers" are out of context and I've noticed that mostly only people who know what the spoilers are seem to be able to notice that they're there.  We had this issue with the so-called "warnings" about spoilers in the uncut Brotherhood OPs.  Because supposedly none got through in the versions we saw on Adult Swim.  So this actually lead to me not watching the full OPs til after the show was over. 

 

But yeah, if she doesn't want to know too much, don't tell her too much, and as I said, if someone liked season 1, they're more than likely to enjoy season 2.

 

If it's not on Hulu it should be on Netflix.  Kinda' surprised it isn't on both.

[The1gairon]

SAO II I think is actually better than SAO I.  A lot of the issues we had in the first season are corrected, as the writer seems to have "leveled up," heh.  I think others have summed it up pretty well.  Gun Gale is a great change of scenery and has some good mystery, suspense, etc. going on, and wraps up a neat subplot from Aincrad.  The middle arc is some harmless adventuring fun, and a nice addition to the show.  Mother's Rosario is great and a nice showcase of Asuna, and Yuuki... she's the best ever, haha.

 

 

Yuukiiiiiii.  :'(

 

[CAC]

Season 1 was better but I still liked both and can't wake for more.

 

Still waiting for a good copy of the newest movie to hit the net.

[brianycpht]

Season 1 was better but I still liked both and can't wake for more.

 

Still waiting for a good copy of the newest movie to hit the net.

 

What you don't want to pay the Aniplex tax? I saw that thing for preorder $89.99 on Blu ! That's insane for a movie. It probably has some cool extras but still...

[CAC]

Hell no I'm not paying for something I'll only watch once, maybe twice.

[brianycpht]

Hell no I'm not paying for something I'll only watch once, maybe twice.

 

They don't really help their cause with those prices. Too bad Toonami doesn't show movies anymore. Especially if its a bridge between seasons..(Or maybe it isn't I don't know what its about)

[brianycpht]

Yeah I would say if someone still liked a show after watching the first season they'd probably like season 2.  I mean there's actually a contingent of people that can't stand that second arc and think the first arc could have been a show on its own.  So if she liked the first arc and the second arc, it only gets better from there, the way I see it.

 

Wow skipping OPs!  And I thought I hated spoilers! OPs usually are just there to look cool and give you an impression of the show.  Most "spoilers" are out of context and I've noticed that mostly only people who know what the spoilers are seem to be able to notice that they're there.  We had this issue with the so-called "warnings" about spoilers in the uncut Brotherhood OPs.  Because supposedly none got through in the versions we saw on Adult Swim.  So this actually lead to me not watching the full OPs til after the show was over. 

 

But yeah, if she doesn't want to know too much, don't tell her too much, and as I said, if someone liked season 1, they're more than likely to enjoy season 2.

 

If it's not on Hulu it should be on Netflix.  Kinda' surprised it isn't on both.

 

Yeah, for the second arc. It reveals Asuna's in a coma  but trapped in a fairy game when you don't know that until the end of the episode and it show Yui comes back episodes before it happens. It also shows Leafa and sort of hints about her true identify as well. For SAO2 the opening shows Kirito as a girl 4 episodes before it happens too. It sort of ruins a pretty fun twist.

 

For a lot of other shows on Toonami she hates how the theme to Tokyo Ghoul showed the white haired Kaneki WAY before it happens. But in general she hates OP/ED and thinks they are too long, even Toonami's cutdown ones.

 

Doesn't look like Netflix has the dub either.  That's too bad. Blue Excorcists dub showed up on both pretty fast after Toonami lost the rights

[CAC]

They don't really help their cause with those prices. Too bad Toonami doesn't show movies anymore. Especially if its a bridge between seasons..(Or maybe it isn't I don't know what its about)

 

Well I'm pretty sure Toonami will get season 3 whenever that comes along so maybe they'll actually show the movie, like you said as a bridge.

[brianycpht]

Well I'm pretty sure Toonami will get season 3 whenever that comes along so maybe they'll actually show the movie, like you said as a bridge.

 

Of all the movies they could show, it makes sense to air this one since I'm sure it ties into the main story somehow. Unless they decide to pull a DBS and make a Ordinal Scale arc in season 3 . Aniplex likes to keep these things to themselves usually to protect disc sales, but it would be cool to see.

[Daos]

Of all the movies they could show, it makes sense to air this one since I'm sure it ties into the main story somehow. Unless they decide to pull a DBS and make a Ordinal Scale arc in season 3 . Aniplex likes to keep these things to themselves usually to protect disc sales, but it would be cool to see.

 

It doesn't. It's pure filler and it's bad..... really bad.  It also makes no sense at all.

[Daos]

Season 1 was better but I still liked both and can't wake for more.

 

Still waiting for a good copy of the newest movie to hit the net.

 

You mean the bootleg copy of Ordinal Scale that Seinfeld shot because Kramer's friend pulled a gun on him wasn't good enough for you? Lower your standards a bit!

[brianycpht]

It doesn't. It's pure filler and it's bad..... really bad.  It also makes no sense at all.

 

Like Shippuden filler bad?? 

 

Thanks for the heads up.

[brianycpht]

You mean the bootleg copy of Ordinal Scale that Seinfeld shot because Kramer's friend pulled a gun on him wasn't good enough for you? Lower your standards a bit!

 

If only he didn't eat that entire bag of candy first

[Daos]

Like Shippuden filler bad?? 

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

I don't watch Naruto so no idea there. But if you want to check out these 2 spoiler laden reviews that tear it a new one.

 

 

 

 

 

[CAC]

You mean the bootleg copy of Ordinal Scale that Seinfeld shot because Kramer's friend pulled a gun on him wasn't good enough for you? Lower your standards a bit!

 

Nah the screener copy that's out looks horrible, not worth it.

[ben0119]

Yeah, for the second arc. It reveals Asuna's in a coma  but trapped in a fairy game when you don't know that until the end of the episode and it show Yui comes back episodes before it happens. It also shows Leafa and sort of hints about her true identify as well. For SAO2 the opening shows Kirito as a girl 4 episodes before it happens too. It sort of ruins a pretty fun twist.

 

For a lot of other shows on Toonami she hates how the theme to Tokyo Ghoul showed the white haired Kaneki WAY before it happens. But in general she hates OP/ED and thinks they are too long, even Toonami's cutdown ones.

 

Doesn't look like Netflix has the dub either.  That's too bad. Blue Excorcists dub showed up on both pretty fast after Toonami lost the rights

 

I guess I never paid that close attention.  For me it seems like something you wouldn't put together until after the fact.

 

Oh yeah that one for sure. But, it's just Tokyo Ghoul. Ah okay.

 

That's odd.  Was planning to watch the sub of season 1, since I haven't seen that subbed yet, then re-watch the dubs for both.  Thought for sure dub for season 2 would be on one or both if season 1 is!  Looks like you may have to resort to other options...

[ben0119]

It doesn't. It's pure filler and it's bad..... really bad.  It also makes no sense at all.

 

How can it be pure filler if Reki wrote the story?  Also I take "really bad" with a grain of salt depending on your view of the rest of SAO and the franchise in general.  I mostly like SAO, so...

[Daos]

How can it be pure filler if Reki wrote the story?  Also I take "really bad" with a grain of salt depending on your view of the rest of SAO and the franchise in general.  I mostly like SAO, so...

 

I like the first two seasons. In fact in the HxH thread last week I said that SAO did the "going inside a mmo" thing better than the Greed Island arc was currently doing.

 

But Ordinal Scale is bad, read the two reviews I posted if you don't mind spoiling the "plot."

 

It's basically filler like any Shonen movie. Nothing that happens there effects anything or will be mentioned ever again most likely. It feels like watching a short filler arc.

 

 

[brianycpht]

I guess I never paid that close attention.  For me it seems like something you wouldn't put together until after the fact.

 

Oh yeah that one for sure. But, it's just Tokyo Ghoul. Ah okay.

 

That's odd.  Was planning to watch the sub of season 1, since I haven't seen that subbed yet, then re-watch the dubs for both.  Thought for sure dub for season 2 would be on one or both if season 1 is!  Looks like you may have to resort to other options...

 

Yeah, we'll see shes going through her DVR of Hallmark movies and reality shows that she built up over the summer.  By the time that clears out, maybe the dub will be up on Hulu. Aniplex seems to be pretty cozy with them so its strange that neither that nor KLK is up anywhere yet. I think not having the option to immediately and easily watch the next episode broke up the interest a little.

[CAC]

Nah the screener copy that's out looks horrible, not worth it.

 

A good copy of Ordinal Scale is now out if you know where to look.

 

Just watched it, soooo awesome!!

[ben0119]

 

 

I like the first two seasons. In fact in the HxH thread last week I said that SAO did the "going inside a mmo" thing better than the Greed Island arc was currently doing.

 

But Ordinal Scale is bad, read the two reviews I posted if you don't mind spoiling the "plot."

 

It's basically filler like any Shonen movie. Nothing that happens there effects anything or will be mentioned ever again most likely. It feels like watching a short filler arc.

 

I see!

 

Still, I'll watch first and then decide, heh.  If it is that bad it will be pretty annoying, since those resources could have been diverted to us getting season 3 sooner instead.

[mochi]

what ever happened to the live action American version of SAO they were making btw?

[ben0119]

Yeah, we'll see shes going through her DVR of Hallmark movies and reality shows that she built up over the summer.  By the time that clears out, maybe the dub will be up on Hulu. Aniplex seems to be pretty cozy with them so its strange that neither that nor KLK is up anywhere yet. I think not having the option to immediately and easily watch the next episode broke up the interest a little.

 

Hallmark channel, oof.  The white woman entertainment channel, basically.  And those movies are so corny, vacuous, and repetitive!  Guh.  And if it's the reality shows I'm thinking they are, I don't envy your position. Not KLK either?  Odd for sure.  Whenever I see a show up that I know has a dub, I assume the dub is there too.  Guess that isn't the case here!  Of SAO or KLK?  Yeah that's a shame.  There are other ways, though, of course.  But like you said, immediately and easily, haha.

[ben0119]

what ever happened to the live action American version of SAO they were making btw?

 

A quick google search shows there hasn't been any news on that front since December.  Unfortunate.  Hope it didn't fall into development hell.