Sword Art Online

[Destiny_Gundam]

So I take it this new ep should technically be episode 2 if they omitted the volume 2 material. Certainly wouldn't work as well without a few of the pervious episodes. Without them Asuna would have come out of nowhere and them being so friendly would be confusing. Still, Asuna's behaviour in episode 7 still sticks out like a sore thumb to me and doesn't really fit with her behaviour in this ep and ep 6. Though that can be explained by the original chapter being written after the fact

Spoiler

Kirito/Asuna has long since been established

so the author might have gotten a bit ahead of himself. Not uncommon in these cases.

I certainly don't associated A-1 Pictures with action titles, so the excellent job they did on Asuna's fighting moves was impressive.

[Compass]

So I take it this new ep should technically be episode 2 if they omitted the volume 2 material. Certainly wouldn't work as well without a few of the pervious episodes. Without them Asuna would have come out of nowhere and them being so friendly would be confusing. Still, Asuna's behaviour in episode 7 still sticks out like a sore thumb to me and doesn't really fit with her behaviour in this ep and ep 6. Though that can be explained by the original chapter being written after the fact

Spoiler

Kirito/Asuna has long since been established

so the author might have gotten a bit ahead of himself. Not uncommon in these cases.

I certainly don't associated A-1 Pictures with action titles, so the excellent job they did on Asuna's fighting moves was impressive.

Well, the short story version of Episode 7 is lot more blunt about this.

Spoiler

Pretty much, rather than Asuna denying that she likes him, she points out that she does like him but that Kirito hasn't returned the feelings, so it's more of a one-way relationship. Rather than an implied attraction in the anime, Lisbeth notices Asuna blushing in the short story.

Arguably, in a later chapter in Volume 1...

Spoiler

Asuna points out that Episode 5/6 was when she first started to change and like Kirito.

Also the fact that she went out of her way to "bump into him" a lot.

I suppose the opposite display of what is shown in the anime could be a drastically dragged on tsundere incident that would make everyone bang their heads against the table, ha ha.

I also like how they kept the (short story spoilers)

Spoiler

The <<Dual Blades>> skill out of this story. It was initially shown to Lisbeth in the story, but otherwise, would not have been knowledgeable to the reader at all. Makes it more of a surprise to new viewers =)

[Destiny_Gundam]

What I meant was that in ep 7 we see her all bashful and she goes so far as to pretty herself up when she's going to meet Kirito. No signs of such behaviour in this episode.

[Compass]

What I meant was that in ep 7 we see her all bashful and she goes so far as to pretty herself up when she's going to meet Kirito. No signs of such behaviour in this episode.

Maybe they were sticking it too close to the novel, then? It was implied much more heavily in the short story meeting Liz than in Novel 1 that she had feelings for him at this point.

[tehprognoob]

the book starts in the 70snfloor wise, so...
To explain the mmorpg terms of color coded names, sao is actually an unlimited pk server, so anyone outside a safezone is vulnerable. When you open an attack on another player you get orange-tagged, which goes away with time,,,, and if you get last attack killing a player you get red named, a pk-er. Whether you can lose redname status varies by game, but there is no indication that this happens in sao.

[Destiny_Gundam]

Maybe they were sticking it too close to the novel, then? It was implied much more heavily in the short story meeting Liz than in Novel 1 that she had feelings for him at this point.

Right, which is what I said about that common mistake. Since at the time it was written Asuna's feelings are a given to anyone who's read the first novel so when writting the story afterwards there's no need to be subtle about it. However as a result we get the inconsistancy we see here.

[Janx_Dolaris]

the book starts in the 70snfloor wise, so...
To explain the mmorpg terms of color coded names, sao is actually an unlimited pk server, so anyone outside a safezone is vulnerable. When you open an attack on another player you get orange-tagged, which goes away with time,,,, and if you get last attack killing a player you get red named, a pk-er. Whether you can lose redname status varies by game, but there is no indication that this happens in sao.

Didn't kirito say he was a solo player and could stand being red for a few days? (the episode wit the beast tamer girl) Seemed to imply you lose red eventually.

[Destiny_Gundam]

No, he said he wouldn't mind being Orange.

[Compass]

After rereading the series, I believe that greens do not become orange for attacking orange.

I do believe, however, that killing an orange would make you a red, since red is more severe than orange. So I assume theoretically even oranges could kill reds without becoming red themselves.

Perhaps we can relate it to the Fallout system? You don't lose karma in self defense or killing evil people.

I guess the same applies for red, where you cannot get their status unless you exceed it, ergo you cannot be punished for killing a red.

[iCards]

What I meant was that in ep 7 we see her all bashful and she goes so far as to pretty herself up when she's going to meet Kirito. No signs of such behaviour in this episode.

In episode 7 she was talking like a bashful girl with a close female friend, she was probably in tough girl mode when she met up with Kirito after leaving Lisebeth's. Like you said we don't see that side in episode 8 likely because she is around Kirito the whole episode.

[Compass]

Wait, did Asuna even seem non-tough girl in episode 7? She implied that Kirito did something no-bueno with Lisbeth!

They are friends, but she definitely isn't bashful with him. In fact, she almost appears to be ready to throw him under the bus when she hears that he smashed that sword into pieces.

[Destiny_Gundam]

We're talking about when Asuna was talking to Lisbeth and Lisbeth noticed her wearing earrings.

[Compass]

Nothing wrong with wearing Earrings +15 to Dex!

>_>

<_<

OK you got me, she's being Narusegawa on that Keitaro.

[Destiny_Gundam]

Nah, Asuna is way more tolerable than Naru. When Kirito was unsure about partying with her instead of yelling at him Asuna just showed off her skill with a knife. That scene was great and it's good how she doesn't turn to mush when she's around him.

[Compass]

I liked that scene very much, but I liked the Asuna Slap ability as well.

[iCards]

I was wondering how far will the anime will take itself compared to the Novels?

Episode 1 was 2 chapters long.
Episode 8 actually used the Novel's prologue plus chapters 5-9(with the exception of chapter 8 ).

[Compass]

I have a feeling that it'll probably be about ep. 13 at this point.

Something like this.

Spoiler

Ep. 9 - Gleameyes / Duel with Heathcliff
Ep. 10 - Kuradeel / Floor 22
Ep. 11 - Yui
Ep. 12 - Fishing...? / Call-up / Boss Fight
Ep. 13 - Fight with Heathcliff / Game Clear / End of SAO Book 1

[iCards]

I have a feeling that it'll probably be about ep. 13 at this point.

Something like this.

Spoiler

Ep. 9 - Gleameyes / Duel with Heathcliff
Ep. 10 - Kuradeel / Floor 22
Ep. 11 - Yui
Ep. 12 - Fishing...? / Call-up / Boss Fight
Ep. 13 - Fight with Heathcliff / Game Clear / End of SAO Book 1

Before episode 8 I figured the first arc would be about 15 to 16 episodes.

Spoiler

Your outline does make sense and I think they would need the fishing because after that little escapade Asuna shares with the reader/viewer why she liked Kirito which is something I think the audience needs to hear.

[Compass]

I just wish they'd

Spoiler

flesh out the LN version of Asuna and Kirito meeting, with Kirito saving Asuna when she fainted prior to the events of Ep. 2

It would have been much stronger for at least Kirito saving Asuna after fainting to have been present at that part. Would have fleshed out Kirito without needing to resort to Ep. 4 to show that he saves people out of the good of his heart, and defined Asuna as someone with her mind set on clearing the game. Shame, a missed opportunity. Ep. 2 made Kirito out to be self-centered (only thinking about himself until he realized Diabel was a beta tester), Diabel to be a selfless guy (who helped players despite being a beta tester).

In the SS, Diabel was the one who was selfish, wanting to LA and attempting to prevent Kirito from LA, while Kirito was the one who was selfless.

[iCards]

I just wish they'd

Spoiler

flesh out the LN version of Asuna and Kirito meeting, with Kirito saving Asuna when she fainted prior to the events of Ep. 2

It would have been much stronger for at least Kirito saving Asuna after fainting to have been present at that part. Would have fleshed out Kirito without needing to resort to Ep. 4 to show that he saves people out of the good of his heart, and defined Asuna as someone with her mind set on clearing the game. Shame, a missed opportunity. Ep. 2 made Kirito out to be self-centered (only thinking about himself until he realized Diabel was a beta tester), Diabel to be a selfless guy (who helped players despite being a beta tester).

In the SS, Diabel was the one who was selfish, wanting to LA and attempting to prevent Kirito from LA, while Kirito was the one who was selfless.

Spoiler

I haven't read the complete Side Story yet,Aria of the Scarlet Sky I think is the name, but I think in the anime they touched on Diabel, because at one point in the anime fight didn't he declare that he would deliver the final blow to the boss. Diabel was helping the players but he still wanted the bonus for himself to increase his survival odds. I may go back and watch episode 2 just to be sure, but didn't he also hide his status as a beta-tester from the rest of the attack group, Kirito had to figure it out from the way Diabel was commanding the fight.

Episode 2 really cut down the Side Story that I have glanced at, but I think it still worked for Kirito and Asuna's first meeting. Also, their talk about the bread and seasonings was good way to hint at Asuna's future interest in cooking, if that is indeed the case.

Also, I think they would need episode 4 anyway if they planned to do Fairy Dance all the way to the epilogue considering that is Sylica's first spot in the main story.