Anime Sword Art Online

I've never really been attached to anime characters emotionally and normally I watch anime and then think "Eh, It's alright" I've only ever had one anime/manga series that's really impressed me and that would be Katekyo hitman Reborn. Anyways Last year when it came to watching Sword art online from the moment I realised It had all the idea's I've wanted to have an Anime follow: A virtual reality situation , A regular boy who more or less in the aspect of what he loves; Computers, Video games and the urge to learn more about them. In some respects I'd say Kirito reminds me of myself well, Kazuto does. He's never been good at speaking because he never put himself in positions to make new friends or relationships and due to the fact he was a beta tester everyone is already judging him and are against him, I think that because I could Empathize with Kazuto and that this is the main reason I feel so attached to the anime. Yes I won't defend or even attempt to defend all the cliche's and predictable typical events that happened throughout the series so far but every anime has some sort of cliche' and are sometimes predictable but how the Anime has handled and balanced all the diffrent genre's that mix and make the Anime so unique is what I belive makes it so enjoyable. I'd conclude that I'm not one to have a lot of favourite Anime protagonists normally I would never consider a protagonist that isn't unique or I can't really connect with , Up until before SAO existed there Is only one other Protagonist I've ever felt so attached and empathetic with and that would be Tsunayoshi sawada and Honestly from all the Anime's I've watched I've always wanted another protagonist that could represent my interests in life and even some of my past school years so well and I think this is the main reason I fell in love with SAO to the point where I'd genuinely say Kirito is my favourite Anime character, I never thought I'd be so attached to a single character but I feel as if i've finaly found that type of anime i've wanted since I first started out watching anime's and SAO has had one of those big impacts on me because I never belived I'd be so attached to an Anime. Anyways there's my Rant on how I fell in love with SAO from the first episode. It's been almost a year since the anime came out and I've never really put it into words or dwelled on how much the series means to me now , I've never bothered to read anything other than certain manga's online. but I even found myself reading SAO's light novel which I wish could have a english translated physical copy though there aren't any so i'm having to read the chapters online of course.

If you made it to the end of my rant thanks for reading

 

I can understand how you feel about Kirito, It is hard to find that one character you see as yourself. I haven't found him yet but others seem to think I have.

 

I wish you luck on that journey to finding that one Anime character, it's a nice feeling which i can't really express myself but yeah. Kirito will be a anime character that i'll probably never be able to part with or replace and like I said i normally never get attached to anime characters

 

Hayato... You're in the same boat (light novels bit, not the personality thing). I also want SOMEONE, be it Yen Press or Viz Media, or anyone else, to publish the SAO LN's. That would be awesome! I would totally buy all of them~~

 

I actually ordered volume 1-10 from ebay just for display really but I wish all the time i could read them and not have to read it from a computer screen..but light novels are mostly for japan since translating them and selling them world wide might do more bad than good as light novels are like the opposite of manga but i wouldn't mind paying a company a great deal just to translate and publish a volume 1 to the latest in english

 

WHAT A WASTE!!! Can't read, but still buy. Meh. It's your money... I wanna read them!! The originals..... TT^TT

 

They rarely will. All you can do is watch the Japanese anime, read the English translated books, or watch the dub when it is released. I do recommend reading them online. And when you say originals.... do you also mean the deleted scene they took out?

 

Well, if they're popular enough, they'll get a translation to English. I know they're still releasing the Haruhi Suxumiya novels in English, as well as the ones for Spice and Wolf. It's all a matter of popularity. The show has certainly found a big fan base. I'm sure that once it gets dubbed, it'll take up a time slot on Toonami where it will only get more popular. It's all speculation though, but I don't see why they won't translate them in the future.

 

It has to do super well in the US for it to sell abroad. And that still doesn't even include Europe. Spice and Wolf sells manga better than its light novel counterpart. And I like how you say it will be dubbed and put on Toonami. Aniplex, who is dubbing it, usually puts their works on other networks all together. Admittedly it wasn't there when a lot of their dubs like FMA or P3M were released so it may start off their but it could be also on TBS or ABC like usual.

 

Hell, I think if they were able to cut some scenes short and change around the dialogue, it could even play as something in the regular Cartoon Network line up. They could always release the DVD sets as the "uncut version".

 

Cutting out the fan service would not attract as much attention though. Psychologically, sex sells. Sad as it may be, the uncut version wouldn't feel complete. If I am going to watch an anime on TV, I want to experience the full thing. If I like it enough, I'll buy the series on DVD.

 

I agree, sex does sell, but it is also important for the company to hit as big of a possible fanbase as possible. I don't really see fan service as a necessity for shows, it didn't really add anything to SAO besides "okay, here's some skins of your favorite character, NOW OGGLE AT HER!". Cutting it out or altering it a bit doesn't take away from the story of the character developement (hahaha). Sure, they can keep the fanservice with Toonami, since it's later hours, but they end up losing a bigger potential audience. Really, if that stuff wasn't in there, there would be no problem watching it during prime time.

From an artistic point of view, I can see why altering it would be wrong, but the States have a different view of what is acceptable for young ones to see than with Japan, even if it's common sense that they've probably seen much worse stuff in other media. At least it's getting to the audience, and they should keep it in tact with "uncut" DVDs.

 

I take it with an artists point of view. Keeping something in its entirety just seems right. The show is also meant to target people over the age of 14 so really the audience is not going to be a problem. Younger kids I highly doubt would have a huge interest in the deep love story between the characters. It would probably bore them to tears. Prime time just doesn't work in that sense. It is nice to think that it could, but the story just isn't in that audience. They want more stuff like Pokemon and Digimon and stuff that isn't too deep to follow.

 

Sure, I guess, but SAO is also basically all fanservice. I have issues with the deeper aspects (the fact that there is a lack of characterization and a weak plot) but the best thing about the show is that it looks absolutely beautiful and the fight scenes are spectacular. Sure, young teens may not care for motives, but they will probably love to see the fights, like how I was when I watched Dragon Ball Z when I was a kid.

It depends on what they do. Most likely, it seems like Toonami will be it's home. If they plan accordingly, they can start up their show as soon as Soul Eater finishes, which would make a good replacement. And who knows; maybe Toonami will get more expanded hours, like the old days, so they can broaden the audience.

 

I doubt that sword art online will ever go on cartoon network. Even if they did censor the fan service, already taking a lot from the show, they would have to take away the episodes of Kirito and Asuna living in the house because they sleep in the same bed and stuff, and cartoon network would never show that. While on the subject of the romance in the anime, kids wouldn't appreciate the love story, it is a large amount of the show, and they would probably stop watching after that, the show probably has too many emotional scenes for kids to enjoy, and last but not least, the show isn't even for kids. There would be no point in making a show child friendly when it isn't even targeted for kids in the first place. Even in Japan where kids experience more things that in Europe and the States it isn't even targeted at them. So to me there is no point

 

I actually have to disagree with you on this. Like, you have no idea. In my opinion, the romance that is portrayed in Sword Art Online is really simple. Like, Twilight simple. Okay, not that simple, but it's near that level. Remember, this is also a show that could be considered a harem with the amount of girls they randomly introduce, and can't do anything without help from their boyfriend (Kirito), Asuna included at many points. It tries to look deep, and it convincing at points, but it just didn't work for me. You could call it teenage, puppy love to sort of legitimize it, but that wasn't where the creators wanted it to go.

And kids love simple things, and the romance in this show is very simple.

 

I am going to agree that the show is simple, but when I say "appreciate" the romance, what I am basically saying is that, the show has romance, that is very clear, and the audience that Cartoon Network is aiming at wouldn't like the romance in it, I may be completely wrong, kids may love romance, but I think that they wouldn't get why it has romance, even if it simple. In a nutshell, kids don't understand romance.(I think they don't anyway)

 

I guess you're right on that, kids just don't understand what romance is. When I was a kid, I watched a whole lot of movies and television that brought up the subject matter, and I can honestly say that I'm sure I didn't really understand it (Ex. When I was a kid and watched The Lion King, I always skipped "Can You Feel The Love Tonight", but now that i'm an adult, I can appreciate the song). Of course, that doesn't say I didn't have an appreciation for it all together; I like the idea of romance in many things, and it gave something to latch on to. SOA's romance being simple may have it going for them because it doesn't really explore the complexities of romance. Kids don't want complexity, they want two people who look seemingly cute together.

 

Simplicity always doesn't mean bad, sometimes simplicity is better. Sometimes too much story can drag a film down that doesn't give enough time to explain the progression, or too much story is told at one point. Sometimes simple things do a lot better then more complicated animes, films, books etc. Twilight, a very simple romance, and simple story behind, sells good, Harry Potter sells amazingly, and is very simple, the examples I have may not have been great, as some people don't like those, *cough cough* Twilight *cough*, but I hope you see where I am coming from.

 

Trust me, I do. I don't want to sound like I dislike simple romance. When it works, it works. Like in Summer Wars or Bakuman. Both of them have very, very simple romance elements, but it works for that particular piece. I guess it just annoyed me with SAO because it tried to be this big epic show, and didn't succeed in my opinion, and so the romance was a bit weird. Had it been a bit simpler or pulled back, it would have fit perfectly, but I don't think it would have gotten the huge fanbase it has if they did hold back.