LogFAQs > #926909508

Anyway on SAO

I've stated several times I don't like the first season. I think the first few episodes are fine, but still hold troublesome story points, like the whole thing with beta players being cheaters. Like, that just doesn't make any sense whatsoever in the context of any game ever. There is a pretty major case of the show barely establishing the rules for the world and then having Kirito break all the rules they do set. Not to mention the extreme tonal shifts the show has. A lot of things happen just because it hits some sort of story beat. They don't really build characters to make you feel anything for them. It has zero narrative flow and is only really saved from the infamy of being a worst of all time through some production value, a good presentation of the stakes involved (something a show like Log Horizon absolutely fails at) and like a framework for having the potential to be something good.

The second season, imo, has an even stronger start. Sinon is one of my favorite designed characters in terms of her overall appearance in recent memory. Even when Kirito was like "I'm not going to use a gun" it was like, okay whatever. But when they basically boosted Sinon up only for her to become an absolute nothing for Kirito to rush in and save her, it was like... come on now. And I could not take it anymore and dropped it.

So, I went into SAO 3 with like no real expectations except that it was a major departure from the first two seasons. I really like this season, it's almost a completely different show. Kirito feels very vulnerable. He overcomes his obstacles, but he often doesn't do it by breaking game rules that have been established. He instead is forced to think of creative ways to use the ingame mechanics. Yeah, he has a bit of a head start, but the show manages to present a sense of danger that is simply lacking in the other seasons. The characters actions are also more believable based on the world that has been created.

I know that the rape scene is very controversial with a lot of people calling it a simple shock value style scene or whatever. Like, with the tentacle thing in S1 I totally agree, but when I look at the state of the world in SAO 3, the characters involved, etc, it makes a lot of sense that it would happen. Remember, th world was set up where absolute rules were put into place. Of course bad people would abuse this power for their own gains. Now, I'm not sure if I want to give credit to the author for this and it might have been a mistake that it just fits into the world... but there is proper world building and setting for events like that to happen. They also use it to drive forward character and story revelations that feel more natural than what happened in S1.

The same thing with the Administrator. Even though I'm sure she's naked all the time partly for simple fan service, I do think that another part of this choice was simply based on her personality. She's manipulative and narcissistic to a point where I think I can suspend disbelief to a point where I can accept her not wearing clothes from a narrative perspective.

I think another big thing is that Kirito spends a lot of the show actively not involved with female characters, or when he does it doesn't feel like he's doing all the work. I will say that what stops this from being a like a truly amazing show is that the side parts outside of the game are pretty bad, like they had to have something for Asuna to do any she's really dull. It also moves pretty slowly, which I think is a double edged sword. It makes for more world-building, but also makes some patches seem a little too dull. I will also say that the action has suffered at the expense of the improved narrative.