/r/anime prep for Kagumi

**/r/SwordArtOnline: A new beginning!**
27,836 players trapped for over 5 years!

It wouldn't be unfair to say that fans of Sword Art Online have seen pushback. Since its inception it's been the object of [many](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dxbWP1DBXo) [an](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KASxFLpXsI) [opinion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDMAVUy5p0Y), which are often... [*colorful*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ9NlThB3SY). Mention it most places and you'll be met with a gracious welcome committee - a response so [friendly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uON7ANNOi4) that it's even influenced people who've not heard of the series. And so we drew into the woodwork. Somewhere we wouldn't hesitate before admitting our enjoyment of SAO. Somewhere where we can (mostly) bounce our opinions off each other. Somewhere we could be an unabashed echo chamber...

[**Sword Art Online**](https://i.imgur.com/3c15Ori.png) began as a light novel series written by the pseudonymous Reki Kawahara in 2009. It was published as a response to its popularity as a web novel from 2002 to 2008, and as a companion to Kawahara's other novel [Accel World](https://i.imgur.com/aD5LGY8.pngg). The story is set in the near future with full-body, full-sensory VR as its main motif, and initially concerns an MMORPG that people quickly discover, can't be logged out of. But you get to spend your entire life in a massive dreamlike fantasy world - sounds great! The catch? If you die in game, that's it for you! You die in real life. Every gamer's dream.

The series has been a runaway success, spawning not one, not two, but *three* seasons of anime **and** a movie, more than six spinoffs, six games, twenty volumes and counting of light novels, a live action TV series, and millions of fans. The newly announced Season 3 will take the series into an entirely new world, and one of those spinoffs has recently gotten an anime of its own. And the train's showing no sign of slowing down: the animation studio has pledged to adapt as much as is written by the author, who's having enough trouble of his own - how do you live up to the title of most popular light novel author out there? [We'll just have to see how the four-series writer handles it.](https://i.imgur.com/852Shce.png)


**Moderator Responses**

1) What do you like best about the SAO anime?
/u/ZeHaffen: I love getting to see everything animated, a lot of the fight scenes are absolutely breathtaking to watch.
/u/OmegaVesko: I think it handles impactful scenes (emotional as well as fight scenes) very well. I might be a little biased, but I think the soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard, in anime as well as other media.
/u/defan752: Probably the soundtrack. It really elevates everything else about the anime to another level.

1a) Which part of the series do you like the best and why? What do you think about the LN comparatively?
/u/ZeHaffen: My favorite part of the anime was the Mother's Rosario arc, it had so much packed into such a short time that it was just a rollercoaster to watch. I think the visual medium helped with many aspects of the arc, too, and while I think I overall prefer the written version I'd be lying if I said there were some parts that weren't much more entertaining in anime form.
/u/OmegaVesko: I'd say I'm on the fence between Aincrad (including Progressive) and Alicization. Aincrad is obviously the most iconic part of the series, but Alicization is also special in its own way. Comparatively, I think it's interesting to compare the anime's chronological approach to Aincrad with the side story-based structure of the source material. The benefit is that it's more immediately palatable to anime viewers, but it also makes the narrative seem indecisive or disjointed at times (particularly when it's skipping between side stories every other episode).
/u/defan752: Admittedly, I set an often unreachably high bar when it comes to adaptations. The only part of the anime that even comes close to meeting that bar is Mother's Rosario: I think A-1 gave it the correct number of episodes, which translated into good pacing, and for me that made all the difference. As for my favorite part of the light novel, well, that would be Alicization. You'll see why soon enough.


2) What are your thoughts on the announcement for the adaptation of Alicization?
/u/ZeHaffen: I'm both excited and nervous about this; I am very much looking forward to seeing this arc animated, but I'm also a bit afraid that, because of its sheer length, the adaptation might not be up to par. If A-1 can do it justice, though, then it'll be absolutely incredible.
/u/OmegaVesko: I'd be lying if I wasn't a little worried about the quality of the adaptation, but the prevailing emotion is just excitement. There's a whole lot that could go wrong, but if it goes even remotely well, it'll be absolutely incredible.
/u/defan752: Oh, boy, where to start? Irrepressible excitement followed by slight concern about A-1's track record. They've not exactly done justice to SAO so far, but Ordinal Scale seems to prove me *mostly* wrong. We'll just have to see if they're capable of bringing the grandeur of Alicization properly to screen.

3) How about Alternative: Gun Gale Online?
/u/ZeHaffen: I can't wait for this one, the books are fantastic and I think the anime will be absolutely wonderful to watch. The author is in his element with this story, so I can't wait to see it animated.
/u/OmegaVesko: I was very surprised by this particular announcement. I don't have any real feelings about the series itself because I haven't read it (yet), but I'm happy that it's getting its chance at having the spotlight for a while, especially for western fans, who mostly weren't even aware that AGGO exists.
/u/defan752: Shock, really. I was a lot more certain that Progressive would come first, but I'm not complaining. I do like Alternative and can anticipate enjoying it.

3a) Which spinoff do you like best and why?
/u/ZeHaffen: If I had to choose, I'd have to say the Progressive series. The writing is great, the story is even better, and finally getting to see Aincrad covered floor by floor is something that I've been hoping for since I first discovered the series.
/u/OmegaVesko: Definitely Progressive, depending on whether it qualifies as a spinoff. Without going into too much detail, it's basically just exactly what I wanted it to be, knowing what the premise was.
/u/defan752: Another admission: I've not really read many of the spinoffs. I did like AGGO, but most people seem to enjoy Progressive.

4) What's it like in the /r/SwordArtOnline community?
/u/ZeHaffen: It's quite the interesting place, there are people of all kinds here. Some people love everything about the series, some only like certain parts from certain mediums, and some are just here to follow news on such a big series. I think it's very interesting to see discussions pop up since we have so many different people with different opinions to give all kinds of views on such things.
/u/OmegaVesko: It's... interesting. We're honestly in a bit of a slump right now, as most similar subreddits are between anime seasons, but I've met some amazing people through this community, and I look forward to meeting all the new people I expect the new anime adaptations to bring us.
/u/defan752: It's been a particularly dry off-season for us, but things are warming back up now with these recent announcements. I've seen various crowds of people come and go, and it's always interesting to see folks of different shapes and sizes united by a common interest.

5) SAO has a bit of a negative reputation in the anime community. What do you have to say to the people that look down on the anime adaptations?
/u/ZeHaffen: Far be it from me to tell people what to like or dislike, if you're not a fan of the anime then so be it. The only thing I ask is that you let me enjoy what I enjoy; I won't tell you what opinion to have and I hope you do the same for me.
/u/OmegaVesko: Frankly, I lost interest in "defending" SAO on the internet pretty soon after I became part of this community. Most people who are outspoken about this aren't going to have their opinion changed by anything I say, so I just don't bother. I will say that, whatever you think of the current adaptations, Alicization is unlike anything you've come to expect out of SAO. Absolutely give it a fair chance regardless of how you feel about SAO now.
/u/defan752: Cool beans. Just let me enjoy my thing in peace.


6) What would you like to say to the handful of users that haven't (or refuse to) watch SAO?
/u/ZeHaffen: I think everyone should form their own opinions, you shouldn't let other people decide things for you. SAO has an incredible amount of fans, enough to the point where anything it releases tops sales charts by huge amounts, so it has to be doing *something* right. Don't let other people decide what you like and dislike for you, watch the show yourself and form your own opinions on it, even if you end up hating it.
/u/OmegaVesko: To those who just haven't seen it,  but are aware of its general "reputation" in these circles (which I imagine anyone reading this should be), I'll just say you should try to go into it as open-minded as you reasonably can. If you go into a piece of media expecting it to live up to a certain (especially negative) reputation, it's very likely that that's how you're going to experience it, regardless of other factors.
/u/defan752: Don't knock it 'til you try it.

7) Anything else you want to add?
/u/ZeHaffen: Nah.
/u/OmegaVesko: I realize /r/SAO is probably a bit of a controversial choice for this, so I'll just say I hope the relationship between our communities doesn't have to be as strained as it often seems to be.
/u/defan752: Come visit! The only things we love more than discussing the series are people. We'd love to get to know you so we can recruit more moderators... which we are currently badly in need of.