A quick update: I’ve decided to put SAO on hiatus for the time being. If I were back in the US or if the Fall schedule was a little lighter – or even if it aired during a different time of the week – I’d probably keep covering it, because […] Read more
I used to have a sign above my desk that said, “It is what it is” and the people who worked for me were more than a little sick of hearing that phrase, I’m sure. I still trot it out when the moment fits, and watching SAO seems to be […] Read more
Picked a bad week to be late with the SAO post… So – anything happen while I was away? I have a lot of reactions to that episode, which is more often than not a good sign. I certainly wouldn’t say my reaction is overwhelmingly positive, but rather this: how […] Read more
If you go by the assumption that any episode without Yui is a good episode, SAO #13 was definitely a big improvement. I think I’ve more or less figured out the problems I’m having with Sword Art Online, and they’re not surprisingly similar to the ones I had with Accel World. It’s […] Read more
If you were a big fan of this episode, you should probably avoid going anywhere near that “Read more” link. I know this will come as a shock to long-time readers of the blog, but simply presenting an endless panorama of moemoe lolis mugging for the camera does not, in […] Read more
Won’t someone please think of the children? That was definitely a “path of least resistance episode”. Pleasant and straightforward, well within the SAO formula. I enjoyed it, and I would say the best thing about it was the pacing – the 22 minutes flew by, which can only reflect positively […] Read more
Somehow, that episode felt like everything that’s good and bad about Kawahara Reki rolled into one. Wow. I have to give full credit to Kirito, he certainly doesn’t waste time – I know the passage of narrative time in SAO is pretty blinding (2 years in 10 episodes) but he […] Read more
No surprises here, but I can definitely confirm that I like Sword Art Online better now that the omakes are over and the actual series has started. Episode 3 9 of SAO had pretty much everything I would have thought I’d want from this series after the excellent premiere. Some […] Read more
A very good episode of SAO for the most part, but my dominant feeling at the moment is relief that the series I thought I was getting has actually started. It says something about the nature of the first seven episodes that the name “Kayaba Akihiko” hasn’t even been mentioned […] Read more
It’s definitely “Here there be dragons” week for Kawahara adaptations, not the first time there’s been a coincidental connection between SAO and Accel World. As usual, this week’s SAO has me feeling very conflicted about the direction of the series. Usually – though not always (I wasn’t too crazy about 06) – […] Read more