The Sword Art Online “knock off” is a lot better than SAO itself.
Quan Zhi Gao Shou (The King’s Avatar) is a good watch.
Now when they’re asking you if you’re watching Chinese cartoons, you can say yes.
Disagree. At least with SAO I actually feel like trying their games. Can’t say the same for QZGS and its weird mmo/arpg/moba/fighting hybrid game (the author seemed to have never played mmorpg before). The only thing QZGS did well is its well-developed characters.
That’s not much reason to watch SAO then. The world building can only take you so far. Reki Kawahara has been noted to lack a general understanding of MMORPG, and Kirito isn’t relatable.
After season one of SAO there was no reason to watch it. There was no tension anymore, and Kirito’s hacking into the system to retrieve Yui destroys one’s suspension of disbelief. You’d think he’d prioritize getting the player base out instead, but nope, he didn’t.
With QZGS there is a goal in mind that doesn’t rely on a forgotten novelty straight out of .hack//. As you’ve noted, the characters are well developed. They can be counted on to carry a narrative/story.
Rewatching episode one today made me feel excited to dive back into this story again. It has rewatch value which I can’t say SAO season one has much of.
The only good things about SAO are its Abridge from Something Witty Entertainment, and two fanfictions, Halkengenia Online by TriggerHappy and The Fairy Dance of Death by Catsy, that go the extra mile in terms of fan content.
Edit:
There are probably some more SAO fanfics out there that top the anime in terms of quality, but the above mentioned are the ones that I’ve come into contact with. Who knows. The SAO fandom just isn’t something I frequent much.
Edit:
I also heard Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online was good, but I wouldn’t know since I haven’t watched it.
Ha! Knew it, you’re one of those anti who still couldn’t move on from Aincrad arc just because the new arcs don’t have those trapped in death game element anymore. Figures.
Unlike Butterfly Blue, Reki actually did played MMORPG before. He may not have general understanding of MMORPG due to only play only one MMORPG before, but at least the games in SAO are not as weird as Glory and are far more enjoyable.
I seriously don’t understand the fans who think that all protagonists must to be relatable. Might as well create a self-insert protagonist if you want a relatable protagonist that much. Heck, Ye Xiu is not even that relatable.
World building can take you far. In case you haven’t notice, most popular series (One Piece, Naruto, Attack on Titan etc) tend to have good world building, since that’s what usually draw fans in and made them stay in the fandom. QZGS lack one, and that made it harder to write a fanfic if you want to write a one that’s focused on Glory or being pro player. Maybe that’s why nobody in the English fandom bother to write one?
There’s nothing wrong if SAO doesn’t have a goal in mind really. So long as it’s enjoyable, so what? QZGS do have a well-developed casts, but I don’t really like the story that much since I hate the main character and his team. The narrative is much better when it’s not focused on them.
QZGS may have rewatch value for you, but not for me or maybe everyone else. I hate SAO season 1 thanks to people like you, but I enjoy SAO season 2 so much and have been rewatching it many times. I don’t feel like rewatching QZGS because I really can’t stand Ye Xiu.
SAO Alternative is good. I don’t really like the heroine that much (I prefer M over her), but the author clearly has a deep understanding when it comes to guns. Also one of the character is an Aincrad fanatic so she should make you feel “relatable”.
p.s: I know the last fanfic you mentioned there. Used to be a fan of it until a certain OP character appeared, which ruined the story for me. I don’t frequent the fandom that much either since I prefer the canon.
Playing an MMORPG doesn’t mean one can create one. Reki Kawahara’s mechanics and numbers are weak. Several people who’ve analyzed it have noted it.
As for relatable, Ye Xiu is relatable in the fact that he’s humanized and grounded through out the series. I don’t get the same vibes from Kirito. Those are the typical pitfalls of insertable harem protagonists.
For your information, I’ve seen season two, and I regret every single minute of it. Reki Kawahara destroyed Asuna’s character(one of the few likeable characters besides Klein, Agil, and Sachi), and added no smarts whatsoever to Sugou’s character.
That made the whole conflict generic. Suspension of disbelief was also broken, because who the heck would think a guy in suit and tie, that has money, and a life made for himself would waste his time dealing with a teenager via a freaking knife fight in the middle of the street!
To this day I ask myself why? Why did I watch it? You knew there was nothing there to keep watching.
One Piece, Naruto, and Attack on Titan have characters that have goals in mind. The characters are humanized and have their own personalities. Why do you think Naruto’s successor series Boruto is severely hated? There are no goals nor conflicts.
I haven’t finished reading The Fairy Dance of Death, but now I want to see who it is that’s op. People usually complain when a character is stronger than Kirito. That’s not enough of a reason to stop reading as Kirito himself is too over powered as well. Seeing him get taken down a peg would be nice, because nothing ever challenges him.
Ye Xiu, on the other hand, gets shit thrown his way, and he has to go through grinding hell. Even if it’s not by much, it still is somewhat believable for an “op” character (which basically translates to a ex-pro gamer) trying to reach the top.
Not that it matter if SAO mechanics and numbers are weak. At least it’s workable compared to Glory.
Disagree with Ye Xiu being being humanised and grounded, unless you’re referring to his donghua personality. Novel-wise he has the same personality as most Chinese novel protagonists. And I really hate his personality. It’s no wonder why his former teammates hate him. Kirito is not a harem protagonist, despite the series having a lot of female characters. And he’s much more nicer and kinder than those “harem protagonists”. More importantly, he’s devoted to Asuna only and their relationship is one of the most normal in any anime.
You’re referring to the second arc right, ‘cause Sugou doesn’t appear in season II at all. Asuna is still better than most damsel-in-distress, since she did played a part in her own rescue. And it’s a well-known fact that Reki couldn’t write a decent antagonist beside Kayaba anyway, so I’ll agree to that. As for why he did that, well, maybe he wanted to pay back what Kirito did to him in the game himself.
Sorry, but that’s a terrible excuse. There might be nothing for you to watch, and you might think that SAO characters are “not humanised or have their own personalities”, but the same thing cannot be said for others. SAO might not have goals in mind, but there is one thing that every arc has: they’re connected to the Aincrad arc that you love so much. Again, not everyone care about goal as much as you do. So long as they enjoy it, so what.
Nah. The reason why I hate that character is because they are way too different than the rest of the characters, just because they are able to manipulate something. I don’t mind if their strength lies in battle or crafting like most characters, but their is too different and reminds me of self-insert mary-sue. Not even Kirito has that ability, and he’s supposedly a ‘gary-stu’.
And what made you think Kirito never went the same thing as Ye Xiu did? The anime may not have shown it, but Kirito is op because he spend most of his time battling NPCs alone, which gives him a lot of exp compared to those who do it in groups. Having a higher level means that you can proceed through the next area smoother, something that I always do in the mmo game that I’m playing right now. Also, most mmo are grindy anyway. That’s the way they are. Unless you’re one of those players who only care for endgame and prefer to buy those max-levelling items from the store or let someone power-level your character. To each their own. And while Kirito mostly level up on his own, he usually team up with others when it comes to raids.
I’m comparing anime. An anime should be able to stand on its own.
Asuna’s character was destroyed in The Fairy Dance Arc. (I was unaware that this wasn’t its own season, but if I have to watch season 2 to prove you wrong, then I will. That still doesn’t make my criticism any less valid.) She was a damsel in distress no different from the others. Actually, it was far worse because of that asinine scene with that tentacle monster. It rendered her irrelevant in her own rescue.
Sugou’s character does appear in the Fairy Dance Arc of the anime. He’s supposed to be the “conniving” man behind the scenes. All of that goes out the window with the character breaking knife fight and tentacle scene.
I mean, come on! What happened to that aura of craftiness that was hinted at at the beginning of the arc? He’s a business man, surely he’s not that stupid? Oh, but he was.
Horrid antagonists can ruin the tension. I suppose it was my fault for expecting much. Kayaba Akihiko was also terribly written. There was literally no reasonable motivation behind his actions. All the intrigue behind him was rendered to nothing for the plot’s sake.
Kirito was watered down to a harem protagonist in the anime. So what if he was loyal to only Asuna? Saito Hiraga was much the same to Louise the Zero from Zero no Tsukaima, but that didn’t stop him from being a harem protagonist. The extra girls in the cast thrown in that are drawn to Kirito is a signifier of an attempt at harem tropes. My only issue with it is that it messed up the anime. Each girl got an episode at the expense of the flow, and don’t get me started on the unnecessary incest plot of that arc with contradictory camera work.
And yes, MMORPG are grindy, but the idea is that you only grind once and continue progression on a single account. Ye Xiu got his original account taken from him and had to start over. So I repeat, grinder hell.
On the insulting notion you brought up… Modern games are going to hell because of all the microtransactions. It takes away all the fun grinding once had, because now they add unnecessary grinding to areas that don’t need it just to milk people’s pockets. So, no, I don’t pay to win. I’m not giving those bastards the satisfaction.
Edit:
That character you hate so much from The Fairy Dance of Death sounds like someone else I know. Yeah, that’s right, it sounds like Kirito and his duel wielding self. I’ll have to read it for myself though to take it all in and verify it.
Anyways, I’ll just link this here.
Just watched it right now for the first time and was surprised at how it aligned with the points I’ve been trying to make. Granted, I was coming at it from a character development perspective with a secondary focus on the game and miniscule mentions on the camera work in the second arc, and this Digi guy was looking at every single surface. I don’t have the patience for that.
The point I disagree with him on is one thing…
1. In the Ghost storyline/murder investigation…
Digi overlooked the fact that a glitch was involved there.
Other than that, I completely agree with his criticism.
Oh, and I completely forgot how season one both talked up Asuna and trashed her with that duel she could’ve partaken in but didn’t. It also did it again in that scene where Kirito nearly died by having him pull a gary-stu by unparalyzing himself in order to save her. I completely forgot about that, but this video jogged my memory.
So with that, I rest my case. Quan Zhi Gao Shou isn’t a mastery piece. It doesn’t have to be in order to be better than SAO. It just has to have better written characters with actual motivations and goals in mind plot wise. That’s what makes it better written.
Only in that arc, but not other arcs. Say whatever you like, but the fact that she has a hand in assisting her own rescue made her much better than your typical damsel-in-distress.
Fairy Dance arc is not considered second season okay. Season 2 consists of Phantom Bullet, Calibur & Mother’s Rosario. People tend to do the stupidest thing when they are angry anyway, regardless of how clever/crafty they originally are? Also, ‘conniving’? Please, he was never like that lol. That was just an act.
I wouldn’t say that Kayaba is terribly written. The only reason you think so is because the anime couldn’t cram as much info as possible. Hence why you can’t rely on anime alone if you want to judge the series. He’s still better than other SAO antagonists though.
Wrong~ Kirito is not a harem protagonist~ You only think so because the series just so happened to have more female characters than male. And there’s nothing wrong if those female characters are drawn to him really. He’s kind, nice and respectful. I would rather befriend someone like him than someone like Ye Xiu. And of course you have to bring incest here. Clearly you didn’t know what the second arc is all about.
Ahahaha no. Whatever give you the idea that you only need to grind once on a single account? A lot of MMO players created many toons on a single/multiple account for the heck of it and they don’t mind grinding more than once really. Ye Xiu’s case is nothing special~ We do that most of the time. Heck I have four toons for an account too and I grind for all of them.
You do realise that those MMO game companies need money right? I don’t think it’s cheap to maintain an MMO game. You may think grinding is fun, but other players would like to disagree with you. For them endgame is far more important than wasting time grinding their level from zero. I prefer to enjoy the game slowly so I won’t spend my money on those levelling items. I would rather spend them on storage.
I don’t mind Kirito’s duel-wielding really, since there are other characters that can do it too (Yuuki, Rain & created characters). But that character’s OP-ness has nothing to do with battle and crafting, and I considered it gamebreaking since it affect the game’s mechanics.
Anyway, I still disagree with QZGS being better written than SAO. I used to think so, until I read the novel and it really changed my whole perception about the series. Only some characters are well-written, and they are not part of the main team. The story somewhat become synopsis later on when it’s not focused on Ye Xiu’s team (I hope the donghua will fix this issue in the future), and the author likes to force his viewpoint on the reader, not allowing them to have their own opinions. Which is terrible since what, we readers can’t use our own judgement to judge those characters? I hate the way the author treat Chu Yunxiu. She’s the best female player but the narrative always treat her horribly. The whole situation with Excellent Era is stupid and unnecessary. I also hate that the narratives and the fans always think that Ye Xiu did nothing wrong, that he and his team are always right, even though they did some questionable stuffs in the series. At least the series is unique among all Chinese webnovels out there. I still don’t like Glory though. DFO is much better.
Again Asuna was rendered irrelevant after that scene, thus making her involvement there nulled to your typical damsel.
Yes, I corrected myself. Did you read my parenthesis? I said I’ll go back and watch season two and get back to you on that point.
Which brings me back to one of my points. As always, you’re ignoring the fact that I’m comparing anime. Anime should be able to stand on its own. I’m not gonna waste money on buying the light novels if I can already see the cracks.
Quan Zhi Goa Shou is better written and directed. I currently don’t feel the need to read the books, but if you want, I’ll read both series novels and prove you wrong. I’ll get back to you on that as well.
Yes, there’s nothing wrong with people being drawn to him, but did Lizbeth really have to develop feelings for him? Why was it necessary for Silica to fantasize about him? Why the hell did they have to throw in the unnecessary incest plot with Leafa? Again, hall marks of a harem protagonist. My gripe with it is that it messed up the flow for the first arc and wasted time in the second arc.
And, no, you can’t deny the incest plot. It was a core part of Suguha’s character development. The fanservicing of her body IRL completely destroyed whatever points it was trying to make about her.
Again, you’re missing the point with Ye Xiu. He had his account taken from him. He can’t go back to it. I’d be mad if that happened to me and I was high level. That renders your point moot about you and other players. I personally don’t go back unless I’m trying to get a friend into the game I’m playing. Otherwise, it’s an utter waste of time, and just because you can doesn’t mean much since you don’t lose an account in the process.
And? It doesn’t change the fact that microtransactions and pay to win mechanics suck. I have no problem if they attempt to sell skins, expansion packs, and other frevalious things so long as it doesn’t effect gameplay.
Kirito was the only character that could duel wield swords in the Aincrad arc. This is also the reason I dislike Heathcliff as well. Way to break the game Kayaba. Other over powered moments include Kirito fighting paralysis with will power when he shouldn’t be able to, and him coming back from the dead to finish the final boss. I would’ve been perfectly fine with Kirito dieing there and having someone else fight Kayaba instead. Like, I don’t know? Klein? It would’ve been interesting to see the ending come full circle to how the beginning started.
Any novel issues I will address once I read the novels of both series. An anime should be able to stand on its own. That’s the point of adaptations.
Therefore, Quan Zhi Goa Shou is a better anime than SAO. I’ve been comparing anime this whole time which is something you’ve failed to understand.
Asuna was not the focus of that arc so of course she became irrelevant afterwards. Still doesn’t change the fact that she’s not your typical damsel-in-distress, which I believe you’ll continue to deny.
Nope. Not all anime are supposed on its own. Some anime were made to promote their original source, like the ones adapted from light novels. You are supposed to buy them in order to know the series better.
Why can’t Lizbeth and Silica develop feelings for him? He did help them after all. It’s not unusual for people to develop a crush on their heroes. And did you really watch the second arc? Go watch it again. Leafa has those feelings because she was confused on how to deal with Kirito, whom she thought was her birth brother all along but turns out to be her cousin. She tried to get rid of it by falling for Kirito, who unfortunately turns out be Kazuto. The second arc was really about how she had to deal with those feelings. It’s realistic really, compared to other incest plots in other anime. None of those are the hallmarks of a harem protagonist. And fanservice are very common in anime okay. Which anime doesn’t have them?
In QZGS, your account cards belong to the team. It is part of the contract. All pro players have to sign them when they join the team, no exception. So Ye Xiu will have to part with it someday, even if they didn’t kick him off from the team. You’re mad about it? Too bad, that’s the rules. Other players also have to leave their account cards too when they retire or transfer to other team. None of them made a big deal out of it like Ye Xiu. They will just create a new account and start from scratch. The new team’s technical department will help with the resources + levelling, so it won’t take long for them to catch up to their former level. If you’re angry about this, please proceed your complain to the author.
I will still disagree that QZGS is better than SAO. Having watch both of them, they are equally the same to me. QZGS S1 is only better than SAO S1 (thanks a lot for making me hate it anti), but not SAO S2/S3/Alternative. QZGS OVA is terrible. The All-Star event was one of the most interesting arc in the novel and yet they cut off a lot of things and made it short for the OVA. Horrible. And let’s be honest here, the only reason why you think QZGS is better is because Aincrad arc ended too quickly for your liking, hence why you developed a blind hatred for SAO. And, like other SAO anti out there, you think that by putting down SAO while ‘praising’ other anime will make you feel superior to those ‘dumb’ SAO fans. You guys already did this with Log Horizon, and now QZGS. Stop. Why can’t you guys just recommend an anime without putting down another series?
