Pretty big smile for someone who just catapulted a dude into the sky. What a terrible person.

…Who’m I kidding, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

——

Sword Art Online has very suddenly become the highlight of my otaku-weekends. It’s pretty much the only series I’m really paying attention to and that bothers me for a couple reasons. One is that a show in its second half should not outshine the newer titles out now. And second, it’s not really shining to begin with.

Honestly, I think it’s just me. I remember the ALO arc being obnoxiously slow. Nothing moved as fast as I would have liked. There were several different side stories that distracted from the main crisis at hand. If I remember correctly, there’s also some minor game politics involved. And given the track record of this show, all of it is probably going to make it in. Some of that stuff is interesting, but it bogs down the show unnecessarily. Even if it’s for the second season (which is looking more and more likely), it’s just not good. A third slow episode is fine. Even a fourth or fifth would be alright, but only because I’m expecting it. If I was going in blind, I’d probably feel cheated for having the show develop so slowly.

I can’t see how anybody could miss Leafa’s IRL identity. How you could not see that coming is ignorance to the point of talent. And let’s face it, there’s no story if Leafa was anyone else. So we’re probably going to see more of Recon, which I am not at all looking forward to. He’s worse than a mosquito tone, he really is. I’d rather listen to a high-pitched whine than his regular whining. And we get to see Sogou as Oberon the Fairy King. God, he is such an unbelievable brat. An obnoxious, creepy waste of space. I saw somewhere that Asuna acting the damsel in distress was a bit of a stretch, but with this guy it really works. I’d feel violated every time he even looked at me.

The show’s still good, but not entertaining. One’s only my opinion; I don’t have the patience to reread Harry Potter so why would this be any different? Still, I’m in it for the long haul because hell, it’s still one of the best anime on right now.

GO Rating: 3/5