I Actually Read SAO! - Basement Book Club (Sword Art Online Progressive)

SAO Progressive reboots Sword Art Online to follow Kirito and Asuna's adventures through Aincrad floor by floor. Is that change an improvement? I have some thoughts... and so do a lot of you!
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In the depths of his Mother's Basement, Geoff Thew creates videos analyzing the storytelling techniques of anime and video games. He has been named the number one Worst KZbin Anime Reviewer by The Top Tens.

[@ShadowSpadeX]

I thought the title said “I accidentally read SAO” and the thought of someone reading through it and halfway through going “Fuck, I’m reading SAO...” kind of funny

[@bullymaguireneedsyourprimo6581]

Let me guess, a habit you got used too?

[@user-ox7id9he5v]

Not again!

[@MGNew]

True lol

[@spiralphoenix9839]

“Their should be bow wielders” Yes I believe those would be called “Archers”

[@marcog.verbruggen674]

No, no, no, obviously they're Bowers. Duh.

[@caiomesquita268]

So long gay Bowers

[@vladimirhajs4106]

"The Archer class is really made up of archers."

[@dynamicworlds1]

Are you sure archers aren't people who use swords as projectile weapons?

[@markrobs2954]

@@vladimirhajs4106 The Bower class is really made up of Bowers

[@ITerrorFLY]

The light novels, even the originals, had a lot of answers to complaints made about the anime. I've said this before on another one of MB's videos but in the novels Kirito isn't just some random OP god-mode spamming sword swinger. He stays ahead of the curve and manages to stay relevant even while playing solo by constantly keeping up to date on the games information market and using his knowledge as a beta tester. He goes out at hours of the day that no one else would and farms beneath his level for days at a time. They also took out the information peddlers altogether in the anime (which I never did understand). Rat (one of said peddlers) was arguably one of the only characters that got along with Kirito during his hardcore solo phase and was the starting point of the interaction between Kirito and Asuna. The aspect of characters fighting over info both physically, mentally and economically is also really interesting to think about and would have a great contribution to the anime, say instead of like a 3 episode long murder mystery arc. Kirito also has somewhat of a personality in the LN believe it or not. He isn't some swashbuckling zoro-esque figure, he's just a guy fighting for his life in a game that could literally get you killed at the drop of a hat. He's socially awkward, has a sense of humor, and fears death just like everyone else. And as his image becomes this legend of an "invincible black swordsman" grows and grows he actually suffers from it and he forms a love-hate relationship with it. The PTSD he gets from coming close to death multiple times weighs down on him (across the different game arcs) and because of how the people around him see him he can't talk to anyone about it and just deals with it in silence. All while, each time he sets out on another "adventure" in the back of his mind he knows a days going to come where the peoples expectations of him are going to outweigh what his abilities can actually do and that innocent people are going to die because of it.

[@joeca5028]

LaggSoBad EXACTLY!!

[@AgniFirePunch]

This comment almost makes me want to read them......almost...

[@lunerblade13]

by rat do you mean Argo the Rat? i think she only had one seen in the anime where she informs kirito of the nicolas boss.

[@ITerrorFLY]

@@AgniFirePunch dont get me wrong, there are still aspects of the LN that are just bad (cousin love etc), but the main point is that SAO isnt nearly the monstrosity the anime makes it out to be. When adapting the world of SAO they left out nearly every single actual world building element when it was already written out and explained for them in the LN.

[@Only_Habibi]

PREACH!

[@Canwegettosubscribers-nk8nn]

Mother's Basement: **Hates on SAO for years and then starts to promote it** Me: **confusion noises imminent**

[@amberknight7301]

It's simple. If SAO keeps becoming made, he has more to talk about and more to criticize.

[@FirionLeFleur]

Tim Allen noise.

[@michaeljohnson6905]

He gave reason for why he planned on covering this

[@anzew000]

He sold out they paid him to talk good about it..

[@njschulze514]

This is what happens when you sell your soul to the anime devil

[@TheAsvarduilProject]

Yeah, I'll say this: Reki Kawahara _is_ slowly, but surely, improving in his writing ability. While his stuff is still not great, he deserves credit and encouragement for improving.

[@waterb-g9114]

Considering the circumstances of the original SAO Light Novel, along with other peoples comments on the pieces removed from the story for the anime the fact Reki is still blamed for a lot of the issues is annoying.

[@chen1759]

He did improve on some part of the anime but for Kirito i still dont see much change and i still dont like kirito. I mean I dont like his writing for kirito but if he wants kirito to be this way then i am fine

[@chen1759]

@Adam Lets Play U got a point. The director also have a part but i dont hate anyone i just feel the way they write or direct for kirito is not for me.

[@user-ey8mj4tv2p]

There were just timeskips (which led to believe Kirito was Op and having a easy life),other than that there was nothing bad in his story

[@Modie]

After seeing the last arc of Alicisation I can't say that he did anything better at all. He still does the same thing and does the same mistakes he was criticised years earlier.

[@mothersbasement]

I wanna say thank you to everyone who sent in emails, and to all of you watching and leaving comments! I know the video is a bit disorganized - and long - and I'd like to improve on both of those things for future book club installments. On that note, I would really appreciate your feedback as to things you'd like to see changed, both because I don't entirely know what I'm doing, and because I don't want this to just be MY thing.

[@doorto6152]

When/where will you release the list of the emails? I want to see the rest of what Benny and Cynthia had to say.

[@demonicbunny3po]

I would probably include an easily templates interlude thingy that appears on screen when going from one chapter or topic of conversation to another. Basically, break up the comments if need be, insert the relevant parts into the relevant sections and clearly separate the bits.

[@KoaWaylander]

The long is less of an issue than the disorganised. A long but well organised video is worth watching. People who are interested will listen to a long discussion but won't to something that jumps all over.

[@Shwaggie33]

You were asking about the lore of Aincrad and interesting architecture descriptions. Book 2 has you covered!

[@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz]

maybe split the video into no spoiler discussion and plot analysis so you can discuss the writing itself and then go a little more in depth with the character and story high/lowlights? i love these critiques, always looking for advice to incorporate into my writing. also the long videos are cool to me, i listen to them podcast style while i do other stuff (like cooking), and i'm pretty sure most people do the same.

[@samihailu6655]

He's been kidding himself this whole time: He loves SAO

[@brnk2]

Um.. no.

[@dragonslayerornstein387]

He's giving it a chance, very different.

[@sarthakarora3212]

@@dragonslayerornstein387 Why have merch of sao then?

[@shadowsovereign4948]

@zuek Lol I fucking love the idea that people send him hate mail in the form of SAO merchandise.

[@moonlight.z6543]

I actually agree, though I should say, it's not a blind love. You can rant about SAO all you want, but you can't say the basic idea isn't genius. SAO is a genius idea in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to properly expend it. MB probably knows that. Hell, even if you're an SAO and you don't know that, then you're _not_ an SAO fan. He isn't even much of a fan, yet he awaits something that shows the true qualities of this idea. Loving something doesn't mean thatf you should be completely positive about it. You love your friend, hell even your mother, but let me ask you: Is it possible that you don't get mad at her because you _love_ her? Is it possible that you overlook her bad traits and attitudes because you _love_ her? Do you agree with her in every subject merely because you _love_ her? No, you don't. But does that mean you don't love her? No. His love towards SAO is a logical, open-eyed love. He mentions the bad things, he mentions the good things, calls it a dumpster fire when it is a dumpster fire and calls it good when it is good. At least, that's what I call loving. Besides, you don't spend this huge of time on something you don't love.

[@technicallythecenteroftheu1349]

Moral of the story: Baby steps, Reki.

[@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz]

hey it's something

[@starking2390]

Actually SAO Progressive was released before anime season 1 even finish airing in 2012. So this volume is still 7 years ago Reki. 90% of the complains about volume 1 in this video is all explored and explained in next few SAOP volumes.

[@Bobis32]

@@starking2390 yep the most recent novel is by far my favorite so far

[@Oh_God_not_him_again]

I'd love it if someday Reki Kawahara becomes an award-winning writer and we all look back on SAO as his learning phase.

[@starking2390]

@@Oh_God_not_him_again He probably already won some award in japan for something, probably not best writing, but maybe most successful light novel author lol SAO is #1 best selling LN of japan for the past 5 years in a row, and always in Top most liked LN of japan, it even broke a record as first LN in history to become #1 best selling general category novel of japan in first half of 2019 lol

[@lmbusiness5300]

Yes! Give some more of the spotlight to Ballsdeep69! He deserves it!!

[@yukisetsuna1325]

*_M Y N A M E I S K L E I N_*

[@vexteck6412]

Boss who's Klein?

[@KarmasAB123]

"Thank you... Klein..." *SOB*

[@leaveitblank8198]

I'm commenting as a casual reader. I'm up to vol. 6 now and I can say this. Sao Progressive actually feels like a story. Instead of Kirito leaving Asuna after the first boss they actually stick together which in my opinion makes their romance more solid. Their interactions are mostly cute and funny. And I can honestly say as a Rpg player watching Kirito and Asuna get wrapped up in a long quest really spoke to me. It reminded me of the times I got overly attached to npcs and got way super side tracked in a quest. When Asuna gets giddy when she recievces a sword upgrade perfectly matches my feeling when I upgrade something and makes me feel giddy for her. As bland as the characters still are, Kirito is still a "protagonist know it all." And Asuna is still a "Textbook tsundere." There are some small details to each and every character that gives them personality which is a god send. Overall, I actually enjoyed it alot. It feels less rushed, relationships feel like they've been grown instead of instantly made. And characters feel more genuine. Most of all, as someone who loves mmorpgs it made me smile at the things that made me get excited. TL;DR. Sao with a new paint job and it made me feel things.

[@leaveitblank8198]

@eugeo Yeah, it went from trash to average.

[@mannubhai2425]

Progressive is really good I just completed it 2 days ago

[@priyanshi5083]

@shanks the scarlet emperor did u read progressive by eyes closed?.. Or i guess u r just asuna hater?

[@Oman_Au]

I just finished the movie adaptation, I am so glad that I’m not the only one who preferred Kirito and Asuna sticking together after floor 1

[@soulofexistence]

I love this long-ass videos, they're worth the waiting, keep it up man!

[@hooptyshondasandhairpins4541]

They're worth *the* waiting.

[@soulofexistence]

@@hooptyshondasandhairpins4541 yup, typo

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Didn't Miyazaki say "anime was a mistake" after watching SAO? No? Just kidding.

[@isabellajemica]

Maybe?

[@theharamune1969]

Why do I find you everywhere?

[@twinodoom]

I thought it was Boku No Pico

[@badazzEXE]

actually this is what he actually said. "Anime was a mistake. except JoJo, JoJo was alright." - Mister Hayao Miyazaki

[@YouDonkeyfu]

Probably though.

[@candyrhodes7244]

WAIT KIRITO IS 14 I THOUGHT HE WAS LIKE 17 OR SOMETHING

[@UncleMerlin]

@@nenshoufox but still. *they had a child and raised it competently at 16*

[@GenericNameeee]

Uncle Merlin Younger people irl have done the same...

[@candyrhodes7244]

Either you guys are saying he was 12 in the first place of he's 16 now

[@joeca5028]

In the 3rd season he’s 17. Well depends because time in Underworld goes faster and in the middle point he’s 19 in that world mentally.

[@candyrhodes7244]

@@joeca5028 AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH SAO IS SO CONFUSING

[@ChrisPickaxe]

Only 6 minutes into the video but I just want to say something. He says all this stuff about Kirito's personality talking about how it's not that good but as a 14 year old I can confirm Kirito's personality sounds exactly like how a 14 year old would act.

[@williamwoolf8072]

I dont remember acting like that when I was 14

[@Tomzin20]

damn, youre 16 now?

[@maxedoutvibes]

Me: *sees title* Also me: You did WHAT???

[@buttery_gooch6]

@Erin Trick no.

[@austeyen5628]

Sees video length: NANI THE FUCK ARE YOU OKAY

[@alexanderhedges576]

Asuna didn't buy the underwear she made it to get rid of her excess amounts of wool dropped by monsters. Now I don't know why she made so many pairs of underwear instead of actual outfits, but that is the reason why she has them all. She also wanted to raise her tailoring skill which you find out in the later novels she keeps.

[@downix]

She made so many pair for the same reason any Skyrim character winds up making hundreds of iron daggers: most XP per resource used in production.

[@siliconhawk]

@@downix that sounds........ reasonable almost too much reason considering its sao but hey i dont shame people..... most of the time.. i think

[@radaro.9682]

Wool underwear sounds bad. And absolutely unsexy.

[@TheMANGADUDE2]

I'm glad Argo's getting some love in progressive

[@PikaTwoB]

Ikr she gets basically nothing in the anime

[@ricocreationss]

I agree Argo is my absolute favorite in progressive

[@kappa_kang60]

@@PikaTwoB A-1 Pictures: Four seconds, take it or leave it.

[@TerryBradstreet]

She gets more love in the manga. The moments of erotic fan service ARE unnecessary at best and terrible at worst (how the martial arts trainer NPC treats Asuna is infuriating), but the manga makes up for it by making Argo the third main character and by focusing more on Asuna’s perspective than Kirito’s. We actually get to follow Argo as she investigates mysteries to learn crucial secrets about the floor bosses.

[@Medbread]

Argo was actually already a part of the original light novel, and even makes a small cameo in the anime during the Sachi/Moonlit Black Cats episode. Oh nvm someone mentioned it

[@cacona6191]

If I'm correct Argo has been in every type of Sao media

[@ricocreationss]

@@cacona6191 Yes the games and a little in the original sao for a few

[@gummi4977]

@@cacona6191 well Argo plays the big role as Kirito's key information from the start (I forgot how they meet each other) but the anime didn't do much justice to her.

[@hiyoritokisada594]

Returns in the latest volumes

[@animusfoster4712]

@@hiyoritokisada594 Yeo, she's back in Unital Ring

[@InfiniteComboReviews]

To improve this book club series, maybe display some of the art from the books on screen at parts. This series feels more like it could just be a podcast otherwise if there's not much going on on screen. Plus I think even people who hate SAO can agree that it's art style is really cool.

[@oilikaekoile]

Goo point about displaying art from the book, I think it would also help ground the video since there’s no video clips to show - even just the cover art or the maps or something.

[@TheTlay101]

SAO is the No Man's Sky of anime. A great premise that turns out pretty bad but through enough effort and post launch patches turns okayish.

[@videogamesworld01]

Nope sao is still below average

[@Slink1701]

@@videogamesworld01 So is No Man's Sky

[@videogamesworld01]

No idea haven't played

[@Flowtail]

Ive heard No Man’s Sky is best played as an existential horror game

[@_sooshee_7855]

@@videogamesworld01 I'm pretty sure okay-ish also means below average to mediocre at best in the first place, so your cynical comment doesn't fully check out.

[@AtelierGod]

I think the reason for rushing the relationship in the original novel has less to do with just wanting to make the two protags hock up and more to do with the fact that he had to cram an entire survival story into a single novel with limited pages for a competition, which limits what you can do and I highly doubt any judge would give it a winning mark if it ended on a cliff hanger. It’s a negative of limited page competitions that everyone whose tried to write a book would understand that if you have this many pages max you’ll forgo certain details.

[@AtelierGod]

CommandoDude yeah that is one thing as well, though I wonder if any other of the possible candidates would make it even more interesting but that’s besides the point.

[@ShamBamGaming]

The original light novels were definitely held back by that, and it feels like a lot of people forget that detail. SAO got waaaayy too popular before it was ready

[@nlb137]

@CommandoDude IMO, I think that single factor is a lot of what makes SAO so popular. Skipping past the bullshit will-they-or-won't-they absolves a lot of more minor sins for some people.

[@user-ey8mj4tv2p]

The original novel had huge timeskips

[@sentience3033]

@@user-ey8mj4tv2p yes , but it is so that it will explain Later in volumes which is Progressive but Anime poop on it , hope that progressive will be as justified as the light novel

[@AlsandoGames]

Some things I wanna add that get mentioned later on in the novels: 1. The reason why Asuna has that many panties gets explained later on! It really makes sense but unfortunatly it doesn't make the "Kirito searchin throught them" scene better. 2. The world building is getting way better later on. For on thing the mechanics are getting really important (especially with NPCs) and also the floor designs are getting pretty insane. 3. We later on get some more infos on Aincrads lore. 4. We get some really interesting antagonists. 5. The other front line players get a lot more developement and unique personalities and relationships. Just wanted to clarify these things since some used these arguments to criticise the series. I personally had fun reading it even tho it's still far from a masterpiece! Edit: The pacing is fricking aweful! literally 1 floor per volume on average so it will never end in this century...

[@dandanthedandan7558]

I haven't read it but, judging from the vid, couldn't the simple worldbuilding still be thoroughly flashed out? Rising from 1 to 10 isn't as impressive from rising 5 to 50...

[@jonathangreene9293]

@@Kingdomheatsox2 do you want it spoiled?

[@AzureIV]

I would like to know the spoiler of why she has so many underclothes.

[@VersusThem]

​@@AzureIV If you think hard enough you'll realise why, I mean, why would you deliberately and consciously do the same little trivial task over and over in an MMORPG? For some reason Reki tried to tackle different aspects of the game on different volumes, in this one the lore and worldbuilding is nonexistent, that's why it's the focus of the following volumes, dunno why. Also, @AlsandoGames your comment is underrated because you're spot-on

[@oilikaekoile]

Seriously, you are dead accurate with these points. I’ve become a fan of SAOP and the first novel is, at best, ok. Almost every major critique in the video is addressed in later volumes.

[@jovannovakovic2721]

Hour long video on SAO... Where's my popcorn

[@xeenproof2024]

long gone. I would say it's gone before the ads but there aren't any

[@apfeltee34]

F*** you it's 1 a.m. in the morning and now I want popcorn

[@JustCozItsMe]

As much as I enjoy his vids, Im not feeling watching this through. I dont care about SOA enough and kinda on an Umbrella Academy kick atm too, just finished it last night. Only commenting to support the algorithms for him.

[@adoellex8000]

Nice pfp, Outer Science is a bop

[@kristiandietrich390]

In your stomach by now

[@Gappasaurus]

What i take away from this video: 1) SAOP is better than its progenitors... but it still doesn’t interest me 😐 2) Geoff is moist 💧

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

Moist... Is... Boist

[@leamypi]

Out of all the SAO arcs, Progressive is my favourite. I was hooked on hit from the first chapter, and it was nice to see Kirito not being an overpowered main character. He specifically calls Asuna out to help him, but forgot that she was still doing the "Argo's whiskers" quest. Not only that, but he is shown to be quite arrogant when he first meets Asuna, stating that he didn't care if she lived or died, as long as she left him the information. Asuna is not a stereotypical tsundere, Kirito is shown to have feelings for her first, and she ignores them until she realises that she likes him back. Kirito also points out that she has the leadership charisma that he would never have, which is pointed out as one of his weaknesses.

[@priyanshi5083]

Agreed by the way A-1 pictures are making a new movie for progressive sequel which will release in 2022

[@delicatedissonance8025]

Jeff, I believe the time has come for you to do a video on Attack on Titan. The new season has been unbelievably insane, with ratings shooting through the roof so I think a lot of us are waiting to see your thoughts. Please!!

[@aydensmith9745]

mariam t he did

[@DrCrazyEvil]

Yeah I think he's already done a video on it saying he likes it a lot

[@moonstruck6591]

I don't know what this thing you call an "Attack on Titan" is, but it sounds like garbage

[@emircalvin669]

@@aydensmith9745 which video?

[@delicatedissonance8025]

@Ayden Smith @DrCrazyEvil the last AOT vid he has done has been a what's in an OP for season 3 part 1 but he doesn't have anything on season 3 part 2 yet

[@talleythelegendaryloser9029]

I saw this videos name and thought; Either the world is ending, ive drunken too much coffee, that pot brownie is kicking in or ive been Isekaied into another plain of existence

[@merrittanimation7721]

All of the above.

[@ninoroxsox]

Just the brownie lol

[@somegoofballwhohasinternet7313]

Why not all at once?

[@__________1175]

Excess coffee and a pot brownie? I'm not even a pothead and that sounds kinda delightful. Had my friends offered me this in college they may have successfully peer-pressured me.

[@Only_Habibi]

Yea so he read the top light novel series of Japan, what else do you have to say about that?

[@SuperiorPosterior]

12:05 I also think Kirito going all technobabble is a huge part of his early personality because it's something Kirito **knows.** Kirito is that girl from Magic School Bus who always said "according my research..." It's part of his character, but it's a crutch trait. He's an awkward, near antisocial barely-not-a-hikkikimori. Talking about the game and its mechanics as narration and small talk is fundamentally the only thing Kirito feels he has to offer. Once he becomes a lot more comfortable around the others, and feels secure in himself, he seemed to open up and show some actual personality. Do I think Reki did that all on accident? Most likely.

[@kerch00]

I'm not sure if Reki does these things on accident or not, I've rewatched the anime an ungodly amount of times and I sometimes realise new things about the characters/plot which completely change my view on it, which are not explicitly mentioned. I feel like Reki has a habit of leaving the thinking up to the readers and describing his story in a more realistic, world based viewpoint

[@gianlucatrovatori5633]

"I dont like when enemies steal my resources in anything but a roguelike" SAO has permanent death soo... kinda of a roguelike too

[@hellomonkeymiller]

While the game ends up as a roguelike but it wasn't marketed as one which makes such elements poor game design in a vrmmorpg.

[@AlcyonEldara]

@@hellomonkeymiller this is BS. I am tired of people who never played a MMO at the time the story was written. Having ennemies stealing drops was a feature in Ragnarok Online. Oh yeah, your drops didn't directly go into your inventory but were laying on the ground.

[@hellomonkeymiller]

@@AlcyonEldara I thought the issue was mobs stealing from a player's inventory. Not just loot drops. Though I have played games where resources can be stolen from the players inventory but not gear in slots. I didn't actually read the book so I could just be biting my own tail.

[@AlcyonEldara]

@@hellomonkeymiller I don't remember everything from games 20 years ago. But this isn't a bit of a strech to imagine something like this 20 years ago. Ah I remember a MMO (Silkroad Online if my memory serves well) where you could drop your stuff after a death. The game was full of bots, and there a trick to lure the bots into becoming "red players", kill them over and over to get their stuff.

[@Andre-gn4sj]

@brandon roberts metacritique. its a big open world people wont notice a few glitches.

[@checocartoons342]

I'm actually starting to believe Geoff started to like SAO despite its flaws long ago. But it's just a Theory....... *Dramatic Pause* A GEOFF THEORY! THANKS FOR WATCHING!

[@DandDgamer]

This is not just a change in Kirito's character - even the earlier novels use first person to show us his self doubt. It's just that the anime is bad. Not that the writing is superb overall lol

[@priyanshi5083]

Writing is not superb? 26 million sales disagree with you

[@saltyralts]

@@priyanshi5083 Sales don't mean something is good. Have you heard of Pokémon?

[@gordonfreeman7320]

@@priyanshi5083 sales are rarely correlated to quality, especially with regard to light novels

[@Bruno_Swag]

“For human consumption” It’s an hour long

[@Flowtail]

What’s wrong with that, do you have a life or something?

[@SlimesTheWay]

even though I didn't read the book I genuinely enjoyed listening to this while playing some games. It felt like a single person podcast. If this does become a regular series of yours i think you should try uploading it as a podcast to Spotify. I would 100% listen to this when winding down or even while working out.

[@No_Bubble]

This video was so much fun! It felt professional, a lot like a literature essay with with it's good structure (one topic flowing well into the next) and frequent use of quotes! Although of course it was a lot more colloquial xD. I found it really interesting to listen to and easy to follow! However, imo the video would probably benefit from a more categorical structure, if only because of the length, but I think you should structure future BBC videos in whichever way feels most cohesive to you. I've never been disappointed by one of your videos yet. I was thrilled when you announced the basement bookclub and I can't wait to participate in the future! Thanks for making another great video and keep up the great work! :)

[@CaleU011]

I love these book clubs! Hearing from members of the community warms my little nerd heart. ❤️

[@erikrodrigues2733]

Log Horizon needs a proper video about it : x It's an injustice for such a good anime

[@sidmier1127]

nice shoutout man me: oh shiroe i miss him~ (anime only view) man i wish im japanese to read log hirozon LN…

[@erikrodrigues2733]

@@sidmier1127 There is the LN avaliable in the internet translated to english (Beware some parts are poorly translated)

[@abeingofpureenergy]

IT'S SO FUCKING GOOD

[@Zesprit15]

Digibro has done so

[@BandGGaming]

@@sidmier1127 it's translated officially up to volume 11

[@Never_heart]

I wasn't sure if you were actually going to follow through with this or not. I am glad you did just to gain full perspective

[@dawson260]

i love your shorter videos, but im also a big fan of this new format. i think its super entertaining to listen to as more of a podcast while im doing something else.

[@MelonTartVA]

I'm convinced that Reki Kawahara saw all the complaints about Aincrad and Kirito in particular, and that's why he started writing Progressive. Also, Jeff, you may enjoy the games, since the Fairy Dance Arc doesn't exist in them. All the girls are competent, and in the recent game, it doesn't focus on Kirito.

[@rockstar93795]

Melon Tart VA well from the beginning of the series in the first light novel in the after notes he mentions how he messed up with the story and would like to rewrite it in the future basically. And progressive is just that aincrad all over again but starting from floor one and actually going through each floor and what happens in them.

[@TruePeaceSeeker]

They still flex kirito time to time in some game and make the MC in desperate situation for kirito to save the day

[@starking2390]

Not really, Reki always wanted to make a floor by floor version. and moreover, First Volume of SAO Progressive was published before Anime Season 1 even finish airing back in 2012. in fact, EP2 of anime is based on SAO Progressive. People's complain show up mostly after 2013.

[@Flowtail]

Melon Tart VA i dunno he made a whole hour long video about how bad SAO the game is He was a game developer before he became an anituber, sooo

[@MelonTartVA]

@@Flowtail I mean the video games based on SAO.

[@fullmetalf4i]

i really liked this format where you bring in the community comments and stuff. Works really well.

[@EchoLeader11]

I dig this book club format. Will definitely watch more. A few notes on the SAO world that I think are relevant to criticisms brought up: -SAO is the first full-dive VRMMO, so it has a lot of “flaws” or missing features due to it having zero competition on the market. It‘s essentially its creator’s mad vision, and he didn’t have to worry about it gaining any more than the initial 10k player base anyway. The other VRMMOs that follow SAO (ALO, GGO, etc.) have a lot of the features SAO lacks (magic, ranged weapons, etc). -It’s also important to remember that SAO was largely created to be a brutal killbox for players, with focus placed on the immersive “physicality” of it, hence why the weapons are almost all handheld melee objects that players have to manually manipulate in close quarters combat. A lot of this stuff gets brought up as the story goes along, with Kirito retrospectively analyzing SAO and trying to understand what Kayaba Akihiko was going for. -Lastly, there is some discussion about non-standard gamers in the Mother’s Rosario arc later in the main LN and anime series. There’s an entire clan of terribly-ill gamers whose only escape from life in the hospital is VR.

[@abeingofpureenergy]

Now I want to see a more serious, quiet-badass male character who would do a lot for a hot bath and some sugar. Maybe I'll write it myself?

[@starking2390]

tbh Kirito take risk and do a lot for a piece of hot fried steak ... I'm not even kidding, it's in later volumes of Progressive lol

[@whiteraven181]

Do it. Be the change you want to see in the world! ...And link us when you do, because I would READ that SO FAST

[@TheAsvarduilProject]

So, basically you'll be writing another SAO Alternative series? ...Ok, that deserves a fair shot.

[@duonigiopo967]

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka?

[@Agaudio7]

Come on guys, Mother's Basement LOVES the idea, LOVES the premise, especially the trapped in a death game (differently from Log Horizon). It's the idea that caught all of us and still makes SAO famous. He just likes it so much but is so disappointed by the actual EXECUTION of the idea, as much of us are, that he can't let go. I fell you brother.

[@h4ppy99]

Suggestion for the next basement book club: Purple Haze Feedback

[@Kevin-hk5sd]

I agree with that BUT he should do "whats in an anime" this time Part5 GioGio

[@devlinburgess2463]

I really like this format, especially since tension between "the manga" and "the anime" is a common theme in the anime community. I'd love to participate in this if/when another one comes up, as I'm starting to read manga more myself.

[@RetnabBanter]

I really enjoyed listening in on this, even as someone who didn't follow along with the book. I hope you do more like these in the future!

[@RoseFox_x]

I've only been following these videos for a couple weeks now, but I love how intimate the descriptions are for these anime are. The added personal touch helps us understand why these were important, unlike some oh too shallow anime watch lists that sound like they're being paid off. And if the banter of witty jokes and surprisingly accurate but harsh truths weren't awesome enough, we also get meaningful substance with descriptions of why the anime was important to the speaker at that time in his life. This lets us feel the passion for the show, weather good or bad; and that's what I love about these review's and lists. I feel a little more inspired after watching these, and it feels pretty awesome :) Didn't mean to ramble .. oops .. Keep up the good work Jeff!!

[@fionaaisling]

19:27 -- I understand the whole "Asuna's character is just based around female stereotypes", but I actually do relate to her in just wanting a hot bath or a sweet, so that was nice for me to read cause she felt more personable lol idk though :\ I do play games and I am a girl so I don't know if that just makes me a stereotype-- hold up (-_-)?... no... well everyone is different so maybe it's frustrating to other girls to have us portrayed that way... so what I'm trying to say is that is my opinion! I donut represent obviously... frick idk what im saying ok just dont read this comment ok. (T_T)

[@craigpeoples9883]

Never but I get your point Asuna just wanting a hot bath is relatable to me and I'm a guy Asuna justs wants to relax and relive her stress kinda like all of us

[@oilikaekoile]

1- Great job with the video. 2- Thank you for choosing a diverse range of perspectives the comment on and respond to, regardless of if you agreed or not; 3- Thank you for choosing the more articulate emails to share (I know mine was rambling and jumped from one thing to the next), especially because, I’m guessing, *what you chose to share* were more moderate perspectives even on the flaws. 4- regarding format, generally this worked: but for future videos - clearer de-visions between broad topics would be helpful. The themes flowed into each other very well (that’s why so many podcast comments); the topics were about jumbled. PLEASE do not misunderstand me, the amount and kind of work involving reading all the emails you got and organizing all that plus your own thoughts alone means you should get a hug, a free meal, and something alcoholic of your choice.

[@jamescook5783]

MB is a cool guy. I really don't think you need to apologize for your constructive criticism. In fact, that's kinda weird.

[@royceabshire2453]

@@jamescook5783 It's still nice sometimes to read "Don't take this the wrong way, I still adore you senpai" cause it atleast let's you know they aren't sheep.

[@JurassicRaptor]

Real good vid (though I might be biased since a snippet of my review is featured). I think that the format is alright, and probably the best way to handle relaying the opinions of hundreds of individual people. If you do end up allowing video responses, that'll probably take a lot of the workload off of you, but if you switch to only video responses/reviews will also probably mean a lot less people responding (since I'm sure not everyone who participated in this round would be as comfortable/able to make a video response that they'd be happy with). Although, with that said, that'd probably make it easier for you to go through them all. Can't wait for the next basement book club!

[@nickkuroshi0]

Argo makes a brief cameo in the anime and I always wondered why we didn't see more of her.

[@ricocreationss]

She deserved more

[@TheAsvarduilProject]

@@ricocreationss RIP Argo Screen Time RIP Klein Screen Time

[@ricocreationss]

@@TheAsvarduilProject Fat rip Indeed F

[@8elementallords]

Main reason why we haven't seen more of Argo in the main series is because most of SAO was published as web novels before Kawahara ever got them officially published (IIRC, the web novel versions were all the way up to Alicization), so that's the main reason why Argo never really showed up anywhere beyond the one side story and in stuff like Progressive...but she is being included in the newest arc, Unital Ring, so it seems like now that Kawahara has finally moved beyond what he'd initially written years and years ago (and only really had to edit, rather than come up with new plots wholesale once he got officially published), he's actually going to include Argo as part of the main cast now.

[@target0330]

i loved this format! i love listening to stuff in the background while i draw, and i love when the stuff i listen to is critical analysis of media, and i love critical analysis of sao in particular. this was an amazing treat. can't wait to see more similar stuff.

[@MysticMagic239]

i havent read SAOP yet but it surprises me that everyone is so conflicted about not having bows in the game. See ive always imagined SAO as Melee Arts Online because no one in it actually is restricted to swords, people use lances, axes, knives and chakrams of all things. I kind of think that as far as ranged weaponry goes it should be weapons that can be used upclose but can be thrown as projectiles, a weapon like a javelin would make more sense to me than a bow would. On top of that maybe there will be skills that return weapons to your hand (though that kind of sounds like itd be magic) or maybe the players could get creative and actually start using their weapons like a harpoon (with a rope attached to the end of the javelin) to reel enemies in because they are restricted to melee weaponry. Now i do want to clarify that i understand that me seeing it as Melee Arts Online is preventing me from seeing why there is no ranged weapons like bows but i really thought i should at least mention the types of things the players could come up with to fight enemies they cant reach.

[@royceabshire2453]

It would be nice to either have it stated that's it just a melee game or to introduce more ranged options later on.

[@loadeddice7831]

It would've been a good idea to have some kind of phasing. So, the game starts out with melee weapons heavily nerfed, since most people are getting used to the game and enemies could be cheesed in areas built for cqc. Later on, adding in ranged weapons like javelins or Slings and eventually Crossbows and bows would have been a neat shift (meaning Kirito can't just run up and whack the enemy with his sword, even though he's really good at that) and made sense from a gameplay perspective.

[@jake72002]

IIRC, there are chakrams in SAOP

[@nskitten05]

I think the video dynamic was well handled. I liked how you mentioned your opinion and then bring up what the other readers said. One thing that could be improve (I feel) could be to decide a specific set of topics for the people to analyze and ask them to break their essay into a set of small essays. I think this would help for sometimes I felt the ideas you were mentioning would be cut in half, or they were the end of another paragraph, making the idea look incomplete. (BTW, forgive my broken English. I'm a native spanish speaker)

[@OneTrueNobody]

23:29 - Splitting a book between first person as one character and third person as another isn't entirely unique, actually. Patricia Brigg's "Mercy Thompson" series is mainly told from a first person perspective (Mercy's) but a few books do split off into a third-person perspective from her husband Adam's viewpoint where the story demands he have the spotlight. There's one novel later on in that series where Mercy gets kidnapped, escapes, and basically has to make her way alone in Prague while Adam has to negotiate with her kidnapper (who was basically king of the vampires) in Italy, so the story goes back and forth between those two perspectives as the two characters have what are essentially parallel adventures in different locations. So the technique isn't unheard of, it's just not common. In the case of THAT book, Mercy would write a brief little thought at the start of every chapter to give the impression that Adam's portions were parts of the story she learned the details of later on. SAO has been using this perspective-switching style since Volume 3 of the original series. Basically all the scenes in the anime where Kirito isn't present are third-person scenes from either Asuna's perspective or from the perspective of whoever a given arc's designated Heroine(tm) is.

[@shinomakichuppy8236]

Fun facts: in the original Aincraid, there no trades of bow and arrows, but in the SAO Intergral Factor game. It does have bow and arrows

[@raikohzx4323]

The weird thing about Argo is that in the original novels she really was just a small character role apparently, and the anime isn't necessarily unfaithful to that - but the anime started in July 2012. Progressive's first volume, and thus Argo's actual coming into her own as a character that became super popular with the fanbase (and thus ascending to even a major character in the game continuity which is an AU storyline), came out in October of that year. If the anime had come out just a few months later or maybe even a year later, Argo probably would've been a major character in the anime too, even if that meant improvising on a lot of shit for her role. A hell of a lot of poor timing for a fan-favorite.

[@ricocreationss]

In the books of progressive they even describe how Argo's work, works And she is so useful to the first beta tested floors She is the best

[@phoebephoenix2999]

I’m really impressed that reki is actually trying to improve his writing. There’s a lot of flaws with SAO, but I’m glad that reki isn’t just going “SHUT UP” and never changing. To me there’s nothing more admirable than self improvement, and I hope reki continues to try to improve. I hope to one day point to SAO as an amazing series.

[@CloudySkies17695]

SAO Progressive? What’s next? Sword Art Online Alternative? Edit: Oh god. What the fuck. I didn’t think it was an actual thing. I was just trying to make a shitty joke. Help.

[@RePollster]

*Screams in sarcasm*

[@s3studios597]

I'd rather have SAO Geico.

[@TheXDGuy]

There is one tho

[@DrCrazyEvil]

Was that a flcl joke? If so I approve

[@CloudySkies17695]

@DrCrazyEvil Ding, ding, ding! You’re correct! :P

[@michaelschaeffer6936]

Wow, a semi-positive review of SAO? From Mothers Basement? Jk, my personal handcanon of SAO will always be the abridged version from Something Witty. 😂

[@scurreith3667]

That garbage fire? Seriously, SAOA is turning into the next Clannad, except Clannad actually did more than 3 things right.

[@-TPLT]

@@scurreith3667 Why, hat happened with SAOA? Last I heard it was fun.

[@callianr6980]

@@-TPLT It is for most people. Probably just not this guy's cup of tea. Nothing wrong with that.

[@-TPLT]

@@callianr6980 Fair enough!

[@Borderose]

SAO Abridged is a work of art.

[@_sooshee_7855]

I discovered progressive by total accident on Barnes and Noble when I was looking for alicization novels to read ahead before the season aired (O reccomend those as well), and I was pleasantly surprised by how good progressive volume 1 was in relation to the rest of the series. Kudos to you for giving it a chance despite previous dispositions.

[@taaga7583]

Cool kinda podcast format would love to see more of this

[@VikWax]

I enjoy SAOP as its exactly what I wanted from the first season of SAO, showing the journey of going through each floor

[@knownnovice]

I really enjoyed this video format! I love longer videos that I can listen to while I do monotonous work, which means I also don't mind if there's not polished visuals to go along with it. I think your solution for including as many reviews as possible was probably the best one, because it meant the video still had a structure to follow while being diverse. I think it will continue to work well as long as you always include a section at the end to voice the takes that didn't fit into a section but were worth hearing. Really any format along these lines will work as long as you are always curating them so the interesting ones are most prominent.

[@BiitoreinGoji94]

Thank you. I'm currently writing a novel, and these tips are very helpful.

[@Meishou]

You know, so much of the characterization that this video and the people quoted in it consider 'new' to the progressive reboot was there in the original and even in the cut down anime. It makes one wonder how many of those surprised by said characterization actually read or watched the previous entries instead of just parroting youtuber hot takes...

[@CErra310]

makes one wonder if maybe the anime which is the thing most people are talking about might actually be as shitty as everyone says when their opinions turn around the second they are exposed to the 75% of the writing that was missing in the show

[@Only_Habibi]

You've been enlightened with the truth, Geoff. Congratulations.

[@Jaybiggs28]

I like the format in which you did this. Being able to here other people's thoughts as well as your really balanced the way that the information was presented.

[@CluelessAnon]

I know it's been two years since the last Basement Book Club, but I'd love to see this format return in some form or another.

[@lifeofentropy]

Jeez, I didnt realize how long this video was when I clicked on it...

[@Eragonnogare]

I would love to see you do more of these for the other volumes of SAO Progressive! I will agree that the descriptions of the settings and the lore aren't great in the book, but that's a reason for you to read more of the later novels since that is definitely improved and expanded on in the later novels. The first two floors are much more simple and aren't anywhere near as interesting as many of the later floors. Not everything is improved, the randomly inserted sections of fanservice are still there, though I do think they move a little more away from Kirito accidentally seeing things, but it isn't a massive improvement. I do absolutely feel like it would be worth it for you to read the other volumes, and do a video like this for each. The later volumes definitely do carry the strengths of this one, and improve on things. Also, I feel like the reason there are no bows and arrows is because the world of SAO was designed for people to have to risk their lives to try to escape, and if your life was on the line then everyone would use the bow and just stay as far from the monsters as possible, trying to avoid risks entirely, slowly chipping away at monsters from afar, and that would be much less interesting to watch, and even in the world of SAO the creator of the game would know this and not want that to be how it turns out. In regards to how these videos should go, I would like just a little more of your opinions, but this was quite good overall. (I wrote a lot of this kinda out of order, I hope it ends up making sense)

[@MrDAZ3197]

Thoroughly enjoyed this format. I find listening to you talk very relaxing (especially about SAO). Please keep it up!

[@diaz2634]

"I can't fit your whole essays into a reasonable sized video" Makes an hour long video

[@Ketsuegg]

I love this format, it's incredibly interesting to see various takes and opinions on a work that I would never have thought to have.

[@AlcyonEldara]

45:00 true in 2019. Old MMOs were really similar to Aincrad. He's sticking to the old MMOs genre, you can call it BS but that's just how they were.

[@xsardes336]

Old MMOs were...worse. For real. Look at shit that was popular back in the day...at least witch my friends. Metin2. This game is so fucking bad. It's litteraly "the same thing but wihout vr". Aaand with AOE auto atacks

[@AlcyonEldara]

@@xsardes336 different. Worse for the vast majority of players, but some like to grind and ... grind XD

[@777SilverPhoenix777]

I'm just going to comment on the underwear scene since no one else has. If you had actually been paying attention you would have found out that Asuna was really into sewing and making underwear was an easy way for her to level up that skill. She even says so after Kirito asks her about it. it was probably something she got into after Kirito got her to try to live again. Also Kirito wasn't doing that just cause he's a perv or something. He made her drop her whole inventory so he could recover her sword BEFORE she equip another one or the timer ran out for retrieving it. if he hadn't she would have permanently lost her best weapon. if you pay attention to details you'd know he was just as embarrassed and that he didn't have time to explain the whole thing as he walked her through how to drop her inventory. Yes, the scene has issues but it was not THAT bad.

[@vasylpark2149]

I really like what you did seems like a good format. Keep it up. I think video submissions might be good. I think this a good place now I get similar feelings of spoonyone.

[@ploquinn]

A whole lot of the later complints are solved starting on third floor, the Elf War Quest is extremely good

[@Jack-kx5rf]

Kirito gets so much hate for his bland personality but I don't think he really does. He takes up the mantle of the legendary black swordsman to give the other players hope that they'll see their families alive while he himself has zero hope of surviving. He's the only one to realise they can only stay in their vegetative state for so long. It took 2 years to get where they were and he knows their bodies are going to fail before they even get to the final floors. He knows they're going to die but he goes on for everyone else. He takes on the sole responsibility for the others. His sense of responsibility goes so far that he helps the government track down and stop the Laughing Coffin members that got away with their crimes. Again, he does this by himself, he could ask Asuna for help. He knows she can handle herself but he doesn't want to keep bringing her and the others into danger or remind them of what they went through. Then we get the moments when he is consumed by guilt over killing the Laughing Coffin members while in SAO. He buried his emotions so deep while in SAO he killed them without remorse, buried the memories and pushed on to help everyone else putting his own mental health at risk. Then when he is confronted with his actions in the Fatal Bullet arc, his guilt over killing those people crushes him. It makes it worse when he realises while the people in Gun Gale are dying because they want revenge for the guys Kirito killed. Once they get out of SAO the thousands of survivors want to thank Kirito for his actions in the game but he chooses to keep his identity secret only letting certain people know. He doesn't want thanks or fame for his actions, he just wants to forget but can't because his sense of responsibility towards ending Laughing Coffin won't let him. Finally, he is suffering from extreme PTSD. The moment what hit me hard was when he tells his sister that the wooden sword is lighter than he is used to and she has no idea what he is talking about. he hasn't even told his sister what went on. She likely thinks he was one of the players who stayed in the safe zones. I think his story is a tragedy painted as a hero's journey.

[@TheKingOfDorksss]

Loved the video, Geoff! While unorganized at times, it proved to be a great compilation of our thoughts in our emails. Thank you SO MUCH for reading through them all as I'm sure that was an exhausting task! Really looking forward to our next reading :D

[@HollyArtyFan]

I read SAO about 10 years ago on baka-tsuki, long before most people ever heard of it. Was the first light novel I ever read and it was one of the best ones I've ever laid eyes on. Of course this is the original novel and none of the sequels. Im not too sure what people feel about the rest of the series, but the first book: 10/10. Hands down.

[@kaije7art]

I think this was a glorious format. One of the few videos on KZbin that are this long that I've watched completely through. I am definitely going to participate in the next series, and have voted for the one I hope wins.

[@moomer2675]

"Non existent world building" dude it's the first two floors. Not fucking floor 1 million where you face the literal devil. If you're gonna make a death game, why would you drop everyone into a post-apocalyptic wasteland of death and destruction at the start? The players are already scared of the fact that if they die in the game, they die in real life. Why make them even more scared by putting them in a difficult setting?

[@MontegomeryLoL]

Normally I find it very hard to engage with a video this long, but the way you went category by category really allowed the video to have a definite structure, forward momentum, and maintain my interest. I also really loved how much you drew upon community input. Keep this up.

[@cricocadazzle4439]

MB:He should of started out not traveling with his love interest. Also MB:He should've been traveling with Klein. 0/10 review, too many contradictions.

[@Rikorage]

Would've been a bombshell and kind of neat if Kirito was gay, or at least bisexual. If he's a horny teenager with no real social skills, it would make sense that he would be awkward around most people, since he could also be imagining them naked.

[@Hexious1]

Wait, there’s a second channel? What is it?! Great video by the way. I only listened to it, but I loved the way you conducted it. SAO will forever give us something to talk about.

[@OneTrueNobody]

SAO Progressive is weird in how it came about. The first half of the book was a story Reki Kawahara wrote because the anime producers wanted an in-between episode to make the pacing of the beginning less stupid. He got so into it that he wrote twice as much as they asked for, and got so into it that he decided to continue from there and just write the whole Aincrad story. The anime writers, naturally, cut out everything in that Floor 1 Boss story that made it interesting, so in the anime we got basically just the boss fight and nothing else. We didn't even get a well-told explanation for why Kirito decided to pretend to be a massive douchebag in that story, so the anime's version of the first Progressive story honestly paints a much weirder picture of Kirito than the story originally intended to. He did that to take the heat off other beta testers so players wouldn't turn against them, but the second episode of the anime basically cuts out, like... ALL of that development. Make no mistake: Anime episode 2 was based on the first half of Progressive Volume 1. It was just a very, very bad version of it. But, the intention there was that Kirito made himself a scapegoat for other players' anger. But he also overestimated the effect this would have on people's opinions of him and it's somewhat interesting to see in future volumes how his intervention in other player conflicts causes players to have a somewhat mixed, semi-positive opinion about him (I think it's implied that some of them may have caught on to the intention of his earlier ruse, but since it's in first-person you never quite know for sure). Of course, the series never quite gets away from the stupid harem bullshit, it just writes it better. >.> The "beater" thing was only vaguely touched on in the original SAO novel, I think? The story as it was presented in the anime was basically just a trimmed-down version of what happened in the first half of the novel, though. And as the series goes on, you find out that it's a prejudice being deliberately stoked by some mysterious figures who are (if you have knowledge of the original books) being built up as the precursors to the Laughing Coffin gang--they're basically just fucking with the factions that have split off after the first floor to try and provoke players into murdering each other, with Kirito intervening as a weird third party to undermine the manufactured conflicts and try to keep the player-base from imploding in on itself. It's a much more sensible position for a leading character in an MMO story to take as compared to the way Kirito is often portrayed as this "2badass4u" solo powerhouse. Side note: Argo the Rat actually did make one or two cameo appearances outside progressive and even one appearance in the anime itself, where she was the info broker who gave Kirito intel on where to find the supposed player-revival item that turned out to be a bust because it only worked within a short time window after a player died. She's a frequently-featured character in SAO video games, probably because she sticks out like a sore thumb as one of SAO's better characters and gained a lot of popularity from it.

[@OneTrueNobody]

Oh, there is actually an explanation for Asuna having so much underwear. She was grinding a crafting skill by making underwear over and over, because it was a simple item. Which is actually, like, having played FF14 and all... kind of the realest thing, except that MMOs usually don't have underwear. On the subject of naked bodies, that goes back to this horrible noncanon smutty short story where Reki Kawahara actually wrote the sex scene between Asuna and Kirito in her SAO virtual apartment I think? And, like, he goes into how the virtual mechanics work--they had to make anatomically-correct virtual bodies because extended virtual play without genitals (or in the wrong-gendered body) ended up having mental effects on players, which is also why Kayaba went to the trouble of turning everyone back into their real selves before trapping them in the game--because he's a murdering asshole but a very sporting one who didn't want players to go batshit insane from physical/mental discomfort, I guess? It's... weird. A surprising number of questions about the SAO universe have surprisingly detailed answers.

[@OneTrueNobody]

Additional note, although this has more to do with general SAO and less with Progressive: the game mechanics of SAO were originally conceived way back when Final Fantasy XI and EverQuest were still in their heydey, and if you remember the mechanics of those old MMORPGs, well... they're pretty much the opposite of "streamlined." Compared to modern WoW-based conventions, a lot of what you saw in MMOs back then was downright brutally inconvenient and players had to actively organize efforts to work around them, such as the really old-school method of dungeon diving, where a group of players would essentially just take over rulership of a dungeon for a time and other players had to ask permission to join in on the raid as the players currently participating logged out for the day. Old-school MMOs are DUMB and SAO's web novel publication happened in the heyday of that old-school MMO design (in the same year .Hack got started, in fact). So a lot of its supposedly nonsensical mechanics make more sense in the context of the time, like old futuristic sci-fi movies that still have shitty CRT monitors everywhere.

[@OneTrueNobody]

@eugeo Maybe. I can hardly stand modern MMORPG design conventions, though, personally. They sap the game of any sense of organic community and make things feel less and less like experiencing an immersive world with every year that passes. Doing endless daily dungeons and raids with hoards of randos who are too busy trying to rush through the content to get loot or levels as fast as possible doesn't hold a candle to meeting someone through natural gameplay, having a conversation, and deciding to party up. But then again, "Aincrad is a terrible game" is missing half the point anyway. Most of its design elements loop back to Akihiko Kayaba wanting the players to have a particular experience and tailoring the game to his own wishes without regard for the players' wishes: a common pitfall that game developers fall into sometimes, and one that makes perfect sense for someone who is so self-centered he literally trapped ten thousand people in a death game. Kayaba gets more character development through SAO's game design than he ever did through his own dialogue. But a lot of that gets lost in the anime adaptation, because A-1 Pictures didn't bother trying to reorganize or contextualize things so that the information in the narration got translated in any way. (SAO Alternative's anime did a much better job of inventively weaving things into the storytelling.)

[@AngelMercury]

I just stumbled upon this channel from from the Alicization review to here. Never really got into SAO as it seemed like another not great Isekai series where I already had a few rather good ones I really enjoyed and that video pretty much confirmed that I wouldn't enjoy it. That said, I love that you're trying out a light novel/Manga book club and am excited to check out future reads. Lots of good insights sent in, it's really cool to see someone currate a bunch of submitted reviews and talk about what different people took away from the writing.

[@spacepeanut]

You should put these on a podcast service (like Apple Podcasts or Spotify) so we can listen to them on the go.

[@naterivers6107]

I think Kawahara's biggest problems is his completely nonchalant abuse of the setting. What I mean is he flat out forgets, it seems at least, that he's even writing a story about a video game and switches to writing a pure fantasy. But then as soon as he needs the convenience of a video game he goes right back to it being a game. A great example of this would be that fight were Asuna and Kirito have to kill Asuna's guard that turned out to be in Laughing Coffin. He needed to somehow twist the worlds logic into a pretzel to even make it so food could be poisoned so coffin dude could try to assassinate Asuna. So we already have Kawahara forgetting how games seem to work and proof he may as well has just went with a straight high fantasy. But then he breaks the entire world clean in half by having Kirito somehow manage to get over a status effect thru sheer force of will when it should have been on a timer for how long you'd have to endure the effect with out being able to open your clunky menu to swipe to a anti parralasis potion. Nor is a system ever explained that would let a person have resistance to poisons. Then you have basic scenes too where he seems to completely ignore how the world should work like basically any boss fight turning into a total free for all and not the carefully planned raid boss fight any army of actual gamers would have come up with, only to completely whirl around on his heel and come back to RPG land where you have item drops and fight bonuses just so he can make Kirito more special by giving him a big gay coat.

[@imatomato2805]

Jeff: "to take the heat off his fellow beta testers kirito declares that hes a beater" Me: ok so what, all men are beaters, we just dont like to be called out on it

[@royceabshire2453]

JKR did it before SAO but then it wasn't just the men, both genders can be "beaters".

[@tinytorch916]

LOL

[@Zesprit15]

Glad you liked the Rand lens. I wasn’t sure if I was crazy or not for noticing that pattern or not.

[@oilikaekoile]

It’s a really interesting take on the novel; it’s an idea that defiantly holds a bucket of water for the first novel. I don’t *think* it completely holds up in all later novels (though I’m sure it does in some sections), but I could be wrong. I’d have to reread them with that in mind. Good catch, by the way.

[@theartenthusiast1932]

Anime man with +40 minutes and Mothers Basement with +55 minutes? As Oversimplified would say "Yes please."

[@AndieStardustDraws]

I think identifying key topics to go over and letting the fellow readers know what might be touched on could help streamline the video. opening up a discord would be the best bet. video submissions would be interesting if they're edited down to the meaty bits like your email segments in this video, otherwise I don't know how I feel about it. The length was great for me as someone that loooves to listen to things while drawing or driving. I'm excited for this, hearing the responses and your own opinions kept my interest for once. I remember when phillip defranco had a book club I did not care at all. I love him but the fans and content did not pull me in at the time. Here, my fellow basement dwellers actually provided good and diverse insight to the book. again, i'm excited for more!

[@eugenefindit]

So... Are we expecting a Sword Art Online reboot in a sense? I never really hated SAO but I feel like an anime that actually takes its time can really help change people's opinions on SAO. 😁

[@cybercoltz9054]

How about an SAO prequel that takes place in this generation of VR and AR based around an early SAO type game on a smartphone. And characters using a mobile phone AR element (like Google ARcore) to experience a mmorpg world in a way so its relatable to our timeline. You could call it SAO: Gen Zero Files, or something like that.

[@eugenefindit]

@@cybercoltz9054 That might actually be a pretty interesting idea. Maybe showing how SAO as a game actually became a thing and the events leading up to it. 😁

[@nickbarlas5544]

A-1 Pictures have said as long as there is SAO content they will keep making Anime, and Reki Kawahara is alright with that. I'd say a chance of a SAOP anime depends on if SAO is still profitable in the future. I imagine if they were to make one it would be after his last set of novels that he is currently writing

[@priyanshi5083]

Coughs in sao progressive movie

[@Tr1GGrz]

Great video, really enjoyed the long video format in a calmer manner, especially considering your feeling in general towards SAO. Nicely done!

[@jayveealvarez4718]

Im updated up to vol5. All the problems on the beta testers will be exposed. Its just a lil bit tad slow.

[@ChaseL16357]

Honestly, I really like this idea and can't wait to see where it'll go. I hope I'll be able to join in the up coming one, which looks to be a silent voice, a movie that I love and watch five times in a row when it was added to netflixs. Good job and thank you for spending those many hours to make such amazing content for all of us.

[@JulioVirrueta]

It's funny how Reki Kawahara stroke gold with his story... while having no writing skills whatsoever... so we are all just watching how he struggles to learn how to tell a story XD

[@Only_Habibi]

There's a big difference between making mistakes and having "No skills whatsoever". Not only are his novels are the top in Japan and that the anime is in the top 10 most popular, he's out there making millions when you're probably feeding off of a paycheck. Even Geoff himself said that the books are pretty good. The anime cut out too much and made it mediocre at best. So remind me who's a bad writer now?

[@Borderose]

He does have writing skills. It's just hard. His work is no less valid just because critics pick apart his work.

[@LynnHermione]

@@Only_Habibi Reki is. Just because something sells doesn't mean it's good.

[@oliverchang9296]

Lady Sugarquill as long as it appeals to someone as it is supposed to, his work is appreciated and he is by no means a terrible writer. Alicization has good writing and so does his other series The isolator and parts of Accel World.

[@videogamesworld01]

His writing skills are pretty bad he writes bigger infodumps than fucking nasu and his cheap drama doesn't work most of the time but the worst part is his characters are uninteresting except eugeo and yuki

[@lillyfeldman8547]

This is definitely my favorite of your video formats. Watched the entire thing