Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld Episode 12 Discussion

Nemesis16 said:


It's as if she lost grip and was attacked. Yes, it was a bad representation in the anime but you feel pain.

Here's what is on the original:

“Take this!!” he roared, swinging his battle-ax down at her. Asuna rolled to the right, but she couldn’t get all the way free. The thick blade caught her left arm.

Chunk.

It severed her forearm below the elbow. The loose part flew into the air.

“…Aaah…!!”

Her vision flickered white. The breath caught in her throat. Her entire body seized up with pain.

Asuna bent over, clutching the arm that gushed blood like a geyser. Through a sudden rush of tears, she saw four or five shadows surrounding her, raising their weapons.

Suddenly, the head of the man with the battle-ax appeared to explode.

There were more dull impacts. Each of the soldiers trying to finish off Asuna split to pieces in turn, vanishing out of view.

“Heh…They’re all soft.”

Through her agony, Asuna managed to straighten up and see a hardy young man with bold features, hair red as fire, and darkened skin.

He’s from the Dark Territory!

For a moment, she forgot her pain and sucked in a breath. The color of his skin and the single leather belt on his upper half made it clear that this was one of the Dark Army’s pugilists. But why would one of Emperor Vecta’s own troops attack the red soldiers that Vecta had summoned? It was as if he’d just saved her life.

He had only one eye looking down at her. There was a grisly, bloody wound where his right eye had been, as though it had been gouged out. A dried trail of red-black blood ran down his cheek.
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rilo03 said:
Once again, the animations are god tier.



Looking forward for the next part, Spring 2020 will be a good season.

TrisEverdeen said:

No way... it can't be

StrikeMyrmidon said:
It seems most of you defending this whole "they can log in because its from the SEED" are completely missing the easiest point of WHY it doesn't make sense. Forget the whole STL/amusphere argument for a moment.

Aside from some of the points being mentioned by others, which makes perfect sense - lag/latency, total network throughput, - it's really simple. When you develop something like this, something SOOO top secret that you literally have to put it on an island for dramatic effect, you won't be able to connect it directly to the Internet. There is no "Oh but VPN" or "Hacker Critter" that can explain away the fact that an intranet that is being depicted in the story is not PHYSICALLY connected to outside lines of communication. An intranet is a connection of systems WITHIN that LAN and there is not a single line that connects it to the outside Internet which you would need for something like 20k people logging in.

You don't have to take it from me. You know... a systems network engineer. Just use google or wikipedia.

Now if you're going to fall back on "but how do you know its intranet?" then you don't really understand how companies/governments handle their secret data. ALL sovereign government agencies have secret intranet lines. The US government has a few of their own depending on the level of classification (Secret/Top Secret/etc.) and NONE of them are able to access the internet on those systems. Why? To avoid this exact massive plot hole in the story. If you're going to tell me RATH, with all its government resources, skipped out on network security 101 and simply let randos into their highly classified network, that's just exactly what it is, a plot hole. Either that or they're just begging people to hack into their systems which would make even less sense considering they built the damn thing on an artificial island. Another thing to point out. Do you know who uses satellite connections to connect to the Internet? Almost no one. The only reason people would resort to using satellite is because they're in the middle of nowhere with no hard line broadband connection to telecommunication lines. Satellite internet was a thing... you know... back in 2003-2005 but with DSL, coax, and now fiber being a thing, almost no one uses satellite anymore unless you fall into the category above. This is supposed to be the future so it makes even less sense. Don't tell me its because it was written in the early 2000s. I know that. But it doesn't change the fact that you can, you know, adapt with the times to make it more reasonable.

----

As for the rest of the season. Somewhat of a disappointment. I'd probably rate this season between a 4 or 5 so far. I agree with what most people have criticized about the season thus far. ie: Too little character development in Alicization. Too much character development to random baddies who die after showing their face. Direction just being a shotgun blast in every direction. Yes yes, a ton of LN to cram into anime. Sure. Doesn't change the fact that it's a problem faced by many different anime adaptations and many are able to pull it off. I've also read the last post on the whole STL/amusphere argument and I don't buy it either. They clearly had STL machines in mainland Japan so why even bring Kirito to the island? Because... medical reasons? Really? Please tell me if you'd prefer resources of being ON LAND as opposed to being in the middle of the ocean when it comes to medical needs.

Some of you also have no concept of how the brain works either. I'm no neurologist but even basic college biology will tell you the brain sends signals in order for your body to function. Some are done consciously like movement and thought and some are done unconsciously like telling your heart to beat or regulating blood flow due to temperature changes. I'm ASSUMING the whole idea behind amusphere and nerve gear was reading those brain signals/waves and manipulating them to create this VRMMO. It's an actual science that does actually exist in the real world albeit nothing as capable as creating fantasy land. When they say that you will experience pain like in real life to those distrustful crowd of ALO players, they're probably referencing those same brain signals that tell your body what hurts and what doesn't. I'm guessing the whole reason nerve gear 2.0 sold so well after original SAO was due to safety features like auto-log when it scans and notices those brain signals and take action. So now coming back to SAO: WoU and saying you will experience pain but it won't log you out kind of just... doesn't make sense. It either has safety features that work or it doesn't. It's not fair to just pick and choose when it's supposed to work and not. Speaking of which, Asuna is connected via STL and literally had her arm cut off. No screaming or searing pain that you would expect from a person who literally had their arm cut off. You know... when Kirito had HIS arm cut off? Or the reference made in the previous episode where "you will experience pain as if its real life" that they just mentioned. Instead we just get a calm and collected look as she's about to die. I know I'm nitpicking here on the last part but these are indeed plot holes.

Maill said:
Your post doesn't make any sense. First, why you bother trying explaining the unexplainable ?
Let's take your network explanation, you know as someone who work for companies as an IT specialist, an Intranet is always somewhat connected to Internet, we just block the in/out requests with a firewall or some other methods. So in this case, create a aperture to the Internet is easy for someone who know what he does.
Second, you're not a neurobiologist, me neither, but in fact, all our senses can be reproduce in a way, these technologies are very intrusive (like, spikes in the brain) in order to replicate them and have no concrete applications like in SAO. And don't try explaining the NerveGear, Amusphere, STL thing, because they has no real comparison.
Third, you asking why Asuna don't cry to death when her arm was cut ? Dopamine and adrenaline ! (If, we assume that users of STL have a valid biological body inside the Underworld) She was very scared and she was nearly killed before the dark territory guy came, so it's pretty normal considering the situation.

So you basically rate a show on his relevancy to the real ? Boy, we need to explain to you what a Sci-Fi show is.

Maill said:
Second, you're not a neurobiologist, me neither, but in fact, all our senses can be reproduced in a way, these technologies are very intrusive (like, spikes in the brain) in order to replicate them and have no concrete applications like in SAO. And don't try explaining the NerveGear, Amusphere, STL thing, because they has no real comparison.

StrikeMyrmidon said:

For your first point, I'm merely responding to a bunch of people trying to explain away why its feasible that people are able to connect to Underworld.

Secondly, you're incorrect. Certain intranet systems such as government systems cannot connect to the Internet. They literally have no physical connection to the internet and this is done by design as to avoid a compromised network. There is no blocking of ports necessary when you physically cannot access the system from outside the LAN.

Lastly, adrenaline and not dopamine is what I would call our natural pain absorber if we were to use a comparison. But no amount of adrenaline will mask losing an arm. None.

You also seem to be misunderstanding my post and maybe it is my fault as it was a long post and it could have been confusing to follow at times. I rated the show the way I did because of the direction it took. Not for the "relevance" to real life as you put it. All that network explanation and brain chemistry is in response to those who have used them as a way to try and cover up what I see as plot holes and to those who just flat out deny that they are indeed plot holes. There will always be plot holes to stories and that's totally fine. But to just deny that they exist is a whole different matter.

StrikeMyrmidon said:

I also don't know what you're trying to say here. From what I'm reading, it sounds like you agree with my point that these "sensations" are indeed just signals and that can be recreated which I don't disagree with so? As far as those three systems having no real world comparison, I already stated that as well. Again, merely responding to earlier posts in the thread.

Maill said:
Fair enough, for the network part, don't forget that the pirates are on the system itself, not like they're in remote control. So they can make any modifications in order to achieve their goals.
Dopamine and adrenaline can mask a intense pain, in order to survive, the body will reduce the pain to continue trying to survive. But it's just assumptions, because we don't know how the STL manage that.

Ok, my bad then, didn't understand that way (was not very clear tho), but now it makes sense. And all those network and science bit in the show is literally non relevant in the plot. Of course it has plot holes, like any show that are produced, in the case of SAO, it's pretty light if we compare other shows (Yes, I'm looking at you Index III).

StrikeMyrmidon said:

Just because they're at the main terminal can't really explain away ANYTHING that is depicted in the last two episodes. Changing time dilation, sure. It's just programming. Inserting people in certain locations, again just code. What is not feasible is to just create an imaginary connection to the outside world. There is no satellite connection in the world that would allow what you see in those episodes, plain and simple.

As far as train of thought on review, I'll just edit and move a few paragraphs so its easier to follow. Simple and done.

Maill said:
Fair enough, for the network part, don't forget that the pirates are on the system itself, not like they're in remote control. So they can make any modifications in order to achieve their goals.
Dopamine and adrenaline can mask a intense pain, in order to survive, the body will reduce the pain to continue trying to survive. But it's just assumptions, because we don't know how the STL manage that.

Ok, my bad then, didn't understand that way (was not very clear tho), but now it makes sense. And all those network and science bit in the show is literally non relevant in the plot. Of course it has plot holes, like any show that are produced, in the case of SAO, it's pretty light if we compare other shows (Yes, I'm looking at you Index III).

StrikeMyrmidon said:
Yes but no, this is futuristic, so having that kind of satellite connection is not a bad image and is perfectly possible. I read somewhere that satellite can have mad connection rate, but the latency is high. Let's say that in the context of the show, in 2026, a satellite can handle 100k+ connection, because why not.

Nayout said:
That a series / videogames use elements of real life does not mean that it uses the same rules as real life. Metal Gear uses many real-life elements and I never saw people complaining about mechas or clones with stupid real-life comparisons.

People talking about how networks are managed in 2019 in a series that is located in 2026 where 6 years ago there was already a fully functional MMORPG using VR, don't you see how stupid this is?

madmonkskillz said:
I feel bad for Yoshitsugu Matsuoka. He didn't get to do much this first half of this season.

Nurguburu said:
SAO: Alicization - War of Underworld is the one the best anime from 2019. I'm glad how SAO improved since S3 and I look forward to the last part of Alicization next year. 9/10 for the anime.

Maill said:


Your post doesn't make any sense. First, why you bother trying explaining the unexplainable ?
Let's take your network explanation, you know as someone who work for companies as an IT specialist, an Intranet is always somewhat connected to Internet, we just block the in/out requests with a firewall or the system is not configured to connect to the Internet (and it's very easy to configure a system to access the Internet). So in this case, create a aperture to the Internet is easy for someone who know what he does.
Second, you're not a neurobiologist, me neither, but in fact, all our senses can be reproduced in a way, these technologies are very intrusive (like, spikes in the brain) in order to replicate them and have no concrete applications like in SAO. And don't try explaining the NerveGear, Amusphere, STL thing, because they has no real comparison.
Third, you asking why Asuna don't cry to death when her arm was cut ? Dopamine and adrenaline ! (If, we assume that users of STL have a valid biological body inside the Underworld) She was very scared and she was nearly killed before the dark territory guy came, so it's pretty normal considering the situation.

So you basically rate a show on his relevancy to the real ? Boy, we need to explain to you what a Sci-Fi show is.

tolga1991 said:
Way to f..k up another season SAO this makes it 3 4 if you include the first season after episode 15. And what was that cringy voice-over on "american" players?

CYCLOPSCORE said:


Please elaborate your issues.