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My least favourite Sword Art Online moments... Spoilers ahead! Season 1 Episode 4: The Black Swordsman This was Silica's episode. Silica is a cute and adorable character. And she had a nice red outfit that really suited her, that I will admit. But Silica's circumstances really bothered me. She got into an argument with her party, gets into a dangerous situation and somehow, with a stroke of luck Kirito just happened to be in the right place, in the right time to save her. REALLY?!?! Did that not bother anyone else? Why didn't Silica just wait until she got back into the relative safety of town before disbanding from her party? Episode 24: Glided Hero This was the climax of the Alfheim Online arc, Kirito finally broke through to free Asuna. Then Sugou molests Asuna by undressing her slowly and licking her tears whilst leaving an impaled sword into Kirito. OK. I realise they already portrayed Sugou as having a fetish towards Asuna and him being super dodgy to her body outside Alfheim Online. But I just felt the molesting probably could have been left out. Season 2 Episode 13: Phantom Bullet After the Death Gun battle, Kirito and Sinon embrace and both go out with a bang with a hand grenade so that they both win Gun Gale Online. Lovely, and absolutely touching scene!! ... then that was completely RUINED after Sinon/Asada's dodgy friend Shinkawa reveals himself as an accomplice in the player murders. Then attempts to rape her. And yet, despite this, Kirito was able to pinpoint Asada's location and save her. Ehh.... another scene that probably wasn't necessary in my opinion. Other than that... you know, overall I found Sword Art Online to be quite enjoyable. Beautifully animated worlds, battles, and despite the harem aspects, I thought they were charming in a way. How about you? What were your least favourite Sword Art Online moments and why?

I’m just curious. I’d probably want to be in Tokyo Ghoul. I wouldn’t mind being a human or Ghoul. I just think it would be satisfying. Or maybe Project K as a King’s deciple? Lol, maybe for the Silver King or the Red King.

Contents I. Introduction II. I Wanna Be the Very Best, Like No One Ever Was III. The Long and Winding Road IV. His Name was Tobias V. You're Such a Little Kid! VI. You Really Are an Amazing Person VII. “Kalos League Victory! Satoshi's Greatest Decisive Battle” VIII. To Be Continued: The Cycle of Failure IX. A Jobber in Alola X. Closing Remarks As this is a subforum where discussion of the Pokémon anime is allowed, I feel this is an appropriate place to make this thread, for discussion purposes. The following below is an incredibly long rant about the state of the Pokémon anime. I make no attempt to hide any salt and I have no intention of trolling anyone, only to narrate and tell from my heart my deepest feelings about the anime. Although it's quite long, the message of this work is very simple. The essay was originally posted in unedited form at Serebii Forums on December 31, 2016. So have some popcorn, sit back, and relax. I. Introduction My first foray into Pokémon was back in 1998, when I got the Game Boy Camera that summer (might've been my birthday, can't really remember). I had a ton of fun with that little thing—the games, the DJ, the photos, among other things. What was particularly cool was being able to place silly stamps on the photos. There were eyes, mouths, accessories, various Mario characters, and some creatures that my older brother referred to as generic “dinosaurs” or “monsters”, can't exactly remember which word he said. But I used them on my photos anyway, cause why not. Little did I know that wasn't going to be the last time I saw those critters, oh no. Come Autumn later that year, my brother tells me all the neat things about a new craze going on in school called Pokémon. He introduced me to the TV show, where we watched it together. I, being but a young boy at the time, was hooked and completely loved every minute of it, and just wanted to watch more and more of it. I made sure to watch every new episode premiere to the best of my ability and was happy to watch the reruns. Around the same time, I saw the commercial to the games, and wanted to play them badly. Soon enough, I got the game, and was completely hooked to it, and became a young Pokémon fan. Every Pokémon fan has likely heard of and watched the anime at some point in their lives. When we saw the anime for the first time, plenty of us found it exciting to see Ash and others traveling, battling with their critters and getting stronger, strengthening the bonds and friendships with each other and their Pokémon, helping out others, earning badges, fighting evil, and so forth. Many today still have nostalgia for those days. But today, the Pokémon anime is scorned by both Pokémon and anime fans, something that gives both the franchise and the medium a bad name. What went wrong? Let us review Ash's journey throughout the years. II. I Wanna Be the Very Best, Like No One Ever Was According to Wikipedia, the premise or synopsis of the entire anime is this: “After he turns 10 years old, Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in Japan) is allowed to start his journey in the world of Pokémon and dreams of becoming a Pokémon master.” Remember this carefully. So our boy Ash, despite getting up late, manages to begin a brand new journey in a new region, with Pikachu by his side, in hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master. The Pikachu, given to him by Professor Oak, at first does not get along very well with the newbie trainer; but not long after they get along very well and become a strong team. They later get joined by Brock and Misty, two people who are in charge of Pokémon Gyms, a place where trainers are tested by battling such leaders in hopes of defeating them to obtain a Gym Badge, of which eight are required to enter the Pokémon League. As Ash desires to win the league he tries hard to get these badges, all while going through some extra battling, capturing more Pokémon, visiting places, helping out strangers, and stopping Team Rocket, a trio consisting of Jessie, James and Meowth, who hope to capture his Pikachu due to their impression of how strong he is. In addition, he hopes to win his rivalry against the snobby Gary, the grandson of Professor Oak. Misty herself desires to become a Water Pokémon Master, and Brock desires to become a Pokémon Breeder. Ash manages to get all of the Gym Badges at Kanto, though sometimes by unconventional means (he was simply going to get the Cascade Badge without a battle, he got another by making its Gym Leader laugh, and yet another by not fighting the actual Gym Leader). Nonetheless he was happy with his badges, and went off to enter the Pokémon League. Ash had a bit of struggles with his opponents, among them a long green-haired weirdo and a woman in traditional Japanese clothing with an overpowered Bellsprout. But despite those, Ash manages to win four 3v3 Pokémon matches. Ash is now in the Sweet Sixteen! So he faces off against a trainer that isn't so different from him—he is similar in personality and fights with similar Pokémon. His name is Ritchie. Like our boy Ash, Ritchie resembled and was loosely based on Red, the protagonist of the first Pokémon games. He marked his Poké Balls with stars and gave nicknames to each of his Pokémon. He similarly had a Pikachu that was always with him by his side. He too wanted to become a good trainer. Unsurprisingly, Ash and Ritchie became good pals and always want to see each other succeed. However, the time came where the two trainers had to face each other in the tournament. The two felt conflicted, and yet were ready to engage in a battle. The two fought valiantly, but thanks to some poor refereeing and the stupidity of Ash's Charizard, Ash loses the match. He is eliminated from the tournament. Unlike his game, manga, and Pokémon Origins counterparts, Ash does not become the Pokémon Champion. Ash does not obtain his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. While many of us were disappointed with the outcome, plenty of us also thought, “Well, losses happen. It's okay to lose.” 255 trainers had to lose the tournament, and Ash (and Ritchie) ended up becoming one of them. Losing is part of life. Time to move on. Little did plenty of us know that this was just the beginning of would later be an awful predicament. III. The Long and Winding Road After the league ended, Ash decided to continue traveling. He and his companions enter a region called the Orange Islands. Brock was replaced by an artist named Tracey, while Misty continues traveling with our protagonist. We continue to see much of the same—battles, catching Pokémon, helping strangers, Team Rocket blasting off again, and so forth. Ash gains four more badges by doing non-battle challenges, which qualifies him to enter the Orange League. The battle was Ash against Drake in a full 6v6 battle. It was quite exciting to watch, and the great highlight was seeing Ash's Pikachu take down a mighty Dragonite, giving Ash the victory. It was not a true league however, so Ash's journey is not quite over. But hey, it's something, right? Well, not really. So off he goes to Johto. Brock returns and replaces Tracey, who didn't really get anywhere with his goal; we're back to the original team. Meanwhile, Team Rocket continues to attempt getting Pikachu but never succeeds. The Johto saga was notorious for its heavy amount of filler, yet despite that Ash manages to get eight more badges, qualifying him to enter into the Johto League. Misty also decided to do something with her goal as she and Ash enter the Whirl Cup, a tournament where trainers are only allowed to use water-type Pokémon. Despite Misty's apparent expertise at that kind of thing, she is defeated, and thus does not really fulfill her goal in becoming a Water Pokémon Master, whatever that is. Brock continues to tag along, flirting with women along with other activities. Eventually Ash arrives to the Johto League. He defeats a good number of opponents, among those were a girl who was heavily infatuated with him and his biggest rival Gary. But despite this great accomplishment, he gets defeated by Harrison at the quarterfinals, in a match that unlike against Ritchie, turned out to be a good loss for our hero. He got further than he did before, and was finally able to overcome Gary, who reconciled with Ash and then quit becoming as a Pokémon Trainer, joining his grandfather in his research. But Ash's adventure is far from over. So next he arrives to Hoenn. It wasn't without a bit of controversy—Misty fans were enraged as the tomboyish mermaid was getting written out and replaced by May, who was the female protagonist of the then new Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire games. With an emotional goodbye to Misty, Ash continues his adventure, catching all sorts of new Pokémon, meeting various people, engaging in many battles, fending off Team Rocket (who continues but fails to capture Ash's Pikachu), and winning another eight badges to enter the Hoenn League. Meanwhile, May finds her own goal—become a Master Coordinator. In her attempt to reach her dream, she entered so-called Pokémon Contests, which are more or less Pokémon pet shows plus some battling, in hopes of winning some ribbons. She manages to get the five ribbons required to enter the Grand Festival, where the winner will be donned Master Coordinator. Despite her hard work however May is defeated in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Ash himself is yet again beaten, this time by eventual Champion Tyson and his Meowth at the Hoenn League quarterfinals, yet he was able to make it that far using only his Hoenn team. But that wasn't enough for our boy. He travels on, as the journey continues! IV. His Name was Tobias By this point, Ash had become an experienced player. He, Brock and May return to Kanto and do stuff; May tries again with her goal but fails a second time, this time being defeated at the semifinals of the Kanto Grand Festival. Ash himself enters and wins the Battle Frontier, which seems to be the Pokémon equivalent of an All-Star Game or the International Champions Cup, which although impressive, was not an important competition like the regional Pokémon League. So Ash heads off to Sinnoh. May (and her forgettable brother) get written out without getting their goals accomplished and Dawn, the female protagonist of the Gen IV Pokémon games, now takes the spotlight. Brock tarries on longer, practically getting relegated to a shadow of what he used to be. Team Rocket still stalks Ash in hopes of getting that Pikachu of his, yet again they do not succeed. More of the usual happens—Ash captures Pokémon, Ash does more battling, Ash wins some badges, etc. Dawn, like May before her, desires to become a Master Coordinator. She too enters contests and despite some struggles gets the ribbons necessary to reach the Grand Festival. Unfortunately she only gets so far just to lose to rival Zoey at the finals, thus being unable to fulfill her goal. Too bad. As for Ash, he enters a Pokémon League for the fourth time. This time he goes really far, and manages to defeat rival Paul in an epic battle that lasted three episodes, sending him to the semifinals for the first time in his history as a Pokémon Trainer. Having momentum by overcoming a fierce rival, Ash looked on his way to the long awaited victory after 13 years worth of episodes. But not so fast. In comes a man in a cloak, named Tobias. He had swept all of his previous opponents, using a single Darkrai. Yes, Darkrai, the legendary Mythical Pokémon. This same Darkrai ended up taking about half of Ash's entire team. But Ash wasn't just going to roll over and die. With great effort, the Darkrai was finally taken down by Sceptile, yet those efforts came in vain, as Tobias sends out a second legendary Pokémon, Latios, who managed to wipe out the rest of Ash's team, though it was not without Latios himself fainting together with Pikachu. Just when Ash looked to be on a possible road to victory, he gets crushed by this guy who has a team of multiple legendary Pokémon with him. For the fourth time in a fourth region, Ash again does not fulfill his dream. Tough luck. Let us review the premise of the anime again: “After he turns 10 years old, Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in Japan) is allowed to start his journey in the world of Pokémon and dreams of becoming a Pokémon master.” For some reason, the writers felt that they didn't really want to have Ash make any further progress towards that goal, and as a way to do that, we get a God-mode trainer that stands in his way, one I would like to call a pastiche of players who enter Pokémon Leagues using legendary Pokémon in the games. So Tobias just comes into the anime as a plot device who only exists to do just that, halting the fulfillment of the premise of the anime by defeating Ash with overpowered legendary Pokémon. It is quite disastrous. But hey, to those who looked on the bright side, Ash proved himself to be the second strongest Pokémon Trainer by performing best against the eventual Champion Tobias. Surely, this could mean that Ash could make progress towards his dream and win the next league at Unova, right? Nope, instead it would only get worse. Much, much worse. V. You're Such a Little Kid! Brock more or less outstayed his welcome, having been relegated to a mere background character and did almost nothing towards fulfilling his goal of becoming a Pokémon Breeder. So he changes his goal to become a Pokémon Doctor instead, and then is subsequently axed from the show without really seeing him become one. As for Dawn, she was going to go with Ash but suddenly gets written out thanks to some unforeseen circumstance. So despite her popularity Dawn too gets axed, and she becomes the third Poké Girl who doesn't reach her goal—Ash must be some kind of bad luck charm. So Ash heads alone to Unova, where a new adventure awaits him. You figure that with all those strong Pokémon he's collected over the years he could finally create the team necessary to get the badges required to enter the Unova League and eventually give him the Championship win he deserves. Oh wait, over the years is very misleading. Because at the very first episode of Best Wishes, we Ash's age retconned back to 10 by the narrator even though an anniversary scene existed in the original series. Worse, we witness a battle where his Pikachu, who just battled Latios a couple of episodes prior, faced a brand new Snivy... and lost. Though Pikachu was partially handicapped this was still an embarrassment for our veteran trainer. It was just the beginning of the problems the Unova saga had; that one match symbolized the horrible things that were to come, resulting in many anime viewers panning it. Pikachu was made weak and Ash regressed as a trainer. Far from the guy that took on Tobias, we see Ash make some ridiculous noob mistakes like not knowing how to catch a Pokémon, not knowing about type weaknesses, scanning a Koffing as if he never knew the Pokémon. Those are not things a veteran trainer like Ash should've done; those kind of mistakes allowed Iris, a girl with insane hair with an affinity for dragon-type Pokémon, to belittle him with destructive criticism, constantly calling him a kid. She aspired to become a so-called Dragon Master but does not achieve it, making her a real hypocrite. They are accompanied by Cilan, a Pokémon Connoisseur, one that although skilled does not achieve the top rank. All while getting pursued yet again by Team Rocket, who actually changed up a bit for a short time before going back to the comedic trio that unsuccessfully attempts to get Pikachu. The Unova League was the pinnacle of how bad the Pokémon anime had gotten. Despite the incompetence of Ash, he again manages to get eight more badges, along with other accomplishments, like being able to face Team Rocket boss Giovanni for the first time (though he got creamed hard), and witnessing the return of his powerful Charizard. So he comes into the league, takes down a few opponents, and proceeds to fight a trainer in the quarterfinals named Cameron. This should've been an automatic win for Ash, as Cameron didn't even get the required amount of badges to enter the league, and thought he could only enter five Pokémon in the match. Yet thanks to rubbish nonsense, Ash loses that match as Cameron's Riolu evolves to Lucario. Cameron proceeds to get smacked 3-6 in the semifinal match. This was followed by an arc made entirely of filler in the Decolore Islands. It seems that all of that development Ash had prior to Best Wishes was deliberately thrown out by the writers, showing a gigantic middle finger at the premise of the anime. To those who wanted to see the anime's premise fulfilled, Best Wishes went the opposite route. In terms of fulfilling the premise of seeing Ash become a Pokémon Master, the writers have failed tremendously. It was mainly thanks to this series that the anime got the notoriety it is known for. Furthermore, the TV ratings had decreased from good to bad, where the effect had carried over to XY and now Sun and Moon. Allow me to quote from a user in a Pokémon forum at how bad the anime had gotten: Another user from the same thread said, “I’m sure it was the intention of both series that Satoshi would grow from where he started out, but whereas DP was able to show this competently, BW failed to show he went through any growth at all. And as far as I'm concerned, failing to show that growth in the main character of the show severely hurt the quality of Best Wishes and is one of the biggest reasons - though there are several outside of that - why I personally rate it the worst [series].” At the end of the series, Iris and Cilan get written out by taking a train. But we're not finished with Ash. Oh no. VI. You Really Are an Amazing Person After the disaster in Unova, five-time loser Ash is back home in Pallet. Ash again has not fulfilled his dream. There goes a moment where he is pondering about his adventure, thinking about many folks in he's known in his journey—Gary, Misty, Brock, Tracey, May, Dawn, Iris, and Cilan. He also reunites with the Pokémon he's collected over plenty of time. As his dream remains as strong as ever, he heads off to Kalos in a brand new outfit along with his trusty pal Pikachu. Team Rocket continues to pursue the duo. So when he arrives there, much to the pleasant surprise of people, and in contrast to how bad he had gotten in BW, Ash is made a strong trainer again, almost as if he picked up straight from the end of Sinnoh. By the second episode we see an epic story that involves Pikachu nearly losing his life and Ash jumping off Prism Tower to save him. He and Pikachu are accompanied by three others—Clemont, the Lumiose Gym Leader, whose goal is to gain more confidence (a noble albeit subjective goal), Bonnie, his younger sister, who desires to become a trainer in the future, and Serena, a girl whom Ash met in their childhood, who at first did not have a goal but eventually decided to become a Pokémon Performer by participating in Pokémon Showcases (which you can say are basically beauty pageants with Pokémon), in hopes of ultimately becoming Kalos Queen. In deep contrast to the treatment Ash received from Iris, everyone seemed to admire him and his qualities, both his traveling companions and his rivals (detractors call them a fan club), and for once, Ash was no longer reliant on an older guy for advice or something; he felt like he was a true leader in his group. In the meanwhile we are introduced to a young man named Alain. He was the protagonist of the Mega Evolution specials, and desired to become the strongest trainer. He sure had power indeed; his Mega Charizard X was able to take down ten other Mega Evolved Pokémon in a row. He was accompanied by a young girl named Mairin, a beginner trainer who was in many ways the opposite of Alain, being both bubbly and clumsy at the same time. Throughout the Kalos saga, Ash seemed like he was taking his goal very seriously; he is seen training his Pokémon often, and with great effort wins another eight badges, along with the usual affairs of fillers, catching more Pokémon, helping more strangers out, fending off Team Rocket yet again, and other activities. Serena on the other hand, gets the three Princess Keys needed to enter the Master Class, where the winner would receive the title of Kalos Queen. Yet despite her great efforts, she is defeated by reigning Kalos Queen Aria. Like all of Ash's female companions before her Serena fails to achieve her dream, this time of being Kalos Queen (all this despite a closing credits dedicated to it). She was so close yet so far. Poor girl. Plenty of viewers saw that coming, however. But Ash on the other hand had become a really strong trainer. As a matter of fact, Ash was perhaps at the strongest he has ever been, surpassing the level he was at the end of Sinnoh. He had a solid team with him of fully evolved Pokémon (except for his trusty Pikachu of course), a team of Pokémon that had amazing accomplishments by taking on Mega Evolutions and/or Legendaries. In particular, his Greninja, whom Ash had found as a Froakie, created an enormous bond with him, to the point where he would transform into a more powerful form known as Ash-Greninja. The bond is considered so strong that Ash himself would share whatever pain Greninja received while on this form. This was prophesied by one of the Kalos Gym Leaders, Olympia, who stated that Ash and the then Frogadier that they would reach levels never seen before. The strength of Ash-Greninja gave Pokémon Champion Diantha and her Mega Gardevoir a run for their money before abruptly ending as Ash was unable to handle Ash-Greninja's power, causing him to faint and thus be unable to battle. However, after several losses and then some subsequent words from Serena, Ash and Greninja received important development that allowed them to master the transformation, which proved to be crucial for winning that last badge. VII. “Kalos League Victory! Ash's Greatest Decisive Battle” With the eight badges Ash got at Kalos, he was ready to enter the Lumiose Conference. The number of entrants were quite low, only 64 I believe. Ash easily wins the first four rounds with his Pokémon, but before he was able to begin his match against his friend and rival Sawyer, he was stopped by a punk who wanted to battle him. After Ash took care of him, the punk confessed that he was saddened that he did not get the badges necessary to enter the league, and begs Ash to win for him. In front of a crowd, Ash vowed that he would win for all of those trainers who couldn't enter the league. The semifinal against Sawyer was a hard fought battle, where it came down to Ash-Greninja vs Mega Sceptile, but Ash came down victorious despite the type disadvantage. The other semifinal on the other hand was seeing Alain destroy Louis 6-1 in embarrassing fashion. The final was going to be tough. Ash had never made it this far in a tournament, making this the biggest match he's ever had in all his tenure as a Pokémon Trainer. Alain on the other hand didn't really care for the title or the tournament itself and only wanted to become the strongest and battle Ash and collect some energy for his boss, Lysandre of Team Flare, who was misguiding him that the energy would be used for righteous purposes. Both characters had a very strong team with them. The previews made sure to hype up this huge match, making emphasis that Ash had never beaten Alain before since they met, having lost to him twice previously although Ash was close in one of those matches. Team Rocket themselves commented in the anime that Ash could finally win one of these leagues. Would this be the time where Ash finally overcomes his rival? Will this be the time where Ash wins his first ever Pokémon League title? Watch the match to find out! So after an intermission, the Kalos League Final commences. Although Pokémon never really had good animation, the battle scenes were beautiful to the eye and the action was epic. Ash was doing very well as a trainer, and I personally believe that the matches against Tyranitar and Metagross was undoubtedly one of Pikachu's finest moments in the entire anime. His efforts helped Ash be put into a 3v2 advantage by end of the first episode, with only Alain's Bisharp and Charizard remaining. Pikachu would continue to battle, putting on some hits on Charizard including a powerful and supereffective Thunderbolt. Alain later withdrew Charizard after taking down Pikachu, and eventually the match came down to Ash-Greninja vs. Mega Charizard X. Having previously taken down a Mega Sceptile, Greninja was primed to take on Charizard, and was gifted with a type advantage. With his powerful bond with Ash they achieved a power that was never previously before seen, a bond far more impressive than by comparison a mere Mega Evolution. And for most of the match, it showed. Ash-Greninja was doing more of the damage against Mega Charizard X while keeping damage against him at a minimum. Stacked with the damage Pikachu had dealt against Mega Charizard X, Ash-Greninja appeared to be winning. We soon see Ash-Greninja perform a wild gigantic orange Water Shuriken which he is soon to throw at Mega Charizard X. Let's pause here. Look at that beautiful thing. Look at it. Amazing. Unto many viewers, it looked to be the finishing move. It looked like victory was coming. The premise of the entire anime boiled down to this. Ash had his highs and his lows. Of all the stupid mistakes, errors and shortcomings Ash had made in the past, of all the failure he had to endure, they don't matter anymore. He was going to win that Championship. He was going to accomplish that dream of his. That Water Shuriken looked to symbolize the victory Ash deserves after 900+ episodes of experience, trials, happiness, sorrow, and accomplishments as a Pokémon Trainer. It looked to give the positive message that all of Ash's hard work, time, effort, training, teamwork, discipline, strength, endurance, speed, determination, patience, diligence, passion, desire, heart and love was finally, finally going to pay off. On we go! Kalos League Victory! VIII. To Be Continued: The Cycle of Failure Alain, perhaps in panic, causes Mega Charizard X to counter with a Blast Burn. A great explosion results. After the explosion, both Pokémon are seen standing. Mega Charizard X shakes a bit. But Ash-Greninja falls down. Ash-Greninja reverts to his original form. Ash-Greninja fainted. Ash is out of usable Pokémon. Ash has lost the Kalos League Championship final. Alain is awarded the Championship trophy. His Charizard is standing right there, appearing unfazed, showing that despite the improved bond Greninja actually performed worse than before. Ash is seen smiling like the good boy he is. There are so many things wrong with what happened at that scene. This is Best Wishes level writing here. Ash had just lost the biggest match of his life, and yet he is smiling. In contrast, let us look at three real life athletes, all who lost earlier that same year in the finals of a major sporting competition. Look at Cam Newton at Super Bowl 50. Look at Stephen Curry at the 2016 NBA Finals. Look at Lionel Messi at the Copa América Centenario. Did all three of them just move on and smile after losing those huge games? No! They all took their losses hard. Newton was so bitter that he walked out in the middle of a press conference. Curry was seen crying in the locker room. Messi temporarily quit the Argentina national soccer team. These are human responses. I can't really blame them for their actions there. I likely would've done the same thing if I were in their spots. Ash on the other hand, seems perfectly content with his loss. To quote one guy from Reddit: “He takes it instantly. Not a single second of disappointment or frustration, even after having come so close. No human acts like that. Everyone would at least need to breath deep for a second there. But not Ash, because the narrative bends him into getting over it immediately. Poor kid.” It is almost as he is fine with a lower standard and not fulfilling his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. This is a massive contradiction to the premise of the anime! It makes no sense. How can people relate to this? If the writers are trying to teach that it's okay to lose, then they've failed this badly with such execution. While I agree it's okay to lose, it's also okay to feel disappointed. The anime didn't do this (and arguably didn't even do the first part either). Let us use an altered quote of the late Roger Ebert, because it perfectly sums up my thoughts on what happened at those very moments: To me, this was the absolute worst moment in all of Pokémon, and that really says something. The league was soon interrupted by a crazy invasion by Team Flare, yet the excellent Team Flare arc and succeeding episodes could not save the disastrous conclusion of the ending: That after about 940 episodes and 20 years of anime production, Ash Ketchum is back at Pallet, still beginning a brand new journey in a new region, with Pikachu by his side, in hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master. * * * The reason the writers had Ash lose was clearly because they wanted to continue this anime. I can't think of anything else. The status quo was in full power in that scene. The status quo of the Pokémon anime runs a cycle like this: 1. Ash enters a new region with Pikachu by his side in hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master. 2. Ash meets the professor of the region and gets a starter Pokémon from that region. 3. Ash also meets some people who'll end up being his companions in the region. Some of those companions have goals of their own that they want to achieve. 4. Team Rocket follows Ash and his crew in hopes of obtaining Pikachu. 5. Throughout the region, Ash and his companions do some Pokémon battles, enter some unimportant competitions, win some Badges or equivalent, catch some regional Pokémon, fend off Team Rocket over and over, help random strangers, etc., etc., etc. 6. After doing all that, Ash enters the region's Pokémon League, but despite his valiant effort, he is defeated. His companions likewise fail to win in their respective competitions. 7. At the end of the region, Ash's Pokémon and companions (except Pikachu) are all written out, and Ash returns to Pallet. 8. Ash enters a new region with Pikachu by his side in hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master... and proceeds to lose that region's League. The consequences of the status quo results in these: 1. Ash does not obtain his dreams of becoming a Pokémon Master. 2. His companions also do not obtain their respective dreams, and will likely never do so thanks to getting written out of the anime. 3. Ash's Pokémon except for Pikachu also get written out despite their hard work and achievements throughout his adventure. 4. TRio, despite failing over and over again to obtain Pikachu or some other goal, nonetheless continue to stalk him. 5. Thus, any existing bonds or relationships between Ash and his Pokémon and peers are gone, because the latter groups are no longer in the anime. 6. Finally, the entire region becomes filler, as Ash remains in the initial state he was at the beginning of the saga—ready to start a new adventure with Pikachu by his side. Plenty of us love to bash Ash for the repeated failings he's had and point out his mediocrity as a Pokémon Trainer. For a long time, Ash's incompetence was a pretty valid argument on why he kept losing. But this is no longer the case. It's just no longer Ash's stupidity or mediocrity, but vile and rubbish codswallop that caused him to lose. The message is really no longer “It's okay to lose” (though as far as I know the anime has never actually taught this), but rather “No matter how hard you try, you will always fail.” This is downright insulting, even for a kids' show. The status quo has caused this Reddit post to happen after Ash's loss: Ash is not the only person who has failed to reach his dream. In the 20 years the Pokémon anime has run, his companions also all have failed to achieve their respective dreams. These are the results: -Misty has failed to become a water Pokémon Master -Brock has failed to become a Pokémon Breeder and has not become a Pokémon Doctor -May has failed to become a Master Coordinator -Dawn has also failed to become a Master Coordinator -Cilan did not become a Class S Connoisseur -Iris failed to become a Dragon Master -Serena has failed to become Kalos Queen Failure and defeatism is the recurring theme of the anime. Failure for just about every major character. No one ever seems to win anything. For Ash's traveling companions, they get a goal, they fail at reaching the goal, and then they all get written out, never to be seen again, never ever fulfilling their goal. For the Permanent 5 (Ash, Pikachu and Team Rocket), they get a goal, they fail at reaching the goal, then they fail again, and again, and again, and again, ad infinitum. All in a show full of broken promises and unfulfilled dreams. I am sick of it all. This crap normally comes from politicians for crying out loud. I have never seen such a lack of respect for the protagonist or any of its characters like this. I ask you: How on earth is this a good thing? How is this good? I honestly want to know. I want answers. What I have shared is nothing new. This is not some kind of grand revelation. It is a problem that has existed for a while. I have repeatedly said in the past how much the status quo damages the quality and reputation of the anime. The status quo is something that has bothered me and other people for years, and plenty of us wanted it gone. XYZ looked like it could finally destroy the status quo after so long. And yet the writers completely blew it. Those kids that watched the anime back in the late 1990's are adults now. Deep inside we all wanted to see Ash win. It is a long time. The anger that resulted in the Kalos League loss is justified. One person from a forum said this: IX. A Jobber in Alola We now know that the anime staff (writers, directors, producers and executives) had no intention of actually making a meaningful and lasting impact on the show and instead continue to make Ash a jobber at every place he goes, bringing about all of his companions down with him. Ash and Pikachu are running around in circles now. I cannot help but believe that the writers do not really care for their audiences, both kids and older viewers; the older viewers for repeatedly angering them with bullcrap like the Kalos League loss, and the younger audiences for assuming that they're stupid and don't know any better, to the point where they can rehash the same plots from previous episodes. I honestly think they intend to please no one but themselves. Three times has these people deliberately gone against the premise of the show for the sake of keeping the show to continue for who knows how long now. First with the existence of Tobias, second with the entire Unova saga, and third with Ash's Kalos League defeat. That's three strikes now. The fact that they could pull garbage decisions like those can very well indicate that they can continue the anime for another 20, 30, 50, or even 100 years, with Ash never fulfilling his goal. I hate this show now. Hate it. It breaks my heart to see my childhood show come to this. I never thought that after watching XYZ it would come down to me hating this show. Believe me, I truly detest this anime. If they continue this approach, then there is no point to speculating what will happen in the Sun and Moon anime, no point in what character will get what Pokémon, no point in what character development will come, no point in discussing how a battle will turn out. What's the point of discussing what'll happen to Rowlet and Lillie (just to give two examples) if they're only going to get written out in the end? If they just get thrown out just like every other character and Pokémon (except of course for the Permanent 5), then there is no point to their existence in the anime; hence, no reason to talk about them. Nothing matters. I was modded for posting about this in some threads at Serebii, where the moderator said to me that I was “forcing [a] nihilist mindset onto others”, but it seems that the “nihilist mindset” is truly the case for this anime. Whatever merits the Sun and Moon anime may have, it is not worth seeing a show where the premise seems to take a backseat to comedy (never mind that comedy was never the main focus of the anime). It is not worth seeing Ash run and around in circles and lose again. I will go and make a prediction: Ash will not become a Pokémon Master in this saga. I feel that as Pokémon fans we deserve better than this embarrassment. We as a fandom deserve a better anime than this. We really should be watching a good show instead of one that has debased itself so badly it may go down as one of the biggest wastes in animation history. To use a quote from a Yahoo user (misspellings corrected): Plenty of these essays typically come with a solution to the problem. Time would fail to tell me the many, many ways they could've improved this. After all, wouldn't the show be so much better and more interesting had Ash actually won that Kalos League final? I wish I could translate this essay into Japanese and send this straight to TV Tokyo so they could know about how I and thousands of others feel about the anime. Sadly, I feel powerless right now and have no choice but to acknowledge the existence of the continued anime: an endless and ultimately worthless adventure of an allegedly eternal 10-year-old boy. The worst thing about all this is the fact that people are willing to go to far lengths to defend this tripe. I'll briefly counter a few common arguments: 1. It's a kids' show. Being a kids' show is no excuse for bad writing. 2. It's a 20-minute advertisement. Being an advertisement for the games is no excuse for a bad show. Pokémon Adventures alone disproves these first two excuses. 3. The anime is teaching kids it's okay to lose. Except I don't believe it ever actually did this. Even then, with a goal like Ash's, you're supposed to win after by learning from the losses. Losing once for a protagonist is okay; losing twice is pushing it; losing six times is unacceptable. 4. The term “Pokémon Master” was never defined. While it's true that the anime hasn't exactly explained what a Pokémon Master really is, the fact that Ash is trying to win these leagues should give us a good idea, at least by the anime's definition. At the very least, winning a league is a step, and thus required, in his path to becoming a Pokémon Master. If you're telling me that's not the way to go and that the whole thing is a big red herring instead, then that makes this show even worse than it already is. 5. If Ash won that finals match, then the anime would have to end. Have this quote: And even if we granted this argument, is that really a problem? The status quo problem should've never existed in the first place, and should've been eliminated a long time ago. Ash, Pikachu and Team Rocket have all outstayed their welcome and should've been written out by now. Why does the anime still need them? Since the writers are willing to boot everyone else out, they may as do the same with Ash by replacing him with a new protagonist, give that person his/her own Pikachu or some other Pokémon, and replace Team Rocket with another comedic team. Plenty of other animes do something like that; no reason why Pokémon can't do the same. 6. It's all about the journey, not the destination. This one gets two quotes. Here's the first: And the second: X. Closing Remarks Long ago I felt very underwhelmed about Pokémon Sun and Moon after seeing some early footage of it. Since then, I went from being underwhelmed to being on the fence when it came to getting the game. I determined that I would get the game if one of two conditions were fulfilled. One of them was to see Ash win the Kalos League. It would've been my way to thank the writers for giving my childhood hero the victory he finally deserves. But because that didn't happen, I will not get the game. (This may actually become a blessing in disguise if the Pokémon Stars rumor for the Nintendo Switch ends up being true; I'll just get that instead.) Unfortunate, but I want to stay true to my word. I cannot in good conscience watch a show where there exists a premise of Ash desiring to reach his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, yet instead we see him and Pikachu running around in circles, forever chased by Team Rocket, and where everyone else—from Gary, Butterfree and Duplica to Jessebelle, Greninja and Serena—all get axed out of the anime without making even a hint of a permanent dent. Seeing Ash lose over and over again is the opposite of what I and many others wanted from this anime. I hate it. So if the anime tries to lure you with a premise about a kid hoping to reach his dreams of becoming a Pokémon Master, with little critters and legendary creatures, along with flashy battles, humorous scenes, worthy goals and cute girls, I implore you: youtube.com/watch?v=OLKDV-_SCBs Now that is one quality cartoon. Now what was the other condition? I will confess it: It was to see Ash and Serena together in a romantic relationship. I am a so-called Amourshipper; however I concede that thanks to Serena getting axed out of the anime, where it continues Ash's adventure with Sun and Moon, Amourshipping is dead. You win, critics. But know that it came at a heavy, heavy cost. However, allow me to close my post with this dialogue between Ash and Serena from the 40th episode of Pokémon XY. Regardless of what you may think of Serena and Amourshipping, please put your love or hatred for them aside and read the passage below: I admit it, I thought all this really meant something when it was first aired. I really did. I sure was deceived. TL;DR – Although the Pokémon anime's premise is to see Ash become a Pokémon Master, the writers have repeatedly failed to fulfill or make any progress towards it when there was ample opportunity to do so, instead making huge, lasting decisions in the story to ensure that premise doesn't happen. Ash's repeated failures and subsequent move to a new region renders everything he does pointless. None of Ash's actions ever amount to anything in the end. Well, time for some eggnog. That's all, folks!

Okay, I know this is a pretty weird subject, but I'm just really curious! Why do you enjoy SAO? This anime has become pretty popular, but I honestly don't think it is good. However, opinions are opinions and everyone has them, so I want to at least understand the fandom before I can say anything about it. My opinions are very simple: I really like the very beginning of the series, but then it just becomes sorta mediocre and by the second of the first season it becomes really bad. Kirito is not a well developed character and honestly feels like a weird self insert, the action choreography is really bland and characters feel like they have no weight to them, there is no tension after a while and to top it all off the pacing issues really takes me out of the experience making me unable to understand or feel for most of the main cast. Now, I do think the animation is solid even if the character designs are really generic and the first few episodes were pretty damn good! I think that this is an anime with a lot of potential that just lost its way. The whole appeal of the digital world becoming a prison, a dream becoming a nightmare, is what really sold me on the idea. However, since it soon becomes clear that nobody will ever die again, it kind of loses its uniqueness. I think the anime would just be better off focusing on SAO for the entire first season instead of going to Fairy land later on. The journey of Kirito to go from a skilled solo player to an op badass never quite made sense to me because it's completely glanced over. We are unable to see how the people adapt to the world of SAO because the show never really shows us until Kirito meets Asuna again. Also, if you love SAO I have nothing against you! You can disagree with me and that's fine, but what I'm saying here is only my opinions. I want to understand the fanbase really.

So like I think its safe to assume that everyone on this site is a shipper, amiright? I mean, I'd be shocked if some here wasn't, lol. So, what is the most unpopular ship that you ship? A ship that most people don't like or just that isn't shipped by many other people, please don't post main-stream ships because I think it goes without saying that they are not unpopular. Feel free to say why you ship it as well, thx. Mine is Death-Gun/Shouichi Shinkawa X Sinon/Asada; Both from Sword art online. I feel like Shinkawa really did love Asada and that's why he was always there for her, trying to help out and be kind. But he was obviously a bit mentally unstable for many reasons which if you watched the show you would understand so he was pretty psychotic as well. I feel like she could change him for the better and he could be good for her, because if you really love someone then you will do anything for them. Shinkawa went crazy at the end when he thought Asada didn't want anything to do with him because she still did not seem to want to be with him even though she had told him to wait and wait and this was finally the time she was to accept him as her boyfriend so he tried to rape her; I would attribute this to his many mental health issues honestly, and at the end when he is taken to the Asylum and Asada asks something like "How long will he be here" or "When will he be out?" I cant remember what exactly was said because I haven't watched it in forever, but I think that shows that she understands how he really felt but and how she feels about him. This has Sinon's picture on it but it reminds me more of Shinkawa, sung from his perspective this really speaks to his character I believe.

What is everyone's stance(s) on Akihiko Kayaba of Sword art online? I know many people would put him in a gray area while others will say he is evil and I know a few people who would even say he is a good guy, but what does the majority of this forum see him as?

So I don't know about anyone else but I enjoyed Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale. I thought that the art and music was amazing and the animations were more smooth than any other season of that particular anime. I like that SAO went back to Kirito feeling scared and alone along with losing friends one after another. I also felt that the final scene was an emotional one. Anyway I feel that SAO isn't the shit anime it used to be and if you still think that then at least, AT LEAST, give Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale a go and see how you feel about it. (Thanks for reading)

So I discovered Anime Maru pretty recently ... not too sure how well known they are, but basically, they're kind of like a blog that sends out satirical anime news. Like all satire pages, some of the articles are questionable, but overall I found it pretty hilarious. Some of my favorite articles are "Op-Ed: I Watched One Episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ and Determined American TV is for Perverts," "Man Can't Admit He Likes Sword Art Online," and "TSA Refuses to Accept Man's Crunchyroll Passport." Thought the "How Well Do You Know the Lyrics to the Pokemon Theme Song?" quiz was really funny too. Anyone else into that kind of thing? http://www.animemaru.com/

this may be of interest to A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun fans I saw this come thru a few days ago and hadn't got round to posting anything but here goes and being that I'm being lazy today ima just going to cut and past the article from Anime News Network source >Here< A Certain Magical Index Season 3 Briefly Listed by Animax Show's Website posted on 2017-09-25 08:40 EDT Animax's Aniculbu! (Anime Culture Club) variety program posted a preview of its October 1 episode with A A Certain Magical Index producer Kohei Kawase and editor/producer Kazuma Miki as guests. The preview's description briefly listed the following: A Certain Magical Index Season 3's Broadcast Green-Lit! A Certain Magical Index, captivating many fans since season 1 began airing in 2008 and season 2 in 2010. Over six years later, the broadcast of season 3 has been green-lit! About a decade after season 1, what kind of story will turn out? The above passage is no longer on the program's website as of Monday. The "Dengeki Bunko Aki no Saiten 2017" (Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2017) event will also open this Sunday, October 1. The event will feature a stage panel for "new work announcements" (as well as a separate stage panel for Sword Art Online that teases announcements for new developments in the franchise, including but not limited to games). Miki had said at the same event in 2015, "Lastly, there is no season 3 yet for Index. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm very sorry." Miki then bowed multiple times to the audience and even did a prostrating dogeza pose on the stage. This past spring, he asked fans at the same stage to "please wait a little longer for season 3!" Kazuma Kamachi's A Certain Magical Index light novel series has inspired two television anime series, a 2013 anime film, and multiple manga adaptations. A Certain Scientific Railgun spinoff manga has also inspired two television anime adaptations and an original video anime (OVA). Yen Press is releasing the original light novel series in English, and Funimation has released all of the anime adaptations in North America outside of the A Certain Scientific Railgun OVA. Seven Seas Entertainment is releasing A Certain Scientific Railgun manga and the A Certain Scientific Accelerator manga in English, and Yen Press is releasing A Certain Magical Index manga in English. make of it what you want

Someone please shoot me in the head right where the memory of this coming has set itself please. For what reason does this overdone anime need another season? Get ready for more Waifu BS and openings that give up the entire plot line and about 6 more horribly bad and lazy Bandai Namco games. Have fun!

(I've had a hard time trying to come up with a title to grab attention, since I want a lot of opinions on the subject.) What's your take on anime that has either cancelled, "paused" or ending/ about to end. Let me get more into detail and a little about myself with anime. First I started watching anime due to a girl I was dating at the time, I thought anime was weird/ didn't fully understand it, so she recommend 2 of her favorite animes (Inuyasha and Naruto) I tried to watch them only watched an episode (didn't really appeal to me). I started looking around for anime that I might wanna watch found a few over the course of a few years. Just to name a few Fullmetal Alchemist, Full Metal Panic, Fairy Tail, Sword Art Online, Log Horizon and Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There. I've tried reading the manga I just can't get into reading them. I've noticed a bunch of anime that I love watching either does 1 to 2 seasons then stop suddenly and nothing is mentioned or happens for 2+ years. I started looking every once in awhile especially if a new anime comes out that reminds me of it. From what I've been reading is depending on how popular the manga is the better chances of it becoming anime. After it airs depending on how well it was received might do another season. Though I've heard it depends on viewers/readers in Japan only (maybe Asia in general) and if it does well in the UK/NA but not well in Japan/Asia it gets dropped. On top of that if it gets another season and is caught up with the manga it's put on hold until the manga either ends or releases enough to do another season or 2. I understand that people don't want "fan based" anime it "ruins" the show. A bunch of these animes that I love watching, I've been waiting at least 5+ years hoping for another season, some I heard didn't do well in Japan and was technically cancelled others been waiting for more volumes to release. I've just heard a month or so ago 2 animes I love watching are doing another season that will air in 2018 but that it will be the end of the anime show. With Game of Thrones they are already past the books and people love the show though that is a bit different. There are times I wish either some of these anime streaming sites or some cartoon network or streaming providers would buy the rights and if it's popular enough continue the anime. Maybe I'm just soo use to regular shows like Star Trek, NCIS and Home Improvement, where it's okay lets see how well they do for the first season or 2 then maybe do a few years contract. Hopefully you understand what I was trying to get across. Sorry for the long post I sometimes go a little overboard with things I really love that I'm a bit frustrated on.

Get an anime in your mind... Got a anime? Now whats the anime why did you pick it what do you rate it out of 100 what are its flaws? Sword Art Online ITS MY FAV 98.99 Flaw 1 Season 3 ISN'T OUT YET!

^.^

ok so this morning my time I received a pm here asking "What is your favourite harem Anime To this date" and my reply straight back "high school dxd" now this may be my favourite harem , but I must also state that I have a fair few Harem anime's that ive really enjoyed for many reasons and even the odd one that's classed as a harem that I didn't see it as one at the time this list has a few on it that ive seen and enjoyed being in no particular order High School DxD as already stated Freezing Campione Kissxsis Maken-Ki! Shinmai Maou no Testament Shuffle Gokukoku No Brynhildr Love Hina Clannad Ah, My Goddess Dog Days Accel World Black Butler Ai Yori Aoshi Grisaia No Kajitsu Machine-doll Wa Kizutsukanai Kanon Heaven's Lost Property Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei Absolute Duo Haganai Zero No Tsukaima Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero Is This a Zombie Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls Infinite Stratos Sword Art Online Trinity Seven Demi-chan wa Kataritai,Interviews with Monster Girls Sekirei High School of the Dead Date a Live Rosario + Vampire now this list may not be in its entirety either I added this here as I liked these other anime's also and felt answering this question hay help others or others may want to add their liked harem anime's and also due to posts are good for the forum

I haven't seen Log Horizon yet. Though apparently it's better than Sword Art Online in many areas. In both titles, the characters are trapped in a virtual MMORPG. Log Horizon Sword Art Online [FLOAT_RIGHT][/FLOAT_RIGHT]To those that have seen both Log Horizon and Sword Art Online, which of the two are better and why?

Hello, I'm currently in a rut here trying to find good romance anime's with actual romance progression and ones that don't end like Guilty Crown, Gurren Lagann, Tokyo Ravens, Clannad, etc... I try to steer clear of harems as they almost always have duller than dirt MC's... So that I don't waste your time, here is a list of most of the romance anime's that I have seen and am looking for others like them: Accel World Acchi Kocchi Akagami no Shirayuki-hime Akatsuki no Yona Amagami SS Angel Beats! Ano Nastu de Matteru Asura Cryin' Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou (didn't like how it ended -.-) Campione! Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai DanMachi Dragon Crisis Fate/Stay Night: UBW Freezing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Tied for #2 Favorite) Gakusen Toshi Asterisk Golden Time Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko High School DxD High School of the Dead History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying Kamisama Kiss Kimi no Todoke Kimi no Na wa Kyoukai no Kanata Mayo Chiki! Midori no Hibi Mikakunin de Shinkoukei Momokuri (*w*) My Bride is a Mermaid My Little Monster Mysterious Girlfriend X Oda Nobuna no Yabou (Loved it) Okami-san and Her Seven Companions Okusama ga Seito Kaichou! (Lovin' it) Omamori Himari OreImo (GRRR! T^T) Ouran High School Host Club Parasyte - The Maxim (Loved it) (#4 Favorite) Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry (Better version of Asterisk Wars, Loved it) Sankarea Say "I Love You" Sekirei Shakugan no Shana (#3 Favorite) Shuffle! (Loved it!) Sword Art Online (#1 Favorite) Tears to Tiara This Art Club Has a Problem! (Internally screaming) Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta Toradora! (Tied for #2 Favorite) Twin Star Exorcists Wolf Girl and Black Prince Yosuga no Sora: In Solitude, Where We Are Least Alone. (DANGER) Your Lie in April (T_T) (I'd rather not go down this road again...) Sorry for the long list, and thank you for any recommendations! Also if you're looking for recommendations, check out any of the above listed!

Hi I am currently looking for good ideas of New anime to start watching. I so far have watched a little bit of Gundum a long time ago as well as Sailor Moon, I have watched all of Dragon Ball/Z/GT/Super, Fairy Tail, and Sword Art Online as well as Digimon, Pokemon, Yugioh, Digunder, Metabots and the basic ones that were shown on Fox Kids in the 90's Currently looking for Ideas of what to start next. I'm not picky on magic meck VRor fighting or any kind of ganre in particular. But my favorite ones I have watched so far have been Fairy tail and Sword Art Online. and surprisingly I enjoyed SAO for its romance as much as action witch I didn't expect. So any recommendations would be appreciated. Turns out there are a lot more Anime's then I thought. And I also don't mind if they are rated TV-MA I've also watched Dragonar Academy as well Update I currently have the following Anime's watched: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super (as uploaded in Japanese), Fairy Tail, High School DxD/New/Born, all of Pokemon, Yugioh(gx/5ds), Digimon, Sword Art Online (favorite one so far), Metabots, Zoids, Shinzo, Cowboy Beebop, Sailor moon, Digunder, RWBY,

Discussion topic for Sword Art Online. For the benefit of those that haven't watched the series in full yet please use SPOILER tags. If you're still watching it how are you finding it so far? If you finished it how did you find it? I know a lot of people felt this way, I wish they extended the SAO arc over the AO arc. Bear in mind I've never read the manga it was based on. With AO I felt a lot of the suspense was lost when in SAO if you died that was it, but in AO there are no major consequences as you'll eventually respawn...

Is it a good show? I don't really know anything about it at all, but I have seen some of the characters for it and they are adorable and also I thought it was like a fantasy anime. I really like fantasy anime, like Sword art online and Re:zero and such, so I thought I might try this. Is it good? What's it like? Is it a ecchii anime, because I thought it might be but I didn't know. I don't really like Ecchii anime. Anyway, i'd just like a little bit of info on it without any like spoilers or anything, thx.

May the salt begin. I am gonna set a few rules though 1) Harrasing others is forbiden 2) Spamming is something forbiten aswell 3) Caps can be preety annoying so dont use them,instead use this: Underline stuff. 4)This thread is only for SAO. Dont bash other anime here.SAO only -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just post your thoughts about sao.

http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/48732/20161007/movie-sword-art-online-ordinal-scale-release-date-announced.htm I am sooooo hyped!!!! My fave anime getting its own movie!! I love the new costumes, everybody looks so good; Also the new kind of VR, this is above and beyond hype for me personally. I also see Akhiko Kayaba up there!!! Eeeeeee!! Cant wait for this movie, for reals; This will be the #1 must see movie for me next year. Who else is hyped!? (Please don't post spoilers on this thread)

Are there any "unpopular" (As in, not very liked) Anime characters that most people find annoying, but you actually like? For instance, some people might think a character is too loud, whiney, dramatic, or even boring but you still like the character. I have a few characters I actually really like but most people find annoying. 1. Recon from Sword Art Online. 2. Misa-Misa from Death Note. 3. Armin Arlert from Attack On Titan.

Hi all. Just made this account. I'm in search of a good anime, preferably English dubbed. I would hugely appreciate it if anyone helped me. I'm looking for an anime with romance and action, but kinda leaning towards the romance side. Good relationship development, and a chosen partner, as in, not ending with the relationship kinda where it started off. Ecchi would be nice, but not required. Comedy is a nice bonus too. Something like sword art online. All anime I've tried similar to SOA were either too dark, or lacked the romantic aspect. Thanks whomever helps me out! -Tasty

SAO: The beginning is a new VR sword art online game being produced in Japan. It looks amazing!! As I have said before, I am not a fan of nowaday's VR but even ive got to admit this looks pretty great. Your strapped into a trampoline looking thing so your not walking around the real world and getting hurt while trying to play. The games graphics are really good and the VR gear actually analyzes your body and instantly creates and avatar for you just like in the show! You can feel things in the game which is insane! And its multiplayer, idk how good the multiplayer is, meaning idk if you can connect onlie to people across other countrys and what not but I do see you can multipayer with eachother in the same room at least, and any multiplayer is good multiplayer. Heres a small vid of it. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sao%3a+the+beginning&&view=detail&mid=3D6186EC5AF1035D8F6B3D6186EC5AF1035D8F6B&FORM=VRDGAR I still want to see VR you can hook up into your brain, but this is really cool for right now.

Winter 2017 anime season is around the corner! Which titles will you be watching? Winter 2017 anime titles that interest me: KonoSuba Second Season: yes, LOVED the first season for its ridiculous fantasy comedy! Will Kazuma ever make it home? Will he, Aqua and co. ever reach that final boss? Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen (Blue Exorcist S2): looks interesting but I haven't seen the first season yet. I'm sure many of you out there will be seeing this. SCHOOLGIRL STRIKERS: based off a smartphone game... might be interesting. Interesting bodysuit character designs. Tales of Zestiria the X 2: YESS, I loved the first season. I've never played the Zestiria games but watching it has made me really interested in the franchise. ufotable did a GREAT job making an immersive environment and as usual jaw-dropping visuals. But also hope to see more of princess Alisha Diphda's heart-warming smile. Urara Meirochou: this looks CUTE, and I have enjoyed many of J.C. Staff's titles. Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans 2: still going from last season. Solid mecha title. Olga and Mikazuki continue to kick ass with Tekkaden for their future. Sword Art Online - Ordinal Scale: takes place after the Mother’s Rosario arc from Sword Art Online II. It's coming to cinemas in Australia on March 9, 2017! [FLOAT_RIGHT][/FLOAT_RIGHT]How about you? Which titles have caught your eye for this coming season?