Talk:Sword Art Online: Clashing Blades/@comment-22247056-20141226161846

Alrighty...after finishing this story a couple of days ago, it's time for me to give my thoughts on this just like I did Fede's Past of Ashes story.

So, this story entails, like Fede's, a tale of someoene's adventures through Sword Art Online. Instead of Galant, we have Ishi, a loner-type player. The character of Ishi is a  very compelling onem, much like Galant. He has his struggles, he has his friends, his enemies, his ups and downs. He always has a choice to do what's right and what's wrong, a choice everyone is faced with. As for other characters, their distinct and unique personalities make them more than just one-dimensional characters. I especially love Knight, seeing as how he wants to keep Aincrad safe by forcing everyone to stay in line. It's that type of character that you can somewhat agree with, but also disagree with because the methods of doing so are very questionable. It's almost as if he feels that there is nothing else to do BUT that, which is what makes Knight a very favorable character in my eyes.

As for the story, the prospect of that type of "supernatural entity within a game," kind of threw me for a loop for a moment. Why exactly would Kayaba Akihiko not only create a death game, but create two entities of data that can destroy the dream he spent years building? I couldn;t answer that myself, but overtime, the story grew on me. The real pain inflicted by Skeith and Corbenik made the game all the more realisitic than the ones and zeroes the players were made from. The very battle for these two was also very well done. Although, I did feel that Kamui's character was very cliche. The brooding black cloak, the skull mask, it all felt like something I've seen a dozen times over before. But Hao? Now THAT'S a villain I can get behind. He's a brilliiant mastermind who went undetected thorugh most of the war between the two Guilds, and I was actually glad when he orchestrated Kamui's death.

The choice to have romance in the story wasn't a bad one, but I felt like the relationship between Misaki and Ishi was kind of forced. On Misaki's page, it said that her relationship with Ishi was never taken to far and ended fairly quickly, so why were they acting like they were together for so long? I just hope it wasn't ot make Misaki's death sadder. The relationship with Asuka and Ishi was better than the previous one. It had evolution to it, it took its time and didn;t feel rushed at all. The culmination of it in the final arc is what makes it a perfect relationship. It started from Ishi being annoyed by Asuka to Ishi not wanting to let Asuka go. He woulf be willing to take a blade to the chest for her if it meant preserving her life.

So, let's mark of the pros and cons!

Pros: Compelling protagonist, interesting storyline, superb (second, Hao) villain, secondary characters worth caring about, and easy to follow

Cons: Cliche first villain (Kamui), forced romance (Ishi and Misaki), hesitance on the supernatural entities of Skeith and Corbenik.

If I were Rotten Tomatoes, I'd give this a 81%.