Sword Art Online: Alicization - Episode 5 Discussion (Light Novel Reader)
Episode 5: Ocean Turtle
オーシャン・タートル
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90 comments · 89% upvoted · other discussions
Well, this was pretty much a straight upgrade to the source material.
I read the respective content in the LN before the episode to know if something worth mentioning was cut but…there really is nothing. It’s pretty much a 1:1 adaptation ( not word by word but you get what I mean ) that actually expanded on several aspects. But before that...about one scene that should’ve appeared in episode 2 but didn’t make it and I know it’ll bum out some people.
Basically, we were supposed to see Asuna with Kirito in the ambulance and witness how his heart stops through the heartbeat sensor on her phone. It’s a scene filled with lots of emotions so it’s disappointing that it got cut but then again it’s nothing vital. Moving on…
Now to the things this episode actually improved upon:
They included way more side characters into these dialogues & the whole investigation. Silica & Liz were not even filled into what’s going on in the novels but here they take an active part. The same with Klein driving them around. Less characters shafted, very nice touch!
They showed the raid on laughing coffin back in SAO which is anime original. It serves as a nice springboard for Asuna's determination to return the favour and be the one to save Kirito now.
Kikuoka never appeared after Asuna & co got the diagnosis in the novels, in fact he was unreachable in every way. It’s a very nice change cause it functions as another hint that he & Rath are involved in the abduction.
They neatly tied in Ordinal Scale into this arc’s canon. Not only is it the tech they use daily in the real world now, it also adds a little on Rinko & Kayaba’s backstory
Speaking of which, boy oh boy did they give Rinko a great treatment. They expanded on her character by giving her what I assume is an anime original scene with Kayaba making clear what kind of relationship they had. I’m not sure if that’s a scene from later pushed forward for better use or straight up original tho. In any case, this scene is cleverly placed to make her decision to reply to Asuna more coherent and plausible.
So yeah, A+ adaptation right there. I’m so happy for that because despite this probably not being the favourite part for many people, it’s extremely important in context to what happens within Underworld.
eider96 17 points · Nov 2018 · LLENN
I think we read different LN. The whole investigation process was changed drastically - they never discovered true intentions of Rath and Sinon made connection to Soul Translator instantly. Overall the characters in LN were quite cunning in how they discovered Rath, but were dumbed down to a simple connection to Rinko name by Asuna in anime. I wouldn't dare to call it 0.5:1 yet alone 1:1 considering how much thought process that characters went through was just replaced with single Asuna email to Rinko. Additionally showing Asuna email arriving before heli scene was pretty poor decision in my opinion.
[deleted] 5 points · Nov 2018
1:1 was a bad use of words which is why I tried to specify it afterwards.
To me those connections being made are nothing that can easily be added at a later point. Sure not in the same context of the same scene but they'll happen somewhere down the line. So to me that's not exactly a drastic change, same reason why the cut ambulance scene also doesn't really affect anything imo.
Contrary to what you thought was cunning, for me it was a bit too on the nose tbh. It felt a bit too convenient for them too puzzle the pieces together like that. So I prefer them making Kikuoka appear and come to a conclusion that goes less into the intention behind this whole project in the first place.
So yeah, it's not identical by any means...we're still taking about a book to anime adaptation but it pretty much had any vital scene in it.
lamty101 1 points · Nov 2018 · Kirito
I still hope that the anime could emphasize a bit more on the danger of pursuing Kirito. The "abductors" went as far as using a real ambulance to secretly take away kirito (and in LN, using another ambulance to fake the arrival of kirito). Then, they used a helicopter send it away from homeland. In LN, thinking of Kikuoka, it is explicitly said that Kirito's "abduction" might be something classified at national level. Yui actually cheered Asuna for that in LN.
This episode did not mention the meaning of ALICE at all, while Asuna directly email Rinko to find out more about RATH. Perhaps this is because of time limit, or to make them not way too cunning.
Thicshigi 3 points · Nov 2018 · Eugeo
Rinko and kayaba scene was actually drawn in Alicization manga, I had seen the images but it was not there in LN
waterflame321 2 points · Nov 2018
I don't know where, but I could of sworn I'd read it somewhere. Same with the full battle scene.
emmeka 1 points · Nov 2018 · Food
I think the scene with Kayaba was in the manga, but only alluded to in the LNs.
waterflame321 1 points · Nov 2018
I haven't read past the first chapter or so of the manga :x
Deadmanlex45 1 points · Nov 2018
The whole scene with kayaba wasn’t really anime original, but it wasn’t a flashback like this one. It was kind of an inner recall of Rinko when she is thinking of Kayaba and her memories of him.