Nasuverse Unlimited Gabriel Blessing Works
- Thread starter daniel_gudman
- Start date
As someone who somewhat likes SAO for the secondary characters rather than the story or world and someone that isn't a fan of DxD, I didn't hate the fic.
It is a damn shame that there was no Sugu, she was the only good thing during that time period. Didn't even mention Asuna's mother being a problem either.
It is a damn shame that there was no Sugu, she was the only good thing during that time period. Didn't even mention Asuna's mother being a problem either.
As far as DxD crossovers go, this would be the best one so far, that Naruto one has enough hijinks and curbstomps to curtail its not so clean delivery, and I am still waiting for Issei there to get at least his secondary harem online.
There is the issue of when exactly did Kirito summon Rias, is it before he met the blowhard, or afterwards, and how would he go about essentially freeing the other 299 players still locked.
It is also possible that this will spark a wave of DxD crossovers of which at least a few will be decent, hopefully, dragon swag must spread.
There is the issue of when exactly did Kirito summon Rias, is it before he met the blowhard, or afterwards, and how would he go about essentially freeing the other 299 players still locked.
It is also possible that this will spark a wave of DxD crossovers of which at least a few will be decent, hopefully, dragon swag must spread.
I'll preface my response to the fic by mentioning that I've never read DxD, though I was interested by the premise and intend to start.
I thought the fic was okay. It's clearly a rough outline for a "real" fic, which GB admits in the initial author's notes. There are some background issues from the SAO side of things (which I'm more familiar with) that don't fully make sense - I could never figure out where in the SAO timeline we were. Kirito and Asuna were also a bit *too* good with swords straight off the bat. It took Kirito awhile to adjust to not having the System Assist, and while they eventually overcome that (through magic), Asuna at least should have had at least as many problems with that as with her stamina.
On the DxD side of things, I'll just say that I didn't get a very good sense of the Phoenix devils powers or personalities, aside from Phoenix himself.
But it's very readable. There's some cute scenes, and some cool scenes, and some things about it that irritate me a bit but not enough to stop the read from being enjoyable.
I thought the fic was okay. It's clearly a rough outline for a "real" fic, which GB admits in the initial author's notes. There are some background issues from the SAO side of things (which I'm more familiar with) that don't fully make sense - I could never figure out where in the SAO timeline we were. Kirito and Asuna were also a bit *too* good with swords straight off the bat. It took Kirito awhile to adjust to not having the System Assist, and while they eventually overcome that (through magic), Asuna at least should have had at least as many problems with that as with her stamina.
On the DxD side of things, I'll just say that I didn't get a very good sense of the Phoenix devils powers or personalities, aside from Phoenix himself.
But it's very readable. There's some cute scenes, and some cool scenes, and some things about it that irritate me a bit but not enough to stop the read from being enjoyable.
Yeah, I definitely see where GB was coming from in making the fic. I've browsed both the crossover and regular section for DxD, and he's pretty much nailed the bulk of the stuff in there. Even using the filters to screen out the OC tags, you will find either OC's, main characters in name only, or the crossover characters greatly fucking over the group dynamic because the writers don't understand why things worked.
I also must state that of GB's works, this one has practically every character feeling like they are in character. We don't really get that vibe in a lot of his work, so we should take this as a very good thing. Enjoyable work using the characters base personalities without really altering them too much (other than Kirito and Asuna becoming devils) is a rare thing in any fandom, from any author. Let's count it as an early Christmas present and continue onwards.
I also must state that of GB's works, this one has practically every character feeling like they are in character. We don't really get that vibe in a lot of his work, so we should take this as a very good thing. Enjoyable work using the characters base personalities without really altering them too much (other than Kirito and Asuna becoming devils) is a rare thing in any fandom, from any author. Let's count it as an early Christmas present and continue onwards.
The way Kirito was described as very gaunt (rather then just "girly") in his first appearance seems to imply that it happened very shortly after his awakening. Or at least that's how it seemed to me. That would explain why they're recuperating at basically the same speed : Asuna probably only spent a couple of days trapped in that giant bird cage before Rias busted her out.
See, at first I thought it was right after SAO. But then there was the proficiency with wings, which meant we had to be most of the way through Alfheim. And by then, Kirito already knows about Asuna being kidnapped - remember, he comments about Asuna being touchy right as she's awoken.
But there's no mention of getting vengeance for that, or for the experiments on the captive SAO survivors. It feels like we cleared Alfheim but didn't save Asuna somehow. Its the only reason to not get revenge - just like Kayaba, dude's already dealt with.
But there's no mention of getting vengeance for that, or for the experiments on the captive SAO survivors. It feels like we cleared Alfheim but didn't save Asuna somehow. Its the only reason to not get revenge - just like Kayaba, dude's already dealt with.
I think that was both the best part and the worst part for me. On the one hand, the interaction between Shirou and Karasuba feel like they were leading up to one of the best conflicts of In Flight, that between Shirou and Karasuba, and this chapter had a lot of that interaction. And yet, for me anywho, that battle between the two of them was brief and felt... lacking in a way. Shirou said himself he couldn't find it in him to hate her, and yet it also lacked Karasuba's "I want to kill him and sex him, not necessarily in that order or maybe at the same time," either, or at least just a brief glimpse of it.
And Minaka... the build-up for that was much briefer than for the battle between Shirou and Karasuba, but at the same it was even more disappointing than the Shirou vs Karasuba battle. The only thing Minaka did that actually seemed to leave an impression on Shirou was that last ditch thing with the Jinki. Ugh. Maybe it was just the build-up of anticipation from waiting so long for this, but I just feel... kind of adrift now, so close to the end.
And Minaka... the build-up for that was much briefer than for the battle between Shirou and Karasuba, but at the same it was even more disappointing than the Shirou vs Karasuba battle. The only thing Minaka did that actually seemed to leave an impression on Shirou was that last ditch thing with the Jinki. Ugh. Maybe it was just the build-up of anticipation from waiting so long for this, but I just feel... kind of adrift now, so close to the end.