Reviews for Monochrome Duet
reality deviant chapter 42 . 6/20
THAT WAS EPIC!

i look forward to seeing the sordmasters wake up and start trying to aclimate to the Real World.
JZuCuadra chapter 42 . 6/20
A satisfying end to the Aincrad Arc. I’m excited to see where it goes next, but either way, take your time with it. I love your story because its made in such a way that it’s obvious you spent so long on it, you loved it even as it fought you sometimes.

Once again, amazing work, see you next update, whichever story it may be.
Gabriel H. Sapphire chapter 42 . 6/20
Congratulations on finally finishing! its been a long time coming and im glad i could be here for every step. I will say i cant blame you for the time skip, wrapping up the poh arc was the last thing to do before getting out of the game. Looking forward to the next installment when ever it may be!
Nomad-117 chapter 41 . 6/16
Time for my review, this has taken way, way too long already.

My goodness, what is there to say? The whole thing is very much in character for Kayaba, the sheer spectacle, the presentation, simply put everything about it was a fitting climax for such a journey, which must have made Kayaba very happy. I admit the meteor storm did seem kinda unbalanced and unfair but outside of that it followed the same rules SAO always followed, unforgiving but fair.

Now then, I also very much enjoyed that everyone had their chance to shine, to show their skills and play their part instead of everything just being reduced to our heroes. Now don't get me wrong, I understand and appreciate the focus on the heroes, but its still nice to see everyone else doing their part and doing it well.

That said when everyone can actually breathe and think again I dread to hear just how many and who died in this final battle. Every life lost is of course a tradegy, and yet it feels somehow even worse here with them being so close, so incredibly close to finally being free of this whole madness only for them to perish just before they can take that final step. Of course, in some perverted way it very much fits into the story Kayaba weaves as well, the tradegy of getting so far only to fall short in the final moments. Though damn, I didn't expect Lind to jump Kayaba as he did and give them the time they needed.

Each of the bosses were, of course, suitably insane for this final fight in their own right. And honestly, somehow the boss that healed itself via sap drop from the tree feels the most annoying and unfair, video games bosses aren't supposed to heal themselves damnit! Of course that little shock was nothing compared to when you actually made me worry that Kizmel had died. I was honestly not sure if she had survived, I of course WANTED to believe she did, but in that moment I very much freaked out.

Which made that twist all the more satisfying of course, and I must say I really like the fact that they killed Kayaba together like that. I do wonder if he will talk to them sitll like he did in canon or not but regardless of that. It looks like we reached one end and the beginning at long last.

Thank you very much for the chapter, and the entire story. Its a delight to read.

PS: Sorry that it took me so long to write this review.
Tawnis chapter 41 . 5/24
And that's a wrap, more less. XD Unless we get that Kayaba chat in the next chapter, which I'm kinda 50/50 on if that's a good idea or not. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what you have planned.

I only noticed a few minor things:

"Very possible the last" should be very possibly.

I don't think there's been a single thing a character has done or said since the very first couple chapters that I thought felt out of character, but there was one this time. "For death and glory" just doesn't really feel like something Asuna would say, even as an in the moment rallying cry. It's kind of synonymous with doomed last stands and forlorn souls, not really what's happening here. I could see someone like Kibaou pulling this trying to sound cool, but Asuna is so well read an understands people well enough to know this wouldn't be the right rallying cry for this moment.

Having both Echo and Eta as two teams could lead to some serious confusion in the moment. There's never a point in the story where they really get mixed up, but still, one of those should have a different name.

That cheeky bit with the throwing spike was a great little scene. It put a lot of emotion, understanding and communication into a fight scene without having to bog it down with dialogue. Very well done.

You mention Kibaou learning tricks from the Beta Testers after his defeat and departure from the front lines. However, that was on floor 25, the Beta Testers only got to floor 9. When his defeat happened, there isn't really anything they would have known that everyone else wouldn't have figured out yet. I get what you were going for, but it doesn't really fit in the timeline.

You know, with all her stealthy sneak attacks, I totally forgot that Sachi had a shield. Has she even really practiced with it at all up until this fight, I don't recall seeing her use it in ages.

Didn't a player have to remain with the planted flag to give the buff? Perhaps I'm misremembering, I'm not 100% sure.

Why would Kirito fall faster than the Dragon? He's way lighter.

All and all, solid finale. Some stuff I predicted and some that I didn't, which is pretty much the middle ground that I like to find myself on. It weirdly feels like the chapter is somehow both too long and not long enough, which is odd and I can't really put my finger on why. I think maybe it might be that because of the length and it going from one epic moment to the next, the gravity of some of them don't stand out as much as they otherwise would? Not like you can really take breaks in the middle of the boss fight so I'm not even sure how that could be improved. On the flip side, I was sad that we didn't get to see much of Klein's crew in this fight, but it was already so long of a chapter, I feel like it would have otherwise been too bloated, and there's nothing that can really be cut as it was all relevant to the story. Again, not sure how that could be improved, just kinda what I was feeling at the end.

It's the end of an era, but I'm really looking forward to what's coming next, if you're going to adapt everything, some things or just go in a whole other direction. There's so many directions I can think to take this, and I'm sure whatever you decide will still surprise me. XD
Guest chapter 25 . 5/16
I really hoped that in chapter 25, starting on the 21st of april, there was a roman event, because... You know... The foundation of Rome is dated on the 21st of april 753 B.C. if we follow the legend of Romulus
PureSalty101 chapter 41 . 5/16
I just finished binging all of this, and I have to say: Great work. The fic had quickly become one of my favorites of all time. From the expertly crafted characters and interactions to the pulse pounding action scenes, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that your story is likely the greatest SAO fic on FFN. Thank you for making monochrome duet, and I can't wait to see what you have in store for the future.
Marsuvees Black The Dark Lord chapter 41 . 5/14
I really hate to say this because I F-ing love this story it's definitely one of the best stories I've read on this site and you should absolutely be proud of what you've created.

Unfortunately as someone who loves romance an aspect of this story has been bugging me for the longest time which I know has been reflected in my reviews in the past.

Thing is harem stories are a guilty pleasure of mine as someone who loves romance.

While most of the time they are crap there are the rare gems that pop up.. still obviously unrealistic but definitely enjoyable.

The reasoning behind why it happens and how it does can be really creative and interesting.

When it comes to your story it is one of the best written harem stories I have ever read everything seems so natural in it and the flow is amazing.

Which is obviously why I gotta move on given it isn't a harem.

Obviously your story so it's your choice in how you write it but your decision however intentional or not to write what I consider to be one of the best written harem stories out there and then not make it a harem just killed it for me.

Every chapter I read I see his interactions with his 'friends' and it bugs me and distracts me from the enjoyable story taking place.

It F-ing sucks to be walking away from an amazing story for reasoning like this but I can't help it unfortunately.

Anyways good luck with your story and I wish you all the success.
MotherDema chapter 41 . 5/14
Fuck man... you got me in tears nearly readin all this, seeing this masterpiece coming to an end after EIGHT years is actually nuts. I was in elementary when you started, I'm graduating next year in June. Congratulations. Well fucking done.
WwEpsilonwW chapter 41 . 5/12
“The game has been cleared.” Well done Shark. Well done. Amazing story. Close to canon as can be, honestly.
Asters chapter 41 . 5/10
THANK YOU. AMAZING. THO I MUST SAY EVERY TIME I see kuradeel’s name i am SCARED. thjs was amazing. holy. a finale and climax fit for the years this epic has been building to!
HeavenlyGodPanda chapter 41 . 5/10
On the 5th of May, I checked to see if I had missed the notification for an update of Monochrome Duet, not seeing it, I sighed, but started to reread it anyway, because after all these years, it's still the best written fanfiction I have ever found... And then, the very next day, on the 6th of May, exactly on the anniversary of the publication of its first chapter, chapter 41 was released, the final boss fight everyone here was waiting for, speaking of which, for all of you who haven't read it yet, this is your spoiler warning, go read the chapter before the rest of my review.

I expected a dragon sub-boss, so when I read it had "only" five health bars, compared to the incarnation's ten, i knew something was up, but the phase transition was both unexpected and a really nice touch, and while I expected a natural disaster to occur midway through the battle, I thought it would have been a lightning storm, idea which I became sure of while reading about Kizmel's new armour in the chapter and once more while she thought about the perfect weather preceding the battle, so the meteors really surprised me.

This was one of the best chapters in the entire story, which has been amazing from the beginning, I really can't thank you enough for all the work you do.

I'm also incredibly hyped for the next chapter, because we'll see the real world of this AU for the first time and everything will change forever, I really can't wait for it.

It's the End of the World

P.s. Fun Fact: Before rereading this, I had just finished rereading "World's Apart" and a couple more "SAO is being Streamed" fanfictions, and now I can't get out of my head the idea of people watching your AU through a stream, it's unfortunate I have no talent for writing, because this idea might be worth making a fanfiction of your fanfiction xD, so, if you will ever want to write something like that, I promise I'll read it.
Asters chapter 40 . 5/10
incredible!
JZuCuadra chapter 41 . 5/8
Holy... Shit...

What a fight.
herpetkiba chapter 41 . 5/7
I was reading this with the lyrics of the BGM interspersed with End of All Hope by Nightwish and the bell tolling matching up with the opening from Hells Bells in my head. And now the next chapter has me more scared than this one.
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