SAOAGGO 9 read:

Unlike the disappointment that is SAO 22, SAOAGGO volume 9 was great.  Long, satisfying, funny, and full of suspenseful encounters where you always wondered 'how are they going to get out of this one?', followed by a satisfactory answer every single time.  Basically the book was perfect.  As a result, I actually promoted Sigsawa over Reki Kawahara in my value added light novel rankings.  Even though Gun Gale Online is a fanfiction ripoff of Kawahara's creation, he's writing better books as a fanfic author than the original is.  Plot actually moves forward, things of interest actually happen, and books aren't compilations of old short stories.

And of course this is only value added -- the books in SAO that haven't been animated versus the books in SAOAGGO that haven't been animated.  That's certainly an unfair competition since SAO has animated so much more of its story.  Nevertheless it's striking.  When you actually care about your world and your characters -- even when they're not your world or characters -- you can write masterpieces.  When you're just phoning it in for additional royalties you write essentially thin air, forgotten as quickly as it passes through your eyes to your brain.

I think the crazy cruise ship battle was even funnier than this one, but since marriage was on the line this time I think this was the best volume of SAOAGGO yet.

Unlike Fire's opinion, I think berserker Llenn is the cutest and most attractive Karen.  Long live berserker/hearing voices mode!

Meanwhile, I finished the first path in Octopath Traveler, the character I chose to start with, Primrose.  She's difficult to play well.  Because she's always in my party her level and stats were super strong, but her best use is still to buff other characters, which makes her stats meaningless.  You have to know when to stop buffing and start making use of her power, and when to ignore her power and keep buffing.  The game is quite deep and there's lots of engaging choices to make with all the characters each turn of combat.

I also got all my songs in my music hall of fame to the 80-playthrough threshold.  The median is still 87 playthroughs, but now everyone is at most 20 songs away from the goal line.  Even if it isn't 100, it's satisfying to see everyone make it at least this far.  80 cycles is already pretty impressive.

I finished the rewatch of Fate/Kaleid Liner.  It was excellent from start to finish, but I thought the first season and the movie were at a higher level of emotional gravity.  I like when the series takes itself more seriously.  Now I've rewatched all of Fate with my newfound knowledge of Ataraxia to see allusions with.  A profitable journey indeed.

Soon I'll finish my rewatch of Shadows House, but the last episode has to air first.  ^_^;

The fun isn't done quite yet, Choyoyu's next manga volume comes out only a few days from now.