Quote:
Originally Posted by mellowrg2
He had to win her from Heathcliff in a duel.
She was a prize. Her own opinion did not matter.
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That's not really true at all; win or lose, there was nothing stopping Kirito and Asuna and being together. The only reason the duel happened was because Kirito wanted to duel Heathcliff, one of SAO's top players. "Winning Asuna" was at best a pretence Heathcliff was using just to cause the conversation to happen. She only entertained it (mentioned it to Kirito) because she preferred not to make a scene within the guild, and the consequence either way would not be so devastating (either way they'd be together).
Quote:
Originally Posted by mellowrg2
It doesn't stop there.. to quote someone else:
[...]
See the trend here?
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It was clear in the narrative that her encounters with Kirito influenced her. She went on to fall in love with him, of course. But all of those things were not really for his sake, but for her own as well.
She was not happy with the food she was eating herself; cooking skill was self-interest.
She wanted to get her time back in the real world; joining a guild and being on the front lines was self-interest.
She was taking life too seriously and not getting enough sleep due to stress; she needed the rest.
The boy that she loved just asked to stay the night; she's not allowed to expect/anticipate sex?
I'm not saying you're wrong to wish Asuna had more chances to shine as an independent character... but I think the portrayal you're making isn't entirely accurate either.