Sword Art Online Discussion Thread

[HitokiriShadow]

Well that was certainly a step up from previous episodes, though the beginning part annoyed be simply due to the severe lack of relationship development and then what felt like several minutes of Asuna freaking out from Kirito's ghost story.

At least we finally got to see her be awesome without having to be saved. Even if the show did make a point of it being a safe zone, so neither she nor her opponents were in any real danger. Still a step up from the bullshit in the previous episodes (and it wouldn't even be a mitigating factor if not for said previous bullshit).

And most importantly, we have the adorable Yui. Unlike Lizbeth and Silica, at least she's clearly going to be highly relevant to the plot and sticking around for a while, and thus will be an actual and reliable reason for me to look forward to each new episode. Though I'm sure she'll be kidnapped at least once...

[something]

Episode 11:

- Heh. Kirito asks if this relationship is game-only. I like Asuna's reply. Also, how about you two just exchange contact information now? None of this "I swear I'll find you!" ...just, like, ell the other person your cell phone number.
- So on the one hand I think it's great that we have a relationship established before the first cour is up. On the other hand not very much of that cour was spent developing the relationship. I think it gets away with it because they have really good chemistry with each other during peacetime, but it's all moved quite quickly. Source material is to blame there, I don't doubt. Still, development can come after formalizing the relationship too.

- Hahahaha, only after having sex a couple times does Asuna realize she never asked Kirito how old he is. I wonder if Kirito ever wondered about the reverse.
- Asuna in her sleepwear, sexy max!
- But Kirito is already getting tired of the quiet life. Guild master guy knew full well Kirito can't keep out of battle.

- Haha, Kirito you looks ridiculous carrying her on your shoulders. But oh my god her legs. <3
- Oh god Kirito is totally mortified.
- Now time for some trollin' revenge.

- Oh yay it's deus ex machina-chan! Just about time, she was the only OP1 character left.
- I'm getting "let's adopt her" vibes from Asuna.
- Awwwwwww, Asuna got in bed with her. Fucking adorable and a half.
- YUIII! She's adorable. <3 Even if she's probably not real, or long dead!
- Haha, yes, if she can't pronounce your name you damn well better just change it to match. Yuiiiiiiiiii~! I wonder if she's leaving out part of her own name, and she's really Yuri to Yuiko or something.
- "Papa. Mama." HAHAH YES. Kid obtained!

- Back to the Town of Beginnings to search for parents that don't exist.
- That voice... AKARI IS IN TROUBLE! SAVE HER!
- And oh my god Asuna actually got to do a thing! All the way through! By herself! ...even if it was just scaring off some weak-ass thugs who posed no real threat to her or Kirito whatsoever. But this is still progress, SAO! I'll take whatever I can get. Maybe Kirito should carry a child on his back at all times.
- Gaaaah that static sound effect was so loud, way to give me a heart attack. Also, the OP was evidence enough that Yui wasn't normal, but this sure confirms it.

Best SAO episode ever, no question. I don't have to say "It was good but..." I can just say "It was good." It was great. It was YUI-CHAAAAAAN!

More like that and this is absolutely going back onto my import list.

[Fencedude]

OMG YUI'S SO CUTE

*explodes*

[Damius]

- Asuna and Kirito have some time off… the place they chose sure looks nice.
- “Even if this is a virtual word, my feelings are real” Nice. Perfect answer, Asuna.
- And she will find him again when they will be back in the real world and falls in love with him again.
- I really love both of them together.
- Time to carry Asuna on your shoulder, Kirito.
- Asuna is afraid of ghost isn’t she?
- So who is the black hair girl?
- She has no cursor…who is she exactly???
- The day after, she wakes up.
- Yui-chan!!! She is so cute and adorable.
- She said Papa and Mama to Kirito and Asuna, love it!
- Yui tastes super-spicy Asuna’s sandwich. Because she wants the same thing as her father.
- Well…they are looking for her parents or siblings…
- Asuna is awesome against the army… and yeah… for the first time she did it all by herself. FANTASTIC. Want more of Asuna being awesome from start to finish no need to be helped at all.
- “What was that just now?” I wonder as well… What was that loud static sound… Who are you exactly Yui?

Fantastic episode! And I want to find out more about Yui-chan. I love Yui-chan! I love Asuna and Kirito as a couple. So I want, Asuna x Kirito with Yui-chan as their child. And yeah, it was my favorite episode as well. Can't wait for more!

[Buckeye]

Kirito and Asuna are living in the country, and find a mysterious girl that nobody knows who she is, only that she goes by the name Yui. Then to try and reawaken her memories, they go to the first floor to see if she remembers anything, all while saving a group of children from an army of tax collectors.

Great episode here, and it looks like there is something about that girl. It will be interesting to see what exactly she is considering that she is supposed to be a player, yet she doesn't register as one for some reason.

[Buckeye]

So it turns out that Yui is actually an AI and a part of game's main computer system Cardinal. She went rogue after erasing that super-powered bonus dungeon boss underneath the first floor so that Thinker and Yulier could escape. The only thing left of her is her heart after getting erased.

That was an excellent episode to see Yui being what she is, and while her time was short, she definitely left her mark. Moving forward, Kirito and Asuna are more determined to finish this game and one day bring her back.

[FUNiOP]

Not necessarily a step up as each of the previous few episodes have been, but definitely on the same level as the one immediately before it. I didn't expect the Yui arc to only last two episodes, but it was a strong and solid little chunk of the story. Thanks to Kirito's hax skills, they have her "heart" in the form of a little crystal, so hopefully that can help in the future. I'm curious what the next episode will be about. It doesn't really give up any idea, other than the fact that the title of it doesn't sound very happy. I hope it can go back to getting even better with each episode.

I see new OP and ED information, so does that mean they'll be changing next episode? I assume that if they're going to change it would be either that episode or the following. I wonder if the next episode will have a real "beginning of the second half" feel that tends to go with that, if it is the case. That's interesting that the second OP will be done by the singer who did the ED to the first season of Fate/Zero, opposite LiSA's OP. I also liked that song, so I imagine the same will be true of her Sword Art Online OP, but I really love LiSA, so I can't imagine it won't be a step down for me. Oh well, the content will just have to make up for that! Oh, and just in case Aniplex wasn't making their music theme obvious enough, the second ED will be by the same singer as the ED to the second season of Fate/Zero.

[strangefour]

-So many children... If this is how many are alive in this game, imagine how many have died over the past two years.
-Onegai Beater.
-Okay fine trust Yui that the grey haired lady is telling the truth. But you do not take a small child into the depths of hell because she wants to come. She's too young damn it! You are horrible parents! Your whining brat is ruining the movie for everyone else!... er yeah. Bringing Yui into the dungeon is dumb. I guess maybe she'll keep Kirito busy so Asuna can kick some ass maybe.
-Hypno-Toad has a posse.
-You can not escape from Death.

-Do not listen to him Asuna. Do not teleport out with the others. Kick some ass!
-Yui: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
-Yui is the physical manifestation of all Chuu2.
-Well that sucks. Bye Yui. :\ You will never get More Deban.
-YES! Think with your hacking skills Kirito! Hack the Gibbard!
-Oh backup file. Yeah saving Yui is fine... I was hoping for something ya know more useful in ending this digital imprisonment. But saving the life of your first born is cool too.

Well that was um. Not what I was expecting. Mostly good. Yet strange. Yui upstaging daddy to save the day with the same kind of Mary Sue super ass kicking power was interestingly hilarious. Asuna didn't get to do enough, but didn't seem like she wasn't contributing at all since Kirito got pwned too. I guess there is still hope that Yui could still become Kuroyurihime.

[ookamigirl]

Yui really is a mystery.
Asuna & Kirito on a rescue mission.
Watching those two fight over toad legs was LOL
Looks like that mission was not a breeze at all.
At least we got to see what kind of powers Yui has.
It was just amazing!!
I was suspecting she'd be some kind of a program.
Looks like I was right. This totally reminds me of .hack// again.

[HitokiriShadow]

So now Kirito is also some sort of genius hacker. oh god, that was by far the dumbest thing to happen in this show yet.

On the other hand, Yui trashing that monster was pretty awesome. And Yui cheering Kirito as he slaughtered monsters was adorable.

So we learned about Yui and saw her leave the story a lot sooner than I was originally expecting (between last episode and this episode I heard things to indicate she was not going to be sticking around long). However, she wasn't what I thought she was. Though I did then remember hearing something that was pretty much a dead giveaway. I guess I successfully wiped that from my memory and read incorrectly into a different comment instead.