Sword Art Online Discussion Thread

[HitokiriShadow]

(That's weird, could have sworn I posted about this already. Well, whatever, here it is)

Oh fuck you Recon. But I was amused at how his big moment ended up being completely and utterly worthless.

At least Leafa finally got to do so something, but she ultimately still just tossed her sword to Kirito so he could solo the rest of it. And now he's being sent of on his own for the endgame.

[Buckeye]

Yui is full-sized again, and Kirito has rescued Asuna. Now comes the hard part and that is to get out of the game as Oberon/Sugou attacks ready to control human emotions. It starts with raping inside the game, while Kirito watches with a sword impaled in him. But coming to the rescue is Kayaba, at the very least his spirit that is allowing Kirito to gain gamemaster privileges, while Oberon dies in agony. Time to exit ALO with a new world in his hand and Asuna finally awakening.

That was a nice way to end the ALO arc seeing how Kayaba has returned to so that nobody abuses the game. While Kayba's actions had far more consequences, at least he was honorable about it whereas Sugou was just a slimeball all the way and got what he deserved. Now Asuna is out of the game at long last and there is one more episode left to go with Kirito and Asuna finally meeting each other in the real world. One more episode to go.

[FUNiOP]

Well that was all very conclusive. I guess the final episode is just going to be a nice little epilogue and blatant setup for a second season? Since this has been selling very well, I assume they'll be able to make the official announcement next week immediately after the final episode ends. Six months until the second season seems likely.

The episode definitely ran the gamut of emotions. First a beautiful reunion, then an unpleasant rape-ish scene, then Kiritohax and ultimate victory.

[ookamigirl]

Yui and Kirito finally inside!
They managed to find Asuna too.
That was a really nice reunion ^^
Well, it didn't take long for the bad guy to appear.
He sure is a crazy one...
Sugou vs Kirito was short, pathetic,but very satisfying.
Asuna finally free.. about time too.

[superdry]

Yea...that middle part of the episode was a little uncomfortable to watch.

Kayaba showing up, though, near the end, sort of makes sense since ALO is using the same engine or based off of SAO (he uploaded his consciousness to the virtual world?). That made things pretty damn simple for Kirito at the end. I guess Kayaba's spirit or whatever will continue to exist in games based on SAO (I wouldn't be surprised if more games are based on the same engine as SAO).

So, happy ending next episode? Maybe?

[HitokiriShadow]

On the one hand, Sugou is still an obnoxious, one dimensional Saturday morning cartoon villain except with a penchant for sexual humiliation and sadism, which was out in full force this episode. So this episode had the most Asuna humiliation and sexual abuse yet. Not to mention dialogue amounting to "yay, you're my hero, Kirito!" which really drove home all the problems with her character.

On the other hand, I liked the idea for what Kirito pulled here to defeat Sugou, even if it was deus ex machina bullshit in execution. And I certainly enjoyed seeing Kirito kick Sugou's ass (even if I would have much preferred to see Asuna do it, among other things).

So in some ways this was a relatively good episode while in other ways it was one of the worst. At least it ended with the better stuff (mostly) and the deus ex machina bullshit used to resolve things was better than the end of SAO. I'm slightly more likely to watch another season of this than I was going into this episode, though its still very iffy. It's going to be dependent on a combination of what else I'm watching at that time and whether or not there will be other people to share in my suffering and rage while watching.

[Ingraman]

Originally Posted by HitokiriShadow

On the other hand, I liked the idea for what Kirito pulled here to defeat Sugou, even if it was deus ex machina bullshit in execution. And I certainly enjoyed seeing Kirito kick Sugou's ass (even if I would have much preferred to see Asuna do it, among other things).

Yeah, thinking about it: when Kirito had gained admin-level powers, why couldn't he just re-enable Asuna to allow her to kick Sugou's ass? She was the one who had to go through all that crap. I might even have given it 4-stars on CR, instead of the 1 or 2 that I ended up using as the rating.

[mellowrg2]

Originally Posted by Ingraman

Yeah, thinking about it: when Kirito had gained admin-level powers, why couldn't he just re-enable Asuna to allow her to kick Sugou's ass? She was the one who had to go through all that crap. I might even have given it 4-stars on CR, instead of the 1 or 2 that I ended up using as the rating.

Because the author intended her to be a trophy wife character

I'm sorry. I don't care how strong or kickass a female character is... if her entire character can be summarized as "I want to be the best girlfriend/wife/mistress there is for main character-kun" If she doesn't have any of her own aspirations and desires beyond that, she is a trophy wife.

and that's my huge problem with this show. This is basically the Kirito and Asuna show.

I don't like Kirito. and Asuna is a trophy wife. Why did I even bother watching this again? Oh, because the initial premise seemed interesting.

I bet the 3rd season will be more or less the same, just replace the elf girl with a new girl.

[pathos]

Originally Posted by mellowrg2

This is basically the Kirito and Asuna show.

Hrm? I don't think thats the case. It's the Kirito show. Other than Asuna being featured prominently in the op's and ed's, I don't remember the show ever pretending otherwise.

I mean, she wasn't even in around half of the first season's episodes at all. If they ever did anything from her point of view, I don't remember it. If you strip it down to just how important the characters are, plot wise, then she is important. But, most of that comes from her relationship with Kirito, and how she affected him.

She was allowed to shine here and there during the story, for short little bursts, but because of her secondary role in the show/novels, she was never going to be the person that 'saved the day" for everyone else.

Because the author intended her to be a trophy wife character

I'm sorry. I don't care how strong or kickass a female character is... if her entire character can be summarized as "I want to be the best girlfriend/wife/mistress there is for main character-kun" If she doesn't have any of her own aspirations and desires beyond that, she is a trophy wife.

I'm not sure that "trophy wife" is the best term for what we are describing, since it's usually used to stand for a wife that was chosen only to be used as a status symbol, usually because of their looks. That's....probably not the case with these two.

By the end of the sao part of the arc, both characters had basically the same outlook. They cared for each other deeply, and prioritized their partner above everything else. I don't really consider that a bad thing.

Now, would the show/novels been better if it was the Kirito/Asuna show, instead of the Kirito show? If she had been allowed to develop independently from Kirito (or, actually if we had been allowed to see it happen, since apparently she did, considering she wasn't in the show for such a long time). Or, if she'd been allowed to kick ass in her own right, instead of basically being a plot device, a means of letting Kirito move forward, to stop being shackled to his past...and later, a focus of one of those "rescue attempts' that shonen manga just so love to throw out there, and I hate so much with a passion?

Most assuredly. But, unfortunately, that's not the story we got. I do like the story we did get, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have been better with a change of focus.

heh, can we sue the people who designed the op and ed for false advertising?

[mellowrg2]

Yes.. I find it hard to see her as anything but a status symbol for Kirito

she is designed to be beautiful, competent, great at virtual cooking.. all for the sake of serving his needs.

Consider this..

He had to win her from Heathcliff in a duel.
She was a prize. Her own opinion did not matter.

It doesn't stop there.. to quote someone else:

Kirito: Hey, you can put cream on bread and it tastes better.
Asuna/ Maxes out her cooking skill and spends a year analyzing every seasoning in the game
Kirito: There are limits to what a soloer can do. Join a guild sometime.
Asuna/ Becomes second-in-command of the strongest guild in the game
Kirito: Man, it's too nice outside to spend the day in the dungeon. You should take a break.
Asuna/ Falls asleep instantly
Kirito: Hey, maybe I should spend the night at your place.
Asuna/ Starts stripping

See the trend here?