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「世界樹へ」 (Sekaiju e)
“To the World Tree”
It’s always interesting to have some light shed upon the motives of characters who aren’t one-dimensional antagonists. We heard more than enough about Sugou’s dastardly plans last week, so it was about time we finally had something to counterbalance that – the purity behind Sugu’s motives for joining ALO and becoming enraptured by it. Her original desire to play a VRMMO stemmed from wanting to see what kind of life Kirito was trapped in. Honestly speaking, ALO is so different to SAO in so many ways; it’s hard to believe she would have managed to get any sort of picture of what life was like for him. But the core ideas remain – the escapism, the colourful, pseudo-natural worlds, and the freedom. Always the freedom.
No matter where you look, freedom is always a common motif, be it in the real world, in anime, or in a video game set during the American Revolution (it was a pretty decent game by the way, pity about the further simplified combat and disappointing ending). Flight has always been one of those grand dreams of freedom shared by many, going back as far as the myths of Icarus and his wings of feather and wax (and quite possibly even further). A desire to become closer to her comatose step-brother may have brought her into the game in the first place, but the partial realisation of that dream is what caused her to stay.
I have to say it bothers me a little to see Leafa so willing – almost eager – to abandon her other friends and become a renegade all for the sake of a guy she’s only just met. Why is it so urgent for her to leave that she couldn’t spare time to justify herself and reason with Elrond Sigurd (Kirimoto Takuya) rather than throw everything away? Being branded a traitor is one of those things that’s really hard to get rid of after the fact. At the same time, I can see her point of view slightly – but only slightly, mind. As I understand it, Kirito is the first person she’s ever met who could keep up with her when it came to flight – the first person who was on the same level as her. There’s something special about that – about finding an equal where you thought there were none to be found. With flying seemingly the most important aspect of the game to her, it’s only natural she’d make a connection of sorts there.
Before I continue, I want to say that this was in no way a particularly bad episode. It was hardly spectacular, but it wasn’t terrible either – it did, however, once again highlight a few of the problems I have with the source material which never seem to go away.
It’s funny to see how Sugu treats Nagata in comparison to Kirito. The evident distaste she shows towards him is odd when you realise he shares many of the core characteristics that make up Kirito’s character and would probably be far more similar to him if he’d been given the same benefit of support. Kirito is how Kawahara Reki probably sees himself; Nagata is how I imagine him. Okay, so there may be some hyperbole there. But truthfully speaking, the biggest difference between Kirito and Nagata is that one was circumstantially granted abilities for the sake of story progression and the other was not. Gary Stu is a term that’s bandied about a lot, particularly in recent seasons. Contrary to popular belief, the criticism does not necessarily refer to how overpowered a character might be, though this does factor in. The most notable characteristic – which is sadly present in SAO – is how the entirety of a work seems to bend around that single main character. Kirito gets the special abilities; Kirito gets all the girls with no effort on his part; Kirito gets the ultimate waifu; Kirito gets to be the most powerful player in both games; Kirito defeats the final boss of SAO solo (amongst other bosses); Kirito doesn’t die when killed, even managing a comeback when he shouldn’t be able to.
Don’t get me wrong – the main character is the main character for a reason. Using one or two – maybe even three – of these traits in an unironic fashion would be acceptable. It would be boring if SAO was centred on a run-of-the-mill character who never achieved anything noteworthy, but why must everything be about Kirito? Why is every other character reduced to being a love interest or foil? Why is Kirito perfect at everything he does? Can’t someone else have the spotlight for a moment?
Funnily enough, my favourite part of this entire episode was the ending. I’ve always had a soft spot for when an ED starts playing early and, coupled with the figures rising in the dark as the image panned, it made for a surprisingly cool scene. It’s something I can’t adequately put into words (well there goes my writer’s card), but there’s an anticipation – or a promise – that comes from ending on a minor cliff-hanger while the ED plays. Something big is coming (no, not the bat, something more impressive).
tl;dr: @MoombaDS – A glimpse into Sugu’s mind and a surprisingly effective last twenty seconds. These are the things I find myself enjoying about #SAO
Random thoughts:
- It’s funny to think that Kirito and Leafa are living under the same roof and interacting with each other in both worlds unknowingly. If she’d just opened that door, she’d probably have realised the truth.
- I’m glad Leafa found Kirito’s new sword as funny as I did. There’s hope for her yet!
- Suddenly Kirito looks a little like Zack Fair!
- So is pain actually a thing in ALO?
- Looks like the keypad was a security risk. Genius.
Full-length images: 02, 10, 12, 16, 17, 20, 26, 29, 33.
Preview
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End Card
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Bath scene FTW!
Totally agree… the quick change scene comes a close second!
See SilentCid. I told you there is going to be a bath scene. 😀
KIRITO, YOU ARE SO COOL.
You are so strong! You’re the perfect boyfriend! You can master anything so quickly! The only guy who stands a chance against you is the guy who hacked THE GAME HE HIMSELF MADE!
And all the women just drop their panties around you!
Master at everything, you are so perfect, Kirito. And you wear all of that black clothing because you’re DARK and EDGY and TORTURED.
Kazuya Kirigaya, known as “Kirito: The Gary Stu,” will you marry me? Please? I can’t think of spending another minute without you, you perfect, powerful, dark, handsome, talented, intelligent, delicious man.
P.S. Suguha is carrying this show.
What’s wrong with wearing black? I’m partial to it myself, as it’s a very slimming color.
I also like wearing black but there is a difference between liking a color and a supposedly smart/good at games character choosing that color with no thought to anything except the color when he’s supposed to be trying his best in the game to save the Asuna.
I see what you’re saying, but on the other hand, a good game wouldn’t purposefully create one race to be inferior to others. (Otherwise, there would be no point to creating multiple races) It would just be a question of how you use them.
Also, Kirito may be feeling a bit overconfident because as he said “a game where you can die is too easy.”
I think it was explained somewhere in the source material. Kirito didn’t really care about the character creation at that point, he just wanted to rush in and save Asuna. He just picked the character decked out in black on a whim.
That is what was explained in the source material, but Hakumei has a point in that players with a specific goal might take the time to do some research about the abilities of the race. So I was just suggesting possible reasons why Kirito chose not to. The end conclusion being that like in Borderlands, the initial choice doesn’t really matter as far as beating the game is concerned.
I guess it’s possible that he didn’t think that a race would be a disadvantage since he didn’t want to have any fights and thought he could just go up the tree. (Though really the game has been out for a while and yet nobody else has so that’d be kinda weird)
Maybe it just bugs me a lot because there’s no way I could do that. If it was me I’d probably first read what the game says about each race, then I’d go to a wiki about the game to find about as much as I can about each one and being unable to choose between what is remaining I’d go to a forum or somewhere else to find out about what the current players think about those races like whether one of them has a particularly bad disadvantage.
Right, and that’s what I mean. Any well-designed game wouldn’t allow for only SOME of the races to have a particularly bad disadvantage, as far as clearing the game goes. Either they would ALL have a glaring weakness, or NONE of them would.
Imagine the rage of players, if after hundreds of hours of playing, they found out they couldn’t beat a boss because of the choice they made at the very beginning?
Yeah, my black jacket gives me +50% stealth. People never notice me when I wear it.
Also despite Spriggans being a supposedly weak race, it’s just that no one is skilled enough to use the Spriggan skills properly.
One more thing, Recon’s voice is so ear piercingly annoying. Can’t they have given him a slightly more normal voice? My ear hurts every single time he cries “Leafa-chan”
There are great shows/stories where main protagonist is flawed, and many more besides him are often more powerful.
Star Wars: ESB was great because heroes failed most of the time, yet eventually barely prevailed – and not without loss. Luke was failing test after test under yodas training, and lost his first duel with Vader, and finally lost his hand. Rebels lost the battle of Hoth. Leia lost Han who was taken away in carbonite.
In LOTR, Frodo multiple times is succumbing to temptations of the Ring, and in the end it takes Gollums final selfish attack to destroy it. Hobbits per se are hardly combat monsters, too.
I hope Suguha will eventually notice someone else beside Kirito loves her.
And the freedom of flight… well I can yet today remember the feeling when I first soared into the skies in WoW, the awesome alien sky of the Outland, no less.
She clearly knows. She just doesn’t like him back. For good reason.
You just made my day xD
Thank your Sir/Miss!
I personally have no problem with Kirito being a Gary Stu/self-insert, or with any self-inserts for that matter. I think of such intents as separate things, if the story is good I’ll take it.
At the very least, in SAO, Kirito EARNED his harem.
I agree, Kirito is not like the male lead that all the females fell in love with by no apparent reason, all his actions show them what kind of person he was and that´s how they came to love him, a good example is how his relationship with Asuna develop.
Didn’t the author himself admit that giving Kirito a harem was an idiotic idea since he had already chosen Asuna and actually went out of his way to apologize to the fans?
Even the author knows how ridiculous it was to give Kirito a harem. He only did it because he was young when he first started writing SAO (like, in school) and Kirito is a blatant self-insert (even Moomba knows this) so the author thought it’d be awesome if everyone fell for him.
Now that he’s older and wiser (he’s also rewriting the SAO arc to make it less of a mess), he admits giving Kirito a one-sided harem was a terrible idea.
I did not actually know this, and it feels great knowing this now! I guess seeing a ten-year-old story being adapted into a full-blown anime almost word for word really put things into perspective for him.
It’s quite obvious in his recent novels just how much he’s matured as a writer, and Mother’s Rosario and Alicization are a huge rush for me.
I remember him re-writing SAO, yes: SAO:Progressive. But please post link here of the apology, or it didn’t happen.
@TheMoondoggie
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online:Volume_2_Author_Notes
Author’s notes for Volume 2 Afterward: Excerpt
Show Spoiler ▼
Volume 3
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online:Volume_3_Author_Notes
Show Spoiler ▼
Also in the later volumes, Show Spoiler ▼
Personally I also don’t mind the harem/multiple crushes aspect. Most distinctively from other harems, Kirito is NOT wishywashy between the female leads and thus avoids being offensive by liking everyone at the same time/annoyingly indecisive. Also, each girl has a story, a relationship with Kirito, and various different reasons for being charmed by Kirito Show Spoiler ▼
Yet Asuna and Kirito mutually chose each other, so at least to me, harem in the plot doesn’t take away from the main romance.
And for those upset with Asuna for being a damsel in distress, Show Spoiler ▼
Straight from the author’s notes on volume 2
Regarding the side stories:
“Regardless of which story, they are basically about Kirito debuting and causing a big stir; and feeling that he is “So skilled! So strong!” like Silica and Lisbeth felt, is precisely what I have felt every year since becoming an MMO player. Really, and once would be enough, I really want to know what it feels like to show off to others a weapon of which there are only three copies in the entire server.
Besides that, there’s one more thing that I must apologize to everyone about. Even though the four female characters in this book are all different female players, their male counterpart, as discussed earlier, was always Kirito-san. Even though there is no way for me to explain myself to everyone properly on this point, I painfully excuse myself, and ask that everyone please use the “even though the criminal and victim change every time, the detective is always the same person” mindset you have when reading detective novel series… you can’t do it, right? Sorry, sorry.”
I remember that apology, but I don’t think it’s the same thing as admitting that the harem is a terrible idea. I saw it as more of an apology that he’s gives into his guilty pleasure so often.
If he truly felt it was a terrible idea, events in volume 3-7, 9-10 (and presumably 11) would have happened differently.
Putting aside the question of whether using the repeated themes of “Kirito ish awesome” and “the girls, they all want some of that” is a good idea, I don’t think the author has a problem with reusing those themes.
Like you said, that was an apology in volume 2. Since he continues to do the same thing for the next 8-9 volumes, he either:
-got “older and wiser” then immediately became “older and dumber”
or
-he’s apologizing in the same way all those politicians and bankers do on television. “I apologize IF I hurt anyone’s feelings….IF I offended anyone…” In other words, it’s not really an apology, and he’s not really sorry.
From another standpoint, since the books are a commercial success and they got a 2-cour anime run, maybe he’s onto something.
Fair enough. I’d write it down to nothing more than him being a below-average writer in all aspects, but that would get me an barrage of downvotes quickly.
Oh look, I did it anyway.
I watch SAO for the scenery porn, not because I care about Kirito or Asuna.
Klein, Agil, Lisbeth and Suguha…why can’t we have a show about them? Even if they’re all in love with Kirito anyway.
Klein and Agil would make better waifus than Asuna.
It’s more like neither the Lizbeth nor the Silica story was originally planed to be canon or part of the main story. But then suddenly so was all the web stories going to be published and that ended up with some inconsistensies. The worse ones were fixed, but it would require a total rewrite to change it any more.
Show Spoiler ▼
All true statements. But at least you can get behind the guy’s motives.
Also the production values help a lot.
That’s just wrong: complaining about the MC being the MC and the same MC picking black on a whim. He’s MC for a reason LOL. MC gets all the girls that’s pretty much common. What do you want? A loser MC who loses all the time, that he’s big, fat and ugly and is despised by all the girls in the show? Man, nobody would watch that.
There’s a reason why MCs like Kirito appears in mainstream anime and BFU people gets to be MCs only in hentai anime….
And THAT ladies and gentlemen, is why the SAO fanbase is just as if not more annoying than Narutards.
If you were told you’d be cut off just for leaving the party, you’d want to GTFO too.
Ironic but true.
THE AMOUNT OF FANSERVICE IN THIS EPISODE
IS TOO DAMN HIGH!!
The episodes ends so quickly. Now we have to wait another week… 🙁
The end card is quite a contrasting image: sharp Kirito about to release dat anger, contrasted with Yui and her convenient yet slightly awkward foot censor.
If you look closely, you’ll notice that her toes are the wrong way.
For those who were commenting on her breasts last episode, have some Suguha animated fanservice. ^^
Dude, we need to team up and make animated GIFs. Of everything.
It’s official. I’m in love. She’s the babe of the season.
There were 2 other times this episode where they blatantly cut to a shot of her chest. They really want to get the point across that she has a large chest.
And I thank them for it. She’s a beauty who worked hard for her figure. Of course, it’s biology too but when they introduced her, she was a dedicated student to her discipline of Kendo.
Kudos to appreciating a girl who deserves it.
I hope the next episode starts off with the ambush, then Kirito and Leafa/Lyfa raids the world tree. And then start slaying bosses one after another etc with loads of action. It’ll be nice if Klein and the rest joins too
My guess is that Kirito must be loaded with money left from SAO. One who just started playing a game shouldn’t have much money to begin with.
From his reaction when he checked, I’d say that seems pretty likely!
50 thousand Mithril coins!
Yeah, at least enough money to equip an army 🙂
There is also to take in consideration the currency excange value.
Weren’t we were told that he retained everything he had from SAO?
Yes, but if it doesn’t have an analogous item in Alfheim, I don’t think he can use a Sword Art item. Hence his item menu was full of gibberish when he first logged on.
Yeah, it’s pretty apparent that he’s embarrassingly rich right now.
Given his Nickname of Blackswordsman in SAO, the spiky black hair with pointy ears and the design of his giant sword resembling the Dragonslayer fused with the Buster sword From FF7 and the single shoulder pauldron, I think Kirito’s design is what happens when you try to fuse Guts from Berserk with Cloud from FF7.
Boring and unsubtle show of boobs of uninteresting, annoying girl head over heels for Gary-tsutintinesque, annoying mc. The most badass female chara turned into a damsel in distress. A black swordsman with an oversized sword accompanied by a fairy… The level of déjà-vu and predictbaility in this show is too damn high. Now I’m asking : Where is Kirito’s white haired ex boyfriend from the past who’s destined to become the main villain ? They better introduce him fast before this series gets even more uninteresting. The only thing left in this show which makes me smile is the unintentionaly funny antagonist.
Dude your reply is not even related.
http://i.imgur.com/SepKW.png
You’d know it is if you had read berserk.
Ohhhhh I get it. Hurf durf.
You’re comparing Kirito to Guts (black swordsman, sword appearance, strength, accompanied by fairy), Asuna to Casca (badass fighting woman / love interest who becomes a damsel in distress), and perhaps Heathcliff to Griffith (white haired fellow who is “interested” in the MC and “destined” to become the main villain).
Wow. Totally didn’t catch those references…
“Kirito is how Kawahara Reki probably sees himself”.
Oh, really?
Such is the impression I get from his writing. Whether it’s actually true or not I don’t know!
More like “his ideal”.
Man…can’t wait for what’s to come…XD
Going to be an epic fight.
I realize the anime doesn’t make it very clear, but I think part of the reason Sugu was willing to become a Renegade has less to do with Kirito and more to do with Sigurd being a jerk.
Kirito hints as much when he confronts Sigurd’s attitude as treating party members like items.
From what we’ve seen of Sigurd so far:
-he’s a guy who wants his way all the time (else he wouldn’t have chased down Leafa in order to reject her vacation)
-he’s a bully (who threatens disobeying with banishment)
-is perfectly willing to renege on agreements he made
-temperamental
-judgmental
-willing to kill defenseless people
-very concerned with public appearances.
Put another way, I think Sigurd is the type of person who can make other people make snap decisions (possibly ones they’d regret) because of his sparking personality.
She wants to be FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. The reason she likes
AionALO is because of the freedom, embodied by the flying thing. Being around that guy all the time was curtailing her freedom.I have to agree that this episode was a so-so episode. I did like the Suguha exposition though, as it gave her more depth and not regulate her to just another hot girl falling for Kirito. On the whole Leafy leaving, I probably would leave too, seeing how the so call leader acted. To me, Kirito just seemed like an excuse she used to finally get out and be free. It was too bad though that her conversation with Yui was cut short. Speaking of Yui, Kirito needs to mod her so she can locate magical beings lol.
I sooo can’t wait until both Kirito and Leafy find out who each other are hehe XD.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw Kirito with his new sword is FF7 (Buster sword FTW!) – the most memorable and favorite of mine. Ah, brings back memories, and the anger I had when Aerith got killed by Sepiroth. Final Fantasy for me went spiraling downwards after IX/X… **Sigh**
The End Card – did anyone notice Yui’s toes are backwards?
Boobs. That is all.
Well, you must consider the Age of the Target Viewers. They wanna be like him. And before we get some “Level Up or Grinding to Max Level” Filler Episodes, they use a “Shortcut” Glitch way. And go with it. If you strip the “Virtual World” around him, this Story based nearly on Bleach. Saving a Damsel in Distress.
So, let them have their Fun, with a “Hacker/cheated” Main Protagonist. But here it was necessary for the Budget.
Two things:
1) You’re giving Bleach credit for an archetype as old as time itself.
2) Budget has nothing to do with it. It was the same situation in the source material.
1) I Know, But i chose Bleach because it is well known here
2) And the Animators dont found it strange/Plot hole? So like i said “And go with it”
Well, have your Fun. I was just giving my Thoughts to his Thoughts
Where’s the plot hole? ALO was built on the same system as SAO, so it’s not a large stretch to say that some of the save data from SAO could be read by ALO. It’s even acknowledged because all of his inventory was glitched up and unusable.
At any rate, the animators have no say in this. The directors decided to be faithful to the original material, not to invent things to suit themselves.
MMmm, then it is the First time i heard. That you can take over your “Max Level” and Inventory to a New Game. If you “import” old Savegames you get some Bonus Extras, not the entire Inventory from another game. Ah well, this is all Happen in a Future from now on and in Anime Laws
In the real world, that doesn’t happen because people create new games from scratch. They might use the same tools as a graphics engine, or a physics engine but that’s it.
However, in the SAO world it makes sense because Sugou built a game using the tools and systems that Kayaba Akihiko left behind, that he doesn’t fully understand. Just another indication that Sugou will never catch up to Kayaba.
The closest analogy I can think of is Microsoft Word 2007. I don’t know how it works, but I can still open up, read, and edit Word 2000 files, text files, and PDFs.
Show Spoiler ▼
Thanks, i was think his “Navi” Pet had something to do with it. Well it is a “Root” Program.
no problem! I could see how might think she had something to do with this seeing as she’s an AI but in this arc Yui is nothing but a guide really so you don’t have to worry about her pulling out some hacks “AI powers” or anything.
Apparently Reki Kawahara originally wrote SAO for free online and the anime is being faithful to tht material so i don’t think the author is too concerned with budget or the targeted audience.
Just to add:
Reki originally wrote it for Dengeki competition but goes over word limit, so he instead put them on9. Then his next work AW won the contest and subsequently he get to publish SAO as a LN.
looks like asuna know the code for the door after looked in the miror my guess we will have a break out attempt soon
Question is was she able to see the code because she was looking in the mirror (through his wing) or because he didn’t bother obscuring it because she was looking away? I am thinking the latter since he looks over his shoulder before entering the code.
I guess he wants her to try to escape so he could catch her and rape her BATOOM!! style..
Since it’s not mentioned, the mirror negates the distance blur effect because mirrors in MMOs are not truly a reflective surface. They are instead a screen that shows you what a mirror is suppose to show you. It’s like if you are near sighted without glasses. but look through your camera phone, the image is a whole lot clearer.
“Suddenly Kirito looks a little like Zack Fair!”
OMG I thought the same thing, particularly the hair and black SOLDIER-ish uniform. Not to mention carrying the sword on his back and the upgrade from a standard sword to a gigantic broadsword.
I found the pathetic attempt for an NTR of the fabulous fairy king much more interesting and amusing than the rest of the episode. I think I need to have a doujinshi of him winning just to balance things out in the childish mmo fairy tale story.
sorry but if you like NTR then all your opinions on everything are automatically wrong, NTR is a horrible thing 🙁
Sorry, but I think you can’t find any words in my post that indicates that I may or may not like NTR. And I will clearly say to you that (fictional or not) I always hated NTR, especially in a “serious” and “well-made” romantic love story. But if you start introducing girls left and right, that all ridiculously fell in love with your main guy. I don’t think I can take your so-called “fairy tale love story” very seriously.
God, can’t wait for these two to appear.
my comment was a joke but OK
I won’t argue with your points because I quite honestly agree, but it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it as it is. Right now SAO is pretty ridiculous, and that’s what’s fun about it.
I wonder if VR MMO’s actually started getting made, people will get super serious about it like they do in this show. Like, some of the characters treat fictional races as if they were real lmao. With SAO, I think it was hard not to care since you were trapped in that world for so long, but with this new game, I dunno. Anyways, don’t really know where this show is going. Asuna is captured by a bad guy, so Kirito is going to try and save her. Nothing too thought provoking as been brought up, but it is watchable enough for when I’m taking breaks from studying.
There’s nothing quite like immersing yourself in a game you like, right? It’s easy to play along with the setting, but with VR I imagine things get a little mixed up considering how you are also physically involved in it. Of course, there’s also the hardcore players, the ones that take things way seriously.
All there is to this arc, really, is that Kirito manages to get the girl, end of story. I’m not too fond of this arc and the next one, GGO (which isn’t going to be animated), because they are essentially “Kirito saves the day, also a girl”. Good rides, but ultimately not really satisfying. I had a much better time with Mother’s Rosario and the current Alicization arcs, because those put the sci-fi aspect to really good use.
Thanks for the spoilers lol
man what
If you treated the sentence “Main character saves the day, also gets the girl” as spoilers, I’d have effectively spoiled you every single shounen story ever. “They get together and live a happy life as a couple” whoops I’ve spoiled every romance story now
No I want to punch him, the fairy king so bad.
Patience little grass hooper, karma takes its sweet time to prepare its deadly blade of justice.
Damn straight, I wanna beat up the guy in real life, strip him naked and leave him out on the street (ideally a highly populated street).
How about Memory Destruction… Screw his mind, then destroy his memories afterwards!
Kirito overpowered? LOL, you’ve seen nothing
With that power and his FFVII looks kirito might be able to take down Sephirot all by himself, that´s his true level of overpowered.
If he can also cross games, He’d take on Sepiroth, Ex-Death and Kefka alone and would have 80% chances of winning.
did anyone else not notice how screenshot 17 was drawn with that guy having 6 fingers for his left hand? THAT WAS BOTHERING ME REALLY MUCH THE ENTIRE TIME.
Like either he’s a mutant or the animators were seriously slacking…
That said, the animation this episode were going up and down all over the place. Suguha though, being her beautiful self, still looks awesome just cause her character design is awesome!
Nice catch!
It’s weird though, I can’t find that screenshot when I watch my copy of the episode. It must only exist for that one frame, or something.
That’s an error on the coloring part, the topmost finger should have been colored as the sword’s scabbard.
I don’t like Nagata.. creepy stalker.. and he thinks suguha belongs to him? c’mon man
The LN gives a few reasons for that. There’s no ill-intent anywhere, he’s just awkward.
Show Spoiler ▼
But I still don’t like his attitude.. too possessive.Like when he lied that suguha was his girlfriend.. total asshole.
“Gary Stu is a term that’s bandied about a lot, particularly in recent seasons. Contrary to popular belief, the criticism does not necessarily refer to how overpowered a character might be, though this does factor in. The most notable characteristic – which is sadly present in SAO – is how the entirety of a work seems to bend around that single main character. Kirito gets the special abilities; Kirito gets all the girls with no effort on his part; Kirito gets the ultimate waifu; Kirito gets to be the most powerful player in both games; Kirito defeats the final boss of SAO solo (amongst other bosses); Kirito doesn’t die when killed, even managing a comeback when he shouldn’t be able to.
Don’t get me wrong – the main character is the main character for a reason. Using one or two – maybe even three – of these traits in an unironic fashion would be acceptable. It would be boring if SAO was centred on a run-of-the-mill character who never achieved anything noteworthy, but why must everything be about Kirito? Why is every other character reduced to being a love interest or foil? Why is Kirito perfect at everything he does? Can’t someone else have the spotlight for a moment?”
i don’t agree with most of your points here even now, but lets not forget the anime isn’t over and if thy make a season 2 with the rest of the LN materiel you’ll see how wrong u are.
The Main Story is all about Kirito, because he is the main character. Any anime that kills the main character as early as, say episode 3, never to be seen again is just bad. That’s why complaining about the Gary-Stu thingy is just wrong: Main Characters are meant to win(alive or dead in the end) no matter what by fate and any anime is a testament to that:
EDITED BY ZEPHYR: Please keep spoilers to a minimum, especially when referencing other series. If needed, use the spoiler tag, and then label what series they’re spoilers of.
Madoka Magica, Code Geass spoilers:
Show Spoiler ▼
Well if you want, there’s GGO for SAO. Kirito might still be there, but I feel the Main this time is Shinon.
@MOOMBA
“how the entirety of a work seems to bend around that single main character”
what do u think the word MAIN CHARACTER means?
“Kirito gets the special abilities”
MC
“Kirito gets all the girls with no effort on his part”
not sure wat u mean by “effort”, obviously all the girls who starts to like him, likes him for who he is rather than the fact he’s interested in them.And lets not forget most of the female characters didn’t just fall for him at first sight thy only started to like him after getting to know him.(although i admit tht adding harem elements is pointless since Kirito and Asuna already hav a solid relationship but hey thts wat the author wrote and it’s not tht big of a deal.)
“Kirito gets the ultimate waifu”
wat does “waifu” mean in this context wen i googled it it said “waifu” as something fans create rather than the show.
“Kirito gets to be the most powerful player in both games”
“Kirito defeats the final boss of SAO solo (amongst other bosses)”
Kirito was a hardcore gamer even before starting SAO and a beta-tester(plus exp. from playing SAO),so it’s not unreasonable for him to be the best player.
And lets not forget
ep 3 wen his entire guild got killed and couldn’t do anything about it.
ep 10 wen he would hav died if not for Asuna.
ep 12 losing to a boss and being saved by Yui.
“Kirito doesn’t die when killed, even managing a comeback when he shouldn’t be able to”
again hes the MC, how many shows hav MC’s tht die in the middle of the show and stay dead?
“Why is every other character reduced to being a love interest or foil?”
don’t know why u think tht being a love interest as a reduction, being a love interest is another attribute to tht character rather than something tht overwhelms other aspects of the character.And aren’t u forgetting Klein and Egil who are neither a love interest or a foil.
“Why is Kirito perfect at everything he does?”
he isn’t(ur talking abt a character who crash lands on his head)
“Can’t someone else have the spotlight for a moment?”
yet again he’s the MC and difficult wen it’s only a 24ep show, although things might change if there is a season 2.
Kirito is a powerful and strong character obviously but NOT overpowered or a Gary Stu character anyone who says tht is just looking at his character selectively rather than impartially.
I love how you’re just explaining *how* that is rather than *why* that is. Big difference.
There’s no satisfactory justification for having an overpowered Kirito and that just leads to bland character development (if any at all).
Coming from better written works Show Spoiler ▼
, the main character doesn’t have to be flawless and he/she certainly doesn’t have to revolve of him/her. In a world as large as Aincrad, you’d think they would have short stories of some heroic or non-heroic deeds. Expanded universe stuff, about OTHER characters. Instead we have th entire world revolving around one guy while everyone else is relegated to not even side character status. At least with Ta**ru, as powerful as he is, he learns that he can protect his life on his own and to trust his comrades. He had flaws and worked on overcoming them. And the shit he went through, made his mind steel. Personally, Kirito didn’t get hurt enough. He kinda shrugged everything off after a while.
All in all, saying that Kirito is the MC does not give him a pass for some of the worst writing in animu since Musashi Gundou.
After explaining tht Kirito isn’t overpowered i didn’t really feel a need to explain *why* he’s overpowered.
As for the rest, two things
1.Not every MC needs to get hurt to in order to develop, in Kirito’s case i always thought his character development was smooth rather than being dramatic or sudden.(Kirito is a calm,observant and calculating character so unlike some thickheaded MCs he doesn’t need to hav something shoved in his face for him to understand/learn and develop from tht)
2.And disliking a anime isn’t the same as it being a bad anime.
“Smooth character development?” More like no character development.
well tht depends on the lvl of attention to detail u give the character and even without major character development Kirito’s character is great.
Suguha’s distate of Nakata (Recon) is not about the issue of Kirito being a Gary Stu, but the fact that he’s as useful in the real world as he is on ALO (aka: Marina Ismail level of useless) At least, Kirito has his way in the real. Another issue is that is not Kirito’s fault that there’s no other male player that’s not on his own level or his party’s level. Heck, Klein and Egil are the only ones closest to that.
The fact that Lyfa shoved the door to not-Elrond is more for the thrill of adventuring with someone similar to her. That and the fact that Sigurd is a controlling jerk, and Suguha is not one to follow someone like that.
And yes, he’s now Zack Fair with FFVII AC’s Cloud overkill abilities, overpowered summon included.
So far the only female characters that have not fall for Kirito´s natural charm are Yoruko and Yuriel, the rest of them are all heavyly in love with him. To me it must be his kind personality but he must expelled some kind of pheromone or something! At least a curse like Lancer had in Fate/Zero!.
You forgot about me =(
Sugou stripping down to her underwear while laying down? Very suspicious. Not that I’m complaining or anything.
Holy titties. Better than the light novel.
Normally broadsword is carry by 2 handed type person, but seems like he use his right hand only to strike the monster. Let say if ALO have dual wielding skills, carrying 2 broadsword will be badass.
It would be like Monkey Grip + Dual Wield…
Good one! 3.5E D&D reference.
So Suguha has a boyfriend?
Judging by the way she treats him, don’t think so..
nope, Recon’s just a rather possessive friend.
Friendzoned? LOOOL
What gave you THAT impression?
I’m wondering when/if Kirito will actually learn to use magic? Being that it’s such an integral part of that world, I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to learn any of it (even though his weapon skills make up for it).
I’m looking forward to the moment when Leafa casts Cure, just to watch Kirito bust out Knights of the Round.
Nagato and Kirito are in no way, shape or form similar. Totally opposites. Not sure where the idea of similarity originated from..
When I saw Kirito go buy his equipment and a Buster Sword I was like is that you Zack? but then I remember in the opening I saw him using dual sword; then i’m like HOLY CRAP IS HE GOING DUAL GREAT SWORD?
For some reason when I saw this screen cap https://randomc.net/image/Sword%20Art%20Online/Sword%20Art%20Online%20-%2018%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
It doesn’t feel all too bad. This is…what I imagined not too much details ofc…
Sugou: “Ah…our boy is such a brat, I’ll teach him a lesson tomorrow~”
Asuna: “I’m worried about if we’ve raised him right…don’t be too hard on him dear”
Oh….by chance did anyone laugh when Kirito and Leafa landed to take a break? Kirito’s stretches, involved thrusting his hips a bit. “My hips are moving on their own!!!” XD
SAO anime is enjoyable in ways I didn’t think it’d be…this is a first for a series. (Then again I’m corrupted from web and light novel material so ehhh…)
I was hoping there would be a gif of that.
Kirito earned his harem very rightfully…
All the time I want to complain how a seemingly useless male lead have all the harem he wants, Kirito is different thought…again if he will have a harem it is justifiable.
Waiting for the next episode is like a torture, pls. Sunday come SOON!
The last series that made me head over heels was Madoka Magica, for some reason I’m becoming one again on this series. I’d say this show is one of the best offering of 2012, I just hope the series ends well.
>comparing Madoka with SAO
Not sure if serious…
No harem is justifiable in writing. This many love interests have no point in a story like this.
Kirito in the light novels is somewhat more relatable because it’s mostly inner monologue on his part – it does say something about the skill of the author, though, if you take away the monologue and get a fairly boring character. Harry Dresden, if anyone’s read the Dresden Files, is an example of a character who has a lot of inner monologue, but would probably stand as a pretty cool character in third person as well.
That being said, though, I did find a non-Kirito chapter (Asuna’s POV) that gave him a bit of kudos – obvious major spoilers for a relatively minor side story: Show Spoiler ▼
In the end, while the author doles out all these powers to Kirito and constantly buffs him with strength and poontang, I don’t think Kirito would act in any different way even if he didn’t have all that.
The 1st thing I thought of when I saw this episode was: Wow never thought Nagata/Recon was so annoying…. Also did he just say <3 at the end of some of his line? ^.^;
As always, go **** yourself, Slimegou. Can't wait for the episode where Kirito wipe the floor with your virtual body. What up with (almost) all the villain who keep underestimating the MC?
@Moomba, yes it is. But it is adjusted so tht it doesn't hurt the player too much. Also good comparison. But the sword reminds me of Guts and the clothing reminds me of Cloud. ^.^;
And wow, ppl still have this kind of mindset? ==; Its a friggin player, not your servant, Sigurd. Don't party members have their freedom?
Salamander is tracking KiriGuha right after wht Sigurd said, coincidence or conspiracy??
DAT end card. Also, I find myself chucking at the service scene xD
First phwoar at Suguha-chan rushing home to strip down to her bra and panties just so she could get online to play MMORPG with a guy she just met. (Pity no full length fanservice gif of Sugu in her undies Moomba. 😉 )
https://randomc.net/image/Sword%20Art%20Online/Sword%20Art%20Online%20-%2018%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
Second phwoar at bath scene.
A1 Pictures seem to have lots of love, if not more love, for Sugu, and subsequently ALO, than Asuna and SAO, as all we see about Asuna is her getting “molested” by the scumbag Sugou again.
I know, she’s just asking to be molested.
Sugou that is.
Suguo is a ‘he’ so I think you got the wrong name as he is the bad guy. Suguha is the little cousin that is also nicknamed ‘Sugu’ by her ‘brother’.
Kirito seems to be going for a Zack Fair look here
“Kirito doesn’t die when killed”
Of course, he is a gamer and gamers don’t die, they merely respawn.
I like Kirito’s new sword, DAT SYMMETRICAL SHAPE.
I always found it kinda weird that she had a picture of her own avatar in her room. Lol. I quite like my avatars, but I don’t think I’d get it printed in poster format to put up on my wall. Unless it was like a official game poster that had the basic avatar on it…
I think it’s not only the Avatar, but also the flying part of the picture that she likes. It’s kind of a picture of her favorit thing right now, flying around in ALO.
But printing out pics your avatar doing cool things is cool! I once did mine for RO. DOTA players do it usually: I saw one use it as a cover for a notebook.
I miss Asuna 🙁
Did I just watched to love ru?
Nothing much happenned in this episode so the biggest thing is imouto fan service.Can I ask for Asuna fan service too?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/KinnyRiddle/PB032426.jpg
Took the time to visit Tokorozawa Station as seen in the OP. This specific West Entrance was only opened a few months ago after a major renovation. Apart from that, not much to see in that part of suburban Tokyo.
@Kinny wow tht spot-on!
Btw its a little off-topic, but I am curious on Jap SAO fans opinions on SAO. Is it as radical as here? Or is it “calmer”?
I don’t think anyone can blame Suguha for being such a bitch to Recon. If only Nagata had chosen a more bishie avatar and maybe a more badass weapon, then maybe Leafa would drop her panties for him too XD
I don’t think Suguha’s that kind of girl. She does have her onii-chan.
No bisyounen avatar or bad-ass weapon can save you as a potential love interest when you are so clumsy that you still cannot figure out how to fly without that stupid wii controller after playing the game after a year. And this Kirito guy figured it out in an hour, no less.
Recon is also possessive and follows her all the time.She gets tired of him.
Something’s bugging me lately whenever I watch SAO. If I recall correctly, Asuna and Suguha’s bust size are the same (82)…so why would A-1 emphasize it more on Suguha, I wonder?
Erm, I know the illustrator of the LN (abec) focused on that aspect of Suguha/Leafa so maybe it carried over to the anime?
http://taptaptaptaptap.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/abec-sao-3/#more-522
-translation of abec’s blog post talking about Leafa’s proportions.
the author made a point to note that during the 2 years kirito was trapped in sao, suguha blossomed into a woman. if you get what i mean, wink wink nudge nudge honk honk.
If happens that Leafa and Asuna encounters for pvp, who will win? >_>”
I’m quite enjoying the way they’re now merging the ending scene with the ED / credits.
You guys are just pissed you aren’t perfect at everything like me and Kirito.
*sarcasm*
For some reason, Asuna might not get free on the next episode because the Fairy King might reset the password…
So two fanservice characters from OP only appears on episode 20 or episode 19 ending, pity =(
I wonder, when will these two recognize each other that they are brother-sister??
Sugou is officially Asuna’s new competition. This episode had too much fan service.
Good episode, next week feel like stuff gonna go down. Dat shower scene
“Kirito doesn’t die when killed”
but but…
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/9279/faurego6.jpg
I watched this episode, skipped the parts where Suguha was completely alone, and loved everything else.
Suguha is the most annoying ally character so far even when put up against Recon, but if I had to choose between who to be around, can I has Recon?
I like Kirito’s new Soldier uniform.
The whole episode was too Suguha focused, I can’t wait for a new female character to come and glomp all over Kirito.Preferably an older woman that would troll the hell out of Suguha doing the usual big breasted mature lady antics that you’d see in most anime.
That end card. Something is wrong with Yui’s foot, i think the big toe should be on the other side, just saying ….
I shouted “Buster sword” when I saw Kirito’s new weapon.
Im so bummed I cant see Asuna kicking ass.
Ack wayy too late in commenting..
I’ve reached my limit – Lyfa’s breasts are wayyy too distracting.. Throughout all 10 light novel volumes of SAO never did once I could categorize it as ecchi. This episode turns it around o.o
I don’t see how Suguha can’t recognise Kirito in-game. His avatar looks just like him.
This is only compounded by the fact that Kirito should be world-famous (at the very least, amongst the people who play such games) for having been the person to release/save thousands of people through a heroic act. He would have definitely had his 15 minutes of fame.
Plus, he’s her brother. She never bothered to learn anything about the character he played in the game, like it’s name?
The other issue I had with this episode was with Asuna saying “He’ll definitely come and get me, he’ll save me!” (obviously referring to Kirito) and then trying to hide her glee and amazement upon finding out that he yet lives.
Since it’s a game where people don’t usually look anything like themselves, maybe she just writes it off as someone who chose/or by chance looks similar to her big brother.
Or possibly they chose to keep it quiet. In episode 15, Asuna’s father admits that what happened inside SAO is supposed to be kept secret. As of right now in the anime, the only people who would know Kirito is the person who beat the game are the people who were in the room when he beat Kayaba, Asuna’s father, and Sugou, which is like 20+ people out of how many millions of Japanese? And of those people, only one knows his real name.
Until he fell into a coma, she had absolutely zero interest in online gaming. Factor in that there was no monitor for her to see his character’s name, and her not knowing about “Kirito” makes perfect sense.
What’s so odd about it? People tell themselves all sorts of things to keep their spirits up, whether they believe it or not. (And she’s been under Creepy McFabulous’ control for two montsh). Ever see a movie where people are stranded on a mountain or island and they keep saying “someone will come and find us”?
what’s this moomba…. no full length of this >>> https://randomc.net/image/Sword%20Art%20Online/Sword%20Art%20Online%20-%2018%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
its heresy i tell u
HERESY
HAHA!
This new arc is soooo daaaaamn boring! .____________.
What I only liked this ep; Suguha’s a babe’n she knows it 😉
Also…where the’eck’s Kajiura???!!
“I’d bet anything that he wouldn’t have the guts to put on a NerveGear ever again.”
……………………………………
Um… is the main antagonist SUPPOSED to be a fucking retard? Whatever, SAO has went full retard anyway. The plot should’ve ended after Aincrad. You’ll get a perfect summary of the events of these episodes just by watching videos like these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5_DcTUJEgg&feature=plcp
I found the episode to be far more enjoyable then that video though…
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