Recap

As he narrows down the identity of DEATH GUN, Kirito recalls a traumatic experience from his SAO days. After winning his next round, he faces off with Sinon in their final qualifying round.

Jel’s thoughts

I decided to write about Sword Art Online every week in the hopes of bringing some fresh perspective, but it’s getting really difficult as the series keeps playing into its common criticisms. As Kirito recalled his big showdown with Laughing Coffin I kept racking my brain trying to remember if that actually happened in the first season. Surely they wouldn’t be so lazy as to pull an important, life changing incident out of thin air just to quickly establish common ground with Sinon, would they? Well that’s exactly what happened so I guess I was wrong. Judging by Kirito’s reaction, you would think an incident that traumatic would have been shaping his decisions and motivations since, not to mention had we seen it back then it would have made him a much more sympathetic character to the audience. We would have finally seen some human traits in Anime Jesus! Instead it just comes off as a convenient after thought, not packing any of the emotional punch it’s supposed to.

Making matters worse is the effect Kirito’s reaction has on Sinon. I find it so annoying that she’s supposed to be a top player in the game and she is immediately marginalized by Kirito, who’s only been playing for a few hours. I know she was supposed to be rattled by seeing him so upset, but to then break down and essentially yell PLEASE TEACH ME HOW TO BE THAT AWESOME was too far. I couldn’t help but think of poor Leafa in the previous arc, who was supposed to be one of the best players for her faction but was immediately upstaged and turned into a sidekick. Also, what was up with Kirito getting all grabby at the end? It’s like he was looking into her eyes and saying “You are now in my harem, go to the back of the line.” I just don’t understand the appeal of that.

I’ll leave Kirito’s cutting the sniper bullet in half despite having no assist lines as the “One Dumb Thing In SAO I Ignore This Week” and move on. Overall I was really disappointed with this episode, not because I was surprised by what occurred but because all the things I did NOT want to see happen are happening. Kirito continues to curb stomp his enemies and make the ladies swoon with relative ease and any hope I had for Sinon becoming more than just another harem member is out the window. I almost feel defeated enough to drop the show, but I’ll carry on for now.