Sword Art Online Forum

@sickVisionz: @UsachanMaN:

Yeah, I wrote down that Asuna is 17 and Kirito is 16 in Ep. 14's wiki page. I find it nice that the girl is older than the guy. Most people find that weird for some reason. Besides that, I have to change my caption for Sugou, and the age for adult in Japan is 18 like us in the U.S. It used to be 20 back in 2008.

Speaking of psychotic players, I don't think we'll see any. They were pretty rare, and the show is pretty mellow than Btooom! which has some messed up players who became more sadistic and violent as they play the game in the real life.

The difference between Btooom! and Sword Art Online is that in SAO, you died in the game means death to you. For Btooom!, you are forced to killed 6 or 7 (can't remember) players in order to escape from the game that is being played in real life. The issues with trust is more fragile in that series than Sword Art Online.

Dang, I got off tangent again.

@takashichea: @sickVisionz:

Naughty GIFS I found

@takashichea: @Acura_Max: 
Kirito didn't actually die and then come back to life. There's a period of around 10 seconds after someone's health is depleted where they're still alive.
The anime portrayed it kind of stupidly where they made him look like a ghost, but he was still technically alive in the game and used that time to beat Heathcliff.
 
If you check the boss fight against the giant skull monster, even the guys who got 1 hit killed didn't always disappear instantly. Plus, characters like the Beta tester on floor 1 and the guild member who turned out to be a Player Killer had enough time to talk before they disappeared.

@Petiew: @Acura_Max

Oh, I see. It was confusing to see the Kirito glowing all ghost like and coming back.

I totally forgot about Kirito giving the secret item to Klein that revives a player who died 10 seconds. Though, I think Klein threw it away.

Edit:

@AgentFakku:

What naughty GIFs, dude?

@Petiew: @takashichea: That answer actually brought more questions. When Kirito stabbed, hp was in the red and Kayaba's hp was at least in the yellow. How did Kirito outlast Kayaba? If your theory is correct, it would mean that Kirito was able to outlast Kayaba; after all, he was able to make it back to the real world. Otherwise, it means that he would have died.

As for the secret item, I had completely forgotten it even existed. At the beginning, I kept thinking it was going to be important later, but I guess I was wrong.

By the way, did you catch the first episode of Robotics;Notes?

@Acura_Max: I haven't really read the novels thoroughly enough to get that point to be honest. I'm sure it's explained properly in there however.
My theory on it though would be the players don't immediately die in the real world once they die in the game, there must be some delay between the two. Beating Kayaba ended the game and released (almost) everyone. If death was immediate then Asuna would definitely be dead in the real world, since at least a minute or so passed between hey dying in game and Kirito clearing it.
Or maybe Kayaba prevented them from immediately dying?  
Have you got any theories on it?
 
@takashichea: The novels the anime is based on are actually done in a really weird way. The first novel covers the main events of SAO, from entering the game to clearing it. The second novel is a collection of short side stories that took place earlier within SAO.
The revival item is chronological obtained before the game ends, but the author hadn't written this story until after the final boss fight!
I was confused as well until I found this out, since I thought the revival item would be important too!

@Petiew:I can't think of anything.

I checked a couple sites and your theory seems to be the right one. Even the novel agrees: Look at chapter 23. Perhaps Kirito stabbed Kayaba in a critical spot; one that takes more damage than the other parts of his body. When I first saw the episode, I thought Kirito was able to revive himself through power or love (the same kind that allowed Asuna to overpower her paralysis).

The novel is pretty interesting. I like that it is told from a first person perspective. Since we don't know anything about Kirito besides his username and that fact that he has a sister, it makes it easier to put yourself into his shoes, like if Kirito was the avatar and we were playing him. The story is definitely more fleshed out. Here is a tidbit from the novel:

When you think about it like that, this fight was extremely unfair. That's because the «enemy» in front of me —a humanoid with dully shining arms covered in dark green scales and a lizard's head and tail— was not a human, nor was it really alive. It was a digital lump that the system would replace regardless of how many times it was killed.

—No.

The AI that controlled the lizardman was studying my movements and enhancing its ability to respond to them with every second that passed. However, the moment that this unit was destroyed, the data would be reset instead of being passed on to the unit that would regenerate in this area.

So in a sense, this lizardman was also alive, a single being unique to this world.

@Acura_Max: Yeah, Kirito seems to be a sort of "Self-Insert" character. He's great at everything and all the girls fawn over him, but he's generic and enough of a blank slate that people can still relate to him. Like you said, it seems written in a way that you feel as if you're playing him, and you're kind of a badass. Kind of like why the harem protagonist is an average, unremarkable guy but has 5-6 beautiful girls fighting over him.
 
Asuna escaping Paralysis was something I didn't like. From the link you posted it doesn't look like its explained in the novels either! I don't like the idea of breaking the game with the power of love, so I'm going to pretend she had equipment that increased her resistance to paralysis!

A visual representation of Kirito's relationship with his cousin. Apparently this pose is now a meme. Source

@Acura_Max:

I saw that pose. Poor Asuna.

@Supreme Marvel:

Incest is a weird thing. It's pretty common in anime where creators just love making us cringe. Another thing that's common is the childhood friend which most cousins fall under. With that strong kinship bond on top of childhood friend concept, things get complicated. That's why Suguha is contemplating whether it's okay or not. Is it alright to love your cousin and to what extent?

I don't know if incest is a common thing in Japan given the declining birthrate situation in Japan.

I just noticed this. Take a look at this picture.

Just from looking at this picture, you wouldn't have guessed that this girl was in a coma for more than 2 years. When Kirito came out of his coma he was a skeleton, but Asuna must be on some kind of special medical plan. I guess that happens when your dad is the president of a company. I guess the creators thought it would be too difficult for the viewer to want to save Asuna if she was ugly.

@Acura_Max:

You got some sharp eyes. That is some odd inconsistency. The creators don't want to mess with their little Mary Sue's pretty face.

What's with Kirito and his obsession of poking girls? I had a picture of him poking Asuna somewhere in my gallery.

@takashichea: The creators might be appealing to the moe crowd. I guess people think this is cute. Another equally weird thing is that Kirito is still allowing Yui to call him daddy. In the sense of plot, I don't see why he still allows her to do that. When they first they first started to pretend that they were Yui's parents, they had thought that Yui was a real child. They did it so she would feel safe. Now everyone knows she is an AI and she knows everything about herself. I think it's just fan service of a different kind at this point.

The MMO business must be huge in Japan. I don't think the United States would ever allow another MMO to exist after it has killed 4,000 people, especially one that uses the same code as the previous SAO. Why hasn't Kirito heard of the new fairy MMO? You would think that the return of something that trapped over 4,000 for two years would make national news, and not just a 30 second bit on the television. At this point, I think SAO has abandoned any pretension of trying to be realistic.

The blond girl at the end of episode 16 could have just logged out or allowed herself to be killed. Without the threat of real death, there really isn't any consequence to player vs player fights. Hopefully, they find some way to add consequence to their deaths.

I had thought that the incest thing was something the animators had thrown in to increase ratings, but it's actually in the novel. This could mean that this side plot might go somewhere.

The siblings of before had now become cousins; yet even Suguha did not understand how it ended up like this.

But something did change. Although she hadn't really thought about it up until now, a small secret continued to flicker within her heart.

Maybe it's possible that she liked Onii-chan; but if it's like this, then that was probably fine.

Kirito's cousin is the blond elf girl seen at the end of episode 16. The show will probably portray this as a huge plot twist, but they kind of spoiled it with the opening.

episode 17

Creepy rapey dude + human experimentation + incest = this is a show I'll watch week to week rather than wait for chunks of episodes to build up. The whole AFO "the princess is in another castle" thing is kinda lame to me but everything that takes place outside of AFO or is directly tied to that is pretty cool.

@Acura_Max:

I wouldn't have guessed that Leafa (Crunchyroll) or Lyfa was Suguha if the opening wasn't there. Plus, her voice was a dead giveaway as well. Kirito is dumb as a brick. Speaking of Moe, I keep getting vibes about that stuff, and I'm not into that sort of stuff. Yeah, it's terrible that the creators don't make this realistic anymore.

At least, Sugou's plans of mind manipulation and brainwash is a better evil goal than Akihiko Kayaba's evil ambitions. They ended the Sword Art Online arc poorly once I watched episode twice to see if I miss anything. I hope this arc doesn't end poorly and shows more of the old folks or new folks.

Oh, I found an article on Crunchyroll that Japanese fans vote for the most annoying same gender characters. Look at the top 10.

Females

Female on Female (17,764 votes)
1. Bleach's Inoue Orihime
2. Gintama's Tsukuyo
3. Haruhi Suzumiya
4. Sword Art Online's Asuna
5. Madoka Magica's Homura Akemi
6. Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!'s Hina Takanashi
7. Bakemonogatari's Nadeko Sengoku
8. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Mikoto Misaka
9. K-On!'s Yui Hirasawa
10. Hyōka's Eru Chitanda

Males

Male on Male (9371 votes)
1. School Days' Makoto Itou
2. Accel World's Haruyuki Arita
3. Sword Art Online's Kirito
4. A Certain Scientific Railgun's Toma Kamijo
5. To Love-Ru's Riko Yuusaki
6.IS <Infinite Stratos>'s Ichika Orimura
7. Gundam SEED Destiny's Shinn Asuka
8. Hyōka's Satoshi Fukube
9. GundamA GE's Flit Asuno
10. Nyarko-san's Hastur

I get Kirito but Asuna? I guess Asuna is too much of a Mary Stu.

@takashichea: These crunchyroll polls are all over the place. Check out this one This might be one of the reasons why Asuna does not get the skeleton treatment Kirito got.

In Honor of Moe Day, 16000 Japanese Fans Pick Cutest Anime Character

1. K-on!'s Mio Akiyama
2. K-on!'s Yui Hirasawa
3. Sword Art Online's Asuna
4. K-on!'s Azusa Nakano
5. Hyōka's Eru Chitanda
6. Tari Tari's Sawa Okita
7. Kokoro Connect's Himeko Inaba
8. Humanity Has Declined's protagonist
9. Nyarko-san
10. Madoka Magica's Homura Akemi

As for the moe, the show has been going full blast on that material. Ever since Yui came into the picture, I can't remember one scene of traditional fan service. The closes we got to that was probably episode 7 (or 8?) when Asuna told Kirito not to look at her panties when she wanted a piggy back (unless you count Sugou's short shorts in episode 16 and that creepy dude messing with Asuna's lip in episode 15 as fan service).

Going off-topic, that poll you linked with spot on with Inoue. Worst Bleach character ever. Even worse then the flamboyant gay hollow. At least, he didn't last 514 chapters + filler.

@sickVisionz: So Sword Art Online Season 2 = Super Mario Bros.?

Episode 18 had the most fan service, and it was pretty risque given the fact that this Kirito's cousin we're talking about. Plus, it caters to the Yui fans who gobbling up the Moe shots of adorable Yui.

Plus, we have a love triangle or some sorts going on.

Nagata (Recon) really likes her or how Happy says it (Fairy Tail) - You Liiiike her! What's up with Yui being all precoccious or something. She really pounding it into Leafa/ Suguha about Recon and love. The first thing that pops out in Suguha's head is Kirito. I think she is trying to not fall in love with Kirito, but we all know in this anime, Kirito is a damn lucky bastard.

Let's not forget about mr. rapist who telling Asuna what happens in ALFheim stays in ALFheim.

It's not Las Vegas, People!

Anyway, Asuna makes me happy because she figured out how to break free. She's not like some damsel in distress waiting for someone to save her. No, she's a Mary Sue for god's sake.

@takashichea: Don't forget that Kirito is a Gary Stu. I can't remember any immoral decision that he made during this entire series and he gets all the girls. I had no idea that MMOs were so popular with teenage girls. Now that I think about it; there aren't alot of teenage boys in this show. From the top of my head, I can only name two boys (Kirito and the green haired kid). Most males seem to be in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.