Asuna

Not all MMOs are focused entirely around combat. In fact, the majority usually have some form of crafting or profession system for those who prefer to play a supporting role away from the battlefield or as a reprieve from the constant battles. SAO is no exception to this. For me, Lisbeth (Takagaki Ayahi) is one of the madami interesting side-story needs-more-deban characters to follow. Sachi… well Sachi can’t really be followed anymore and Silica would be similar to Kirito in her combat antics but with the addition of a pet. Liz, however, gives us a window into an entirely different side...

I’ve taken two main things away from this episode. The first is that Sugou is hilarious. I have no idea if this was intentional, but the guy is Class-A comedy villain material! sa pamamagitan ng this point, he’s little madami than a caricature of a man, with no substance beyond being a horrible creep who has his eyes set on Asuna and vast wealth. Koyasu Takehito has a great voice at his disposal and it almost felt as though some Dio came out in today’s episode. I laughed a lot this week. I’m not even joking.

Zephyr once told me that it was worth watching Zetsuen no Tempest for the reaction faces alone....

This week’s episode forms the conclusion of the mysterious murder case arc. To be perfectly honest, it felt a little out of character for the series, not just in the anime but also in the light novels. I would consider this dissonance far madami emphasised in the anime though – the attempts to create an atmosphere of horror and mystery felt a little forced. Creating suspense and tension at the thought of death is one thing, trying to bring elements of horror and mystery to a story which isn’t really about either can be a risky move. Branching out can be good, but it’s always possible...

I was never right for the hero type of role
I admit it
With my puso shivering in fear
I can see today's reflected in each past tear
Even so
It has been calling the heavens to me
But I cannot hide
All the emptiness inside
My fleeting puso

Once in my dreams
I rose and soared
No matter how I'm knocked around
Or beaten down
I will stand up, restored

All of my pag-ibig
Has yet to wake
I know your strength is what I lack
You've got my back
And know that I've got yours

I have you to thank
For lighting up the dark

Because you're here with me
Our dreams will soar free
Forever

(I wanna always be with you
I...

Alright, I’m going to say something extremely controversial this week. See, I genuinely enjoyed the segundo half of this episode. Quite a bit in fact. Sword Art Online can actually be very good when the focus isn’t entirely on how ridiculously powerful and badass Kirito is supposed to be which, in truth, has been the major focus for most of the ALO arc. What Kawahara Reki seems to frequently forget is that MMORPGs aren’t about the individual, but what the many can accomplish when they combine their strength. The same can also extend to all other mediums – Stilts and Stereoman even wrote...

It’s always interesting to have some light shed upon the motives of characters who aren’t one-dimensional antagonists. We heard madami 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 sa pamamagitan ng 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...

If there’s one thing you don’t see very often in an MMO, it’s a murder mystery. That’s mostly because murder is never really a big deal in an MMO after all – sure PKing is often frowned upon, but unless you’re playing a game like EVE Online, it’s relatively rare that anyone will go to great lengths to solve such a case (not that it’s actually hard to solve in the first place). But a murder mystery is exactly what we get this week, focused around a guild going sa pamamagitan ng the name of ‘Golden Apple‘ and their quarrels over a rare item drop.

In typical fashion, Kawahara picks up yet...

Episode 15 of Sword Art Online feels almost like an entirely different anime. Right from the OP ipinapakita Kirito and co. frolicking around in Aion the new game which wasn’t introduced in this episode, down to the new characters and real world setting, only Kirito and Asuna (along with Kawahara Reki’s distinctive Pagsulat style) remain as reminders of the nakaraan arc. We’re out of SAO, Kirito is undergoing rehabilitation, Asuna remains in a coma for some mysterious reason, and right off the bat we have another new pag-ibig interest and antagonist. Yes. Already. Perhaps some would complain that...

So how about some loli fanservice? This was certainly an episode packed full of it! Once again, Kirito manages to save the life of another player and ends up travelling with them. It’s also the segundo time he’s done so in order to help a female player (that we’re aware of).

Given what is probably a vastly skewed ratio of males to females in the SAO playerbase (just to put it into perspective, during the Pre-Open Beta Tests for Phantasy bituin Online 2, over 71% of all characters were female… what do we think this says about the Japanese playerbase for online games ibingiay most of those were...