09.15
Obscure sicknesses aside, I’m back… hopefully with a more positive outlook on the series.
You know the one incredibly amiable guy in school that gets along with everyone and seems too perfect to be an actual human so you spend your downtime from secretly worshipping him to find evidence to out him as a robot designed to observe out species? Yeah, blue-haired guy is the SAO-equivalent. I’m betting his avatar pre-plot-twist was his exact face… either that or an incredibly ugly dude just so he could see a life outside the bubble for once.
You’re telling me that one month and 2000 player deaths later, Kirito still hasn’t buddied up with anyone? You’d think “hey I’m a beta tester and actually know my way around here” would be quite the pickup line for anyone.
Then again, I guess social norms (and “abnorms”) are still a thing even in an MMO. The “form a group of six” bit was basically this world’s equivalent of your teacher asking to form a group for a surprise study exercise and it just so happens to be the one class where you know absolutely no one so you end up with the incredibly socially awkward guy and the guy with a thick accent for groupmates. I’m writing all this based more on observation over actual experience, by the way.
Alright, so I guess saying you’re a beta tester isn’t the way to go in this world. Though even if you do buy into the idea that the beta testers went off to take all the easier quests for themselves so they can leave everyone else in the dust level-wise, that still wouldn’t explain why this guy would assume that some beta testers even bothered attending the current meeting.
Based on the scene itself, it looks like the turnout was rather low. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a similar meeting being held elsewhere all under the assumption that a majority of the gamers would attend it. Isn’t there a more efficient way of organizing these kinds of things? Even hitting the “select all friends” option when creating a facebook event for “losing” your phone seems like a better means of keeping tabs on everyone than this. I guess SOA spent most of their budget with face-scanning helmets as a priority first and foremost.
Thank you black guy for stealing some of blue-haired-guy’s thunder during the meeting. Good to know that while they’re still rather token, people of color have become more of a voice of reason and less of a well… stereotype. (sidenote: Watch the Black Dynamite animated series. Think a blacksploitation version of Forrest Gump.)
The bread in this scene alone reminded me of the first episode of FLCL. Though with significantly less sexual tension. And robots.
You’re telling me it took a full month and the users just waiting for their manuals to be updated with new info before being able to take on a level 1 boss accompanied by two lackies? Sure, there’s the whole “getting over the fact that you’ve become a pawn in some sick tech nerd with a god complex’s evil plans” thing, but I feel like that would have taken two weeks tops to get over. Maybe two and then some if you’re really sensitive.
Alright, so looks like Diabel was using his nice guy persona to hide the fact that he was a beta tester and wanted the final strike bonus whatevermajig. But the dialogue seems to sweep even this negative bit of information to the side to give more precedence towards his “nice guy”-ness in the form of flashbacks from ten minutes ago. He dies in the end, so I guess I don’t have too big of a problem with this.
… and in the twist of the century, the mysterious cloaked girl Asuna ends up being super pretty not to mention skilled even though she’s never had any experience fighting in a group before. Her mix of cute and capable works, so I guess I’ll let it slide.
May I turn everyone’s attention to this guy—the most normal non-anime-looking person in a world where your true self (read: normal non-anime-looking) is your avatar. May he turn out to be the best character in the show.
And of course the victory is soured when the same guy from before brings up how no one but a lousy beta tester could have figured out that the boss monster’s sword was different than previously mentioned. The more the characters delve into the whole hatred of betas, the more I don’t get it. Makes me glad that Kirito pulled a Dark Knight/epic microphone drop moment on them and took the whole thing in stride, newly equipped outfit and all.