09.26
It’s been another month-ish since the goings-on of last episode and this time around you can really tell.
To be thrown into the middle of the rebels planning to destroy the Death Star latest boss where not only is Klein there but also Asuna and the rest of the fighters from three episodes ago is jarring in a good way. Kirito is smack in the middle of a group that ostracized him back in episode two and yet for the time being it seems like everyone’s fine with it. And then we immediately skip forward to another month in the scene following the opening animation. Intriguing.
I’d say that it feels out of character for Kirito to be relaxing while everyone else is prepping for the next big fight, but then I realized that even five episodes in we actually don’t know all that much about him. Sure, we’ve seen him wipe out massive amounts of baddies and develop some kind of strong emotion towards not wanting to lose any lives in the game, but in terms of personality there really isn’t that much introduced to him outside of him being a really good at SAO. I think it was Brink’s dad in the Disney movie that said something about your hobby being something you do rather than something you use to define yourself? I’d use this as a cue to take a stab at Erik von Detten’s acting career, but I think that speaks for itself.
I will say the series has been doing a good job of creating in-game situations where someone can really screw over another player. I don’t even think pokemon allows you to fight another person while they’re asleep (pokemon, maybe, but never person) and use it as an opportunity to actually kill them.
Really good to know that the developing relationship between Kirito and Asuna isn’t taking any of the more predictable tropes out there, too. Outside of his gaming prowess, Kirito actually doesn’t fit the shy anime nerd stereotype and is rather useful in a pinch not just in terms of fighting, but in terms of getting people together to work as a unit to calmly assess the situation. The same can be said for Asuna who doesn’t fall into the typical “out of my league” girl character but doesn’t lean towards the “girl power to the point that it’s more parody than real” side, either. Having her call the shots and having Kirito take the more passive role when they found the hanging man was a small but for a lack of a better word, progressive choice. They’re even noticeably close in height, if that even means anything. I’m sure the young Tina Feys of the anime watching community gave a small cheer during that bit.
… only to have it undone by this ass shot. Eh, animoo is as animoo does.
I’ve noticed that while it was established in the first episode to reach the 100th floor to get back to the real world, there’s been a bit of traveling up as well as down the floors. Makes sense not to bum rush things when your life is literally at stake, and this is an MMO so I guess the back-and-forth should only be expected. (I’d insert some kind of Castlevania II backtracking gripe reference but having never played it, I’ll shy away and just say to look up its AVGN and Sequelitis videos on YouTube.)
In-game marriage? Geez, this show’s got everything. Kinda makes me wonder how one would follow up with that if the couple ends up getting back to the real world.
And end the episode with another death (after an unexpected emotional breakdown filled with Death Note style cinematography), leaving the resolution for next time. I’ve been iffy on the series so far, but with the level of “who’s the killer” type of cop-drama in this episode, I will say I’m actually looking forward to watching the next episode. Though I will say that keeping a murder witness near an open window in the middle of the day was a rookie move, Asuna and Kirito.