The two main characters are back. Perhaps we’re finally going to start our adventure.
The episode started rather abruptly. Asuna is now the assistant leader of a guild, and she is tsundere for Kirito. Great.
A mystery begins when a man is murdered in town. Nothing screams “TERRIBLE AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH” like a lingering ass shot of the witness as she recounts her story. What could have possibly led to this death?!!!
Later, we discuss who the culprit could be as we stare at Asuna’s ass the murder weapon. There seems to be a theme here. Who could the murderer be? I am dying to know.
Suddenly the witness gets big eyes, goes crazy, and gets stabbed in the back. Mysterious and riveting.
No, seriously, come on. I am all for crazy Higurashi eyes, but this was awful and cringe worthy. What makes the eyes in Higurashi succeed is how they slowly notch up the tension. Slowly the characters grow more and more suspicious until they reach a breaking point. Here the crazy eyes just came out of nowhere. Just like the entire story. I sincerely hope that Sword Art Online can establish a firm direction
@draggle what you seen until now is side stories and that why every episode going in firm direction the main plot will begin in episode 8 and from there they will focus only on asuna and kirito and the main plot
Oh, this is still a side story? Man, I can’t wait until they get on with it… I can’t help but wonder if all these side stories were really necessary. I’m curious regarding how tight the pacing will be for the rest of the show.
Heh, I’d forgotten about all those ass shots until now. As someone who has no prior experience with the franchise, it does bother me that we’ve been treated to side stories for the past four episodes, particularly since that seem to mean those stories really don’t have any bearing on the main story at all. The whole episode felt way too rushed, with a whole lot of exposition about development that apparently happened off-camera before diving in to a rather dull “mystery” plot.
I don’t get it either. It seems like a rather poor “mystery” when the mystery depends almost entirely on the nature of the world itself and its PvP system, which we have only learned of through what characters said in this very episode. I’m not convinced it’s even a mystery the viewer *can* solve.
I just now notice how many social media buttons you have at the bottom of your posts. Damn, dude, I can even submit your stuff to Reddit.
Damn you’re right. What can I say, I’m a social guy!
I have such high hopes for this series, but the use of side stories in these early episodes is very startling. Doesn’t seem like a solid play in my book. I’m also disappointed that nothing in the real world has been shown: for example, how the essentially comatose players are being treated (8,000 IVs?), talked about in the media, etc. I’d also like to know if the police are searching for Kayaba and how their efforts are going.
actully episode 1 was part of the main story.the side stories started in episode 2 and will be until episode 8.
Huh, the main story must have a huge gap if they go straight from level 1 to level 70 something…
Based on the OP which if I remember correctly has transitions of the characters from the SAO world to the real world, we’ll probably see what’s going on in the real world eventually. I guess at this point it makes sense to keep some of the mystery going. Although really it would make more sense just to skip all these side stories, as you said…
I’m a bit disappointed w/ how Asuna developed. In ep. 2 she was like this badass single player, a female version of Kirito. Now it turns out she has become sociable and leads a successful guild. Why should I care for her? Maybe my taste is somewhat skewed in the emo direction but Asuna’s personality seems rather bland and hollow to me now.
She still looks good though. I particularly like her hairstyle and the combination of pleated school uniform skirt w/ fantasy armor which reminds me of Marika’s pirate costume. It adds some cuteness and makes the whole outfit look less serious.
Asuna’s development doesn’t make much sense (“hollow” is the perfect description), but I still like her more than Kirito. Kirito is a badass “beater”, which just makes me roll over laughing. She does look cute though.