“I have sword powers”
(Kirito doesn’t understand what happened to his coat)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Game, MMO, Fantasy, Sc-Fi, Age: 13+
Released: 6th July 2012 – onwards
From the previous episode, Kirito returns to the real world and is able to walk after having months of rehabilitation. His sister, who missed him a lot during his comatose state in Sword Art Online, has been keeping up her old hobbies of kendo. Feeling better than ever, Kirito challenges her to a match.
Who knows, maybe he has hidden dueling powers…?
Warning! May contain spoilers!
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Although it’s a tense duel, with both sides making hits, Kirito’s sister Suguha beats him. She’s surprised at his skill, when he’s been inside a virtual game for two years.
Kirito is reassured that he still retains his sword skill from the game, even though it’s not as fast as he had hoped.
(Suguha tries to beat some sense into her brother)
Asuna was hunted down as soon as Kirito woke up from his coma and is currently in hospital, along with 300 other players that didn’t wake up.
(Asuna catches up on some unneeded beauty sleep)
Asuna’s father and fiance regularly visit her while she’s in hospital, and this tike Kirito hears heir exchange of how Noboyuki Suguo will be “adopted” into Asuna’s family, which will make her Asuna’s husband.
Kirito is furious at this scheme, and it doesn’t help that Noboyuki turns out to be a genuinely creepy guy that doesn’t care about getting Asuna’s permission anyway.
Noboyuki invites Kirito to come to the wedding.
(If he didn’t lick his lips, this shot is almost shoujo-esque)
Kirito is devastated at losing Asuna in the real world, especially to a blackmailing person like Noboyuki, who threatened to kill Asuna if Kirito interferes. Suguha comforts her brother, while secretly being jealous of his affection for Asuna.
(“Would this be a good time to ask if you like me more than Asuna?”)
It is revealed in a flashback that Suguha is actually Kirito’s cousin, rather than sister.
(Suguha’s mother skipped out the important topic of platonic relationships)
When Kirito wakes up the next morning, he receives a message which shows a blurry picture of Asuna. She’s trapped in another world!
(“My virtual girlfriend is in danger! Oh no!”)
Overall, I never thought that I would miss the battle grinding and mushy scenes of Sword Art, but the real world is decidedly boring.
The cast was dragged down to two people, Kirito and sister, who have very stilted conversations. Suguha is harbouring a crush on her brother-cousin? It’s awkward, and out of place.
The addition of the creepy fiance is interesting, but also a bit lame. Yes, Kirito will now have to compete for Asuna with a “rival”, but it’s not hard which way the audience’s affection will fall. No-one’s going to agree with rapist-Noboyuki. If the writers had made him more charismatic, it would be a genuine struggle.
Does the series really need the elf world to make it more exciting? Will it be any better than the medieval Sword Art? There are a lot of questions, and I’m glad the series moves at a fast enough pace to skip past real life.
Rated – 3/5 Stilted conversations and awkward moments.
Dramatic Reviews 