AnimeSuki Forum - Origins of Kirito and Asuna's Romance: Theories and Discussion

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Origins of Kirito and Asuna's Romance: Theories and Discussion

I received a request for a discussion topic, and I think it could result in some interesting discussion.

One of the main plot threads in the SAO Aincrad arc was the development of the romance between Kazuto (Kirito) and Asuna. But it can be a bit murky to trace the exact origins of their feelings for each other and how those developed. So, for consideration, these two questions:

1. When do you think Asuna fell in love with Kirito? Please explain and justify your answer.

2. When did Kirito fall in love with Asuna? Please explain and justify your answer.

You may also use this thread to discuss other topics related to the development of their romance in the story, but please do not discuss matters from beyond the animated content outside of clearly-marked spoiler tags. (If you don't know what I mean by "clearly-marked", please read this first.)

Also, should be obvious, but this thread should not be used for any converse shipping purposes, or for anything that is better covered by another thread in this sub-forum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by relentlessflame (Post 4537419)

You may also use this thread to discuss other topics related to the development of their romance in the story, but please do not discuss matters from beyond the animated content outside of clearly-marked spoiler tags. (If you don't know what I mean by "clearly-marked", please read this first.)

So this is Anime Only? Good, that would be fair.

1. Episode 5. More specifically the time she fell asleep beneath the tree. She explained this already to the fisherman, Nishida, in episode 13 so I'm just gonna paraphrase/repeat it a bit.
She was hard-pressed to clear the game and would use any means to clear floors, as seen in the first part of episode 5. Then she saw Kirito laying back, sleeping well, and enjoying life in the game later in the same episode. She saw someone treating the game as another reality and living well in the present. She wanted to know more about him after the whole mystery incident. Eventually, she fell for him, as hinted in episode 7 with her reaction to seeing Kirito after the Liz quest, meeting him up in Agil's shop in episode 8 and so on.

2. Episode 9, after the boss fight with Gleameyes. Asuna was willing to take a break from KoB and party with him. And she showed concern for his reckless action in the boss fight that touched Kirito. The short flashbacks of Asuna kind of said that he's warming up to her.
He even confessed to her about the Black Cats guild in episode 10 as a sign of trust. He expected her to be disgusted with him for being the only survivor. But she stayed on his side and even said that she'll protect her. He refrained from embracing her though but he did raise his hand up, indicating that he wanted to return the action.
The final push would probably be the Kuradeel attempted murder in the same episode. He wanted someone to be with him after that incident. You could call it a spur of the moment or a suspension bridge effect though but he fell for her there and even declared that he'll protect her.

I'm not good at arguments though so pick it apart if you'd like.

This will end well...:heh:

Quote:

Originally Posted by belatkuro (Post 4537539)

Adding to your point. From the end of episode 2 to the beginning of episode 5, something must have happened to sour his his initial amicable relationship with Asuna. It may be a combination of Asuna's zealous pursuance to completing the game and Kirito's loner status in the aftermath of episode 3. This is anime based speculation.

I personally think that the feelings were going on slowly.

The first "spark" was the time when they were eating bread and Kirito gave Asuna something to put on top of it. No one actually had any feelings to be that close as they were in the end at that time, nor thought of that.

The second impression was the look on Kirito's face when Asuna's hood fell down, showing her being a girl.

After the 1st boss was beaten, Asuna went after Kirito to the top of the stairs, and she must have felt something because she took what he said to her seriously. She took on the front-lines extremely well with no grace, as we can she later how she wanted to beat the boss by sacrificing the NPCs of a town, saying how they can respawn on which Kirito disagreed.

After that, there were many moments that brought the two closer and closer.

However, there was a huge moment under the tree, for Asuna, at least.
The most beautiful weather in the most beautiful time of the year, as described by Kirito.
As we can see later, that is what made Asuna loosen up, and she was really thankful for Kirito to show her what life can be like.

They were getting closer and closer even more, and there were a lot of dramatic moments as saving each others' life or asking for each other to get married.

Anyhow, the steps went on perfectly and they ended together as two people in mad love.

Really nice, Romance of SAO is on it's maximum.

thank you very much for taking my thread request relentlessflame im sorry for the long email and making you sit through my weird conclusions befor the thread was even made but these are my thoughts on the matter im popping them on spoiler as they do have refrences from the manga and light novel

Spoiler for combination of manga light novel and anime ref's:

1. When do you think Asuna fell in love with Kirito?
looking at the way there relationship progresses it seems that she realised her feelings along time before Kirito, if we are to take literal meaning from the Light novel and the anime it could be deduced that she fell in love with Kirito in episode 5 "A crime within the walls" when Kirito tell's Asun about the weather setting whilst napping below the tree. we can asume this by what Asuna tells Nishida "that in the beginning, she would cry due to the fact she was trapped in a death game and she would take that sadness and turn it into determination thus allowing her to level up extremely quickly. She explained to them that it was Kirito who taught her that there are people trying to experience this world for what it is and that he is the reason why she is alive and looks forward to tomorrow." taken from the sword art online wiki but also seen in the manga, light novel and the anime.

2.When did Kirito fall in love with Asuna?
I find this one a little more difficult to place as when you look at the anime light novel and manga it isnt really clear at all maybe this is because im female and find it easy to see Asuna's feelings but i find Kirito alot harder to read, we know that Kirito respects Asuna alot for her skill and beauty but in all of the adaptations (manga/lightnovel/anime) plus interveiws with the aurthor we know that his first love in sword art online was acctually Sachi the girl from the moonlight black cats who died when stuck in a no-crystal trap, he blamed himself for her death and in the anime in episode 9 "The blue-eyed demon" when coming around from fainting after defeating the boss at first it apears that he believes Asuna to be Sachi for a second befor realising who it acctually is, yet in the Light novel this doesnt happen though Kirito is very confused by Asuna suddenly hugging him as he wakes up thought it is seen to be that other people can understand Asuna's feelings towards Kirito by the way Klein reacts to her behaviour:
Klein nodded.
“Online gamers get jealous easily. I wouldn't since I'm an understanding guy, but there sure are plenty of envious people. Not to mention...”
Klein suddenly stopped talking and looked at Asuna, who was still tightly hugging me, and smiled meaningfully.
it also seems that as Kirito blames himself for the death of the Black cats guild members especially his first love Sachi, that he doesnt believe that he deserves to be able to feel for another again or to have someone feel for him in this way, yet he faught for her against Kuradeel befor this came to pass so is he just trying to deny his own feelings or does he not truely understand them until she tells him that she wishes to take leave from her guild to be with him which is what we are lead to believe in the light novel.
“T-Take a break...? Why?”
“...I said that I was going to party with you for a while... Did you forget already?”
As soon as I heard that...
Somewhere deep within my heart, a feeling that could only be described as a strong longing reached out. It surprised even me.
I —solo player Kirito— was a person who had abandoned every other player in order to keep myself alive in this world. I was the coward who had turned his back on his only friend and ran away two years ago, on the day that all of this had started.
A person like me, who didn't even have any right to wish for a comrade—let alone something more than that.
I had already realized this in a painful and unforgettable way. I had sworn never to wish again, never to yearn for the care of others.
But—
My left hand, which had turned rigid, didn't want to let go of Asuna's shoulder. I just couldn't pull myself away from the virtual warmth of her body.
I buried this huge contradicting conflict inside me with an inexplicable emotion, and then answered with a short reply.
“...Okay.”
After hearing my response, Asuna's head nodded slightly on my shoulder
yet this just states that it was at this point he realised his feelings but does anyone else think that there was another point in time when his feelings actually began?

Spoiler for Not sure if anime only, so just in case:

Spoiler for Highlights in the Romance Development of Kazuto and Asuna:

What!? This specific topic warrant it's own thread :eyespin: !? Too much sap would make the walls here all mushy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen (Post 4538837)

What!? This specific topic warrant it's own thread :eyespin: !? Too much sap would make the walls here all mushy!

I've no problem with a specific topic getting its own thread as long as it seems like it might generate interesting discussion. At this point, the amount of topics to discuss has gone down anyway, until the next anime season is announced.