[Shimapan]

Originally Posted by HandofFate

well that was kind of a boring conclusion....
the entire reason for the killing of the wife/ring plot was bland as hell.

Best part of the whole arc, was just the regular Kirito x Asuna alone time, the actual mystery was pointless.

True, the "mystery" was pathetic, with a very lame conclusion. Only Asuna's presence saved the episode from sucking too much.
The Asuka-Kirito shipping was handled quite sledgehammer-like, though.

Originally Posted by HandofFate

The end with the ghost actually appearing was confusing though, especially given the game design of what we know so far....why would she appear there like that...makes no sense from a game perspective.

Yes, that didn't make any sense at all. Why would the game have her ghost randomly appear there? As far as we know, ghosts of killed players don't exist in the first place.

Originally Posted by Awrya

Well, it was okay, it felt a bit sudden how Kirito found out about item durability and considered the possibility of a murder guild involved.

That was much too sudden indeed. "Wait, if sandwiches expire, that means armour expires as well, which means that they only faked their death!" lolwut?

Originally Posted by Awrya

It looked a bit too friendly how Schmidt and Caynz carried Grimlock, especially how he is responsible for their guild leader's death. At least drag him

Seemed very unlikely indeed. Grimlock had their leader murdered, and they walk away in a friendly embrace like best friends, with "Everything's fine" music? Seriously? Not to mention he tried to have the other two killed as well by sending Laughing Coffin after them.
That's one of the things that were quite poorly handled.

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

In principle I agree, and I do fully acknowledge that in terms of plot and world-building, I may not fully understand the context of how this episode fits. However, I am prepared to say:

• Grimlock killing his wife because she stopped being a Yamato Nadeshiko was lame.
• Grimlock breaking down like an imploded building when Asuna points out the obvious was even lamer.

Grimlock's reason was pitiful indeed. It may be that such things happen in RL, but here it's just a sign of poor writing and shows that the author lacked the imagination to think of a good reason.
His sudden breakdown was even more stupid. He ha his wife murdered in cold blood for a stupid reason and tried to have the other two murdered as well, by sending that PK guild after them. Yet as soon as Asuna played Captain Obvious, he collapsed like a card house. Yeah right.

Originally Posted by Trajan

As an anime-only viewer, my two major problems with these first 6 episodes is that (1) they don't seem to have any relevance to the major events going on in Aincrad, namely the clearing of the floors and (2) each "story" almost exists independently from the others, serving no real purpose except for filler.

My first issue is self-explanatory, but I'll expand on this second.

In this episode, in a somewhat off-hand matter, Kirito explains he is a solo player because he dislikes the drama surrounding loot drops. No mention of the fact that he might also solo because he still feels guilty over what happened to Sachi and the Black Cats, or at least a pained expression on Kirito's face? It's almost as if the Kirito of episode 6 exists in a different universe from the Kirito of episode 3.

True, the individual stories appear poorly connected, if at all. One should expect that the Black Cat story had an impact on Kirito, but now we get to know that Kirino only stays solo so he can keep all rare loot for himself. The Black Cat story could just as well have never happened.
Many other events also stay without any consequences. Same here, with the oh-so-horrible "murder mystery", which has a very lame conclusion with absolutely no impact or consequences - nothing has changed.
Those two episodes were essentially just filler, probably with the sole purpose of re-introducing Asuna, who was introduced in episode 2 but the completely dropped out of the picture as if she'd never been there.
They should've better shown short scenes every episode about Asuna's current progress, then they wouldn't have needed that much re-introduction. The Asuna-Kirito shipping was tacked on quite hamfistedly with a sledgehammer and could've been handled quite a lot better.

Originally Posted by Trajan

Similarly, the "world-building" is really "fact-building", and poorly done at that. The viewer isn't really learning much about how Aincrad proper works, but rather random facts that don't seem all that important.

For example, in this episode we learn that married couples share all of their items when Asuna explains it to Kirito. Really, she is explaining it to the audience, because after over a year in-game, Kirito should be aware of this fact. What's more, this seemingly random bit of knowledge immediately becomes the key to Kirito solving the mystery. Of course, this fact, having served its purpose, may never be mentioned again.

Indeed, all we get are random bits and pieces, just as it's covenient for the story, most of which to never be heard of again once they've done what they should.
A more systematic explanation would be nice, rather than haphazardly throwing random facts at the audience.

Originally Posted by Trajan

Another example of this is from episode 4, where Silica is apparently unaware that Pina can be revived until Kirito explains it to her. It's really not believable that Silica, as a beast tamer, wouldn't be aware of this information, but it was required for the story. Whether the pet revival flower ever matters again remains to be seen.

One should expect that as a beast tamer, she should know how pets can be revived. But hey, Kirito to the rescue, and he miraculously pulls an info out of his sleeve where there's a flower that can revive pets, even though he never ever had a pet. Thanks, Super-Kirito!