[Sphire]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Spoiler for Piecing together hints from Episode 6 (see explanation above):

I've been trying to keep novel readers from spoiling the story for people, but after this episode, I sort of feel that the anime is itself spoiling what will surely be its future plot with the extent of the blatant foreshadowing they're showing. In other words, I think some things are really not meant to be secret at all. Specifically, could there possibly be any doubt whatsoever that Kirito and Asuna have a destined future with each other? The hints were layed on so damn thick through this arc that it was almost "painful" (though, on the flip side, I enjoyed it):

• This whole arc starts with Kirito and Asuna getting into what could basically be described as a "Lover's Quarrel"
• The whole premise of the arc is the transition from colleagues (who didn't appear to get along) to friends (who have a special bond, exemplified by both having seen Griselda's ghost).
• The arc is filled with scenes of the two alone together, basically flirting with each other in their own subtle ways (for example, Asuna's sort of tsundere reactions contrasted by her looking out for him; she wouldn't do that if she didn't feel anything for him).
• The explanation of the marriage mechanic, and the "have you ever been married before?" exchange
• The "seeing a side of your partner that you haven't seen before" exchange and Kirito's answer. (By the way, I think he passed the exam, but I loved the look on his face his whole time like "if I don't answer this right, she's going to kill me". )
• The invitation to become friends and walking down the path together, followed by the ED (complemented by the scenes we have already seen in the OP)

What could this possibly mean?!

In my view, this isn't a story about whether Kirito and Asuna will get together, but only about how that happens and the details of what that relationship looks like. But guess what: I'd bet anything it'll involve marriage because, otherwise, what's the point of explaining this mechanic and this entire arc? And that's the only reason why this arc makes me mad: I've been trying so hard to this point to not let novel readers spoil other people on what is going to happen, but it seems to me the anime was never really trying to keep at least this aspect a secret in the first place. Otherwise, the anime would basically have been trolling us the entire time.


So my question (to other anime-only viewers who dared read this spoiler, not to novel readers): should we even consider the fact that Kirito and Asuna will get together a spoiler? We saw it already in the OP, and foreshadowing was so thick in this arc that I can't see how anyone could overlook it now. That doesn't by any means say that I want any novel spoilers in this or any other anime thread (I don't want to know when it'll happen, how it'll happen, what the circumstances are or whatever)... but I can no longer honestly see how anyone could pretend to not see it coming or act surprised when it does.

(To use an analogy, I think it's like a visual novel where you know who all the main heroines are in advance, and they show CGs from the routes in the promo material. It's not going to be shocking to you when you discover that they can be a couple in the game because they already told you, but that still doesn't give away how it happens and what the plot is.)

If you're going to reply to this post, please keep the spoiler tags, and use properly-labelled spoiler tags of your own.

Spoiler for Reply to relentlessflame:

I don't think what you said is a spoiler at all. I do admit part of that is on us the viewer, who is so information hungry that they check out PVs, synopsis' and other info before watching a show they know nothing about. To see whether they will like it. I don't think that's wrong, but you do end up getting spoiled. So even anime-only viewers like myself already know Kirito and Asuna will end up together (there could be more to it, but that much at least is clear)

Companies make it worse too. OPs and EDs contain spoilers like they don't care if people put 2 and 2 together. In this case, my assumption from the beginning was that Kirito and Asuna would get together. It seems the whole point of the story other than to escape the game. It would be nice if there was some sort of conflict, perhaps either Kirito or Asuna coupling with someone else, but the anime makes it feel like these two are soulmates, and that no one else will do. So, there's no real spark to see, we're all just waiting for the inevitable point where they get together. Although the point of marriage is still somewhat lost on me. So you share storage, big whoop. Unless you marry someone who isn't interested in fighting at all, so you can basically have double storage all to yourself, it kinda doesn't provide much benefit as I see it now. Maybe that'll change, but it wasn't really convincing in ep 6.

I don't however mind if within the show itself the anime is foreboding something. That's fine really. So for instance while I knew Asuna and Kirito would get together, now I know this in-game marriage thing will play a part. I'm not sure that's even foreboding since it was so obvious.

Part of why I don't like the first few episodes here though, is that we barely get to know anything about Kirito or Asuna. It's fine that all that game information is being told to us, but this is already a year + since the game started, all that information just seems like padding now. I'm not asking for more 'actionz', just something more substantial before you start going off doing side-stories.