[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

On the other hand, this episode honestly felt like it had the Asuna/Kirito relationship take a step back. Part of that is what Guardian Enzo mentioned about the silly accidental breast-groping-followed-by-beat-down scene. But beyond that, I find it really odd that a few episodes ago Asuna was hitting on Kirito rather suggestively while showing fondness for how marriage works in SAO, while in this episode she talks about how annoyed she is at the marriage proposals she's received (and she says it with the implication of "Now, Kirito, don't you go proposing to me too!").

She was clearly teasing him to see his reaction to the idea that other guys are interested in her. She does it several other times in the episode, like when they head off to the dungeon and she declares that she'll be taking it easy so Kirito will have to fight on point. When he objects that they should take turns, she responds, "Okay, it'll be my turn tomorrow," as though testing to see how he responds to the idea of spending another day with her.

Originally Posted by jpwong

I really don't like how the 74th floor dungeon looks, to me it just really feels like it isn't a dungeon.

Yeah, I expected Kirito to run into Sayaka, Homura and Kyoko.

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix

Out of curiosity...

Is Kiroto currently on a higher level than Asuna? She looked pretty surprised about how easily her guard got beaten.

Even if Kirito's a higher level, she probably wasn't expecting one of her guildmates to get his butt kicked like a nameless mook going up against Toshiro Mifune. I mean, Kirito broke a frontline sword in one blow -- and he wasn't even using his good sword.

Originally Posted by Marower

Really? I didn't feel there were anything I had gained from watching the earlier episodes. Another sword? Teleportation crystals? The series doesn't really explain how the game itself works anyway. Watching episode 1 and 2, to then jump to episode 8, wouldn't be much of a problem. As for episode 2, while a side story, it introduced Asuna and a few other characters.

You don't think the discussion about people accepting SAO as a new reality would've been much weaker if we hadn't seen Scilica risking her life for her dragon, or Liz leading a comfortable life as a smith, or Kirito arguing against using NPCs as cannon fodder? You don't Kirito immediately identifying Asuna as a great cook works better after seeing the sandwich scene from Episode 6? You don't think the Laughing Coffin scene would've been a total WTF moment if we hadn't been introduced to them already?

The thing about the sidestories is that most of them expand on things mentioned in the novel as backstory -- like, "I joined a guild once. I got them all killed. I'll never join one again." The anime would still have to address the material at some point, so it's better to adapt the sidestories that show the events in detail than to have Kirito give a thirty second VO explanation or a flashback that breaks the story momentum.

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix

Because if Kirito was a PKer he could have easily killed the guy now while Asuna was blocking for him. So technically another exploit.

They set the duel-mode to first-strike, so unless Kirito's strong enough to one-shot kill the guy, it's not an issue.

But suppose the rules prevented outsiders from interfering with a duel -- that creates another exploit. Just challenge a friend to a duel with no time limit, and as long as you don't hit each other, you're safe from PKing.