Holy crap, they actually fit all that into one episode! Will wonders never cease................though it came with a
tad bit of rushing.
I had wanted to see the back tickling thing just for laughs since they included the groping scene two episode back, but beggars can't be choosers I guess.
They actually managed to keep the pacing good for the first half or so of the episode, even having Kirito actually
talk to Asuna about the events of RNR instead of just communicating the scene by showing us only flashbacks. It would have been faster, but made the scene a little less emotional.
They did cut a few things out of the Kuradeel scene, like him saying he'll "take care" of Asuna and that being the spark that brings Kirito back. And the rushing-up entrance for Asuna and the light flash were a bit corny, and they could have taken that out and just had Kuradeel knocked into the wall suddenly to save time, and more effectively and less-cornily show Asuna's speed, but
med. And the still shot in that first shot of Asuna fast-attacking Kuradeel looked "bleh" but they fixed it in the next shot. And Aphrah is right; Asuna's angry face looked
frighteningly good on her.
The rest wasn't all that rushed actually, though they really should have had some kind of scene transitioning Asuna getting mad over the misundertsanding to her suddenly being in bed with Kirito sitting over her. It felt really disconjointed that way like it did in the novels. But Kirito's reaction to Asuna stripping down was
priceless, and his reaction to the, eh,
coming storm, was even better.
And I got a few laughs.....and some sliiiiiiight dissatisfaction from how they "toned down" the bed scene at the end; instead of having Kirito naked in bed with Asuna, he's fully dressed and sitting next to her. I guess they didn't have the balls to go
all the way with thst scene.
And yes, 16.5 definitely happened. But as pointed out above, they didn't have the guts to fully show it with Kirito in bed with Asuna.
I'm sure there will be some die-hard sex-haters out there who will be in denial and say it never happened and that Kirito was just visiting her in the night while she slept.
I think they should have taken out the ED and had the credits just rolling through the porposal scene at the end. It would have given them a little more time to do some more, like put in that transition scene after the misunderstanding that I noted.
But
DAMN, the look on Asuna's face when Kirito proposed was so beautiful.
And yes, the novel readers here, myself included, are in fact a bunch of KiriAsu-shipping fanboys who have been drooling with impatience for this episode for the last two months. So sue us.
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Now these past two months of waiting feel oh-so-much worth it.
After this, I expect some nice KiriAsu action over the next few episodes.
10/10;
almost 9/10 for a bit of over-rushing, but not quite.
............
endcaaaaaard.................... *drool*