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Old 2012-07-28, 02:55   Link #1602
Clarste
Human
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Age: 37
Quote:
Originally Posted by novalysis View Post
Granted at that, but at this point, it all boils down to what defines the end of a story, and that's quite hard to pin down. If you consider SAO as Kirito and Asuna's life-story, then definitely, Mother's Rosario is a part of their live story, though a separate chapter in their story. If you consider SAO a collection of stories on the other hand...

Of course, one could argue that SAO actually is comprised of four stories focusing on the same two characters:

Aincrad - which Fairy Dance is the ultimate Resolution of - Survival, Romance (Aincrad), Family (Fairy Dance, some of the Aincrad Side stories)

Phantom Bullet - Criminal Sci-fi Thriller

Mother's Rosario - Personal Sci-Fi Drama, "Chicken Soup for the soul" style story.

Alicization - Full blown Sci-fi meets Heroic Fantasy.
Personally, I'd say Phantom Bullet is just as much a continuation of Aincrad as Fairy Dance. Yes, it also has the trappings of a Thriller, but Red-eyed XaXa is basically going through the same things that Kirito did in Fairy Dance and comes to a different conclusion (because he's evil).

Kirito had the same feelings of being the "hero" of Aincrad yet finding himself completely powerless back in reality. The scene near the end of Fairy Dance where he's attacked by what's-his-face in the parking lot of the hospital was the climax of that particular subplot, when he realizes that he does have strength, and that the lessons he learned in Aincrad can help him in reality. There's a funny moment when he realizes the knife is nothing compared to the weapons he's used to fighting against, so he has no reason to be scared of it.

XaXa goes through the same thing. He was strong in Aincrad. People would be afraid of even his name. He had power over the life and death of others. And then he suddenly lost all that. And, ultimately, he learns the same lesson that Kirito learned, that strength isn't just a matter of levels and numbers in-game. He took the willingness to kill that he developed in Aincrad and brought it back with him, to the misfortune of everyone else. It's essentially the same story that Fairy Dance told, about the rejection of or acceptance of the real world, told from the other side.

...although I've always thought it was kinda stupid that the agent guy never considered that they were being attacked by someone else in reality.
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