[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Vsin

Or to put it another way, Lyfa could be replaced completely with multiple assorted plot pointers because that's all she achieves. The other part - you know, where she's an actual person - doesn't have any impact on anything. Her interactions produce no fruit other than producing a lack of fruit, and if you consider that important then so be it.

The "fruit" it produced is within her own heart, and for us as viewers to observe. It's a story about a girl who had to give up on her first love in the most bittersweet of ways. It is as much of a story in this arc as anything going on with Kirito and Asuna.

Basically, you're saying "your feelings for Kazuto never mattered because we (in the audience) knew all along that you stood no chance, so all you're doing is wasting our time". Is it really that hard to empathize with the story you're seeing unfold in "her life"? (Well, I guess it's pointless for me to ask this...)

Originally Posted by Vsin

Lyfa/Sugu certainly has her own story, but it's almost entirely contained within her head and it doesn't interact with the other parallel story of saving Asuna...at least not until the reveal.

It's completely connected to Asuna from start to finish. We get to know Suguha through the context of her rekindled relationship with Kazuto as he mourns his lack of power over Asuna's "imprisonment". She encourages him to be strong despite the fact that she realizes her love now will need to be abandoned (because any chance she had is gone). She decides to still be strong and be there for Kazuto as his sister while she comes face to face with the (apparently unconscious) girl who "stole" his heart. Meanwhile, in an effort to move on, she tries to focus more on her growing relationship with Kirito, who only came to ALO because he's hoping to find Asuna.

The two stories are fully interconnected, and it's a lot more than what was "contained within her head".

Originally Posted by Vsin

And the story itself is just "I love onii-chan but can't. I love Kirito but he's onii-chan." In Anime terms, Ep 17 to 21 is spent dragging out this one plot point over way too many events.

What actually happened is way more elaborate and nuanced than that trite summary. You've over-trivialized many episodes worth of development because you just don't care for them, not because there isn't anything happening there. And yet you rationalize Sugou because... because?

Originally Posted by Vsin

I don't quite consider Sugou to be an apt comparison. Sure, the guy is a painfully stereotypical villain with comedic henchmen, but at least he's a plot device. Stuff happens because he does things. You could replace him with something like a virus, Cardinal, etc, etc but he still fulfills the purpose of holding Asuna captive. The action creates a journey, despite the inevitable conclusion.

Even if you don't like Suguha as a character, she at least serves as a plot device that creates a journey that leads to a conclusion. But there's more to plot than just the physical plot of going from Point A to Point B (although she contributes to that too!). Indeed, Sugou could probably be replaced by another plot device that manages to prevent Asuna's release if you really wanted to. The story of Suguha's heartbreak requires Suguha.

Suguha's story has every element of a story that fully stands on its on. It's just intertwined in this story so that two connected stories are being told at the same time. You can't lop off one of the two stories and be like "this one doesn't matter!". It's as much a part of this story as everything else.

Again, to be clear, I'm not saying you have to like it.