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After a so-so episode 12 (and I say this as someone who loves Yui to bits), this episode is nothing less than stellar.
The pacing was great, and nothing felt cut or rushed. Even more so, I was surprised that they managed to keep the fishing bit in! As usual, I loved every second of the Kirito x Asuna. Bias aside though, the scenes themselves were truly well done, and depicted the emotions the characters wanted to convery perfectly (also, kudos to the VAs here).
The boss fight, what can I say? Great stuff. I especially liked the tension before it appeared. Classic horror movie lead-in, pulled off perfectly. As an LN reader I knew what to expect, but that didn't hold a candle to how much more I actually enjoyed seeing it all in motion. So good.
Lastly, I really liked how the tone of the episode went from "happy, happy, joy, joy" to dead serious. I truly enjoyed the best of two worlds. The first half had me laughing out loud and all smiles (best lighthearted bit of SAO in my opinion, by far), whereas the second half provided the best tension/action/emotional scenes I've seen in SAO thus far.
To sum it up in a few words....I need more of this.
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