Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadratic
What romance build up? I haven't read much of what others have said (since it tends to be rife with novel spoilers), but that question shows just how naive their relationship is.
A lot of the Asuna-Kirito interaction was based on their views on the connection between the real world and VR world, and how they don't want to lose sight of "reality".
The past episodes with their interactions also emphasized a lot on how they saved each other, so their relationship appears to me to be based on I saved you-you saved me-lets protect each other type love. I can't remember much of their romance being developed other than "lets have sex" (someone is free to remind me of some parts though).
Anyway, I thought it was an interesting episode, though the whole Asuna scared of ghosts thing was strange to me, considering her reaction to seeing Griselda.
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Actually, I'd say the main thrust of their romance is "eating". Asuna cooks things, Kirito eats things. While on the face of it that sounds kind of silly, symbolically it all comes back to what happened in episode 2, when he taught her how to make the bread taste better with butter. Before then, she had never even thought about actually
enjoying anything in SAO. This led to her leveling up cooking, as a way of making life more tolerable while she fought to escape.
Later, when they meet up in episode 5, something similar happens with the nap. Basically, their relationship is based around the idea that even if they're trapped in here they're still alive, and have the right to enjoy themselves. Symbolized by eating good food and taking breaks from clearing. To Asuna, Kirito represents a new way of living that she'd never imagined on her own. Just... living in SAO. Which is of course the theme of the episode, since they're not doing anything of life and death importance, nor will it help them clear the game.
...I have no idea why Kirito likes her in any non-shallow way though. It's kind of one-sided.