Quote:
Originally Posted by Hagoshod
I would hardly call Kirito and Asuna's lives perfect at that point. At the end of the day, they're living in a false paradise where they're constantly being mindraped and they have to struggle to get out.
|
I didn't say their lives were perfect. I said they were perfectly-bonded as a couple. Again, put in context of the rest of the comment, I'm saying that the story of Aincrad is telling the story of Kirito and Asuna's growth as a couple. When the relationship reached its apex (signified by their mutual understanding in Episode 13, and their teamwork during that boss fight), it was time to perform the shift. That's the central reason for the timing of the plot development. The sudden nature of it helps emphasize the way Asuna was suddenly torn from Kirito, and how the game of SAO isn't really over for him. So, despite its "flaws", it also has its reasons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hagoshod
I think it's kind of funny you guys put so much importance on how SAO is allegedly avoiding cliches and subverting tropes with how it deals with the Heathcliff thing, when the entire justification for continuing the story after that is literally "Your princess is in another castle." You have absolutely no ground to stand on when you say having Kirito prevent the fakeout final boss was groundbreaking storytelling that took the plot in a clever new direction.
|
Did anyone even say this "avoiding cliches"/"groundbreaking storytelling" stuff at all? You just seem angry for no justifiable reason.
I do think the proposed plot is cliché
as well, and is potentially taking the story on a tangent that doesn't really matter to what is shown to be central to the narrative. So I think the proposed change is really changing something much more broad about what the story of SAO is all about. That's why I don't think appending it as proposed is an improvement, because it eliminates the good aspect of the flow we
did have in terms of the development of Kirito and Asuna's relationship. If you could spread the relationship out more, and embed this element in the middle of the story as part of the road to the climax, then maybe you can do both. But a more major rewrite is needed.
If you consider SAO just the first arc in an on-going story (as it is), then I think the need for total finality in Aincrad is lessened. Although Aincrad is important as a setup, in the long term it's not
that important. This isn't a story of "fighting for freedom from a death game" -- that's only the starting point.