Sword Art Online - Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Karakuri]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

But he wasn't thinking about any of that at that moment. He just stood there watching. Besides, even with his unique skill, joining the fight was a real risk anyway, a risk he wasn't willing to take (for people he doesn't know at the very least).

I think he stood there because he was afraid, because it was happening the same thing again. Players were being trapped in a room and getting killed in front of his eyes, you can see him having those flashbacks...
I think that even if Asuna did get in he would've gone, a bit later tho.
I do believe Asuna did well, and she was a bit of the hero, if they went in too late the players could've died.
But I think the real hero should've been considered to be Kirito, you can see he fought the Boss all by himself, giving them the time to rescue the others.
I do think he was afraid of dying, the great majority is, but even then, he has shown his new abilities. Just as it was mentioned, he is a beater, and that new ability shown, I'm pretty sure many people would show anger and hatred and many other things towards him.
I mean, he is a " beater ", he is HELPING them clearing, yet they still back him off when they aren't in danger.
But of course, he didn't know any of those members I think, and it was the leader's fault for the member's Deaths so I don't think anyone could possibly blame him for not fighting right at the beginning, who would fight the Boss alone? Or even with only 5 members?
No one, that's why they go with heavy parties.
Even if he is pretty strong and all, he put his life in danger, he got away with pretty low HP, and he didn't show any anger towards anyone for going in with the leader, instead of fighting back and say they shouldn't do it.
I think he did well, and he is a pretty awesome guy, even if he waited, who could've just helped AND not get mad at those people, who went in even if he said no to?

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Karakuri

I think he stood there because he was afraid, because it was happening the same thing again. Players were being trapped in a room and getting killed in front of his eyes, you can see him having those flashbacks...
I think that even if Asuna did get in he would've gone, a bit later tho.
I do believe Asuna did well, and she was a bit of the hero, if they went in too late the players could've died.
But I think the real hero should've been considered to be Kirito, you can see he fought the Boss all by himself, giving them the time to rescue the others.

Kirito won the fight, but winning fights doesn't necessarily makes you a hero. Being a hero in the narrative sense is about attitude. Why do you fight? What do you stand for? That kinda thing.

Kirito joined the fight because Asuna joined the fight. Asuna joined the fight because she couldn't stay put watching people die.

Asuna was the real hero there.

And just so you know, I'm not criticizing Kirito. All the opposite, only now he's becoming an interesting character to me.

[Karakuri]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Kirito won the fight, but winning fights doesn't necessarily makes you a hero. Being a hero in the narrative sense is about attitude.

Kirito joined the fight because Asuna joined the fight. Asuna joined the fight because she couldn't stay put watching people die.

Asuna was the real hero there.

And just so you know, I'm not criticizing Kirito here. All the opposite, only now he's becoming an interesting character to me.

I'm not saying you are criticizing him, my bad, english isn't my main language, so sometimes I can't express myself well.
What I mean is, even though he did wait, he took the Boss alone till he end, I know Asuna was kind of a hero because she went first and couldn't watch people die, but still, Kirito fought right till the very end, Asuna wasn't in a real danger like him ( Of course I don't mean she wasn't in danger, just he was in a lot more danger than her ).
Of course I do think Asuna was the main character this time. You don't see many girls joining in before a guy.

[garbage]

haha finallly the 2 swords comes out ^^
great episode ,

...love asuna.

in terms of being heroic , i think they're both just the same , asuna was just faster, kirito was still hung up on negative thoughts because of what happened before. he would still have gone in, albeit a few seconds later. ( i mean when has he ever left someone in need alone, that's just not his character, at that point in time) asuna's quick move jarred him into acting earlier. so i think they're a good pair in that they compliment each other well.

[itoastmysocks]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Kirito won the fight, but winning fights doesn't necessarily makes you a hero. Being a hero in the narrative sense is about attitude. Why do you fight? What do you stand for? That kinda thing.

Kirito joined the fight because Asuna joined the fight. Asuna joined the fight because she couldn't stay put watching people die.

Asuna was the real hero there.

And just so you know, I'm not criticizing Kirito. All the opposite, only now he's becoming an interesting character to me.

The way I see it he was PTSD'ing till Asuna decided that she would not let them die without trying to save em first, and he jumped in after her to save her, and then the scene when he opened his inventory to equip the second weapon, I dunno why but it really reminded me of this scene

Spoiler for fro Equilibrium Scene:

http://youtu.be/y_JGI0JhCkQ

but oh god I have waited so very long for this episode, and it feels so satisfying to have finally seen it animated.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Karakuri

I'm not saying you are criticizing him, my bad, english isn't my main language, so sometimes I can't express myself well.

I think we're talking about different things. For example, an antihero character can win lots of fights and still not being a hero. Being a hero is not about winning fights at all.

Now, Kirito isn't an antihero, but he isn't a hero either (yet?). I think that's a good thing too. This fight shows that, personality-wise, he needs some growing to do.

Asuna on the other hand is as a straight a hero as you can get, totally by the book. I also find that sort of appealing, because anime girls are usually too protagonist-focused. As in, they only care about the MC but not so much about anyone else. Asuna is different, and I like that.

[Karakuri]

Originally Posted by itoastmysocks

The way I see it he was PTSD'ing till Asuna decided that she would not let them die without trying to save em first, and he jumped in after her to save her, and then the scene when he opened his inventory to equip the second weapon, I dunno why but it really reminded me of this scene

Spoiler for fro Equilibrium Scene:

http://youtu.be/y_JGI0JhCkQ

but oh god I have waited so very long for this episode, and it feels so satisfying to have finally seen it animated.

Could I ask you what does PTSD mean? I am not really good in abrevihations...Sorry
Edit: Nevermind, I thought it was something else - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I'm kinda dumb lol.
Edit 2: I like that too. Well I guess I should agree with you, what you said is totally true Kazu-kun.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

As someone who plays MMO as well, it just doesn't make sense to me to just make a weapon but not using it on the get go to benefit its bonus whatsoever. Even if Dark Repulser is actually better than Elucidator on the long run, he just didn't push forward and upgrade it right away, despite the hardship to forge that weapon.
To me, in MMORPG perspective, making rare items without an immediate need or without any selling perspective in mind just doesn't make sense, as if you stash it away, you could potentially kept the original material for another better weapon or armor then.

To me, for someone like Kirito who aims for the most pragmatic and efficient way to go through the game, stashing away a "better" weapon without making it to that point didn't make much sense. And even more so in a death game, where you would rather expand every ressource you got to increase your survival, instead of keeping disposable items/money.

Well, I guess that depends on just how strong the Elucidator is compared to other one handed swords. If it's one of the better swords in the game (unlikely, but possible), the only way to obtain a weapon that's better to it is via this method. As for why didn't upgrade it right away.. perhaps he could've just been thinking ahead, or, he simply lacked the materials/items/resources to do so on the spot.

I can certainly see where you're coming from, but I think it really depends on the equipment system of the game. If it's structured by levels/tiers, then it makes sense to craft an rare item for oneself ahead of time. For example, let's say we have a One Handed Sword +7 (20 DMG), which we got at Lv10 and we know there's a rare lv15 one handed sword which deals 15 DMG at +0, and the person in question is Lv15, then it'd make sense to attempt to get our hands on as it could potentially prove to much more powerful at the same state that the current weapon is in. Of course, it also depends on how the leveling system works and how damage is calculated (raw damage vs. stats). But if the equipment is structured by stat requirements, then it's a fairly different story.
As for keeping the original material for a better equips, maybe the material could only be used to craft weapons of that quality or tier.

Yeah, I concur. I wonder if he has made it better by now, though (it's been 2 years since he got it)? I guess he would've been using it against the Lizardman if it was.. Eh. I suppose he could have only used it in emergencies so as to not draw any suspicion from people that'd be willing to PK others for rare items (that's if the sword is really all that rare). It'd be nice if were shown the stats of the two weapons again, but alas, I doubt that'll happen.

[lightbringer]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Color me absolutely not surprised by this episode.

I couldn't say it last week since it would've spoiled this week's episode but I was really surprised by the accuracy of your predictions regarding both the dual wielding and the anti-crystal field during this week's boss battle. But then, at this point in the novel, we did not yet know about the existence of anti-crystal fields or the fact that Kirito had a new sword crafted recently but hasn't been using it "on-screen" - putting the side stories in chronological order kind of spoiled these particular surprises.

Originally Posted by Aphrah

I wonder if he has made it better by now, though (it's been 2 years since he got it)?

The whole game hasn't even been going for two full years yet.

If we go purely by anime timestamps:
The floor one boss battle planning meeting was on December 2, 2022. Since this was "one month after launch", we can assume the game launched on the first days of November, 2022. (Also in the first episode there was a SAO "on sale 31.10" poster.)
Kirito visited Liz to craft the Dark Repulsor on June 24, 2024.
The "Ragout Rabbit" incident (where we currently are at) was on October 17, 2024. That's about four months after Kirito got the new sword. There's about two weeks left until the "two year anniversary since launch".

[Netto Azure]

Hot damn I just fell in love with this episode. They're adding stuff in.

[Ray]

I finally got around to watching episode 9. This chapter was one of my favourite in the light novels, so I was absolutely ecstatic to see it animated.

I'll admit that I squealed like a little girl during the bit when Kirito muttered the words "Star Burst Stream". In my head it all happened differently while I was reading this chapter in the light novels, but I love how the anime handled it. The 1 on 1 with the boss was pretty tense, and, well, plain awesome. I honestly couldn't have asked for more.

And man, Asuna's so adorable. I love how suddenly embraced Kirito after he woke, and kept doing so during his conversation with Klein. <3

Originally Posted by lightbringer

The whole game hasn't even been going for two full years yet.

If we go purely by anime timestamps:
The floor one boss battle planning meeting was on December 2, 2022. Since this was "one month after launch", we can assume the game launched on the first days of November, 2022. (Also in the first episode there was a SAO "on sale 31.10" poster.)
Kirito visited Liz to craft the Dark Repulsor on June 24, 2024.
The "Ragout Rabbit" incident (where we currently are at) was on October 17, 2024. That's about four months after Kirito got the new sword. There's about two weeks left until the "two year anniversary since launch".

Oh, that's right. My bad. I completely forgot that due to the fact that the side stories were animated as they occurred, the time skip is much shorter now.

[NoemiChan]

Episode 9

My reaction to Kirito's Performance

[kaizerknight01]

Kirito and Asuna relationship dynamic are really good, nice combat also in this eps

[kk2extreme]

Yurin... Flashbacks

Now I will play Kingdom Hearts 2 and dual wield my way to victory

[Deltaray]

Oh hey, just noticed that they actually remembered to add s to congratulations this time, unlike our first boss battle.

[eupseudes]

Very satisfying episode, and good to see the side stories paying off dividends.

[kk2extreme]

Here goes half of the animation budget...

[Kaihan]

OK, was it just me who laughed when the congratulation sign appeared with the sound effect?

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Kaihan

OK, was it just me who laughed when the congratulation sign appeared with the sound effect?

but Kirito didn't do a victory dance

and since he had the last hit, what did he get form the Boss drop

[Avaricia]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

but Kirito didn't do a victory dance

and since he had the last hit, what did he get form the Boss drop

Oppa Gangnam Style