Pardon my intrusion on the conversation.
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Originally Posted by Klashikari
The problem is exactly as you describe though: Suguha is set as a plot device and not a character on her own: she could be any possible cliché such like the girl nextdoor and her relevancy would be close to null. Instead of being a "complete" character, with her own actions to take regardless of "ALO Kirito existence", she is there just so Kazuto goes through ALO with a "little twist". In fact, her role is slightly better than the likes of Liz...
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Well here's an interesting fact about much of the ALO arc... In the LN, a LOT of it (if not a majority if I remember) takes place from Suguha's perspective and not Kirito's. Now I only bring this up because if you pay attention the anime, there is also quite a sense of a lot of this arc being seen from Suguha's eyes rather than Kirito's.
So aside from your issues with the choice of cliche for her character, I think labeling her as a plot device seems sort of strange considering she is the POV for a good amount of the story more or less for this arc. Plot devices don't typically dominate the POV of the story, so I think this is a flawed interpretation.
The fact of the matter here is that ALO isn't just about Kirito's quest to save Asuna, it's just as much about Suguha and her relationship with her brother. Whether that's a plot line you like, I'd take it you don't and I personally have my own issues with it but not to your extent, is a different story. However, asserting she is nothing but a convenient plot device to serve the purpose of Kirito's guide is a bit flimsy. The story could have easily abused Yui to give Kirito all the information he needs so Kawahara obviously felt that he had a story to tell with Suguha that he deemed meaningful enough to take a major role in the story for this arc.
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Originally Posted by Klashikari
Here, she is simply a romantic foil for Kazuto who basically has his eyes dead set on Asuna, to which arguably doesn't have any other possible thought, save games. At this point in the narrative, you would wonder why Suguha was even put in an equation as strong as a blunt 1+1=2. Really, Suguha had obviously no chance at all, and having a wrecked romance there doesn't bring anything, save a drama forced there for the hell of it.
If you were to remove the romance aspect, the ALO arc wouldn't be hurt by the slighest: it would actually be possible to have more IRL/in game exposition, than really a focused duo, whereas one is basically going for a dead end.
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Well in my opinion I also think Suguha didn't need to be Kirito's sister (even if fake), but I think you're over simplifying things.
Again, the point of view of this arc hasn't just been from Kazuto, in fact I feel we have seen things more from Suguha's than Kazuto's the entire time. A major effort has been put into developing Suguha has her own character with her own conflicts and her own worries and her own goals. Essentially, she isn't simply a fodder side character who is used to bounce off Kazuto because she's been given much too much attention in this arc IMO.
I would also like to think that her character has seen more development than simply being a dead end romance. Though it's mostly reaffirming many of the themes of SAO arc, Kirito has made quite an impression on her about the wonders of VRMMORPG and how it is highly comparable emotionally to the real world in the way they treat it. The fun of being engrossed in a complete fantasy world, that is a lot of what is being communicated in this arc.
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