Sword Art Online - Episode 19 Discussion / Poll

[Kaioshin Sama]

Man this show absolutely loves and I mean loves showing off Leefa/Suguha's chest at every possible opportunity. The camera is hovering at her chest level at just about every chance and she always seems to be clasping them or doing something that makes them more pronounced. It's funny cause it's growing more noticeable by the episode.

As for the episode itself, it was more interesting than last one with some actual progress being made. but I could have done with more of a proper explanation as to how Kirito's illusion magic worked. I think that some proper explanations of the games mechanics like we got in the very first episode of the show would have gone such a long way towards reducing claims of Kirito's "Gary Stu" nature. Sadly Sword Art Online seems far more content with pushing the romance angle at every opportunity over fleshing out it's universe, which is probably my biggest disappointment with the show to date. Why bother going to all this trouble to have what appears to be an expansive and intricate universe if you're just going to fall back on romantic tension so often. Maybe I was expecting to much on account of seeing Accel World first, but I find it balances it's elements and appeals a whole lot better. Maybe after that apparent huge spike in the BD sales with the episode where Kirito and Asuna got married the producers decided they needed to focus as much of the remaining allotted time on romantic elements as they could and the world building and in-game intrigue is suffering for it I don't know, but I just can't feel this is how the arc was intended to go and where it's focus was meant to be placed the way it started off.

As it stands I'm placing my last bet on the whole inter-race tension thing provided some of the spark and intrigue I think this series needs to pull it away from the incestual tension of the last few episodes, but I'm sort of not holding my breath and sadly have a hunch that it will simply be used to portray other players in the worst light possible next to Kirito and Suguha somehow and to lend yet more credence to the "Gary Stu" theory. Honestly I'm not sure I completely buy the charge, but the show rarely does any favors to shield itself from it at the same time, which again is kind of disappointing.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Haven't really felt a need to post until now, but I have to say, I'm generally enjoying this. At least, I think this second arc is a bit better than the first; storyline is a bit tighter, more focused, and a distinct lack of month-long time skips.

I must say that it is the absolutely opposite for me: ALO arc is incredibly superficial and without any substance whatsoever.

While there is a much better narrative and direction in term of the events unfolded and character interactions, the meat of the plot is absolutely a far cry from SAO arc: the tension is measely built with a villain who is beyond typical, with obvious sociopathic tendencies, mandatory explanation times etc. In fact, he simply is a parody of a demon king in a true rpg, tripping so many death flags it stopped to be funny for a while.

Meanwhile, the urgency in rescuing Asuna became a clear secondary plot point, nearly absent if it wasn't for her scenes as Titania and Sugou as Oberon. It isn't like we need Kazuto to play a very angsty ALO Kirito, with SAO flashbacks in every corners, but the very lighthearted mood of ALO just leaves a "entertaining taste" instead of a thrilling impression of a guy who is supposed to save his love no matter what.

This point is further hindered by a weirdly scarce environnement info dump: ALO gameplay is hardly accounted for, except the early part of "different race", "different skills", "flight ability" and... that's all. Yet, we are now thrown in a faction war involving political schemes, diplomatic stunts, "determination" of the players to clear the game, despite we see -nothing- of that, due to a strong focus on Kirito and Leefa's antics (and optionally, her bosom).

Adding a shoehorned one sided imouto triangle subplot, and we have a terrible mix, that for some reason really fails definining a proper and progressive direction of this arc, which SAO had despite being extremely clunky in term of narrative, transitions and pace.

The arc is supposed to be a follow up to SAO's aftermath, and thus putting an end to it, and freeing Asuna (even though her ALO rescue is actually making little sense, since it would definitely be a administrator issue that literally made her stuck in the game). But right now, we have... a double unrequited love with a faction war. Not exactly a focus.

[ThereminVox]

I contend that the greatest disappointment in all of SAO is that they passed up the opportunity to show the MAGNIFICENT train-to-zone that Kirito surely orchestrated at the end of this episode.

[Zeriand]

When you start seeing tropes in your entertainment, you're missing the point and ruining yourself an experience that's supposed to be fun. Also, because nobody seems to understand that the so-called 'urgency to rescue Asuna' wasn't really there yet,

...

About the issue on the urgency to rescue Asuna.

From what I could see, Kirito is facing a number of dilemmas. One, he is unsure about his own worth and feels as if he's unqualified for Asuna. There is an obvious difference in status between him and Sugou, and no matter how terrible an ass the guy is, if we're simply considering about marriage stability, economy and all those future shit, Sugou is infinitely the better person for Asuna. Obviously he loves Asuna, but he wasn't sure about his own abilities to support her towards the future (remember that old fisherman who lost hope about returning to his own world, because of things such as unemployment and stuff?).

The meeting with Sugou also made him realize just how powerless he is even though he's a 'hero' who saved the lives of those who were trapped in SAO. He was simply nobody in real life, and there's absolutely nothing he can do there to save Asuna. That was why he jumped at the opportunity to investigate 'the girl who looked like Asuna' trapped in a bird cage at the World Tree. It was escapism, and I'm not saying it's good. Considering the circumstantial evidence it was a pretty good lead, but if he had been an adult he would've realized that unconsciously, he was trying to escape the possibility that he might lose Asuna forever. And he would've despaired. People save themselves by not knowing things they don't need to know.

And then there's this element of uncertainty. Kirito feels pretty sure that the blurry image he saw could very well be Asuna, but how could he be sure? It was just a random image post on a random website that happen to have a connection with Sugou's company. It was suspicious as hell, but just how could he be sure? Also, while Kirito was very worried that Asuna might never wake up from her sleep, there's no hint that Asuna was under any kind of a direct threat except 1) time will kill her eventually, and that time is plenty considering that Asuna has the best medical treatment, 2) married to Sugou.

That is the problem. From Kirito's PoV, he couldn't see a direct threat and negativity towards Asuna. To Kirito, the only thing at stake here was his love for Asuna, and the possibility of deprivation of Asuna's freedom of choice. So Sugou might be an ass, so what? He doesn't know what Asuna thinks. Maybe Asuna likes him. The guy puts up a good show in front of her parents after all, and he most likely would put up a good one in front of her. Maybe he would continue to do so if they get married. Would Asuna be happy then? Would Asuna have a more comfortable and happier life with Sugou? Does he want to force such a weakened Asuna to go against her family's decision right after she wakes up, for the sake of their love alone?

Love doesn't win everything. Love is sometimes not worth it at all to lose your family. Love is not worth it to lose a lifetime of happiness. Love is not many things.

Don't forget that Sugou is a researcher too. From a completely objective PoV (and excluding the fact that he's the one who imprisoned Asuna in the first place), Sugou is one of the best chance Asuna has to wake up from her 'sleep'. Kirito is a person who's willing to sacrifice his own love for Asuna if it means a chance to wake her back to real life and save her from a slow, slumbering death.

There are too many doubts and uncertainties as of now for Kirito. You guys said that you don't feel the 'urgency' in saving Asuna, that he gets sidetracked a little too easy, that he's being a little too happy playing in ALO. I'm telling you that that is wrong.

[Klashikari]

Except that it was never and ever hinted at all: Kazuto was never feeling useless or unworthy compared to Sugou, as far as the anime goes.
The problem here is that Sugou is the one that "allows" Asuna to remain alive, and he has a good position within the Yuuki family, hence why Asuna is "unreachable" for him. That aside, he -never- questioned his worth towards her at all, unless the anime made a very bad adaptation of his train of thoughts.

Kazuto was never shown with any uncertainty, otherwise it wouldn't make -any sense- for him to rush in ALO if he was THAT concerned of his own value. What he wants the most is to reach Asuna no matter the cost. And such hope was sparked by Agil's screenshot. Aside, Sugou has absolutely no influence whatsoever, save the impossibility for him to reach her, due to marriage.

And this is where the "urgency" is lacking over the episodes in ALO arc: Kazuto is plainly having fun, and Asuna being a bird in her cage is solely filled by her own scenes with Sugou. Heck, if you ever remove these scenes and start with "ALO Kirito debut", it could be a simple adventure, instead of a rescue quest. That shows how much Asuna's plight is barely inserted.

Also, the major problems in ALO wouldn't be that bad if you were to use tropes to define them. But it is beyond than that: they are textbook narrative devices that are abused and out of place (which wasn't problematic in SAO arc).

[Zeriand]

So far we haven't been shown almost ANY train of thoughts from Kirito since ALO; it's mostly Suguha's.

Also, let me summarize the beginning situation one more time.

1) SAO is completed. However, Asuna and 300 other patients have not wake up from their sleep.
2) Sugou, a complete stranger to Kirito and someone who has good ties with Asuna's family, brags about how he and Asuna are going to get married.
3) Kirito was shown an in-game Virtual Reality image with a character who looks suspiciously like Asuna.

So Kirito's first and ultimate motive is to wake up Asuna. Next, some questions:

1) Is there any hard evidence that the girl trapped in the bird cage is Asuna? No.

2) So why did he dive into ALO? To confirm that whether Asuna was truly the girl trapped in the bird cage.

3) Is there a possibility that Asuna is not the girl trapped in the bird cage? Yes.

4) Does Kirito know Asuna is in great danger? No.

5) Is there a possibility that his time spent in ALO could be a complete waste of time, assuming that the girl in the bird cage wasn't Asuna? Yes.

6) Is there absolutely anything he can do in real life, within one week, that could wake up Asuna? No.

7) Did he really think he could stop Sugou/Asuna's marriage? This is a complete assumption, but my answer would be no. Suppose Sugou wasn't the mastermind behind everything, then even if Asuna wakes up the marriage would very likely still proceed despite the postponement, and a heck tonne of other troubles.

8) Would 7) thought caused him to start questioning his own worthiness against Sugou's, etc etc? Unless he's actually a Terminator made out of steel, I'm guessing the answer's yes, he would start to think a huge amount of things, none of them very good, which eventually led to him crying to sleep holding Suguha because the possibility that he will lose Asuna forever is very real, and that he's human.

With all that above being said, with all the uncertainty and hesitation and fear floating around as Kirito makes his journey towards the girl in the bird cage that might not be Asuna, would he get a little sidetracked by the events happening around him? Yes. Would he try to have fun, so to avoid thinking negative thoughts and the eventual marriage that would happen a week later? yes.

Also, please do not equate the 'urgency to save Asuna' with 'the urgency to prevent Asuna/Sugou marriage'. They are completely different things (as of now). Kirito's first priority has always been to connect with Asuna in reality, and to do that he had to wake Asuna from her slumber. While failing to prevent Asuna/Sugou marriage would cost him their love and Asuna's freedom of choice, that is ultimately NOT his first priority. So if we simply look at his most important priority (to save Asuna from eternal slumber), he has all the time in the world until Asuna dies to wake her up.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Zeriand

8) Would 7) thought caused him to start questioning his own worthiness against Sugou's, etc etc? Unless he's actually a Terminator made out of steel, I'm guessing the answer's yes, he would start to think a huge amount of things, none of them very good, which eventually led to him crying to sleep holding Suguha because the possibility that he will lose Asuna forever is very real, and that he's human.

That's where I disagree: what Kazuto went through wasn't lamenting his powerlessness, but rather how he simply cannot do anything, which is a stark difference here: the former means that if you grow stronger, you can do something about it, the latter means no matter what you do, 0% stays 0.
Your assumption of dilemna assumes there is a "choice" to which, one of them would make him regret the other. In this case, he was facing an overwhelming obstacle that is preventing him to reach Asuna, and what actually struck him was that it was so hopeless that he resigned himself that he could be with Asuna.
Simply speaking, it is a sense of loss, and not a sense of being unworthy.

With all that above being said, with all the uncertainty and hesitation and fear floating around as Kirito makes his journey towards the girl in the bird cage that might not be Asuna, would he get a little sidetracked by the events happening around him? Yes. Would he try to have fun, so he avoid thinking negative thoughts and the eventual marriage that would happen a week later? yes.

Except that what drove him to go in ALO is to be sure if it is Asuna or not, with a clear indication that his hunch is proved true.
After his discussion with Suguha, he was no longer in thought of loss, but rather going to take action, which is where Agil's screenshot happened to drop by with the best timing possible. And if you realize this, you can see that Kazuto never once whined about his powerlessness whatsoever, but instead of being driven by his will to reach Asuna, he is just fooling around. By no means it was shown that he was putting a facade, and there are moments that aren't from Suguha's POV.

Also, please do not equate the 'urgency to save Asuna' with 'the urgency to prevent Asuna/Sugou marriage'. They are completely different things (as of now). Kirito's first priority has always been to connect with Asuna in reality, and to do that he had to wake Asuna from her slumber. While failing to prevent Asuna/Sugou marriage would cost him their love and Asuna's freedom of choice, that is ultimately NOT his first priority. So if we simply look at his most important priority (to save Asuna from eternal slumber), he has all the time in the world until Asuna dies to wake her up.

You completely mistook my words. I never stated he had to prevent the marriage. What he wants is to be reunited with her, and by extention, to make her wake up.
The real problem is that he really doesn't show any zeal he has shown during SAO at all.

[dmaxzero]

@Zeriand

Its a fair point, a quite realistic one, but the show does not point any of this. What we as audience must have clear is that this is a fictional story, since is its an story it must fulfill certain things within the media capabilities, so the audience can reach that conclusion of the motives, problems, insecurities and options the MCs have, otherwise its just assumption of our part.

The anime is not portraying what you exposed and that in a way many think that should happen. That is the definite thing that bother us all.

[SilverSyko]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

If people were only angry about worthwhile things than we'd have a more peaceful world no point hoping for that at this point

Never said anything about hoping for a peaceful world. I was trying to tell Insane that he should get his priorities straight.

There are plenty of objective things in the world, but whether SAO is a mediocre series isn't one of them. Not to mention that mediocre is such a vague and pointless standard to apply in the first place.

You can analyse any art form in an objective way. It doesn't have to be distinctly good or bad for that. If you believe expression can only be criticized from a subjective point of view, then you're quite mistaken.

SAO, without taking anyone's opinion in consideration, is a show of mediocrity. Even if it's a vauge term it's the simplest way to say it.

[Zeriand]

My girlfriend is in a coma. I have no idea when she's going to wake up. I have no idea what's keeping her down. I've heard of a scientific cure that might help but it's 3000 miles away. It sounds fishy, but because I love her so much I'm going to make the travel anyway, and while I'm at it I'm trying to take it easy because it would've been bad if I'm so worried that I become sick myself. Is that really so hard to understand? Or even imagine?

If you think that 'scientific cure that would wake her' sounds way too farfetched, think again. Kirito picks up a completely foreign Virtual Reality game, plays it, tries to go for the top of the World Tree which no one has ever managed to reach, and with some incredible luck hopefully does it within a week. And he didn't even expect to make it within that time frame, All because of the picture of a girl in a bird cage that looks like Asuna. No zeal? When you're willing to gamble a possibility that sounds less likely than a voodoo curse for the sake of your loved one, I'm calling that one helluva zeal there.

And oh yes, of course the sense of loss and despair would not cause you to think a lot of unnecessary and actually unrelated things. I'm sorry, I'm the kind of weakling human who couldn't help but mumble a million reasons and excuses and I don't know, my own uselessness when I lose something important. I can't help but compare myself to the competitor who didn't even need to blink an eye and beat me totally at exams. I'm just human, you know, do you really need me to spell this out for you? Do you even need to question how sane I am when I'm crying the heck out of my eyes?

[shadow1296]

Originally Posted by Zeriand

So far we haven't been shown almost ANY train of thoughts from Kirito since ALO; it's mostly Suguha's.

Also, let me summarize the beginning situation one more time.

1) SAO is completed. However, Asuna and 300 other patients have not wake up from their sleep.
2) Sugou, a complete stranger to Kirito and someone who has good ties with Asuna's family, brags about how he and Asuna are going to get married.
3) Kirito was shown an in-game Virtual Reality image with a character who looks suspiciously like Asuna.

So Kirito's first and ultimate motive is to wake up Asuna. Next, some questions:

1) Is there any hard evidence that the girl trapped in the bird cage is Asuna? No.

2) So why did he dive into ALO? To confirm that whether Asuna was truly the girl trapped in the bird cage.

3) Is there a possibility that Asuna is not the girl trapped in the bird cage? Yes.

4) Does Kirito know Asuna is in great danger? No.

5) Is there a possibility that his time spent in ALO could be a complete waste of time, assuming that the girl in the bird cage wasn't Asuna? Yes.

6) Is there absolutely anything he can do in real life, within one week, that could wake up Asuna? No.

7) Did he really think he could stop Sugou/Asuna's marriage? This is a complete assumption, but my answer would be no. Suppose Sugou wasn't the mastermind behind everything, then even if Asuna wakes up the marriage would very likely still proceed despite the postponement, and a heck tonne of other troubles.

8) Would 7) thought caused him to start questioning his own worthiness against Sugou's, etc etc? Unless he's actually a Terminator made out of steel, I'm guessing the answer's yes, he would start to think a huge amount of things, none of them very good, which eventually led to him crying to sleep holding Suguha because the possibility that he will lose Asuna forever is very real, and that he's human.

With all that above being said, with all the uncertainty and hesitation and fear floating around as Kirito makes his journey towards the girl in the bird cage that might not be Asuna, would he get a little sidetracked by the events happening around him? Yes. Would he try to have fun, so to avoid thinking negative thoughts and the eventual marriage that would happen a week later? yes.

Also, please do not equate the 'urgency to save Asuna' with 'the urgency to prevent Asuna/Sugou marriage'. They are completely different things (as of now). Kirito's first priority has always been to connect with Asuna in reality, and to do that he had to wake Asuna from her slumber. While failing to prevent Asuna/Sugou marriage would cost him their love and Asuna's freedom of choice, that is ultimately NOT his first priority. So if we simply look at his most important priority (to save Asuna from eternal slumber), he has all the time in the world until Asuna dies to wake her up.

i have stated in a previous post that the saving asuna from the virtual is the same as stopping the wedding because for sugou is only using asuna as a means to an end and his end is asuna's father's company after he is in the family he doesn't need asuna anymore because he becomes one of the heirs to the company he doesn't need asuna anymore and can just kill her, though it looks like his goal is asuna but it isn't,he basicly told kirito that his true goal was the company, then he began tormenting kirito about the marriage say it was like a bonus, he just enjoys tormenting people, in truth kirito went into ALO to save asuna but he didn't go without reasoning she was there with 3 clues the picture, what sugou said about keeping her alive, and the fact ALO is made by sugou's company and when he entered ALO he almost confirmed that asuna is there because ALO code is exactly the same as SAO

[Dr. Casey]

There's certain elements of storytelling (or any other form of art) that can be judged objectively, but saying that Sword Art Online in its entirety is objectively mediocre, point blank, and that any apprasial of the series more positive than yours is factually incorrect, just comes across to me as being controlling.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Zeriand

My girlfriend is in a coma. I have no idea when she's going to wake up. I have no idea what's keeping her down. I've heard of a scientific cure that might help but it's 3000 miles away. It sounds fishy, but because I love her so much I'm going to make the travel anyway, and while I'm at it I'm trying to take it easy because it would've been bad if I'm so worried that I become sick myself. Is that really so hard to understand? Or even imagine?

Your analogy is absolutely not the same: Kazuto has a time limit, which is the marriage. Since he has no means to stop it due to his position towards the Yuuki family compared to Sugou, waking up Asuna is the only option left to him, especially that at least he can reach her before being seperated for good (assuming he can't stop the marriage even if she wakes up, which is kind of dubious).
You also have the factor that Sugou was not remotely subtle in his antagonized presentation, to which Kazuto responded strongly before being stopped cold due to Sugou's "trump cards".

There is a vast difference between trying to get a cure, and racing against time and preventing something that shouldn't occur.
It is even more obvious when Kazuto is -that- infatuated with Asuna, considering he went as far as trying to reach her the moment he woke up from SAO, despite his physical condition.

And he didn't even expect to make it within that time frame, All because of the picture of a girl in a bird cage that looks like Asuna. No zeal? When you're willing to gamble a possibility that sounds less likely than a voodoo curse for the sake of your loved one, I'm calling that one helluva zeal there.

Making such decision has to be presented with a mindset and actions that -portray- such determination. Whereas the task has obvious huge odds against him, he still took this path, hoping to reunite with Asuna, YET he is incredibly no different than usual and just take it easy -despite- the time limit.
In SAO arcs, even if it was sometimes not so well portrayed, Kirito was trying to stay away from other people, and kept his resolve in beating the game, even if he sometimes indulged himself. At the very least, until he got "sidetracked" with his romance, beating the game was tangible, while in ALO arc, it is hardly something he is taking seriously. Quite contradicting.

And oh yes, of course the sense of loss and despair would not cause you to think a lot of unnecessary and actually unrelated things. I'm sorry, I'm the kind of weakling human who couldn't help but mumble a million reasons and excuses and I don't know, my own uselessness when I lose something important. I can't help but compare myself to the competitor who didn't even need to blink an eye and beat me totally at exams. I'm just human, you know, do you really need me to spell this out for you? Do you even need to question how sane I am when I'm crying the heck out of my eyes?

With all due respect, please spare me the victimizing speech: being human or not, it isn't like your reasoning should be applied within the same circumstances.
If he was just like what you described, not even Suguha's words would have any effect on him. Actually, it was a very rare moment of weakness, and he went full throttle, taking all his chances to fight against the odds. So no, I don't buy the "booo, I'm so unworthy, Sugou is a better husband than me for asuna!" thing.

[Zeriand]

It is, I repeat, completely different. Context one, save girlfriend from coma death. Context two, stop girlfriend from marrying creep. COMPLETELY different. From the moment Kirito woke up it was FIRST priority to wake Asuna up, and it has been two months since then. His motive HAS NEVER CHANGED, Sugou's unexpected marriage proposal was simply an extra boost in motivation. Regardless of whether Asuna gets married or not, IT MEANS NOTHING IF ASUNA DOESN'T WAKE UP. Please please PLEASE don't equate the two things together, it's like trying to force merge the main objective and optional objective together and call them main optional objective. PAINFUL to read.

And Kirito wasn't sure whether Asuna is the girl in the bird cage. There's no saving Asuna from virtual, there's only confirming whether girl in bird cage is Asuna. If confirmed, THEN it's save Asuna from virtual.

EDIT: And by the gods, yes, the time limit's a motivation, yes, it would suck horribly if Asuna gets married to the creep, and to stop that he has already taken the crazy step of waltzing into a VR game again in search of a distant possibility of meeting Asuna. If this was Kirito right after he woke up from SAO then yes, he would charge a million miles to find a speckle of chance at recovering Asuna. This is goddamn two months after his rehabilitation, where he was constantly chided by all sides to take it easy.

And apparently Kirito is such a god even in his rare moment of weakness, he ain't allowed to temporarily compare his own status to Sugou's and question whether he's truly suited for Asuna. And note that I was talking about that one moment of weakness.

[Klashikari]

Except that both objectives are equally important to Kazuto. He was shown as unwilling to depart from her, and the simple fact someone else "stole" her from him literally crushed him and which left nothing for him but to abandon until Suguha knocked some sense to him, to which he decides not to give up after all.

If Kazuto was only caring about Asuna welfare, he wouldn't crumble this way, and sort of admit Sugou is a better choice (extremely doubtful anyway). Instead, he simply want her back, which means he has to wake her up and stop the marriage, that's the whole point.
Which also explains why he reacted so strongly with the screenshot, since the timing for a "asuna" look alike is definitely too odd to be a coincidence, and that being his only clue definitely made him on the move (that and ALO is a game by RCT, so a bigger "coincidence": Kazuto noticed that quite well, and figured what Sugou meant by "keeping her alive").
He basically ignored the chance that it isn't Asuna. In fact, he literally could have wasted a huge amount of time for such errand, which basically reflects his mindset: that he would do anything to reach her.

He has no rock solid evidence it is Asuna, but his guts feeling tell it -is- her due to the circumstances and hints. And with Sugou's obvious stance, it is quite obvious it is more than just a mere "attempt to confirm the girl identity".
Hell, even Agil tells him to -rescue- Asuna, so even him believes it is her, to which Kazuto agreed.

[Zeriand]

Oh, and what were you guys saying again, that you're not feeling the urgency in Kirito to save Asuna?

It took a while, but I've made my point. Even if there were minor mindset reasons I don't agree with.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Zeriand

Oh, and what were you guys saying again, that you're not feeling the urgency in Kirito to save Asuna?

It took a while, but I've made my point. Even if there were minor mindset reasons I don't agree with.

Exactly that: there is none in the ALO arc, past the initial start.
If you were to take the period where Kazuto creates ALO kirito, and removes ALL Asuna/Sugou scenes, it is basically a "merry adventure in the land of fairies", with a single instance where Kirito is hellbent to reach the world tree (when he discusses with Leefa about how to reach it).
No really, kazuto's objective and motivations are quite clear from the get go, but these are -not- reflected by his behaviour and actions taken in ALO. And that's the major gripe I have with this arc, since he is more like having fun than really driven by his wish to reunite with Asuna.
Again, let me get straight: Kazuto goes completely wrecked by Sugou, but then have his glimpse of hope and goes fullforce to follow his only lead. But once he is in ALO, it became a complete different story.

[Znail]

[mod edit: removed off-topic conversation thread]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Exactly that: there is none in the ALO arc, past the initial start.
If you were to take the period where Kazuto creates ALO kirito, and removes ALL Asuna/Sugou scenes, it is basically a "merry adventure in the land of fairies".
No really, kazuto's objective and motivations are quite clear from the get go, but these are -not- reflected by his behaviour and actions taken in ALO. And that's the major gripe I have with this arc, since he is more like having fun than really driven by his wish to reunite with Asuna.
Again, let me get straight: Kazuto goes completely wrecked by Sugou, but then have his glimpse of hope and goes fullforce to follow his only lead. But once he is in ALO, it became a complete different story.

Do you want him to go around moaning about his missfortune all the time? Kirito is just better at dealing with stress then most people after having spent two years under constant death threat. He managed to enjoy life in SAO, despite it being a death game, it's hardly out of character that he can enjoy ALO while still working towards rescuing his girl.

[Zeriand]

Right. Let's see. He shows a hint of darkness saying that there's someone that he must save no matter what to Leafa, which was a complete stranger at that time. Is not considered sign of urgency. Hmm. Now let's check again whether there's anything he can do until he reaches the World Tree. Mm, nothing. Sugou and photo, big motivation, a real hope, so I'm not going to feel down and do my best to save Asuna. Signs to be strong and keep a motivated front interpreted as signs of no urgency to save Asuna. Hmmmm. Let's double check other things. Time frame, about two days. How far they've made it to the World Tree? Much further than Leafa had expected. Still not signs of urgency. Apparently Kirito cannot enjoy good progress and must lament and cry that they're not doing a good enough job travelling. Now the last one, Kirito sidetracked and stuck his foot into Leafa's business. Leafa's a friend, Leafa's trouble would happen in about 30~45 minutes away, and since my beloved is in danger I absolutely cannot spent that tiny amount of time to help out a friend and should just leave her instead.

Hmmmmmmm.

[Klashikari]

Sense of urgency doesn't mean that he was to be emo or go reckless whatsoever.
What is lacking there is a sense of direction and objective that is absolutely nowhere: you don't see him cutting the chase of some things, there is also a dominant tendency for him to get curious about the game instead of focalising on his primary objective.

Again, we know that Kazuto isn't a casual player, and can appreciate most games (he even did that during SAO arc to some extent). That said, the series also has shown a dramatic shift in his interest which converge into the presence of Asuna in his life. And instead of having focus on that, he just waltz around.

Like I already mentioned before, I don't expect him to act like a mop and cry over Asuna, that would be more out of character than anything else. Suffice to say, him being playful and enjoying himself with little to no attempt to go ASAP to the world tree is what bothers me, even more so when a subplot barges in that has no relevancy to his main purpose at all.

Originally Posted by Znail

He managed to enjoy life in SAO, despite it being a death game, it's hardly out of character that he can enjoy ALO while still working towards rescuing his girl.

Kazuto in SAO didn't realize that there was already a time limit, until Asuna reminded him that, which dramatically changed his perspection of dealing with SAO death game. After realizing that, Kazuto was obviously not willing to waste any time in SAO any longer.