Sword Art Online – 17

What happens when you level up your Bishounen Sparkle skill to the max.

Time for your weekly dose of magical fairies with giant ears on Metanorn! So I have to ask who out there really loves these new character designs? They are growing on me, but I still don’t really LIKE them a whole bunch…anyway what are your thoughts so far, Overcooled? Have you adjusted to these fairy designs yet?

I’m cool with the designs for new characters like Leafa, but it’s still a bit jarring on characters such as Kirito and Asuna. As a creature of habit, I’ve become used to their non-pointy-eared versions. After 17 episodes of this, some triangular ears and shimmering wings aren’t going to stop me from watching though. DO YOUR WORST, FAIRY WINGS!

The Great Race

Overcooled // It’s a race to the top…to unlock a super race! The first person to clear The World Tree will be converted to a special race called an Alf, which has angel wings and can fly indefinitely. However, only one player race receives this reward, so bringing a party up there is nigh impossible. Who would agree to help you clear a super dangerous and tricky ascent when only one person gets the blessing at the end of the day? It’s an against-the-odds goal, but Kirito has no choice but to gamble and try to get there with just himself and Leafa. Perhaps they’ll pick up some more chicks along the way to help them fight (and make Kirito look even more like a pimp, despite his loyalty to Asuna). Kirito already seems quite adept at the game, so the two of them might not even have to train to level up their skills. He masters flying quite quickly, flying so fast that even Yui got tired. Leafa made it sound like his speed was a very surprising thing, perhaps because she’s leveled up her flight skills a lot and is one of the fastest races. Landing, well, that’s another matter. The magic system looks REALLY cool, so I’m looking forward to Kirito’s attempts to get to the top and engage in crazy fights.

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Extra Special Fairies

Foshizzel // So Kirito saved the busty blond fairy named Leafa and she offers to take him out for a drink!? Whoa things sure are moving fast for them huh? At least she took a few minutes to teach Kirito a hard flying based technique that he instantly masters in a matter of minutes! Well everything but the actual landing part which made me laugh so freaking hard especially when he smacked right into a wall? Amazing! So what else is known about Leafa? All I gathered was she been playing the game for a really long time and she has a very odd “party friend” named Recon that clearly has a thing for her; however Kirito master of the ladies is here to distract Leafa for a bit. So were you shocked to learn that Leafa was Kirito’s cousin the entire time? I kind of already knew that because the voice matched and I think she was going to spill the beans about playing videogames eventually in episode fifteen, but she decided to not say anything! I kind of wished the creators of this series didn’t place her as Kirito’s cousin. Ah well maybe they are banking on the whole idea if a possible incest thing developing or are they going for a best friends thing between the cousins? I know she will probably keep her identity a secret from Kirito anyway because she does not want to ruin a good thing.

Overcooled // Yep, Leafa is actually Suguha. I never actually suspected this until I heard her speak a bit more this episode. Like Fosh, I’m quite used to the sound of Ayana Taketatsu’s voice, so the fact that they had the same seiyuu gave it away. I guess THIS is how they’re going to wedge in that romance story with Suguha’s unrequited love for her cousin. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to realize that this guy who looks, sounds and acts almost exactly like her cousin is actually the same person. She’s probably going to start getting optimistic about liking someone who isn’t her cousin since she knows she doesn’t have a chance with Kirito, and then it’s going to all explode in her face later on. How much later? Well, they live in the same house…Someone’s gonna notice that the other person has been gaming a lot lately, and I don’t see why either of them would lie about what game they’re playing. Kirito probably doesn’t even know his sister plays games, but he should notice her staying in her room a lot and making no noise. I wonder if he’s surprised his cousin has been avidly playing a NerveGear-required game despite the fact that it trapped him moments before. Didn’t the use of those things go down AT ALL after the huge SAO fiasco? No? Okay, well, flying is pretty sweet so maybe it’s worth the risk.

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Asuna is not Having a Good Time

Foshizzel // Well there goes another sad girl character for us to talk about! Seriously why do the creators feel the need to breaking the hearts of all these girls that have some type of feelings for Kirito? I swear it gets annoying! Speaking of girls that really love Kirito, I feel really bad for Asuna right now and that whole mess she is stuck dealing with! What the hell Sugou aka The Fairy King Oberon? I mean sure you are the ultimate GM of the game world, but honestly I think having all that power is corrupting his mind! That and his extreme lust for Asuna this week hit WTF-ULTRA-CREEPY-LEVELS; however I always thought Sugou was always creepy after he smelled her hair in the real world.

What is his great evil plan? Apparently he wants to use a few players as guinea pigs and mess with their memories? I assume as a business man you could really use that to “force” people into buying or needing something or make them your mind slaves forever. After hearing his master plan I figured that Sugou would try to alter Asuna’s memories of Kirito and replace them with whatever he wants, but I think we all know how that will end up right? The power of true LOVEEEEEE will save the day or something like a dramatic kiss? Yeah…I can just picture it now, they kiss and her memories are instantly restored, but damn our hero better hurry up and save his princess before the fairy king gets his way with Asuna!

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Walking Down Memory Lane (Version 2.0)

Yes! With this little black bar I will cause the apocalypse by censoring ALL THE HENTAI IN THE WORLD!

Overcooled // Why trap Asuna in Alfheim Online? Sugou’s ambitions are a lot more grand (and sinister) than Akihiko’s, and he’s using this game for quite a master plan. He’s using gamers as test subjects to see if NerveGears can be used to implant memories into people to change their attitudes, behaviours and personality. It’s a scary thought. I can’t even imagine what one would do with the results of such a research project that wouldn’t be horribly inhumane. If this thing really works, I don’t get why he doesn’t just flip the switch and start pumping memories into people. He’s essentially won the battle in obtaining Asuna. He says he doesn’t want her to be a meek doll that answers his every whim but.uhh..that kind of is what he wants since Asuna clearly will never love him on her own. Sugou is a much more slimy and markedly evil than Akihiko, which actually makes me like him more. His scheme is a little grandiose, and he’s almost laughably evil, but at least he put some thought into his plans for trapping some kids in a virtual game. Credit where credit is due and all that, right?

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Final Thoughts

Not bad! I really like Leafa, even if her crush on Kirito does get in the way of things. Must every woman fall head over heels with this guy? I’m not looking forward to her getting rejected later on, but for now she’s displaying tolerable levels of affection. She’s a tough girl and doesn’t want to let herself hang off Kirito’s arm like a giggling schoolgirl. She’s got standards, and I appreciate that much. I’d especially hate it for Kirito to go winning over girl’s hearts inadvertently while he’s looking for Asuna because that would just be pointless since he only has eyes for her. Once a chick magnet, always a chick magnet…Some things never change. Speaking of which, I actually really like Alfheim Online (aside from the designs, which I promise not to complain about anymore because no one cares at this point) for the magic system and all the race tension. Kirito gets off easy this week, but the next time he enters foreign territory, he might get shanked. Not being able to fight back sounds particularly frightening. There may be some good things yet to come in future episodes. I guess I actually am getting kind of hyped for this new arc now. :3

Decent episode this week because nothing really exciting happened for me, but I was a little bit annoyed after I spoiled myself on the true identity of Leafa or was I? I mean after her introduction last week I put two and two together and figured it was Suguha all along. I think if they had different voice actors they could have made it something really exciting with that! So yeah that was kind of a huge disappointment for me, but I am sure for the fans out there that didn’t spoil themselves probably loved it or did you hate it like me? It feels kind of weak and way to convenient even though I know that Leafa doesn’t have a chance in hell to win Kirito’s heart because belongs with Asuna. So what about that evil plan from Sugou? Is it really that EVIL or is it one of the dumbest plans of all time? I guess having the power to control memory can be quite powerful if used a certain way, but it really is nothing brand new to me because I have seen it in Bleach, Code Geass, Railgun manga and with the recent return of Gintama! So how many episodes will it take for Kirito to save his princess? I hope he does something soon or things are going to head down a dark road for Asuna.

Santa must have skipped over the naughty list…Or maybe this is his Halloween Trick or TREAT? Happy Halloween, guys~

About Tag Team

We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.