Sword Art Online 2 – 13
The world’s least cool fist bump
It may be the end of summer, but SAO is continuing into Fall. And we’re also continuing our round robin reviews. This week is my turn and, as usual, that means it’s a good episode of SAO 2 (unlike skylion who only gets 20 minutes of yapping exposition).
The End?
My cats would totally be all over his cloak with that laser pointer
The battle between Kirito and Death Gun continues, after a cheesy show of support by Asuna and Yui in his hospital room. And really, he’s in the hospital and they’re wondering what to do if he’s dehydrated? Is this the lamest hospital ever? Well, Kirito’s still battling away, and losing slowly, heading for the death of 1000 cuts. But with a little help from Sinon’s prediction line bluff (although if she’s got the target painted, why not at least pull the trigger?), and a little bit of amazing memory, Kirito gains the upper hand. I think that he pulled Death Gun’s name out of his ass, not out of his memory. But either way, that gives him the opportunity to finish off Death Gun with the fastest draw ever and then cutting him in half. And of course they invoked the SAO Kirito, because he couldn’t just be himself in this game.
Why is he horizontal?
So with everyone else gone, Sinon and Kirito get to finish off BoB with her idea of a “present grenade”. What’s a present grenade? Here, a present for you *BOOM*. It’s nice that the rules allow for twin winners like that. And with that we’re done with Bullet of Bullets. But are we done with Death Gun? Of course not, it wouldn’t be SAO if we were.
Congratulations, you win a grenade!
I Was Wrong
She’s happy he’s there… for now
Yes, I can say it. Sinon was really happy to have Shinkawa-kun come over after her win. Why shouldn’t she be? She trusts him (she even said as much to Kirito), he knows the occasion, he has a plausible reason for being there. Totally on the up and up, right? Sure, until he starts being a creeper. We all thought that his earlier spiel about waiting for her was on the skeevy side, but something something socially awkward teen, blah blah he’s not that bad. Well, funny thing about that.
“Let me grab your boobs, and everything will be fine”
Turns out he is all that bad. Even worse, he’s Death Gun, or was, or is in cahoots with him. He’s (one of) the guy(s) that’s sneaking into people’s rooms to off Death Gun’s victims. Before now he was playing Death Gun in the game, but this time, because it’s his chance to get some sweet corpse-lovin with Sinon or something, he’s switched to being the bag man. I think you can forgive Sinon her reactions to this, all of them. First is “WTF, why is this guy pawing me” and then “what, you’re gonna kill me?” and then “Holy crap, he really IS going to kill me.” And after that, she realizes that maybe she does have some of that strength that she wished for, fighting him off but not enough to get away. But she does last until Savior Kirito shows up at the end.
“I’m totally fine with murdering you. Then you’ll be mine forever!”
If there’s one thing that Reki Kawahara is excellent at, it’s making the most cartoonish villains that you just hate and hate and hate. I don’t know how he does it, these guys are just so over the top, and yet you get this visceral reaction to them. You kinda laugh, and you realize how tropey and by the book these guys are, but they never ever cross over into “I’m rooting for that guy because he’s so villain-y”. You want these clowns to get their faces punched in by Kirito. Akahiko, who wasn’t so bad. Sugou, who was just awful (he didn’t get stabbed nearly enough), and now Shinkawa. You cheer for Shion when she fights back. You cheer for Kirito when he shows up. They just are begging to get punched in the face until there’s nothing recognizable. So I have to say that this was a pretty exciting episode, even if it was really by the book. We’ll see how the fight goes down next week.
Yeah, punch him again!
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yep I totally called it that Shinkawa-kun had something to do with Deathgun! Then again like I said before SAO villains have always been stupid to me…
that almost rape scene with Sinon and Shinkawa-kun damn this episode made him EXTRA creepy.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, when it was a cool “He figured out a way to kill people from in the game” setup, then it wouldn’t have been Shinkawa-kun. After it turned into stupid “creepy guys invade your house and kill you” then he was back in play.
Let’s face it: He was creepy from the beginning especially when he pulled out the “I’ll totally wait for you, you’ll love me eventually.”
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
If there’s one thing that Reki Kawahara is excellent at, it’s making the most cartoonish villains that you just hate.
A blogger who reads the SAO LNs in Japanese says Kawahara Reki is also excellent at writing emotional moments in his story, and his is still the most traditionally novel-esque out there.
In vol 2 of SAO, there is a passage where:
‘”…the normally measured Kirito’s prose grow steadily more desperate and vivid. He wants to make things right with Sachi and mentions how “this time, I would cover her with my arms, look her in the eyes and speak from the heart”. Then, he loses himself. He replaces 彼女 (her) with 君 (you). “You won’t die,” he writes. “No, that won’t happen – I’ll take care of you.”
This makes it feel as if Kirito is addressing his speech to Sachi and no longer to an impartial audience. Thus, he lays his soul bare. The writing and the storytelling come together to deliver a punch full of pathos, and the tonal shift only works as well as it does because the novel had employed a minimalist style up until then. Everyone who’s watched episode 2 of the anime knows what happens next, of course.’
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think Sachi is still my favorite character of the entire series. Tragic, but such personal growth, and such a lovely person.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
So, would that mean it makes Sinon a close second in your book? She had an ordeal and what was born from it later on was tragic because of the discrimination and loneliness.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I forgot to mention another reason Sachi is #1: Saori Hayami.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Yay! Peace Peace!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Two for the price of one, I see.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I would think that HWY would prefer the Blacksmith over the Doll..
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Why is he horizontal? Bobby Orr?
Fairly good action going down this episode. I was a bit taken about by whathisface being the murderer, thought it was tooooo darn obvious, wish they would have made it a feint.
I’ll be yapping at you folks come episode 15….
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, it was too obvious. So obvious that you dismissed the idea, and then they used it anyway, so like you I was surprised when it happened, which is a good reaction. Much better than “Ok, let’s wait for him to reveal himself as the bad guy.”
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
*cuts Death Gun in two* Kirito wins! Fatality!
The best way to end a tournament is to go out with a bang and Sinon did just that. After the whole serious attitude and determination to be strong, it felt silly to see her happily pulling out a grenade and dropping it between her and Kirito followed by hugging him.
Didn’t see that coming. Sure Shinkawa-kun was clingly but who’d have thought he’d be this bat-shit crazy and insane. The whole scene where he revealed his true nature plus nearly violating Sinion made me cringe and sick to my stomach. Good thing the OP lead came in time to kick his pathetic, worthless ass. Fine by me if Kirito beats him within an inch of his life. After all, it was in the defense of a third person so it’s justifiable.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I actually really liked Sinon’s reaction to the end of their match. You could see that she’s turned a corner, and that she was actually starting to become a happier person. Some was the reaction to winning the tournament, some was the reaction to defeating Death Gun, and removing the threat to her. And some was her happiness returning.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I didn’t mean it felt silly in a bad way. Actually, it just put a smile on my face seeing her act so upbeat and carefree. Well, she does deserve to be so after what she’s endured.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
Shinkawa is even creepier live than in the LN,this scene just blew me away so intense! THE FEELS
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It always feels more intense when something that was once on paper is able to move and talk right before your eyes.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
yes…AsunaXKirito is one of the few mainstreams pairings that i like, there’s something about them that just makes it natural to like them together